διαλειπούσας—the transports, two hundred feet apart, were so stationed as to guard the gaps in the σταύρωμα. See on c. 41.1.
καθ᾽ ἡσυχίαν—nudisturbcd, the regular meaning of the phrase in Thuc. Cf. κατὰ σκότον=clam.
παρασκευαζόμενοι . . . διετέλεσαν—the only instance of διατελῶ with partic, in Thuc. διατελῶ, τυγχάνω, and φαίνομαι are often constructed with adjectives alone, as ἀσφαλέστατος ἂν διατελοίη I. 34.2.
μέχρι νυκτὸς—the art. omitted as usual with words denoting time.
