the boar rushed on the huntsmen who
were stationed to the right. In that rush it flung two youths prone
upon the ground.

Then might Nestor have missed his going to Troy and his part in that
story, for the boar swerved around and was upon him in an instant.
Using his spear as a leaping pole he vaulted upward and caught the
branches of a tree as the monster dashed the spear down in its rush. In
rage the beast tore at the trunk of the tree. The heroes might have
been scattered at this moment, for Telamon had fallen, tripped by the
roots of a tree, and Peleus had had to throw himself upon him to pull
him out of the way of danger, if Polydeuces and Castor had not dashed
up to their aid. They came riding upon high white horses, spears in
their hands. The brothers cast their spears, but neither spear struck
the monster boar.

Then the boar turned and was for drawing back into the thicket. They
might have lost it then, for its retreat was impenetrable. But before
it got clear away Atalanta put an arrow to the string, drew the bow to
her shoulder, and let the arrow fly. It struck the boar, and a patch of
blood was seen upon its bristles. Prince Meleagrus shouted out, "O
first to strike the monster! Honor indeed shall you receive for this,
Arcadian maid."

His uncles were made wroth by this speech, as was another, the
Arcadian, rough Arcas. Arcas dashed forward, holding in his hands a
two-headed axe. "Heroes and huntsmen," he cried, "you shall see how a
man's strokes surpass a girl's." He faced the boar, standing on tiptoe
with his axe raised for the stroke. Meleagrus's uncles shouted to
encourage him. But the boar's tusks tore him before Arcas's axe fell,
and the Arcadian was trampled upon the ground.

The boar, roused again by Atalanta's arrow, turned on the hunters.
Jason hurled a spear again. It swerved and struck a hound and pinned it
to the ground. Then, speaking the name of Atalanta, Meleagrus sprang
before the heroes and the huntsmen. He had two spears in his hands. The
first missed and stuck quivering in the ground. But the second went
right through the back of the monster boar. It whirled round and round,
spouting out blood and foam. Meleagrus pressed on, and drove his
hunting knife through the shoulders of the monster.

His uncles, Plexippus and Toxeus, were the first to come to where the
monster boar was lying outstretched. "It is well, the deed you have
done, boy," said one; "it is well that none of the stran