??rns, before the high, blue mountains of Crete
began to show themselves among the far-off
clouds. That sight, to be sure, made them all
very grave again.

Theseus stood among the sailors, gazing ea-
gerly towards the land; although, as yet, it
seemed hardly more substantial than the clouds,
amidst which the mountains were looming up.
Once or twice, he fancied that he saw a glare
of some bright object, a long way off, flinging a
gleam across the waves.

"Did you see that flash of light?" he inquired
of the master of the vessel.

"No, prince; but I have seen it before," an-
swered the master. "It came from Talus, I
suppose."

As the breeze came fresher just then, the
master was busy with trimming his sails, and
had no more time to answer questions. But
while the vessel flew faster and faster towards
Crete, Theseus was astonished to behold a hu-
man figure, gigantic in size, which appeared to
be striding, with a measured movement, along
the margin of the island. It stepped from cliff
+o cliff, and sometimes from one headland to

[[47]]

p046 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p047w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p048

v?