History of the Peloponnesian War

When a considerable number had got up, the sentinels in the towers discovered it; for one of the Plataeans, in laying hold of the battlements, threw down a the from them, which made a noise as it fell.

And immediately a shout was raised, and the troops rushed to the wall, for they did not know what the alarm was, the night being dark, and the weather stormy; and besides, those of the Plataeans who had been left behind in the town sallied forth, and made an attack on the wall of the Peloponnesians on the opposite side t where their men were getting over, that they might pay as little attention as possible to them.

Thus, though they were alarmed, and stood to their several posts, no one ventured to go to the rescue beyond his own station, but they were at a loss to conjecture what was going on.

Meanwhile their three hundred, whose orders were to give aid at whatever point it might be necessary, proceeded outside the wall in the direction of the shout.

Fire-signals of an attack from the enemy were likewise raised towards Thebes; but the Plataeans in the city also raised many others, which had been prepared beforehand for this purpose, that the indications of the enemy's signals might be indistinct, and so [their friends] might not come to their aid, thinking the business something different from what it really was, till those of their own number who had gone out should have escaped and gained their safety.