But when his messengers went yet again to plead with Ixion, and their words were all spoken in vain, Hesioneus resolved to deal craftily, and he sent his servants by night and stole the undying horses which bare his gleaming chariot. Then the heart of Ixion was humbled within him, for he said, 'My people look for me daily throughout the wide earth. If they see not my face, their souls will faint with fear; they will not care to sow their fields, and the golden harvests of Dêmêtêr will wave no more in the summer breeze.' So there came messengers from Ixion, who said, 'If thou wouldest have the wealth which thou seekest, come to the house of Ixion, and the gifts shall be thine, and thine eyes shall once more look upon thy child.'

In haste Hesioneus went forth from his home, like a dark and lonely cloud stealing across the broad heaven. All night long he sped upon his way, and as the light of Eôs flushed the eastern sky, he saw afar off the form of a fair woman, who beckoned to him with her long white arms. Then the heart of the old man revived, and he said, 'It is Dia, my child. It is enough if I can but hear her voice and clasp her in mine arms and die.' But his limbs trembled for joy, and he waited until presently his daughter came and stood beside him. On her face there rested a softer beauty than in the former days, and the sound of her voice was more tender and loving, as she said, 'My father, Zeus has made clear to me many dark things, for he has given me power to search out the secret treasures of the earth, and to learn from the wise beings who lurk in its hidden places the things that shall be hereafter. And now I see that thy life is well-nigh done, if thou seekest to look upon the treasures of Ixion, for no man may gaze upon them

and live. Go back, then, to thy home, if thou wouldest not die. I would that I might come with thee, but so it may not be. Each day I must welcome Ixion when his fiery horses come back from their long journey, and every morning I must harness them to his gleaming chariot before he speeds upon his way. Yet thou hast seen my face, and thou knowest that I love thee now even as in the days of my childhood.'

LESSON 21.

IXION.

(Continued.)

But the old greed filled again the heart of Hesioneus, and he said, 'The faith of Ixion is pledged. If he withhold still the treasures which he sware to give, he shall never more see the deathless horses. I will go myself into his treasure-house, and see whether in very truth he has the wealth of which he makes such proud boasting.' Then Dia clasped her arms once again around her father, and she kissed his face, and said sadly, 'Farewell, then, my father; I go to my home, for even the eyes of Dia may not gaze on the secret treasures of İxion.' So Dia left him, and when the old man turned to look on her departing form, it faded from his sight as the clouds melt away before the sun at noonday. Yet once again he toiled on his way, until before his glorious home he saw Ixion, radiant as Phoebus Apollo in his beauty; but there was anger in his kindling eye, for he was wroth for the theft of his undying horses. Then the voice of Ixion smote the ear of Hesioneus, harsh as the flapping of the wings

of Erinys when she wanders through the air. 'So thou wilt see my secret treasures? Take heed that thy sight be strong.' But Hesioneus spake in haste, and said, 'Thy faith is pledged, not only to let me see them, but to bestow them on me as my own, for therefore didst thou win Dia my child to be thy wife.' Then Ixion opened the door of his treasurehouse and thrust in Hesioneus, and the everlasting fire devoured him.

But far above, in the pure heaven, Zeus beheld the deed of Ixion, and the tidings were sent abroad to all the gods of Olympos, and to all the sons of men, that Ixion had slain Hesioneus by craft and guile. A horror of great blackness fell on the heaven above and the earth beneath for the sin of which Zeus alone can purge away the guilt. Once more Dia_made ready her husband's chariot, and once more he sped on his fiery journey; but all men turned away their faces, and the trees bowed their scorched and withered heads to the ground. The flowers drooped thick on their stalks and died, the corn was kindled like dried stubble on the earth, and Ixion said within himself, 'My sin is great; men will not look upon my face as in the old time, and the gods of Olympos will not cleanse my hands from the guilt of my treacherous deed.' So he went straightway and fell down humbled before the throne of Zeus, and said, 'O thou that dwellest in the pure æther far above the dark cloud, my hands are foul with blood, and thou alone canst cleanse them; therefore purge mine iniquity, lest all living things die throughout the wide earth.'

Then the undying gods were summoned to the judgment-seat of Zeus. By the side of the son of Kronos stood Hermes, ever bright and fair, the

messenger who flies on his golden sandals more swiftly than a dream; but fairer and more glorious than all who stood near his throne was the lady Hêrê, the queen of the blue heaven. On her brow rested the majesty of Zeus and the glory of a boundless love, which sheds gladness on the teeming earth and the broad sea. And even as he stood before the judgment-seat the eyes of Ixion rested with a strange yearning on her undying beauty, and he scarce heard the words which cleansed him from blood-guiltiness.

So Ixion tarried in the house of Zeus, far above in the pure æther, where only the light clouds weave a fairy network at the rising and setting of the sun. Day by day his glance rested more warm and loving on the countenance of the lady Hêrê, and Zeus saw that her heart too was kindled by a strange love, so that a fierce wrath was stirred within him.

Presently he called Hermes the messenger and said, 'Bring up from among the children of Nephelê one who shall wear the semblance of the lady Hêrê, and place her in the path of Ixion when he wanders forth on the morrow.' So Hermes sped away on his errand, and on that day Ixion spake secretly with Hêrê, and tempted her to fly from the house of Zeus. 'Come with me,' he said; 'the winds of heaven cannot vie in speed with my deathless horses; and the palace of Zeus is but as the house of the dead by the side of my glorious home.' Then the heart of Ixion bounded with a mighty delight as he heard the words of Hêrê: 'To-morrow I will meet thee in the land of the children of Nephelê.' So on the morrow, when the light clouds had spread their fairy network over the heaven, Ixion stole away from the house of Zeus

to meet the lady Hêrê. As he went the fairy web faded from the sky, and it seemed to him that the lady Hêrê stood before him in all her beauty. Hêrê, great queen of the unstained heaven,' he said, 'come with me, for I am worthy of thy love, and I quail not for all the majesty of Zeus.' But even as he stretched forth his arms the bright form vanished away. The crashing thunder rolled through the sky, and he heard the voice of Zeus saying, 'I cleansed thee from thy guilt; I sheltered thee in my home; and thou hast dealt with me treacherously as thou didst before with Hesioneus. Thou hast sought the love of Hêrê; but the maiden which stood before thee was but a child of Nephelê, whom Hermes brought hither to cheat thee with the semblance of the wife of Zeus. Wherefore hear thy doom. No more shall thy deathless horses speed with thy glistening chariot over the earth, but high in the heaven a blazing wheel shall bear thee through the rolling years; and the doom shall be on thee for ever and ever.'

So was Ixion bound on the fiery wheel, and the sons of men see the flashing spokes day by day as it whirls in the high heavens.