cedon,
called Megarae, where they thought he would be safe; and then he
himself, and the rest of his company, turned back to meet the
pursuers. They succeeded, partly by their representations and
entreaties, and partly by such resistance and obstruction as it was
in their power to make, in stopping the soldiers where they were. At
length, having, though with some difficulty, succeeded in getting away
from the soldiers, Androclides and Angelus rode on by secret ways till
they overtook the three young men. They now began to think that the
danger was over. At length, a little after sunset, they approached the
town of Megarae. There was a river just before the town, which looked
too rough and dreadful to be crossed. The party, however, advanced to
the brink, and attempted to ford the stream, but they found it
impossible. It was growing dark; the water of the river, having been
swelled by rains, was very high and boisterous, and they found that
they could not get over. At length they saw some of the people of the
town coming down to the bank on the opposite side. They were in hopes
that these people could render them some assistance in crossing the
stream, and they began to call out to them for this purpose; but the
stream ran so rapidly, and the roaring of the torrent was so great,
that they could not make themselves heard. The distance was very
inconsiderable, for the stream was not wide; but, though the party
with Pyrrhus called aloud and earnestly, and made signs, holding up
the child in their arms to let the people see him, they could not make
themselves understood.

At last, after spending some time in these fruitless efforts, one of
the party who were with Pyrrhus thought of the plan of writing what
they wished to say upon a piece of bark, and throwing it across the
stream to those on the other side. They accordingly pulled off some
bark from a young oak which was growing on a bank of the river, and
succeeded in making characters upon it by means of the tongue of a
buckle, sufficient to say that they had with them Pyrrhus, the young
prince of Epirus, and that they were flying with him to save his life,
and to implore the people on the other side to contrive some way to
get them over the river. This piece of bark they then managed to throw
across the stream. Some say that they rolled it around a javelin, and
then gave the javelin to the strongest of their party to throw; others
say that they attached it to a stone. In