??ails, instead of black ones, in case he should
overcome the Minotaur, and return victorious.
In the joy of their success, however, and amidst
the sports, dancing, and other merriment } with
which these young folks wore away the time,
they never once thought whether their sails
were black, white, or rainbow colored, and, in-
deed, left it entirely to the mariners whether they
had any sails at all. Thus the vessel returned,
like a raven, with the same sable wings that
had wafted her away. But poor King Aegeus,
day after day, infirm as he was, had clambered
to the summit of a cliff that overhung the sea,
and there sat watching for Prince Theseus,
homeward bound; and no sooner did he be-
hold the fatal blackness of the sails, than he
concluded that his dear son, whom he loved
so much, and felt so proud of, had been eaten
by the Minotaur. He could not bear the
thought of living any longer; so, first flinging
his crown and sceptre into the sea, (useless
bawbles that they were to him now!) King
Aegeus merely stooped forward, and fell head-
long over the cliff, and was drowned, poor soul,
in the waves that foamed at its base.??

[[69]]

p068 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p069w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p070

v?