over the sea. The angry waters rushed in upon the
land; they covered the pastures and the rich plain of Troy, and
threatened even to beat down the walls which their king had built.

"Then little by little, the flood shrank back again; and the people
went out of the city to see the waste of slime and black mud which
covered their meadows. While they were gazing upon the scene, a
fearful monster, sent by angry Poseidon, came up out of the sea, and
fell upon them, and drove them with hideous slaughter back to the city
gates; neither would he allow any one to come outside of the walls.

"Then my father, in his great distress, clad himself in mourning, and
went in deep humility to the temple of Athena. In much distress, he
called unto the goddess, and besought to know the means whereby the
anger of Poseidon might be assuaged. And in solemn tones a voice
replied, saying:

"'Every day one of the maidens of Troy must be fed to the monster
outside of the walls. The shaker of the earth has spoken. Disobey him
not, lest more cruel punishments befall thee.'

"Then in every house of Troy there was sore dismay and lamentation, for
no one knew upon whom the doom would soonest fall. And every day a
hapless maiden, young and fair, was chained to the great rock by the
shore, and left there to be the food of the pitiless monster. And the
people cried aloud in their distress, and cursed the mighty walls and
the high towers which had been reared by the unpaid labors of Poseidon;
and my father sat upon his high seat, and trembled because of the
calamities which his own deeds had brought upon his people.

"At last, after many humbler victims had perished, the lot fell upon
the fairest of my sisters, Hesione, my father's best-loved daughter.
In sorrow we arrayed her in garments befitting one doomed to an
untimely death; and when we had bidden her a last farewell, we gave her
to the heralds and the priests to lead forth to the place of sacrifice.

"Just then, however, a noble stranger, taller and more stately than any
man in Troy, came down the street. Fair-haired and blue-eyed, handsome
and strong, he seemed a very god to all who looked upon him. Over his
shoulder he wore the tawny skin of a lion, while in his hand he carried
a club most wonderful to behold. And the people, as he passed, prayed
him that he would free our city from the monster that was robbing us of
our loved ones.

"'I know that thou art a god!' cried my fath