SWIFT AND OLD-GOLD 193 



were thickest in the flight, there followed Swift 

 and Old-Gold, glorying in their strength and 

 speed, crushing men beneath their feet, and over- 

 turning many a fleeing car. When they came 

 to the great ditch that the Greeks had digged 

 outside their camp, many were the horses and 

 very many the men that fell in one terrible, strug- 

 gling heap; but our swift steeds, guided by Au- 

 tomedon, leaped straight over all in their mad pur- 

 suit of the mighty Hector, who was speeding 

 across the plain toward the shelter of his own 

 gates. 



But why tell of all the terrible deeds of that 

 terrible day? Why tell of the fight beneath the 

 walls of Troy, of the brave rallying of the Tro- 

 jans under great Hector, and of the fierce onset 

 of Sarpedon, who slew the goodly trace-horse 

 Pedasos with his spear? Then indeed it might 

 have gone hard with Patroclus had not Autom- 

 edon reached over with his long-edged sword 

 and quickly cut adrift the unlucky beast; and 

 Swift and Old-Gold, no longer cumbered in their 

 course, strained forward upon the reins and 

 rushed furiously onward. 



At length, however, there was a turn in the tide 

 of battle, for Patroclus, still eager to meet the 



12 



