peace between him and his subjects.

She did not come too soon, for the avengers were drawing near the
farmhouse, which had a garrison of only twelve men: Ulysses, Laertes,
Telemachus, the swineherd, the cowherd, and servants of Laertes. They
all armed themselves, and not choosing to defend the house, they went
boldly out to meet their enemies. They encouraged each other, and
Laertes prayed to Athene, and then threw his spear at Eupeithes. The
spear passed clean through helmet and through head, and Eupeithes fell
with a crash, and his armour rattled as he fell. But now Athene
appeared, and cried: 'Hold your hands, ye men of Ithaca, that no more
blood may be shed, and peace may be made.' The foes of Ulysses, hearing
the terrible voice of the Goddess, turned and fled, and Ulysses uttered
his war-cry, and was rushing among them, when a thunderbolt fell at his
feet, and Athene bade him stop, lest he should anger Zeus, the Lord of
Thunder. Gladly he obeyed, and peace was made with oaths and with
sacrifice, peace in Ithaca and the islands.

Here ends the story of Ulysses, Laertes' son, for we do not know
anything about his adventures when he went to seek a land of men who
never heard of the sea, nor eat meat savoured with salt.

THE FLEECE OF GOLD

I

THE CHILDREN OF THE CLOUD

While Troy still stood fast, and before King Priam was born, there was a
king called Athamas, who reigned in a country beside the Grecian sea.
Athamas was a young man, and was unmarried; because none of the
princesses who then lived seemed to him beautiful enough to be his wife.
One day he left his palace and climbed high up into a mountain,
following the course of a little river. He came to a place where a great
black rock stood on one side of the river, jutting into the stream.
Round the rock the water flowed deep and dark. Yet, through the noise of
the river, the king thought he heard laughter and voices like the voices
of girls. So he climbed very quietly up the back of the rock, and,
looking over the edge, there he saw three beautiful maidens bathing in a
pool, and splashing each other with the water. Their long yellow hair
covered them like cloaks and floated behind them on the pool. One of
them was even more beautiful than the others, and as soon as he saw her
the king fell in love with her, and said to himself, 'This is the wife
for me.'

As he thought this, his arm touched a stone, which slipped from the top
of the rock