who, to their certain knowledge, intended to put
him to death, and get possession of his royal
crown.

"And he is now waiting for admission to
your majesty's presence," added they.

"Aha!" cried the old king, on hearing this.
"Why, he must be a very wicked young fellow
indeed! Pray, what would you advise me to do
with him?"

In reply to this question, the wicked Medea
put in her word. As I have already told you, she
was a famous enchantress. According to some
stories, she was in the habit of boiling old people
in a large caldron, under pretence of making
them young again; but King Aegeus, I suppose,
did not fancy such an uncomfortable way of
growing young, or perhaps was contented to be
old, and therefore would never let himself be
popped into the caldron. If there were time to
gpare from more important matters, I should be
glad to tell you of Medea's fiery chariot, drawn
by winged dragons, in which the enchantress used
often lo take an airing among the clouds. This
chariot, in fact, was the vehicle that first brought
her to Athens, where she had done nothing but

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v?