being in dread of summary execution. Paches reassured them, and sent
them in safe custody to Tenedos.

We must now turn back a little, and follow the movements of Alcidas.
The Spartan admiral, it would seem, had small stomach for the bold
adventure on which he was bound--no less than to rob the Athenians of
one of their most important possessions, and defy the redoubtable
captains of Athens on their own element. After loitering for some time
off the coast of Peloponnesus, he sailed on slowly as far as Delos,
and then, touching at Icarus, he heard that Mytilene was already
taken. Wishing, however, to inform himself with certainty, he pushed
on as far as Erythrae, on the mainland of Asia, which he reached seven
days after the fall of Mytilene. Being now assured that the report was
true, he called a council of war to decide what was to be done. Then a
certain Greek of Elis, named Teutiaplus, made a bold suggestion: "Let
us," he said, "sail straight to Mytilene, and make an attempt to
recapture the town by surprise. Most likely the Athenians, flushed
with success, will be taken unawares, and we shall find the harbour
open, and the land forces dispersed, and if we make a sudden onfall,
under cover of darkness, we shall probably succeed."

The prudent Alcidas found this proposal little to his taste; nor was
he better pleased by another plan, put forward by the Lesbian envoys
who were returning on board the Peloponnesian fleet, and seconded by a
party of exiles from the cities of Ionia. These men tried to persuade
Alcidas to establish himself in some city of Asia Minor, and raise a
revolt among the allies of Athens in these parts. He had, they said,
every prospect of success, for his arrival was welcomed on all sides.
Let him seize the opportunity of attacking the Athenians in their most
mortal part, first by withdrawing the tribute of Ionia, and secondly