he had fondled. Their mildness seemed un-
real, and a mere freak; but their savage nature
was as true as their teeth and claws.

Nevertheless, the men went safely across the
lawn with the wild beasts frisking about them,
and doing no manner of harm; although, as
they mounted the steps of the palace, you might
possibly have heard a low growl, particularly
from the wolves; as if they thought it a pity,
after all, to let the strangers pass without so
much as tasting what they were made of.

Eurylochus and his followers now passed un-
der a lofty portal, and looked through the open
doorway into the interior of the palace. The
first thing that they saw was a spacious hall,
and a fountain in the middle of it, gushing
up towards the ceiling out of a marble basin,
and falling back into it with a continual plash.
The water of this fountain, as it spouted up-
ward, was constantly taking new shapes, not very
distinctly, but plainly enough for a nimble fancy
to recognize what they were. Now it was the
shape of a man in a long robe, the fleecy white-
ness of which was made out of the fountain's
spray; now it was a lion, or a tiger, or a wolf,

[[179]]

p178 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p179w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p180

v?