The Junior Classics, vol 7
Stories of Courage and Heroism
The stories in this volume are true stories, and have been arranged in chronological order, an arrangement that will aid the reader to remember the times to which the stories relate. (Edited by William Patten.)
e best of one's self and the best of one's powers to aid those of our fellow-workers who need our active help.
THE FIGHT AT THE PASS OF THERMOPYLÆ
By Charlotte M. Yonge
There was trembling in Greece. "The Great King," as the Greeks called Xerxes, the chief ruler of the East, was marshaling his forces against the little free states that nestled amid the rocks and gulfs of the Eastern Mediterranean--the whole of which together would hardly equal one province of the huge Asiatic realm! Moreover, it was a war not only on the men but on their gods. The Persians were zealous adorers of the sun and the fire, they abhorred the idol-worship of the Greeks, and defiled and plundered every temple that fell in their way. Death and desolation were almost the best that could be looked for at such hands--slavery and torture from cruelly barbarous masters would only too surely be the lot of numbers, should their land fall a prey to the conquerors.
The muster place was at Sardis, and
