apons was a token of submission, the whole might
mean that the Scythians were now ready to give up the contest, and
acknowledge the right of the Persians to supreme and universal
dominion.

The officers, however, did not generally concur in this opinion. They
saw no indications, they said, of any disposition on the part of the
Scythians to surrender. They thought it quite as probable that the
communication was meant to announce to those who received it threats
and defiance, as to express conciliation and submission. "It may
mean," said one of them, "that, unless you can fly like a bird into
the air, or hide like a mouse in the ground, or bury yourselves, like
the frog, in morasses and fens, you can not escape our arrows."

There was no means of deciding positively between these contradictory
interpretations, but it soon became evident that the former of the two
was very far from being correct; for, soon after the present was
received, the Scythians were seen to be drawing up their forces in
array, as if preparing for battle. The two months had expired, and
they had reason to suppose that the party at the bridge had withdrawn,
as they had promised to do. Darius had been so far weakened by his
harassing marches, and the manifold privations and sufferings of his
men, that he felt some solicitude in respect to the result of a
battle, now that it seemed to be drawing near, although such a trial
of strength had been the object which he had been, from the beginning,
most eager to secure.

The two armies were encamped at a moderate distance from each other,
with a plain, partly wooded, between them. While in this position, and
before any hostile action was commenced by either party, it was
observed from the camp of Darius that suddenly a great tumult arose
from the Scythian lines. Men were seen rushing in dense crowds this
way and that over the plain, with shouts and outcries, which, however,
had in them no expression of anger or fear, but rather one of gayety
and pleasure. Darius demanded what the strange tumult meant. Some
messengers were sent out to ascertain the cause, and on their return
they reported that the Scythians were hunting a hare, which had
suddenly made its appearance. The hare had issued from a thicket, and
a considerable portion of the army, officers and soldiers, had
abandoned their ranks to enjoy the sport of pursuing it, and were
running impetuously, here and there, across the plain, filling the air
wit