Page:The story of Greece told to boys and girls.djvu/378

 could bear his fears no longer, and leaping from his chariot, he mounted a horse and fled from the field.

When the Persians saw that their king had fled, they stayed to fight no longer. Even the cavalry, which had withstood every attack, now wavered, then broke and fled with the rest.

The great hosts sought to hide themselves from their pursuers among the mountain passes, but thousands were captured and slain.

Darius in his haste had left his shield and his royal cloak behind, but he would not stay to recover them. On and on he fled until he reached a town on the river Euphrates.*

Alexander was well pleased with his great victory, but he would fain have captured the Persian king. To a wound in his thigh he paid little attention, nor did it prove dangerous. But it made it impossible for him to overtake Darius.

When the king returned from the pursuit of his enemy, he found his men pillaging the Persian camp. The tent of Darius, which was beautifully furnished, and which also had a great store of gold and silver, was set apart for Alexander himself.

'Let us now cleanse ourselves from the toils of war in the baths of Darius,' said the king as he entered the tent of the defeated monarch.

'Not so,' answered one of his followers, 'but in Alexander's rather; for the property of the conquered is and should be called the conqueror's.'

Alexander's early training had been simple as that of a Spartan, and the luxury of the great king's tents amazed him.

In one there were numerous baths and many boxes of ointment, in another a table was spread for a magnificent feast. As Alexander looked at it all, he turned to his followers and said, 'This, it seems, is royalty.'

But his early training still influenced him, and he kept