hou go
begging at other men's tables, or art thou waiting to taste of my
fists?" Odysseus deigned no reply, but shook his head, biding his
time.

Another herdsman now entered the courtyard; this was Philoetius, who
had charge of the herds of Odysseus on the mainland. He brought a
heifer and two or three fat goats, having crossed over to Ithaca by
the ferry. When he saw Odysseus he took Eumaeus aside, and inquired who
he was. "He is of kingly aspect," remarked the new-comer, "in spite of
his wretched garb. But even kings may come to beggary, if it be
Heaven's will."

Having heard from Eumaeus what he had to tell, Philoetius approached
Odysseus, and taking his right hand greeted him kindly, saying:
"Welcome, old friend, for my master's sake! E'en such, methinks, is
his case, if he still lives and looks upon the daylight. Ah! what a
thought is that! It brings the sweat of agony to my brow when I think
that even now he may be wandering in rags from door to door, begging
for a morsel of bread, while his flocks and herds roam in thousands on
the hills. What shall I do? It is not to be borne that all this wealth
should increase and multiply, to feed the mouths of thieves and
rogues. Often have I resolved to drive off my cattle into a far
country, and no longer to abet these men in their riotous living; but
my duty to Telemachus, and the hope that even now my lord may return,
still hold me back."

Perceiving the neatherd to be loyal and staunch, Odysseus resolved to
take him partly into his confidence, and answered accordingly: "Thy
hope is nearer to fulfilment than thou thinkest. Hear me swear, by the
hearth of Odysseus, and by the board at which I have fed, that before
thou leavest Ithaca thou shalt see thy master with thine own
eyes--thou shalt see him slaying the wooers who play the master here."

"Would that I might live to behold that day!" cried Philoetius. "May I
never eat bread again, if the wooers felt not the might of my hands."
Eumaeus also declared himself ready to risk all by the side of
Odysseus.

While they were thus conversing, the whole body of the wooers came
thronging into the house, and the daily banquet began. At the inner
end of the hall, commanding the door which led to the women's
quarters, was a sort of platform or dais of stone, raised to some
height above the general level of the floor, and facing the main
entrance. Here Telemachus, as giver of the feast, was seated; and
while the servants we