he fire, and with all his might trampled down the ashes, until the
pale moon rose up again in the sky. So he sped on his way to Kyllene.
Neither god nor man saw him as he went, nor did the dogs bark. Early
in the morning he reached his mother's cave, and darted through the
keyhole of the door, softly as a summer breeze. Without a sound his
little feet paced the stony floor, till he reached his cradle and lay
down, playing like a babe among the clothes with his left hand, while
the right held the tortoise-lyre hidden underneath them.

But, wily as he was, he could not cheat his mother. To his cradle she
came, and said, "Whither hast thou wandered in the dark night? Crafty
rogue, mischief will be thy ruin. The son of Leto will soon be here,
and bear thee away bound in chains not easily shaken off. Out of my
sight, little wretch, born to worry the blessed gods and plague the
race of men!" "Mother," said Hermes, gently, "why talk thus to me, as
though I were like mortal babes, a poor cowering thing, to cry for a
little scolding? I know thy interest and mine: why should we stay here
in this wretched cave, with never a gift nor a feast to cheer our
hearts? I shall not stay. It is pleasanter to banquet with the gods
than to dwell in a cavern in draughts of whistling wind. I shall try
my luck against Apollo, for I mean to be his peer; and if he will not
suffer me, and if Zeus, my father, take not up my cause, I will see
what I can do for myself, by going to the shrine of Pytho and stealing
thence the tripods and caldrons, the iron vessels and glittering
robes. If I may not have honor in Olympos, I can at least be the
prince of thieves."

Meanwhile, as they talked together, Eos rose up from the deep ocean
stream, and her tender light flushed across the sky, while Apollo
hastened to Onchestos and the holy grove of Poseidon. There the old
man was at work in his vineyard, and to him Phoebus went quickly, and
said, "Friend hedger, I am come from Pieria looking for my cows. Fifty
of them have been driven away, and the bull has been left behind with
the four dogs who guarded them. Tell me, old man, hast thou seen any
one with these cows, on the road?" But the old man said that it would
be a hard matter to tell of all that he might chance to see. "Many
travelers journey on this road, some with evil thoughts, some with
good; I can not well remember all. This only I know, that yesterday,
from the rising of the sun to its setting, I was