the gods of Olympus may not overbear me; and ye two tremble, or ever ye have looked on war."

He spake, and the two goddesses murmured where they sat side by side. Athené kept silence for all her wrath; but Hera spake, "Well do we know, son of Chronos, that thy might is beyond all bounds; nevertheless we pity the Greeks, lest they fill up the measure of their fate and die."

Then Zeus spake again, "To-morrow, Queen Hera, shalt thou see worse things than these; for great Hector will not cease from his slaying till the son of Peleus be roused by his ships, in the day when they shall fight about the dead Patroclus in the dark press of men."

And now the sun sank into the sea; wroth were the Trojans that the light should go, but to the Greeks welcome, much prayed for, came the night.

Then Hector called the men of Troy to an assembly. In his hand he held a spear eleven cubits long, with flaming point of bronze, and circled with gold; on it he leant and spake :"Give ear, ye Trojans, Dardans, and allies! I thought this day to destroy the hosts of the

Greeks and their ships, and so to return to Troy; but night hath hindered me. yield to night, and take our meal.

Let us Unharness

your horses and feed them. Fetch also from the city kine, and sheep, and wine, and bread, and store of fuel also, that we may burn many fires, lest, haply, the Greeks escape across the sea in the night. Not in peace shall they embark, but each shall carry away a wound to nurse at home that others may not seek to trouble the men of Troy with war. Also let the heralds make proclamation in the city, that the lads and the old men should guard the wall, and that every woman should light a great fire in her house, and that all should keep watch, lest an ambush should enter the city while the people are away. So much today; but to-morrow I will speak other words to you. In the morning will we arm ourselves, and wake the war beside the ships. Then shall I know whether Diomed will drive me from the wall, or I slay him with the spear. Would that I were immortal and held in honour as are the gods, as surely as tomorrow will bring ruin on the Greeks."

So Hector spake, and all the Trojans shouted their assent. They loosed their horses, and fetched provender from the city, and gathered store of fuel. All night long they sat high in hope; and as on some windless night the stars shine bright about the moon, and all the crags and dells are shown, and the tops of the hills also, and the depths of the sky are open, and all the stars appear, and the shepherd's heart is glad; so many showed the Trojan fires between the stream of Xanthus and the ships. A thousand fires were burning, and fifty sat in the glare of each; and the horses stood beside the chariots champing barley and spelt, and waited for the morn.

CHAPTER XI.

THE EMBASSY TO ACHILLES.

WHILE the Trojans watched with good hope, the Greeks were possessed with fear. And King Agamemnon was troubled beyond all others. He bade the heralds call every man to the assembly, bidding them severally without making proclamation. Gloomily they sat, and when the King rose up to speak, his tears dropped down, as the waters drop down a steep cliff-side from some spring which the sunshine toucheth not. Thus he spake: "O friends, lords and leaders of the Greeks, verily Zeus dealeth ill with me. Once he promised that I should take the city of Troy and so return home; but now he hath deceived me, bidding me go back dishonoured, having lost much people. Thus indeed do I now read his decree. Wherefore let us flee with our ships to the land of our fathers, for Troy we may not take."

Long time the chiefs kept silence, for they were out of heart; but at the last rose Diomed, and spake: "Be not wroth, O King, if I contend with this thy madness. Thou hast called me laggard and coward; whether I be so indeed the Greeks know well, both young and old. But to thee Zeus hath given lordship and the power of the sceptre above thy fellows; but courage he hath not given, and courage is best of all. Now if thine heart be bent upon return, go thou; the way is nigh, and thy ships are by the sea; but all the other Greeks will abide till they have taken Troy. Yea, and if these also will go, then we two, I and Sthenelus, will abide and fight till we make an end of the city, for it was the gods that sent us hither." Then Nestor spake: 66 Thou art brave in war, son of Tydeus, and excellent in council above thy fellows. In what thou hast said none will gainsay thee. But now let us take our meal; and let sentinels watch along the trench. And do thou, son of Atreus, make a feast for thy chiefs, as is meet. And him who counsels thee most wisely thou must follow. Sorely do we need wise counsel, see