is way they hoped to make
friends with Jupiter so that he would not hinder them in their work.

But they needed water to wash the flesh and their hands; and so one of
the young men went down the hill to find some. He was gone so long that
the other young man became uneasy and went after him.

Cadmus waited for them till the fire had burned low. He waited and
waited till the sun was high in the sky. He called and shouted, but no
one answered him. At last he took his sword in his hand and went down to
see what was the matter.

He followed the path which his friends had taken, and soon came to a
fine stream of cold water at the foot of a hill. He saw something move
among the bushes which grew near it. It was a fierce dragon, waiting to
spring upon him. There was blood on the grass and leaves, and it was not
hard to guess what had become of the two young men.

The beast sprang at Cadmus, and tried to seize him with its sharp claws.
But Cadmus leaped quickly aside and struck it in the neck with his long
sword. A great stream of black blood gushed out, and the dragon soon
fell to the ground dead. Cadmus had seen many fearful sights, but never
anything so dreadful as this beast. He had never been in so great danger
before. He sat down on the ground and trembled; and, all the time, he
was weeping for his two friends. How now was he to build a city, with no
one to help him?

IV. THE CITY.

While Cadmus was still weeping he was surprised to hear some one calling
him. He stood up and looked around. On the hillside before him was a
tall woman who had a helmet on her head and a shield in her hand. Her
eyes were gray, and her face, though not beautiful, was very noble.
Cadmus knew at once that she was Athena, the queen of the air--she who
gives wisdom to men.

Athena told Cadmus that he must take out the teeth of the dragon and sow
them in the ground. He thought that would be a queer kind of seed. But
she said that if he would do this, he would soon have men enough to help
him build his city; and, before he could say a word, she had gone out of
his sight.

[Illustration: "SOON THEY BEGAN TO FIGHT AMONG THEMSELVES."]

The dragon had a great many teeth--so many that when Cadmus had taken
them out they filled his helmet heaping full. The next thing was to find
a good place to sow them. Just as he turned away from the stream, he saw
a yoke of oxen standing a little way off. He went to them and found that
they were hitched to