40.

And soon the baron hath crossed the green, And smilingly he cried :

'Sweet maid, I've heard thy beauty's fame, And thou shalt be my bride.

41.

'Rich robes of state shall deck thy frame, A coronet gild thy brow;

And a castle shalt thou have for dower,
With manors high and low.'

42.

The maiden but sighed at all his bribes,
Her faith they could not move;
For little she thought this baron gay
Could be her own true love.

43.

Thus, though to gain the maiden's hand
This gallant baron strove,

Yet all his grandeur she despised,
For the youth that she did love.

44.

And, though her angry mother tried
Her constant heart to move,

As vain were her mother's cruel threats
As the baron's golden love.

PART THIRD.

45.

Night was come on, and o'er the plain
The moon's pale glimmering shone,
When the hapless maiden took her way,
All friendless and alone:

46.

All helpless and alone she sped,
And sadly did she rove

O'er many a hill, and many a dale,
In search of her peasant love.

47.

And now the pale, full moon was gone,
And stormy clouds did lower;
Her sighings added to the winds,
Her tears increased the shower.

48.

And, though full loud the thunders rolled, And heavily poured the rain,

Yet still, in search of her dear-loved youth, She braved the stormy plain.

49.

Roused with the warring of the storm,

The baron up arose ;

And soon, in search of his beauteous maid, With anxious speed he goes.

50.

But, lo! the hapless maid was gone

Through deserts wild to rove,

Alas! all friendless and alone,

In search of her true love.

51.

Oh! then that baron grieved full sore,
And his foot-page called he :
'Oh! bring me here my peasant garb,
As quick as ye can flec.'

52.

Oh! then rode forth this young baron,

O'er many a dreary way;

When, alas! all on the stormy plain

He saw the maiden lay.

53.

O'ercome with toil, and spent with grief,
That hapless maiden fell:

The baron he wiped his quivering brow,
While his heart it 'gan to swell.

54.

He got him water from the brook,
And sprinkled o'er the maid;
But many a tear that from him fell

Lent most its saving aid.

55.

Right glad he marked her struggling breath,

And blush-reviving face;

He tenderly welcomed her to life,

With many a fond embrace.

56.

'And art thou found, my own true love?

And art thou come?' she said,

'Then blest be the night, and blest the hour,

When from our cot I fled.'

57.

Thus spake the maid, as fast they rode

Through many a lonely way;

And she thought that to his humble cot
Her love would her convey.

58.

But soon they reached the castle wall,
And came to the castle gate;
When, lo! the youth, without delay,
Rode boldly in thereat.

59.

Thrice turned the maiden wan and pale,
And with fear her heart was moved,
When she saw the lordly baron was
The peasant youth she loved.

60.

But blithe he cried: Cheer up, my fair; Forgive my pride, I pray ;

And, lo for thy faith thus nobly proved, Be this thy bridal-day.

61.

'Although thou wast but a lowly maid,
Thou art now my countess gay;
Then, come, cheer up, my love so true,
For this is our bridal-day.'

62.

The wardens blew their sounding horns,
And their banners streamed in air;

Their horns resounded o'er the dale,
The banners shone afar.

OLD WORLD STORIES.

THE CATTLE OF HELIOS.

Far away down the gentle stream of ocean, Odysseus had been to the dark kingdom of Hades, where the ghosts of men wander after their days on earth are ended. There he talked with Agamemnon and the wise seer Teiresias, with Minos and Heracles; and there he had listened to the words of Achilles in the meadows of Asphodel, and told him of the brave deeds and the great name of his son Neoptolemus. There the shade of Heracles spake to him, but Heracles himself was in the house of Zeus, and lay in the arms of Hebe, quaffing the dark wine at the banquets of the gods. And the shade told him of the former days, how all his life long Heracles toiled for a hard master, who was weaker than himself, but Zeus gave him the power. Then Odysseus tarried no more in the shadowy land, for he feared lest Persephone, the queen, might place before him Gorgon's head, which no mortal man may see and live; so he went back to his ship, and his men took their oars and rowed down the stream of ocean, till they came to the wide sea; and then they spread the white sails, and hastened to the island of Eæa, where Eôs dwells, and where Helios rises to greet the early morning.

From her home which the wolves and the lions guarded, the Lady Kirkê saw the ship of Odysseus, as she sat on her golden throne, weaving the bright threads in