Page:Greece from the Coming of the Hellenes to AD. 14.djvu/142

114 yield their ground. After waiting four days in vain expectation of some sign of submission, he launched some of his best troops at the foolhardy opponents, with orders to clear the way. But two days of fierce fighting left the Greeks unconquered and the pass still closed to the invaders. But on the evening of the second day a Malian named Ephialtes demanded an audience of the king, and offered to guide a force over the height on the land side of the pass (afterwards called Callidromos) by a path only used by shep- herds, which would lead them to the rear of the Greeks. Xerxes, who had watched the failure of his troops with signs of violent emotion and anxiety, eagerly accepted the offer. At nightfall, just as the watch-fires were being lit, ten thousand of the finest troops, called the “Immortals,” started under the guidance of Ephialtes to cross the height. By daybreak they were approaching the summit. Just below the crest a thousand Phocians had been stationed to guard against this danger, for Leonidas was aware of the existence of this path. The hill was thickly covered with oak forest, and no view of the coming enemy was possible, though there was a bright moon. But in the clear morning air the sound of their trampling through the brushwood reached the ears of the Phocians. Yet their warning was brief; the Persians seemed to start suddenly into sight, surprised themselves to see men hastily getting under arms where they had expected a bare mountain top. They fancied that they were the dreaded Spartans who had repulsed them the day before, but being reassured by learning the truth from Ephialtes, they