But there were five Ephors, and one of them was bound by strong ties to Endios. He, moreover, was doubtful of the wisdom of the murderous deed upon which his colleagues had decided. He told the secret to Endios shortly before the eleven commissioners were to set out from Sparta. Endios was dismayed at the disgrace which this base act would bring on his country He was horrified at the fate awaiting his kinsman, to whom he was sincerely attached, and from whom, while he was great and powerful at Athens, he had received nothing but kindness and hospitality. But what could Endios do? He saw the villainy of the plot; he knew that Agis was the chief mover in it, and that Agis hated Alkibiades. He had not much love himself for Agis, and would do anything he could to intercept his malice. Whatever was to be done to warn the object of this secret machination must be done at once. If it was discovered that Endios had betrayed the secret, it would be certain destruction to him and to the Ephor, his informant. He dared not trust it to any Lakedaimonian. All the town would hear of it at once, for the commons loved their Athenian guest; he had won their hearts, as he had won the hearts of the poor wherever he had gone. Endios dared not confide it to a Spartan. We have seen that Agrestides was left behind by Alkibiades to attend to his private affairs when his master went with Chalkideus. Endios found him out and imparted to him the secret which he dare not put in writing. The rage of the faithful follower against king Agis and the Ephors could at first hardly be restrained. But he saw the necessity of departing at once to warn his master. He easily got employed on board one of the triremes which was just about to start, for the Spartan government found it was not easy to supply men enough for all the ships they had lately sent to sea. So when, at the solstice, the new squadron left the shore of Malea, with the eleven commissioners on board, carrying with them the murderous missive, there went with them one who knew its purport, and who could be as speedy as they and as silent as the grave to which the Ephors were seeking to consign his friend and master. The fleet first made for Melos, some seventy miles from Malea. On the way they fell in with ten Athenian ships, and took three of them; the rest escaped. Fearing that their voyage to Miletos would thus be heard of by the Athenian fleet at Samos, they steered for Krete, and thence round by Kaunos, on the Karian coast. The navigation from Kaunos to Miletos was dangerous for a fleet of their small strength, with the Athenians on the watch for them. So they determined to send a message by some sailors in a small boat to Astyochos, begging him to come to convoy them.