flying out of the stable window?--yes; or whisking him
up above the clouds, when he only wanted to ride to mill! No, no! I
don't believe in Pegasus. There never was such a ridiculous kind of a
horse-fowl made!"

"I have some reason to think otherwise," said Bellerophon, quietly.

And then he turned to an old, grey man who was leaning on a staff, and
listening very attentively, with his head stretched forward, and one
hand at his ear, because for the last twenty years he had been getting
rather deaf.

"And what say you, venerable sir?" inquired he. "In your younger days,
I should imagine you must frequently have seen the winged steed!"

"Ah, young stranger, my memory is very poor!" said the aged man. "When
I was a lad, if I remember rightly, I used to believe there was such a
horse, and so did everybody else. But, now-a-days, I hardly know what
to think, and very seldom think about the winged horse at all. If I
ever saw the creature, it was a long, long while ago; and, to tell you
the truth, I doubt whether I ever did see him. One day, to be sure,
when I was quite a youth, I remember seeing some hoof-tramps round about
the brink of the fountain. Pegasus might have made those hoof-marks;
and so might some other horse."

"And have you never seen him, my fair maiden?" asked Bellerophon of the
girl, who stood with the pitcher on her head, while this talk went on.
"You certainly could see Pegasus if anybody can, for your eyes are very
bright."

"Once I thought I saw him," replied the maiden, with a smile and a
blush. "It was either Pegasus, or a large white bird, a very great way
up in the air. And one other time, as I was coming to the fountain with
my pitcher, I heard a neigh. Oh, such a brisk and melodious neigh as
that was! My very heart leaped with delight at the sound. But it
startled me, nevertheless; so that I ran home without filling my
pitcher."

"That was truly a pity!" said Bellerophon.

And he turned to the child, whom I mentioned at the beginning of the
story, and who was gazing at him, as children are apt to gaze at
strangers, with his rosy mouth wide open.

"Well, my little fellow," cried Bellerophon, playfully pulling one of
his curls, "I suppose you have often seen the winged horse."

"That I have," answered the child very readily. "I saw him yesterday,
and many times before."

"You are a fine little man!" said Bellerophon, drawing the child closer
to him. "Come, tell me all abo