with their verdure. The wall seemed to have
no door, nor any windows, but rose up, lofty,
and massive, and mysterious, and was neither
to be clambered over, nor, so far as Theseus
could perceive, to be passed through. Neverthe-
less, Ariadne did but press one of her soft little
fingers against a particular block of marble, and,
though it looked as solid as any other part of
the wall, it yielded to her touch; disclosing
an entrance just wide enough to admit them.
They crept through, and the marble stone swung
back into its place.

"We are now," said Ariadne, "in the famous
labyrinth which Daedalus built before he made
himself a pair of wings, and flew away from our
island like a bird. That Daedalus was a very
cunning workman; but of all his artful con-
trivances, this labyrinth is the most wondrous.
"Were we to take but a few steps from the door-
way, we might wander about all our lifetime,
and never find it again. Yet in the very centre
of this labyrinth is the Minotaur; and, Theseus,
you must go thither to seek him."

"But how shall I ever find him," asked The-
seus, "if the labyrinth so bewilders me as you
say it will?"

[[57]]

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v?