84 HISTORICAL TALES,

plete. But the Persian king followed him to his
capital, defeated him in a battle near Sardis, and
besieged him in that city.

Sardis was considered impregnable, and Creesus
could easily have held out till his allies arrived had
it not been for one of those unfortunate incidents
of which war has so many to tell. Sardis was
strongly fortified on every side but one. Here the
rocky height on which it was built was so steep as
to be deemed inaccessible, and walls were thought
unnecessary. Yet a soldier of the garrison made
his way down this precipice to pick up his helmet,
which had fallen. A Persian soldier saw hin, tried
to climb up, and found it possible. Others followed
him, and the garrison, to their consternation, found
the enemy within their walls. The gates were
opened to the army without, and the whole city
was speedily taken by storm.

Croesus would have been killed but for a miracle.
His deaf and dumb son, seeing a Persian about to
strike him down, burst into speech through the
agony of terror, crying out, “Man, do not kill
Cresus!” The story goes that he ever afterwards
retained the power of speech.

Cyrus had given orders that the life of Croesus
should be spared, and the unhappy captive was
brought before him. But the cruel Persian had a
different death in view. He proposed to burn the
captive king, together with fourteen Lydian youths,
on a great pile of wood which he had constructed,
We give what followed as told by Herodotus, though
its truth cannot be vouched for at this late day.