All night they sat by the battlefield, high hopes in their hearts, and their watch-fires burning. As when the moon shines clear on a windless night, and all the crags and glens and mountain-tops stand sharply out, and wide and boundless is the sky, and all the stars are seen; even so many were the lights of the watch-fires that gleamed in the plain before Troy. A thousand fires did burn there, and in the red glow of each blazing fire sat fifty men. Beside the chariots stood the horses champing barley and spelt, waiting for the coming of dawn. CHAPTER VIII THE MESSAGE TO ACHILLES While the Trojans sat by their watch-fires, sorely troubled were the hearts of the Greeks and of Agamemnon their overlord. Hurriedly did Agamemnon send his heralds to call an assembly, bidding each man separately and with no loud shouting. Sorrowfully did they sit them down; and when Agamemnon rose up to speak, the bitter tears ran down his face as flows the wan water of a mountain stream down the dark gulleys where the sunbeams never play. ‘My friends,’ he said, ‘leaders and captains of the Greeks, hard of heart is Zeus, and ill hath he dealt with me. Victory did he promise, but shame hath he brought. Nothing now is left for us but to flee with our ships to our own land, for never shall Troy be ours.’ So spake he, and long did the Greek warriors sit in silent grief. Then spoke Diomedes: ‘A coward hast thou called me, Agamemnon; whether I am a coward the Greeks, young and old, know well. To thee hath Zeus given power above all other men, but courage, which is the highest power of all, hath he kept from thee. Thinkest thou that we Greeks are cowards and weaklings such as thou? If it is thy will to flee, flee then! Thy ships wait for thee by the sea. But as for us, here will we stay till Troy lies in ruins before us. And if it even be the will of every Greek here to flee with thee, here still will I and my friend Sthenelus abide and fight until Troy is ours. The gods sent us hither! To us will the gods give the victory!’ Then spoke old Nestor: ‘Mighty in battle art thou, Diomedes, and well hast thou spoken. But thou art yet young--full well mightest thou be my youngest son. So let all who hear, yea, even Agamemnon, hearken to my words and not gainsay me, who am so old a man. For without clan, without laws, without a home must be he who loveth strife. Hasten then, and let us all take food, and see that the sentinels be watchful along the deep trench without the wall. For to us this night cometh victory or death.’ Then did Agamemnon speedily have a feast prepared, and when the feast was ended, Nestor again uprose and spoke.