rock, and told him that, for years to come, ne
could not be strong enough to move it. And
again and again the rosy-cheeked and curly-
headed boy would tug and strain at the huge
mass of stone, striving, child as he was, to do
what a giant could hardly have done without
taking both of his great hands to the task.
Meanwhile the rock seemed to be sinking far-
ther and farther into the ground. The moss
grew over it thicker and thicker, until at last it
looked almost like a soft green seat, with only a
few gray knobs of granite peeping out. The
overhanging trees, also, shed their brown leaves
upon it, as often as the autumn came; and at
its base grew ferns and wild flowers, some of
which crept quite over its surface. To all ap-
pearance, the rock was as firmly fastened as any
other portion of the earth's substance.

But, difficult as the matter looked, Theseus
was now growing up to be such a vigorous
youth, that, in his own opinion, the time would
quickly come when he might hope to get the
upper hand of this ponderous lump of stone.

"Mother, I do believe it has started!" cried
he, after one of his attempts. "The earth
around it is certainly a little cracked!"

[[22]]

p021 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p022w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p023

v?