o
test his strength and skill. But when they had finished, Theseus arose
and laid aside his sword and his sandals and his iron club, and stripped
himself of his robes, and said:

"Come now, Cercyon, if you are not afraid; come, and wrestle with me."

Then the two went out into the courtyard where many a young man had met
his fate, and there they wrestled until the sun went down, and neither
could gain aught of advantage over the other. But it was plain that the
trained skill of Theseus would, in the end, win against the brute
strength of Cercyon. Then the men of Eleusis who stood watching the
contest, saw the youth lift the giant king bodily into the air and hurl
him headlong over his shoulder to the hard pavement beyond.

"As you have done to others, so will I do unto you!" cried Theseus.

But grim old Cercyon neither moved nor spoke; and when the youth turned
his body over and looked into his cruel face, he saw that the life had
quite gone out of him.

Then the people of Eleusis came to Theseus and wanted to make him their
king. "You have slain the tyrant who was the bane of Eleusis," they
said, "and we have heard how you have also rid the world of the giant
robbers who were the terror of the land. Come now and be our king; for
we know that you will rule over us wisely and well."

"Some day," said Theseus, "I will be your king, but not now; for there
are other deeds for me to do." And with that he donned his sword and
his sandals and his princely cloak, and threw his great iron club upon
his shoulder, and went out of Eleusis; and all the people ran after him
for quite a little way, shouting, "May good fortune be with you, O king,
and may Athena bless and guide you!"

V. PROCRUSTES THE PITILESS.

Athens was now not more than twenty miles away, but the road thither led
through the Parnes Mountains, and was only a narrow path winding among
the rocks and up and down many a lonely wooded glen. Theseus had seen
worse and far more dangerous roads than this, and so he strode bravely
onward, happy in the thought that he was so near the end of his long
journey. But it was very slow traveling among the mountains, and he was
not always sure that he was following the right path. The sun was almost
down when he came to a broad green valley where the trees had been
cleared away. A little river flowed through the middle of this valley,
and on either side were grassy meadows where cattle were grazing; and on
a hillsid