I made a wry face. "I don't try deliberately to quarrel with anybody. It is just—just—"
"Well?"
"Oh, I suppose I'm so wrapped up in whatever task I am trying to accomplish that I simply don't think about others."
"Maybe, but you'll sure make life hard for yourself that way. Even if you're as smart as you think you are, people won't put up with that sort of thing."
Well, I do not like to admit I am wrong any better than the next man. But I can smell dung when my nose is rubbed in it, and if my anger is quick to rise, it is equally quick to wane. Humbly I asked:
"What do you suggest, Bias?"
"For one thing, when a man makes some little mistake, don't shout in front of all the rest that he's a thick-skinned idiot. Take him aside and quietly point out what he's done \ wrong. Give him a chance to mend his ways before you yell j at him like he was a criminal."
The third day went more smoothly, except that Onas arrived late for drill. I tried (though with some backsliding) to profit from Bias' advice. Thus, I did not scream at the Egyptian but chided him gently when we were alone.
I found keen pleasure in the creak of the skeins, the crash of the throwing arms, and the whistle of the darts. I might be only a little longer than our missiles myself, but with Talos I could overthrow the mightiest warrior—nay more, even Antigonos himself, who was said to be seven feet tall.
Furthermore, my military duties gave me an excuse once more to put off my family on the subject of my marriage to Io.
We were setting out on our fourth day of practice when a slave ran up and said: "Are you Chares Nikonos, sir?"
"Yes. What is it?"
"You are commanded to turn your catapult over to one of your men, sir, and come to the Council Chamber at once."
"Who wants me?" said I, nettled. "The Council, sir."
"Oh. Very well. Onas, take over."
I found the Council and the generals, Kallias among them, awaiting me with grave faces. Kallias said:
"O Chafes, events have caught up with us ere we were ready. Demetrios son of Antigonos is at Loryma, almost within sight of us, with a great force. He demands that Rhodes unite with him and Antigonos in their new war against the Ptolemaios.
"I will not try to explain the politics of the matter; that is the affair of these gentlemen. I will only say that we cannot acceed to Demetrios' demand, and that on the other hand we must gain time to prepare for his attack.
"An embassy will leave for Loryma tomorrow. While they strive to placate Demetrios, you will approach him, saying that the city has voted to build a statue of him, twice life size, at our own expense. You have been chosen as sculptor, and you are there to make models and sketches. Do you understand?"
"Y—yes, sir."
"Can you do it?"
"I think so."
"Very well. Have you any questions?"
"Yes, sir. How much shall I be paid?"
Kallias and President Damoteles traded smiles. Kallias said: "The Council has voted to pay you two thousand drachmai, besides the cost of the bronze."
This was a better commission than that for the statues for the theater. I said:
"I thank you, my masters. May I ask another question?"
"Speak," said President Damoteles.
"Why was I chosen? I know I have annoyed some by premature and youthful boasts, and I also know that I'm the youngest practicing sculptor in Rhodes, with little to show."
Damoteles: "You have impressed some here with the skill you have already shown. Moreover, your new method of casting promises to speed the task; and in this project we want speed, lest Demetrios decide we mock him and come against us anyway. Go home and gather your gear. The Peripolos sails at dawn."
I went home and told my parents. To Kavaros I said: "Pack our gear. We're going to Karia on a job. And do not think to run away. I've taken out a policy on you from Dolon and Magnes, the best slave catchers in the world."
Kavaros grinned slyly. "Sure now, master darling, what would a poor Kelt on the run do in those wild countries of Asia? If he could not bespeak the people, they would like as not eat him for dinner."
From Rhodes the Karian coast, a hundred furlongs off, looks like a solid wall of blue-green hills, rising steeply to the tableland of Asia Minor. As one nears it, it opens out into bays and headlands.
The Peripolos, the old sacred trireme of Rhodes, with the red rose of Rhodes aglow on her sail, entered the Kaunian Gulf. On our left Mount Phoinix, crowned with its citadel, rose from the promontory of Kynos-Sema.
The ships of Demetrios stitched the waters of the gulf before us, rowing back and forth at exercises. After we had passed Mount Phoinix, every good stretch of beach had ships drawn up. Tubby merchantmen also plied the waters, bringing supplies to' Demetrios' army.
I stood on the forecastle deck with the embassy, looking keenly forward to seeing the great Demetrios, of whom many spoke as another Alexander. Would he make a suitable subject for my long-dreamt-of Colossus? Would he come up to my ideal of perfect manhood? I had seen him once, from afar, and had heard contradictory tales of his character. What was he really like?
On the deck Admiral Exekestos, a big bellowing potbellied man, argues with Rhesos, the Superintendent of Docks, about the design of ships.
"Look at that!" said the admiral, pointing to an enormous galley with a single bank of sweeps. A pair of light catapults sat on its forecastle deck, like grasshoppers crouched to spring; between them a statue of a Titan hurling a boulder rose from the stem post. The golden eagle of the Antigonians glowed from the sail.
"That," said the admiral, "is one of these seveners. Our spies tell us the Demetrios has over thirty ships above fivers in rate. What should we ever do against them!"
"Our triremes and triemiolias, with their highly trained rowers, can always outmaneuver those clumsy things," said Rhesos.
"Much good that would do us! These battle transports do not try to maneuver and ram; they disorganize the foe by an artillery bombardment, then grapple and overwhelm him by boarding. With so broad a deck, they can carry many times as many marines as we. The conventional trireme is as obsolete as the bronzen sword."
Rhesos shrugged. "We beat Attalos with them. And how could our taxpayers ever support sixers and seveners, with their hordes of hungry rowers?"
"Their extra cost is not so great as the number of rowers implies; for, with several men on each oar of a single bank, we should need but one trained rower for each oar. The rest can be labor of the lowest class."
"But still, where should we find so many rowers? Such ships may be practical for Antigonos, with the manpower of his vast satrapy to draw upon, but they were absurd for Rhodes."
"Not so, my dear Rhesos. The mainland of Hellas is caught in the pinch of poverty. Let word spread that several hundred places on our benches are open, and they'll swim hither to enlist. And we must learn to mount catapults on our ships, to match Demetrios' devices. I tell you, the state that falls behind in technical improvements is lost—"
"Ahoy!" shouted a man on the forecastle deck of the sevener. "Who are you?"
Our captain shouted back: "The Peripolos of Rhodes, bearing an embassy to the General Demetrios."
"This is the Devastator, of the Imperial Macedonian Navy," said the other. "Follow us."
The sevener turned ponderously towards Loryma, showing the eagle of gilded wood on her stern. As Loryma came into sight, I could see, in the fields around the city, archers shooting at butts and companies of infantry marching to and fro with long Macedonian pikes. Rhesos said: