As they seemed to be slow about the business, he turned round angrily to the Persian nobles and bade them lend a hand to force the wagons out.  Then, if ever, what goes to constitute one branch of good discipline, was to be witnessed.  Each of those addressed, just where he chanced to be 8 standing, threw off his purple cloak, and flung himself into the work with as much eagerness as if it had been a charge for victory.  Down a steep hill side they flew, with their costly tunics and embroidered trousers—­some with the circlets round their necks, and bracelets on their arms—­in an instant, they had sprung into the miry clay, and in less time than one could have conceived, they had landed the wagons safe on terra firma.

[1] The choenix = about 1 quart (or, according to others, 1 1/2 pint). 
    It was the minimum allowance of corn for a man, say a slave, per
    diem.  The Spartan was allowed at the public table 2 choenices a
    day.

Altogether it was plain that Cyrus was bent on pressing on the march, and averse to stoppages, except where he halted for the sake of provisioning or some other necessary object; being convinced that the more rapidly he advanced, the less prepared for battle would he find the king; while the slower his own progress, the larger would be the hostile army which he would find collected.  Indeed, the attentive observer could see, at a glance, that if the king’s empire was strong in its extent of territory and the number of inhabitants, that strength is compensated by an inherent weakness, dependent upon the length of roads and the inevitable dispersion of defensive forces, where an invader insists upon pressing home the war by forced marches.

On the opposite side of the Euphrates to the point reached on one of these desert stages, was a large and flourishing city named Charmande.  From this town the soldiers made purchases of provisions, crossing the river on rafts, in the following fashion:  They took the skins which they used as tent coverings, and filled them with light grass; they then compressed and stitched them tightly together by the ends, so that the water might not touch the hay.  On these they crossed and got provisions:  wine made from the date-nut, and millet or panic-corn, the common staple of the country.  Some dispute or other here occurred between the soldiers of Menon and Clearchus, in which Clearchus sentenced one of Menon’s men, as the delinquent, and had him flogged.  The man went back to his own division and told them.  Hearing what had been done to their comrade, his fellows fretted and fumed, and were highly incensed against Clearchus.  The same day Clearchus visited the passage of the river, and after inspecting the market there, was returning with a few followers, on horseback, to his tent, and had to 12 pass through Menon’s quarters.  Cyrus had not yet come up, but was riding up in the same direction.  One of Menon’s men, who was splitting wood, caught sight of Clearchus