"The Persians behind us!" he exclaimed. "You must be dreaming!"
"No," Leonidas replied. "All day we have fled before them."
"The king must know at once," Ptolemy said. "Follow me."
He led the way through the sleeping camp to Alexander's tent, in which a lamp was burning. A sentinel stood before it in full armor.
"What is your business?" he demanded.
"I must speak with the king," Ptolemy replied.
"The king left orders that he must not be disturbed. Wait until the morning," the man said calmly.
"I will take the responsibility," Ptolemy retorted angrily. "Stand aside!"
"You cannot pass," the soldier answered, without moving.
"What is this?" Alexander inquired, raising the curtain of the tent. He held in his hand a copy of the Iliad, in which he had been reading. "Is it you, Ptolemy—and Leonidas? Enter."