rd with his
left hand, after fastening the clue of thread to his belt.

The roars of the hungry Minotaur came nearer and nearer; now his feet
could be heard padding along the echoing floor of the labyrinth. Theseus
moved to the shadowy corner of the narrow path, where it opened into the
broad light passage, and he crouched there; his heart was beating
quickly. On came the Minotaur, up leaped Theseus, and dashed the
contents of the open phial in the eyes of the monster; a white dust flew
out, and Theseus leaped back into his hiding place. The Minotaur uttered
strange shrieks of pain; he rubbed his eyes with his monstrous hands; he
raised his head up towards the sky, bellowing and confused; he stood
tossing his head up and down; he turned round and round about, feeling
with his hands for the wall. He was quite blind. Theseus drew his short
sword, crept up, on naked feet, behind the monster, and cut through
the back sinews of his legs at the knees. Down fell the Minotaur, with a
crash and a roar, biting at the rocky floor with his lion's teeth, and
waving his hands, and clutching at the empty air. Theseus waited for his
chance, when the clutching hands rested, and then, thrice he drove the
long sharp blade of bronze through the heart of the Minotaur. The body
leaped, and lay still.

[Illustration: HOW THESEUS SLEW THE MINOTAUR.]

Theseus kneeled down, and thanked all the gods, and promised rich
sacrifices, and a new temple to Pallas Athene, the Guardian of Athens.
When he had finished his prayer, he drew the short sword, and hacked off
the head of the Minotaur. He sheathed both his swords, took the head in
his hand, and followed the string back out of the daylit place, to the
rock where he had left his lamp. With the lamp and the guidance of the
string he easily found his way to the door, which he unlocked. He
noticed that the thick bronze plates of the door were dinted and scarred
by the points of the horns of the Minotaur, trying to force his way out.

He went out into the fresh early morning; all the birds were singing
merrily, and merry was the heart of Theseus. He locked the door, and
crossed to the palace, which he entered, putting the key in the place
which Ariadne had shown him. She was there, with fear and joy in her
eyes. 'Touch me not,' said Theseus, 'for I am foul with the blood of the
Minotaur.' She brought him to the baths on the ground floor, and swiftly
fled up a secret stair. In the bathroom Theseus mad