hree months I worked among this set, submitting
to the strokes of the overseer, fainting under the fearful heat, and
stiffening under the cold dews of night. I felt as if picked out
for death and only kept alive by the hope of vengeance. It happened,
however, by the mercy of the gods, that at the feast of Pacht, our
guards, as is the custom of the Egyptians, drank so freely as to fall
into a deep sleep, during which I and a young Jew who had been deprived
of his right hand for having used false weights in trade, managed to
escape unperceived; Zeus Lacedaemonius and the great God whom this young
man worshipped helped us in our need, and, though we often heard the
voices of our pursuers, they never succeeded in capturing us. I had
taken a bow from one of our guards; with this we obtained food, and when
no game was to be found we lived on roots, fruits and birds' eggs. The
sun and stars showed us our road. We knew that the gold-mines were not
far from the Red Sea and lay to the south of Memphis. It was not long
before we reached the coast; and then, pressing onwards in a northerly
direction, we fell in with some friendly mariners, who took care of us
until we were taken up by an Arabian boat. The young Jew understood the
language spoken by the crew, and in their care we came to Eziongeber
in the land of Edom. There we heard that Cambyses was coming with an
immense army against Egypt, and travelled as far as Harma under the
protection of an Amalekite caravan bringing water to the Persian army.
From thence I went on to Pelusium in the company of some stragglers from
the Asiatic army, who now and then allowed me a seat on their horses,
and here I heard that you had accepted a high command in Cambyses' army.
I have kept my vow, I have been true to my nation in Egypt; now it is
your turn to help old Aristomachus in gaining the only thing he still
cares for--revenge on his persecutors."

"And that you shall have!" cried Phanes, grasping the old man's hand.
"You shall have the command of the heavy-armed Milesian troops, and
liberty to commit what carnage you like among the ranks of our enemies.
This, however, is only paying half the debt I owe you. Praised be
the gods, who have put it in my power to make you happy by one single
sentence. Know then, Aristomachus, that, only a few days after your
disappearance, a ship arrived in the harbor of Naukratis from Sparta.
It was guided by your own noble son and expressly sent by the Ephori