He was tired and thirsty, and he looked about for some spot in which to rest. Suddenly he heard the sound of running water, and, eager to quench his thirst, parted the branches and stepped into an open space beyond. But what did he see? Lying about on the grass were all the fair huntresses with their queen in their midst. At the moment when Actaeon parted the branches, Diana was stepping into the rippling water. At sight of him, she paused, flushed with anger and surprise. "Bold mortal," she cried, "darest thou enter my secret hiding places? Never shalt thou go back and say to men that thou hast seen Diana at her midday rest." She thereupon sprinkled a few drops of water in his face, and then something very strange happened. Poor Actaeon had been so bewildered, at sight of Diana's beauty and at her anger, that he had stood motionless and silent, rooted to the spot. But now he tried to speak, and found he could not utter a word. The angry goddess had changed his form into that of a deer, the animal which he and his faithful hounds had so often hunted. In terror and dismay, he looked at his new body, which was so strange and yet so familiar to him. At that moment he heard, in the distance, the baying of his own dogs, coming to join him. Ah! he must hide from them, for they would not know their master hidden in that body of a stag. He turned to flee, but it was too late. One of the hounds had caught sight of his antlers and had given the cry; and the next minute, the whole pack of eager creatures was at his back. Poor Actaeon! He fled in terror, but although his swift feet carried him along like the wind, his antlers THE HUNTER’S SONG 67 At caught in the trees and bushes and held him back. last, tired out by the struggle, he sank to the ground. An instant later the pack fell upon him, and the young hunter was torn to pieces by his own hounds. THE HUNTER'S SONG HARK, hark! Who calleth the maiden Morn The merry, sweet ring of the hunter's horn. Now through the copse where the fox is found, And over the stream, at a mighty bound, And over the high lands and over the low, Hark, hark! - What sound on the wind is borne? The merry, bold voice of the hunter's horn. Sound, sound the horn! To the hunter good Hark, hark! Now home, and dream till morn The horn the horn! Oh, the sound of all sounds is the hunter's horn! BARRY CORNWALL. THE STORY OF PERSEUS THERE was once a princess named Danaë, and she had a little baby boy, whom she called Perseus. The little boy's father was far away, and Danaë had no one to take care of her and her child. One day, some cruel people put Perseus and his mother into a boat, and set them adrift on the great, wide sea. They floated about for many days, and Danaë held her little boy close, and sang him sweet lullabies, to keep him from crying at the great waves that every now and then swept over the little boat. She thought that they both would die; but somehow the frail little bark did not upset, and one day a large wave carried it upon an island, where it rested on the sloping shore. There some kind people found them, and gave Danae and her little boy a home. The mother and son lived there for many years, until Perseus was no longer a little baby boy, but a brave, fearless, young man. Now the king of the island was a wicked and cruel man, who for some reason hated Danaë and Perseus, and wished to get rid of them. So he planned some means of getting Perseus out of the way, for the wicked king knew that if the boy were gone he could easily do what he liked with the mother. At last he thought of an adventure that would please Perseus, and, at the same time, be so dangerous that the youth, he felt sure, would never come back to his home. On an island, in the middle of the ocean, on whose shores the fierce waves beat all day long, there lived three terrible sisters known as the Gorgons. They were half |