adjusted the cord to its notch, then fitting an arrow to the bow he drew the string and sped the arrow unerring through the rings. Without allowing them time to express their astonishment, he said, "Now for another mark!" and aimed direct at the most insolent one of the suitors. The arrow pierced through his throat and he fell dead. Telemachus, Eumæus, and another faithful follower, well armed, now sprang to the side of Ulysses. The suitors, in amazement, looked round for arms, but found none, neither was there any way of escape, for Eumæus had secured the door. Ulysses left them not long in uncertainty; he announced himself as the long-lost chief, whose house they had invaded, whose substance they had squandered, whose wife and son they had persecuted for ten long years; and told them he meant to have ample vengeance. All were slain, and Ulysses was left master of his palace and possessor of his kingdom and his wife. Tennyson's poem of Ulysses represents the old hero, his dangers past and nothing left but to stay at home and be happy,growing tired of inaction and resolving to set forth again in quest of new adventures. "It little profits that an idle King, By this still hearth, among these barren crags, Unequal laws unto a savage race, That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me. I cannot rest from travel: I will drink Life to the lees: all times I have enjoy'd Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when For always roaming with a hungry heart I am a part of all that I have met; Yet all experience is an arch wherethro' Gleams that untravell'd world, whose margin fades How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use! As tho' to breathe were life. Life piled on life "This is my son, mine own Telemachus, Meet adoration to my household gods, When I am gone. He works his work, I mine. "There lies the port: the vessel puffs þer sail: There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners, Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me That ever with a frolic welcome took The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed Free hearts, free foreheads - you and I are old; Old age hath yet his honor and his toil; Death closes all: but something ere the end, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world. Push off, and sitting well in order smite The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds It may be that the gulfs will wash us down: Tho' much is taken, much abides: and tho' Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are: Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." CHAPTER XXVIII. ADVENTURES OF ENEAS. $174. From Troy to Italy. - Homer tells the story of one of the Grecian heroes, Ulysses, in his wanderings, on his return home from Troy. Vergil in his Æneid narrates the mythical fortunes of the remnant of the conquered people, under their chief Æneas, in their search for a new home, after the ruin of their native city. On that fatal night when the wooden horse disgorged its contents of armed men, and the capture and conflagration of the city were the result, Æneas made his escape from the scene of destruction, with his father, and his wife, and young son. The father, Anchises, was too old to walk with the speed required, and Æneas took him upon his shoulders. Thus burdened, leading his son and followed by his wife, he made the best of his way out of the burning city; but, in the confusion, his wife, Creüsa, was swept away and lost. The Departure from Troy. - On arriving at the place of rendezvous, numerous fugitives, of both sexes, were found, who put themselves under the guidance of Æneas. Some months were spent in preparation, and at length they embarked. They first landed on the neighboring shores of Thrace, and were preparing to build a city; but Æneas was deterred by a prodigy. Preparing to offer |