ue
of cold stone. The rest of the soldiers then fell upon the bowl like
madmen, and wild beasts could not have lapped up the foul drink with
greater eagerness.--[Herodotus tells this fearful tale (III. ii.)]

In the same moment Psamtik triumphantly shot off his first arrow into
the Persian ranks.

The mercenaries flung the child's dead body on to the ground; drunk with
her blood, they raised their battle-song, and rushed into the strife far
ahead of their Egyptian comrades.

But now the Persian ranks began to move. Phanes, furious with pain
and rage, led on his heavy-armed troops, indignant too at the brutal
barbarity of their countrymen, and dashed into the ranks of those
very soldiers, whose love he had tried to deserve during ten years of
faithful leadership.

At noon, fortune seemed to be favoring the Egyptians; but at sunset the
Persians had the advantage, and when the full-moon rose, the Egyptians
were flying wildly from the battle-field, perishing in the marshes and
in the arm of the Nile which flowed behind their position, or being cut
to pieces by the swords of their enemies.

Twenty thousand Persians and fifty thousand Egyptians lay dead on
the blood-stained sea-sand. The wounded, drowned, and prisoners could
scarcely be numbered.

[Herod. III. 12. Ktesias, Persica 9. In ancient history the loss
of the conquered is always far greater than that of the conquerors.
To a certain extent this holds good in the present day, but the
proportion is decidedly not so unfavorable for the vanquished.]

Psamtik had been one of the last to fly. He was well mounted, and, with
a few thousand faithful followers, reached the opposite bank of the Nile
and made for Memphis, the well-fortified city of the Pyramids.

Of the Greek mercenaries very few survived, so furious had been Phanes'
revenge, and so well had he been supported by his Ionians. Ten thousand
Karians were taken captive and the murderer of his little child was
killed by Phanes' own hand.

Aristomachus too, in spite of his wooden leg, had performed miracles of
bravery; but, notwithstanding all their efforts, neither he, nor any of
his confederates in revenge, had succeeded in taking Psamtik prisoner.

When the battle was over, the Persians returned in triumph to their
tents, to be warmly welcomed by Croesus and the warriors and priests
who had remained behind, and to celebrate their victory by prayers and
sacrifices.

The next morning Cambyses