proved faithless, and that evil conjunction had already done its worst. Art thou not ashamed, Martius Galeotti, to see me here and a prisoner, when you recollect by what assurances I was lured hither?

Galeotti. And art thou not ashamed, my royal sire, to 5 turn from the first frown of fortune, like a craven from the first clash of arms? Dost thou shrink from the first pressure of adversity, frightened out of the course, like a scared racer, by shadowy and unreal evils?

Louis. Shadowy and unreal! frontless as thou art! Is 10 this dungeon unreal? the weapons of my guards, which you may hear clash at the gate, are these shadows? What, traitor, are real evils, if imprisonment, dethronement, and danger to life are not so?

Galeotti. Ignorance, ignorance, my brother, and preju- 15 dice are the only real evils. Believe me, that kings in the plenitude of power, if immersed in ignorance and prejudice, are less free than sages in a dungeon and loaded with material chains. Toward this true happiness it is mine to guide you; be it yours to attend to my instructions.

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Louis. And it is to such freedom that your lessons would have guided me! I wish you had told me that the dominion promised me so liberally was an empire over my own passions. I might surely have attained this mental ascendancy at a more moderate price than that of forfeit- 25 ing the fairest crown in Christendom. Go, sir, and think not to escape punishment. There is a heaven above us!

Galeotti. I leave you not to your fate until I have vindicated even in your eyes, darkened as they are, that reputation, a brighter gem than the brightest in thy crown, at which the world shall wonder ages after all 5 the race of Capet are moldered into oblivion.

Louis. Speak on; thine impudence cannot make me change my purposes or my opinion. Confess that I am a dupe, thou an impostor, thy pretended science a dream, and the planets which shine above us as little influential 10 of our destiny as their shadows, when reflected in the river, are capable of altering its course.

Galeotti. How knowest thou the secret influence of yonder blessed lights? Even the weakest, the moon, holds under her domination not such poor streams as the Somme, but the tides of the mighty ocean itself. The end is not yet. Thine own tongue shall erelong con- 5 fess the benefit which thou hast already received from the favorable conjunction of the planets.

Louis. This is too - too insolent, at once to deceive and to insult! Hence, and think not my wrongs shall be unavenged. There is a heaven above us! Yet stop! 10 Thou bearest thine imposture bravely out. Let me hear your answer to one question, and think ere you speak. Can thy pretended skill ascertain the hour of thine own death?

Galeotti. Only by referring to the fate of another.
Louis. I understand not thine answer.

Galeotti. Know then, O king, that this only can I tell with certainty concerning mine own death, that it shall take place exactly twenty-four hours before that of your Majesty.

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Louis. Ha! sayest thou so? Hold — hold, go not, wait one moment. Martius Galeotti, I have been a kind master to thee, enriched thee, made thee my friend, my companion, and my instructor. Be open with me. Is there aught in this art of yours? And is the measure of our 25 lives so very, very nearly matched? Confess, my good Martius, you speak after the trick of your trade. Confess,

I

pray you, and you shall have no displeasure at my hand. I am in years, a prisoner, likely to be deprived of a kingdom; to one in my condition truth is worth kingdoms, and it is to thee, dearest Martius, that I must look for 5 this inestimable jewel.

Galeotti. And I have laid it before your Majesty at the risk that in brutal passion you might turn upon me and rend me.

Louis. Who, I, Galeotti? Alas, thou mistakest me. 10 Am I not captive, and should I not be patient? Tell me, then, in sincerity, have you fooled me, or is your science true?

Galeotti. Your Majesty will forgive me if I reply to you that time only, time and the event, will convince 15 incredulity. A day or two days will prove or disprove what I have averred. I wish your Majesty good rest.

Louis. To-morrow we will talk more of this. Go in peace, my learned father, go in peace, go in peace!

Louis XI: an able but unscrupulous king of France in the fifteenth century. Balafré (bål å frā). — provost (pro vō'): a military official in charge of prisoners. Galeotti (gä lå Ŏt'tí): an Italian philosopher. astrologer one who pretends to foretell events from the appearance of the stars and planets. trained enticed, coaxed. — blade: fellow. man at arms: a soldier fully armed. - meddle nor make: an old English phrase meaning "to interfere."-fealty (fe'al ty): loyalty. gossip: comrade. con'versant: well acquainted. — propitious: favorable. — conjunction: the close relation of two planets or of a planet and a star. frontless: impertinent. Ca'pet: the royal family to which Louis belonged. Somme

(som): a river of northern France. in years: growing old. rend: destroy. The reference here is to Matthew vii. 6.

HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE

TRANSLATED FROM HOMER BY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT

NOTE. Homer is one of the greatest names in the world's literature. To him we owe the great epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. He lived several hundred years before the Christian era, and it was not until long after his death that his poems were put into writing. Tradition represents him as a blind minstrel, wandering about Greece and Asia Minor and telling 5 to the music of his lyre the wonderful deeds of his country's heroes.

The long poem of the Iliad deals with the events of the Trojan War, which is supposed to have taken place many years before the time of Homer. The war had continued for nine years without decisive result, when a quarrel arose between Achilles and Agamemnon, two of the Greek leaders. 10 Achilles sulked in his tent and refused to fight. Here the poem of the Iliad begins. The following lines are from Book VI and describe the farewell meeting of Hector, the Trojan prince, and his wife Andromache. Troy has been hotly besieged and Hector has returned to the city to arrange for an appeal to Minerva in its behalf. Before he goes back to the 15 field he seeks his wife Andromache.

She came attended by a maid, who bore

A tender child-a babe too young to speak
Upon her bosom,- Hector's only son,
Beautiful as a star, whom Hector called
Scamandrius, but all else Astyanax,—

The city's lord,— since Hector stood the sole
Defense of Troy. The father on his child.
Looked with a silent smile. Andromache

Pressed to his side meanwhile, and all in tears,
Clung to his hand, and thus beginning, said:-