ore fully assented. "Come now," proceeded
Xenophon, "recount what answer I made you, and first at Chalcedon."
"You answered that the army was, in any case, about to cross over to
Byzantium; and as far as that went, there was no need to pay you or
any one else anything; and for yourself, you added, that once across
you were minded to leave the army, which thing came to pass even as
you said." "Well! what did I say," he asked, "at your next visit, when 28
you came to me in Selybria?" "You said that the proposal was
impossible; you were all going to Perinthus to cross into Asia."
"Good," said Xenophon, "and in spite of it all, at the present moment,
here I am myself, and Phryniscus, one of my colleagues, and Polycrates
yonder, a captain; and outside, to represent the other generals (all
except Neon the Laconian), the trustiest men they could find to send.
So that if you wish to give these transactions the seal of still
greater security, you have nothing to do but to summon them also; and
do you, Polycrates, go and say from me, that I bid them leave their
arms outside, and you can leave your own sword outside before you
enter with them on your return."

When Seuthes had heard so far, he interposed: "I should never mistrust
an Athenian, for we are relatives already (3), I know; and the best of
friends, I believe, we shall be." After that, as soon as the right men
entered, Xenophon first questioned Seuthes as to what use he intended
to make of the army, and he replied as follows: "Maesades was my
father; his sway extended over the Melanditae, the Thynians, and the
Tranipsae. Then the affairs of the Odrysians took a bad turn, and my
father was driven out of this country, and later on died himself of
sickness, leaving me to be brought up as an orphan at the court of
Medocus, the present king. But I, when I had grown to man's estate,
could not endure to live with my eyes fixed on another's board. So I
seated myself on the seat by him as a suppliant, and begged him to
give me as many men as he could spare, that I might wreak what
mischief I could on those who had driven us forth from our land; that
thus I might cease to live in dependence upon another's board, like a
dog watching his master's hand. In answer to my petition, he gave me 34
the men and the horses which you will see at break of day, and
nowadays I live with these, pillaging my own ancestral land. But if
you would join me, I think, with the help of heaven, we migh