A Macedonian, who had deserted, begged Darius not to leave the plain. ‘But,’ said the king, ‘if I stay here, Alexander will escape me.’ ‘That fear is needless,’ answered the Macedonian, ‘for assure yourself that far from avoiding you, he will make all speed to meet you, and is now most likely on his march toward you.’ When Alexander knew that Darius had left the plain for the pass of Issus, he was pleased, for he knew that the enemy would now be hemmed in between the mountains and the sea. Before long the two armies were close together. Alexander led his right wing against the left wing of the Persians. Here he was soon victorious, and free to attack the centre of the enemy, where Darius sat in his chariot, surrounded by a band of Persian nobles. As the great king saw Alexander and his followers drawing nearer and nearer, he began to grow afraid. Soon he could bear his fears no longer, and leaping from his chariot, he mounted a horse and fled from the field. When the Persians saw that their king had fled, they stayed to fight no longer. Even the cavalry, which had withstood every attack, now wavered, then broke and fled with the rest. The great hosts sought to hide themselves from their pursuers among the mountain passes, but thousands were captured and slain. Darius in his haste had left his shield and his royal cloak behind, but he would not stay to recover them. On and on he fled until he reached a town on the river Euphrates. Alexander was well pleased with his great victory, but he would fain have captured the Persian king. To a wound in his thigh he paid little attention, nor did it prove dangerous. But it made it impossible for him to overtake Darius. When the king returned from the pursuit of his enemy, he found his men pillaging the Persian camp. The tent of Darius, which was beautifully furnished, and which also had a great store of gold and silver, was set apart for Alexander himself. ‘Let us now cleanse ourselves from the toils of war in the baths of Darius,’ said the king as he entered the tent of the defeated monarch. ‘Not so,’ answered one of his followers, ‘but in Alexander’s rather; for the property of the conquered is and should be called the conqueror’s.’ Alexander’s early training had been simple as that of a Spartan, and the luxury of the great king’s tents amazed him. In one there were numerous baths and many boxes of ointment, in another a table was spread for a magnificent feast. As Alexander looked at it all, he turned to his followers and said, ‘This, it seems, is royalty.’ But his early training still influenced him, and he kept his simple tastes and cared little for dainty fare or other luxuries. Once a queen to whom Alexander had been kind sent to his tent, day by day, some of the dishes which had been prepared for her own table. And at length, that he might always fare well, she sent cooks and bakers.