210 HISTORICAL TALES.

escape over the blockading wall with its armed
guards. So desperate did it appear that half the
garrison feared to attempt it, deeming that it would
end in certain death. The other half, more than two
hundred in number, decided that it was better to
dare death in the ficld than to meet death in the
streets.

The wall was furnished with frequent battlements
and occasional towers, and its whole circuit was kept
under watch day and night. But as time went on
the besiegers grew more lax in discipline, and on wet
nights sought the shelter of the towers, leaving the
spaces between without guards. This left a chance
for escape which the Platzans determined to em-
brace.

By counting the layers of bricks in the blockading
wall they were able to estimate its height, and pre-
pared ladders long enough to reach its top. Then
they waited for a suitable time. At length it came,
a cold, dark, stormy December night, with a roaring
wind, and showers of rain and sleet.

The shivering guards cowered within their shelter-
ing towers. Out from their gates marched the
Plateans, lightly armed, and, to avoid any sound,
with the right foot naked. The left was shod, that
it might have firmer hold on the muddy ground.
Moving with the wind in their faces, and so far apart
that their arms could not strike and clatter, they
reached and crossed the ditch and lifted their ladders
against the wall. Hleven men, armed only with
sword and breastplate, mounted first. Others bear-
ing spears followed, leaving their shields for their