Light of foot and light of heart was the bright-haired messenger of the
gods, the very merriest tramp that ever walked, or flew, or ran.

Sometimes he showed to travellers the road they had lost, and sometimes
he led them far out of the way, stealing their purses, and then laughing
at their tears.

On one occasion, having found Zeus in great distress because the Queen
had determined to kill Io, a lovely young girl of whom the King was very
fond, he declared that he alone would save her.

Zeus at first changed Io into a heifer, but the Queen discovered the
secret, and sent Argus, a monster with a hundred eyes, to watch her.

It seemed impossible that the lovely Io could escape, and the poor old
King was in despair.

"Trust me," said the cheerful Hermes, "I will manage the matter."

Swifter than a cloud that flies before the wind, he glided through the
air until he reached the spot where the monster lay in wait for Io.

With one touch of his wand Hermes put the beast to sleep, and before he
had time to wink even one of his hundred eyes Argus was dead.

It would take too long to tell of all the wonderful deeds which Hermes,
the "Argus slayer," the messenger of the gods, performed.

Wherever he went he was greeted with prayers and songs and gifts, for
although he sometimes wrought more harm than good, the winged tramp was
always a welcome visitor both to gods and men.

[Begun in HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE No. 24, April 13.]

THE STORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON.

BY EDWARD CARY.

CHAPTER VII.

General Washington was now "President" Washington. The man was the same,
but the work he had to do was very different. And then it was all new.
My readers have not yet got so used to doing things that they do not
know that it is a great deal harder to do anything the first time than
it is the second or the third.

Washington was not only the first President, but the whole government,
in which he had so great a part, was a strange thing. No one understood
exactly how it was going to work, and a great many people in each State
were afraid of it. They thought that the President would have too much
power, and that he would get to be as bad as a King after a while, and
the people hated Kings bitterly in those days.

Some very earnest but not very just writers went so far as to say that
the country had only got rid of George the Third (who was King of
England), to set up in his place "George the First" (meaning
Washington)