rom any attack that might be made. The people of Argos
crowded into the citadel, and sent out immediately to Antigonus to
come in to their aid. He at once put his camp in motion, and,
advancing toward the walls with the main body, he sent in some
powerful detachments of troops to co-operate with the inhabitants of
the city. All these scenes occurring in the midst of the darkness of
the night, the people having been awakened from their sleep by a
sudden alarm, were attended, of course, by a dreadful panic and
confusion; and, to complete the complication of horrors, Areus, with
the Spartan army under his command, who had followed Pyrrhus in his
approach to the city, and had been closely watching his movements ever
since he had arrived, now burst in through the gates, and attacked the
troops of his hated enemy in the streets, in the market-place, and
wherever he could find them, with shouts, outcries, and imprecations,
that made the whole city one widespread scene of unutterable confusion
and terror.

The general confusion and terror, however, produced by the assaults of
the Spartans were the only results that immediately followed them, for
the troops soon found that no real progress could be made, and no
advantage gained by this nocturnal warfare. The soldiers could not
distinguish friends from foes. They could not see or hear their
commander, or act with any concert or in any order. They were
scattered about, and lost their way in narrow streets, or fell into
drains or sewers, and all attempts on the part of the officers to
rally them, or to control them in any way, were unavailing. At length,
by common consent, all parties desisted from fighting, and
awaited--all in an awful condition of uncertainty and suspense--the
coming of the dawn.

Pyrrhus, as the objects that were around him were brought gradually
into view by the gray light of the morning, was alarmed at seeing that
the walls of the citadel were covered with armed men, and at observing
various other indications, by which he was warned that there was a
very powerful force opposed to him within the city. As the light
increased, and brought the boundaries of the market-place where he
posted himself into view, and revealed the various images and figures
which had been placed there to adorn it, he was struck with
consternation at the sight of one of the groups, as the outlines of it
slowly made themselves visible. It was a piece of statuary, in
bronze, representin