But it did not make him angry; it only made him
admire the strange man all the more. When he turned to ride back, he
said to his officers,--
"Say what you will; if I were not Alexander, I would like to be
Diogenes."
THE BRAVE THREE HUNDRED.
All Greece was in danger. A mighty army, led by the great King of
Persia, had come from the east. It was marching along the seashore,
and in a few days would be in Greece. The great king had sent
mes-sen-gers into every city and state, bidding them give him water
and earth in token that the land and the sea were his. But they
said,--
"No: we will be free."
And so there was a great stir through-out all the land. The men armed
themselves, and made haste to go out and drive back their foe; and the
women staid at home, weeping and waiting, and trembling with fear.
There was only one way by which the Per-sian army could go into Greece
on that side, and that was by a narrow pass between the mountains and
the sea. This pass was guarded by Le-on'i-das, the King of the
Spartans, with three hundred Spartan soldiers.
Soon the Persian soldiers were seen coming. There were so many of them
that no man could count them. How could a handful of men hope to stand
against so great a host?
And yet Le-on-i-das and his Spartans held their ground.
Pages:
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96