ed the bone, and Ulysses sent his
sharp spear into the beast's right shoulder, and the spear went clean
through, and the boar fell dead, with a loud cry. The uncles of Ulysses
bound up his wound carefully, and sang a magical song over it, as the
French soldiers wanted to do to Joan of Arc when the arrow pierced her
shoulder at the siege of Orleans. Then the blood ceased to flow, and
soon Ulysses was quite healed of his wound. They thought that he would
be a good warrior, and gave him splendid presents, and when he went home
again he told all that had happened to his father and mother, and his
nurse, Eurycleia. But there was always a long white mark or scar above
his left knee, and about that scar we shall hear again, many years
afterwards.

[Illustration: ULYSSES, WHEN A YOUTH, FIGHTS THE WILD BOAR AND GETS HIS
WOUND IN HIS THIGH.]

II

HOW PEOPLE LIVED IN THE TIME OF ULYSSES

When Ulysses was a young man he wished to marry a princess of his own
rank. Now there were at that time many kings in Greece, and you must be
told how they lived. Each king had his own little kingdom, with his
chief town, walled with huge walls of enormous stone. Many of these
walls are still standing, though the grass has grown over the ruins of
most of them, and in later years, men believed that those walls must
have been built by giants, the stones are so enormous. Each king had
nobles under him, rich men, and all had their palaces, each with its
courtyard, and its long hall, where the fire burned in the midst, and
the King and Queen sat beside it on high thrones, between the four chief
carved pillars that held up the roof. The thrones were made of cedar
wood and ivory, inlaid with gold, and there were many other chairs and
small tables for guests, and the walls and doors were covered with
bronze plates, and gold and silver, and sheets of blue glass. Sometimes
they were painted with pictures of bull hunts, and a few of these
pictures may still be seen. At night torches were lit, and placed in the
hands of golden figures of boys, but all the smoke of fire and torches
escaped by a hole in the roof, and made the ceiling black. On the walls
hung swords and spears and helmets and shields, which needed to be often
cleaned from the stains of the smoke. The minstrel or poet sat beside
the King and Queen, and, after supper he struck his harp, and sang
stories of old wars. At night the King and Queen slept in their own
place, and the women i