King Agenor in his palace, and Phoenix at one
place, and Cilix at another, and Thasus at a
third, and his dear mother, Queen Telephassa,
under a flowery sod; so that now he was quite
alone, both friendless and homeless. He men-
tioned, likewise, that the oracie had bidden him
be guided by a cow, and inquired of the stran-
gers whether they supposed that this brindled
animal could be the one.

"Why, 'tis a very wonderful affair," answered
one of his new companions. "I am pretty well
acquainted with the ways of cattle, and I never
knew a cow, of her own accord, to go so far with-
out stopping. If my legs will let me, I'll never
leave following the beast till she lies down."

"Nor I!" said a second.

"Nor I!" cried a third. "If she goes a hun-
dred miles farther, I'm determined to see the end
of it."

The secret of it was, you must know, that the
cow was an enchanted cow, and that, without
their being conscious of it, she threw some of her
enchantment over every body that took so much
as half a dozen steps behind her. They could
not possibly help following her, though, all the

[[143]]

p142 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p143w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p144

v?