40 PYRRHUS.

so the gods might bj' this let him know the city should not be taken. Pyrrhus replied, that all these things were but idle talk, full of uncertainty, and only fit to amuse the vulgar; their thought, with their swords in their hands, should always be The one good omen is king Pyrrhus' cause* and so got up, and drew out his army to the walls by break of day. The Lacedaemonians, in resolution and courage, made a defence even beyond their power; the women were all by, helping them to arms, and bringing bread and drink to those that desired it, and taking care of the wounded. The Macedonians attempted to fill up the trench, bringing huge quantities of materials and throwing them upon the arms and dead bodies, that lay there and were covered over. While the Lacedaemonians opposed this with all their force, Pyrrhus, in person, ap- peared on their side of the trench and the wagons, pressing on horseback toward the city, at which the men who had that post calling out, and the women shrieking and running about, while Pyrrhus violently pushed on, and beat down all that disputed his way, his horse re- ceived a shot in the belly from a Cretan arrow, and, in his convulsions as he died, threw off Pyrrhus on slippery and steep ground. And all about him being in confusion at this, the Spartans came boldly up, and making good use of their missiles, forced them off again. After this Pyr- rhus, in other quarters also, put an end to the combat, imagining the Lacedaemonians would be inclined to yield,

• Parodj-ing, by the change of a sun, or to the left hand to the vapor

word, the famous line of the Iliad, and the darkness. The one only xii. 243, "You bid me," says Hec- best omen is to be defending one's tor to Polydamas, a be guided by country. the flight of birds. I heed them UT , „... , ^___ . ___.. .........a c " 1 ne one good omen is one s country a not, whether they pass to the right cause." hand towards the morning and the