Page:The Story of the Iliad.djvu/174

146 Then stood up a certain Dolon, the son of the herald Eumedes. Ill-favoured was he, but a swift runner, the only son of his father, but he had five sisters. He said:—

"I will go, Hector; but come, lift up thy sceptre, and swear to me that thou wilt give me the chariot and the horses of Achilles."

So Hector sware to him, but it was an idle oath. And Dolon took his bow, and a helmet of grisly wolf-skin, and a sharp spear, and went his way in haste. But Ulysses saw him, and said:—

"Here cometh a man, Diomed, but whether he be a spy or a spoiler of the dead I know not. Let him pass by a space that we may take him. If he outrun us, press him with thy spear towards the ships; only let him not turn back to the city."

So they lay down among the dead, a little out of the way, and Dolon passed by them unknowing; but when he had gone a little space they ran upon him. For a while he stood hearkening to their steps, for he thought that Hector had sent comrades to call him back. But when they were a spear's throw from him,