ve and shall
serve me without hire and without any word of praise."

Then he gave orders to the guards at the city gates that they should not
let Daedalus pass out at any time, and he set soldiers to watch the
ships that were in port so that he could not escape by sea. But although
the wonderful artisan was thus held as a prisoner, he did not build any
more buildings for King Minos; he spent his time in planning how he
might regain his freedom.

"All my inventions," he said to his son Icarus, "have hitherto been made
to please other people; now I will invent something to please myself."

So, all through the day he pretended to be planning some great work for
the king, but every night he locked himself up in his chamber and
wrought secretly by candle light. By and by he had made for himself a
pair of strong wings, and for Icarus another pair of smaller ones; and
then, one midnight, when everybody was asleep, the two went out to see
if they could fly. They fastened the wings to their shoulders with wax,
and then sprang up into the air. They could not fly very far at first,
but they did so well that they felt sure of doing much better in time.

The next night Daedalus made some changes in the wings. He put on an
extra strap or two; he took out a feather from one wing, and put a new
feather into another; and then he and Icarus went out in the moonlight
to try them again. They did finely this time. They flew up to the top of
the king's palace, and then they sailed away over the walls of the city
and alighted on the top of a hill. But they were not ready to undertake
a long journey yet; and so, just before daybreak, they flew back home.
Every fair night after that they practiced with their wings, and at the
end of a month they felt as safe in the air as on the ground, and could
skim over the hilltops like birds.

Early one morning; before King Minos had risen from his bed, they
fastened on their wings, sprang into the air, and flew out of the city.
Once fairly away from the island, they turned towards the west, for
Daedalus had heard of an island named Sicily, which lay hundreds of
miles away, and he had made up his mind to seek a new home there.

[Illustration: "HE FELT HIMSELF SINKING THROUGH THE AIR."]

All went well for a time, and the two bold flyers sped swiftly over the
sea, skimming along only a little above the waves, and helped on their
way by the brisk east wind. Towards noon the sun shone very warm, and
Dae