be
subject unto him."

"Hath it, then, so many men that draw the sword?"

"Such an army it hath as hath wrought great damage to the Medes."

"And hath it aught else, as wealth sufficient?"

"There is a spring of silver, a treasure hid in their earth."

"Do the men make war with bows?"

[Illustration: ATOSSA'S DREAM.]

"Not so; they have spears for close fighting and shields."

"And who is master of their army?"

"They are not slaves or subjects to any man."

"How, then, can they abide the onset of the Persians?"

"Nay, but so well they abide it that they slew a great army of King
Darius."

"What thou sayest is ill to hear for the mothers of them that are gone."

And when the Queen had thus spoken, the counsellors espied a man of
Persia running to them with all speed, and knew that he bare tidings
from the hosts, whether good or evil. And when the man was come, he
cried out, "O land of Persia, abode of proud wealth, how are thy riches
destroyed, and the flower of thy strength perished! 'Tis an ill task to
bring such tidings, yet I am constrained to tell all our trouble. O men
of Persia, the whole army of our land hath perished."

Then the old men cried out, bewailing themselves that they had lived to
see this day. And the messenger told them how he had himself seen this
great trouble befall the Persians, and had not heard it from others, and
that it was at Salamis that the army had perished, and the city of
Athens that had been chief among their enemies, the old men breaking in
upon his story as he spake with their lamentations. But after a while
the Queen Atossa stood forward, saying, "For a while I was dumb, for the
trouble that I heard suffered me not to speak. But we must bear what the
Gods send. Tell me, therefore, who is yet alive? and for whom must we
make lamentation?"

"Know, O Queen," said the messenger, "that thy son, King Xerxes, is yet
alive."

And the Queen cried, "What thou sayest is as light after darkness to me;
but say on."

And when the messenger had told the names of many chiefs that had
perished, the Queen said, "Come, let us hear the whole matter from the
beginning. How many in number were the ships of the Greeks that they
dared to meet the Persians in battle array?"

Then the man made reply, "In numbers, indeed, they might not compare
with us; for the Greeks had three hundred ships in all, and ten besides
that were chosen for their swiftness; but King Xerxes, as thou knowest