inhabitants talking at the street corners, and
caying that Hercules was brave, and Jason too,
and Castor and Pollux likewise, but that The-
seus, the son of their own king, would turn out
as srreat a hero as the best of them. Theseus
took longer strides on hearing this, and fancied
himself sure of a magnificent reception at hia
father's court, since he came thither with Fame
to blow her trumpet before him, and cry to King
Aegeus, "Behold your son!"

He little suspected, innocent youth that ha
was, that here, in this very Athens, where hia
father reigned, a greater danger awaited him
than any which he had encountered on the road.
Yet this was the truth. You must understand
that the father of Theseus, though not very old
in years, was almost worn out with the cares of
government, and had thus grown aged before
his time. His nephews, not expecting him to
live a very great while, intended to get all the
power of the kingdom into their own hands. But
when they heard that Theseus had arrived in
Athens, and learned what a gallant young man
he was, they saw that he would not be at all the
kind of person to let them steal away his father's

[[29]]

p028 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p029w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p030

v?