while they deliberated, the king passed by and ranged his troops in
line to meet them, in exactly the same position in which he had
advanced to offer battle at the commencement of the engagement. The
Hellenes, now seeing them in close proximity and in battle order, once
again raised the paean and began the attack with still greater
enthusiasm than before: and once again the barbarians did not wait to
receive them, but took to flight, even at a greater distance than
before. The Hellenes pressed the pursuit until they reached a certain
village, where they halted, for above the village rose a mound, on
which the king and his party rallied and reformed; they had no
infantry any longer, but the crest was crowded with cavalry, so that
it was impossible to discover what was happening. They did see, they
said, the royal standard, a kind of golden eagle, with wings extended,
perched on a bar of wood and raised upon a lance.

But as soon as the Hellenes again moved onwards, the hostile cavalry
at once left the hillock--not in a body any longer, but in
fragments--some streaming from one side, some from another; and the
crest was gradually stripped of its occupants, till at last the
company was gone. Accordingly, Clearchus did not ascend the crest, but
posting his army at its base, he sent Lycius of Syracuse and another
to the summit, with orders to inspect the condition of things on the
other side, and to report results. Lycius galloped up and
investigated, bringing back news that they were fleeing might and
main. Almost at that instant the sun sank beneath the horizon. There
the Hellenes halted; they grounded arms and rested, marvelling the
while that Cyrus was not anywhere to be seen, and that no messenger
had come from him. For they were in complete ignorance of his death,
and conjectured that either he had gone off in pursuit, or had pushed
forward to occupy some point. Left to themselves, they now