had fallen . It took somewhat longer to find it than she had expected , and when she looked up again Meilanion was a hundred feet ahead of her . But that was no matter. She could easily overtake him . And yet, how she did pity the foolish young man !
Meilanion heard her speeding like the wind behind him . He took the third apple and threw it over to one side of the path where the ground sloped towards the river. Atalanta's quick eye saw that it was far more beautiful than either of the others . If it were not picked up at once it would roll down into the deep water and be lost , and that would never do . She turned aside from her course and ran after it . It was easy enough to overtake the apple, but while she was doing so Meilanion gained upon her again . He was almost to the goal . How she strained every muscle now to overtake him ! But, after all, she felt that she did not care very much. He was the handsomest young man that she had ever seen , and he had given her three golden apples . It would be a great pity if he should have to die . And so she let him reach the goal first.
After that , of course , Atalanta became Meilanion's wife . And he took her with him to his distant home, and there they lived happily together for many, many years.
THE HORSE AND THE OLIVE .
I. FINDING A KING .
ON a steep stony hill in Greece there lived in early times a few very poor people who had not yet learned to build houses. They made their homes in little caves which they dug in the earth or hollowed out among the rocks ; and their food was the flesh of wild animals, which they hunted in the woods , with now and then a few berries or nuts . They did not even know how to make bows and arrows , but used slings and clubs and sharp sticks for weapons ; and the little clothing which they had was made of skins. They lived on the top of the hill, because they were safe there from the savage beasts of the great forest around them, and safe also from the wild men who sometimes roamed through the land . The hill was so steep on every side that there was no way of climbing it save by a single narrow footpath which was always guarded by some one at the top.
One day when the men were hunting in the woods , 137
they found a strange youth whose face was so fair and who was dressed so beautifully that they could hardly believe him to be a man like themselves . His body was so slender and lithe , and he moved so nimbly among the trees , that they fancied him to be a serpent in the guise of a human being ; and they stood still in wonder and alarm . The young man spoke to them , but they could not understand a word that he said ; then he made signs to them that he was hungry, and they gave him something to eat and were no longer afraid . Had they been like the wild men of the woods , they might have killed him at once . But they wanted their women and children to see the serpent man , as they called him , and hear him talk ; and so they took him home with them to the top of the hill. They thought that after they had made a show of him for a few days , they would kill him and offer his body as a sacrifice to the unknown being whom they dimly fancied to have some sort of control over their lives .
But the young man was so fair and gentle that , after they had all taken a look at him , they began to think it would be a great pity to harm him . So they gave him food and treated him kindly ; and he sang songs to them and played with their children , and made them happier than they had been for
many a day. In a short time he learned to talk in their language ; and he told them that his name was Cecrops , and that he had been shipwrecked on the seacoast not far away ; and then he told them many strange things about the land from which he had come and to which he would never be able to return . The poor people listened and wondered ; and it was not long until they began to love him and to look up to him as one wiser than themselves . Then they came to ask him about everything that was to be done , and there was not one of them who refused to do his bidding .
So Cecrops the serpent man , as they still called him became the king of the poor people on the hill. He taught them how to make bows and arrows , and how to set nets for birds , and how to take fish with hooks . He led them against the savage wild men of the woods , and helped them kill the fierce beasts that had been so great a terror to them . He showed them how to build houses of wood and to thatch them with the reeds which grew in the marshes . He taught them how to live in families instead of herding together like senseless beasts as they had always done before . And he told them about great Jupiter and the Mighty Folk who lived amid the clouds on the mountain top.
