with the fire of the pit
behind it and red on its trailing skirt. The song rolled forward now
like a river, sweeping them past shores where they desired to linger.
But the Stranger fastened his eyes on them, and sang them out to broad
bars and sounding tumbling seas, where the wind piped, and the breeze
came salt, and the spray slapped over the prow, hardening men to
heroes. Then the days of their regret seemed to them good only for
children, and the life they had loathed took a new face; their eyes
opened upon it, and they saw it whole, and loved it for its largeness.
"Beyond! beyond! beyond!"--they stared down on the fingers plucking
the chords, but the voice of the harp sounded far up and along the
horizon.

And with that quite suddenly it came back, and was speaking close at
hand, as a friend telling them a simple tale; a tale which all could
understand, though of a country unknown to them. Thus it ran:

"_In Hellas, in the kingdom of Argos, there lived two brothers,
Cleobis and Biton--young men, well to do, and of great strength of
body, so that each had won a crown in the public games. Now, once,
when the Argives were keeping a festival of the goddess Hera,
their mother had need to be driven to the temple in her chariot,
but the oxen did not return from the field in time. The young men,
therefore, seeing that the hour was late, put the yoke on their
own necks, and drew the car in which their mother sat, and brought
her to the temple, which was forty-five stades away. This they did
in sight of the multitude assembled; and the men commended their
strength, while the women called her blessed to be the mother of
such sons. But she, overjoyed at the deed and its renown, entered
the temple and, standing before the image of Hera, prayed the
goddess to grant her two sons, Cleobis and Biton, the greatest
boon which could fall to man. After she had prayed, and they had
sacrificed and eaten of the feast, the young men sat down in the
temple and fell asleep, and never awoke again, but so made an end
with life. In this wise the blessing of Hera came to them; and
the men of Argos caused statues to be made of them and set up at
Delphi, for a memorial of their piety and its reward_."

Thus quietly the great song ended, and Graul, looking around on his
people, saw on their faces a cheerfulness they had not known since the
day of the flood.

"Sir,"