that Hecate was welcome to go back thither her-
self, but that, for her part, she would wanclei
about the earth in quest of the entrance to King
Pluto's dominions. And Hecate took her at her
word, and hurried back to her beloved cave,
frightening a great many little children with a
glimpse of her dog's face, as she went.

Poor Mother Ceres! It is melancholy to think
of her, pursuing her toilsome way, all alone, and
holding up that never-dying torch, the flame of
which seemed an emblem of the grief and hope
that burned together in her heart. So much did
she suffer, that, though her aspect had been quite
youthful when her troubles began, she grew to
look like an elderly person in a very brief time.
She cared not how she was dressed, nor had she
ever thought of flinging away the wreath of
withered poppies, which she put on the very
morning of Proserpina's disappearance. She
roamed about in so wild a way, and wiih her
hair so dishevelled, that people took her for some
distracted creature, and never dreamed that this
was Mother Ceres, who had the oversight of every
seed which the husbandman planted. Nowa-
days, however, she gave herself no trouble about

[[249]]

p248 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p249w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p250

v?