r,--

"Seest thou these Persians here feasting, and the army which we left
yonder encamped near the river? Yet a little while, and out of all these
thou shalt behold but a few surviving."

"If you feel thus," said the Theban, "thou art surely bound to reveal it
to Mardonius."

"My friend," answered the Persian, "man cannot avert what God has
decreed. No one will believe the revelation, sure though it be. Many of
us Persians know this well, and are here serving only under the bond of
necessity. And truly this is the most hateful of all human sufferings,
to be full of knowledge, and at the same time to have no power over any
result."

Not long had the lukewarm Persians to wait for their foes. Soon the army
of Greece appeared, and, seeing their enemy encamped along the little
river Asopus in the plain, took post on the mountain declivity above.
Here they were not suffered to rest in peace. The powerful Persian
cavalry, led by Masistius, the most distinguished officer in the army,
broke like a thunderbolt on the Grecian ranks. The Athenians and
Megarians met them, and a sharp and doubtful contest ensued. At length
Masistius fell from his wounded horse and was slain as he lay on the
ground. The Persians fought with fury to recover his body, but were
finally driven back, leaving the corpse of their general in the hands of
the Greeks.

This event had a great effect on both armies. Grief assailed the army of
Mardonius at the loss of their favorite general. Loud wailings filled
the camp, and the hair of men, horses, and cattle was cut in sign of
mourning. The Greeks, on the contrary, were full of joy. The body of
Masistius, a man of great stature, and clad in showy armor, was placed
in a cart and paraded around the camp, that all might see it and
rejoice. Such was their confidence at this defeat of the cavalry, which
they had sorely feared, that Pausanias broke up his hill camp and
marched into the plain below, where he took station in front of the
Persian host, only the little stream of the Asopus dividing the two
hostile armies.

And here for days they lay, both sides offering sacrifices, and both
obtaining the same oracle,--that the side which attacked would lose the
battle, the side which resisted would win. Under such circumstances
neither side cared to attack, and for ten days the armies lay, the
Greeks much annoyed by the Persian cavalry, and having their convoys of
provisions cut off, yet still waiting with unyie