sail was
spread to the breeze; and AEthra from her palace window saw the vessel
speed away over the blue waters towards AEgina and the distant Attic
shore.

II. SWORD AND SANDALS.

Year after year went by, and yet no word reached AEthra from her husband
on the other side of the sea. Often and often she would climb the
mountain above Troezen, and sit there all day, looking out over the blue
waters and the purple hills of AEgina to the dim, distant shore beyond.
Now and then she could see a white-winged ship sailing in the offing;
but men said that it was a Cretan vessel, and very likely was filled
with fierce Cretan warriors, bound upon some cruel errand of war. Then
it was rumored that King Minos had seized upon all the ships of Athens,
and had burned a part of the city, and had forced the people to pay him
a most grievous tribute. But further than this there was no news.

In the meanwhile AEthra's babe had grown to be a tall, ruddy-cheeked lad,
strong as a mountain lion; and she had named him Theseus. On the day
that he was fifteen years old he went with her up to the top of the
mountain, and with her looked out over the sea.

"Ah, if only your father would come!" she sighed.

"My father?" said Theseus. "Who is my father, and why are you always
watching and waiting and wishing that he would come? Tell me about him."

And she answered: "My child, do you see the great flat stone which lies
there, half buried in the ground, and covered with moss and trailing
ivy? Do you think you can lift it?"

"I will try, mother," said Theseus. And he dug his fingers into the
ground beside it, and grasped its uneven edges, and tugged and lifted
and strained until his breath came hard and his arms ached and his body
was covered with sweat; but the stone was moved not at all. At last he
said, "The task is too hard for me until I have grown stronger. But why
do you wish me to lift it?"

"When you are strong enough to lift it," answered AEthra, "I will tell
you about your father."

After that the boy went out every day and practiced at running and
leaping and throwing and lifting; and every day he rolled some stone out
of its place. At first he could move only a little weight, and those who
saw him laughed as he pulled and puffed and grew red in the face, but
never gave up until he had lifted it. And little by little he grew
stronger, and his muscles became like iron bands, and his limbs were
like mighty levers for streng