find
a kingdom and a royal bride. Cease then to mourn for Creusa." AEneas
tried to clasp her in his arms, but in vain, for he only grasped the
empty air. Then he understood that the gods desired him to go forth
into the world alone.

While AEneas was seeking Creusa a group of Trojans who had escaped
the enemy and the flames had collected at the temple of Ceres, and he
found them ready and willing to join him and follow his fortunes. The
first rays of the sun were touching the peaks of Ida when Aeneas
and his comrades turned their backs on the ill-fated city, and went
towards the rising sun and the new hope.

For several months AEneas and his little band of followers lived as
refugees among the hills of Ida, and their numbers grew as now one,
now another, came to join them. All through the winter they were hard
at work cutting down trees and building ships, which were to carry
them across the seas. When spring came the fleet was ready, and the
little band set sail. First they merely crossed the Hellespont to
Thrace, for Aeneas hoped to found a city here and revive the name of
Troy. But bad omens came to frighten the Trojans and drive them back
to their ships.

They now took a southward course, and sailed on without stopping till
they reached Delos, the sacred isle of Apollo. Here Aeneas entered the
temple and offered prayer to the lord of prophecy. "Grant us a home,
Apollo, grant us an abiding city. Preserve a second Troy for the
scanty remnant that escaped the swords of the Greeks and the wrath
of cruel Achilles. Tell us whom to follow, whither to turn, where to
found our city."

His prayer was not offered in vain, for a voice spoke in answer. "Ye
hardy sons of Dardanus, the land that erst sent forth your ancestral
race shall welcome you back to its fertile fields. Go and seek your
ancient mother. There shall the offspring of AEneas rule over all the
lands, and their children's children unto the furthest generations."

When he had heard this oracle, Anchises said, "In the middle of the
sea lies an island called Crete, which is sacred to Jupiter. There
we shall find an older Mount Ida, and beside it the cradle of our
race. Thence, if tradition speaks truth, our great ancestor Teucrus
set sail for Asia and there he founded his kingdom, and named our
mountain Ida. Let us steer our course therefore to Crete, and if
Jupiter be propitious, the third dawn will bring us to its shores."

Accordingly they set out again fu