ing that the gods had sent him to be a blessing and
comfort to his old age. Creusa, however, who concluded that the youth was
the offspring of a secret marriage on the part of her husband, was filled
with suspicion and jealousy; {211} when an old servant, observing her
grief, begged her to be comforted, assuring her that the cause of her
distress should be speedily removed.

When, upon the occasion of the public adoption of his son, Xuthus gave a
grand banquet, the old servant of Creusa contrived to mix a strong poison
in the wine of the unsuspecting Ion. But the youth--according to the pious
custom of the ancients, of offering a libation to the gods before partaking
of any repast--poured upon the ground a portion of the wine before putting
it to his lips, when suddenly, as if by a miracle, a dove flew into the
banquet-hall, and sipped of the wine of the libation; whereupon the poor
little creature began to quiver in every limb, and in a few moments
expired.

Ion's suspicions at once fell upon the obsequious servant of Creusa, who
with such officious attention had filled his cup. He violently seized the
old man, and accused him of his murderous intentions. Unprepared for this
sudden attack he admitted his guilt, but pointed to the wife of Xuthus as
the instigator of the crime. Ion was about to avenge himself upon Creusa,
when, by means of the divine intervention of Apollo, his foster-mother, the
Delphic priestess appeared on the scene, and explained the true
relationship which existed between Creusa and Ion. In order to set all
doubts at rest, she produced the charms which she had found round the neck
of the infant, and also the wicker basket in which he had been conveyed to
Delphi.

Mother and son now became reconciled to each other, and Creusa revealed to
Ion the secret of his divine origin. The priestess of Delphi foretold that
he would become the father of a great nation, called after him the Ionians,
and also that Xuthus and Creusa would have a son called Dorus, who would be
the progenitor of the Dorian people, both of which predictions were in due
time verified.

DAEDALUS and ICARUS.

Daedalus, a descendant of Erechtheus, was an Athenian architect, sculptor,
and mechanician. He was the first {212} to introduce the art of sculpture
in its higher development, for before his time statues were merely rude
representations, having the limbs altogether undefined.

But great as was his genius, still greater was his