my ears, calling, 'Mother! mother!' Stop here who may, there is
no repose for me."

"Nor for me," said Cadmus, "while my dear mother pleases to go
onward."

And the faithful Thasus, too, was resolved to bear them
company. They remained with Cilix a few days, however, and

helped him to build a rustic bower, resembling the one which
they had formerly built for Phoenix.

When they were bidding him farewell Cilix burst into tears, and
told his mother that it seemed just as melancholy a dream to

stay there, in solitude, as to go onward. If she really
believed that they would ever find Europa, he was willing to

continue the search with them, even now. But Telephassa bade
him remain there, and be happy, if his own heart would let him.

So the pilgrims took their leave of him, and departed, and were
hardly out of sight before some other wandering people came

along that way, and saw Cilix's habitation, and were greatly
delighted with the appearance of the place. There being

abundance of unoccupied ground in the neighborhood, these
strangers built huts for themselves, and were soon joined by a

multitude of new settlers, who quickly formed a city. In the
middle of it was seen a magnificent palace of colored marble,

on the balcony of which, every noontide, appeared Cilix, in a
long purple robe, and with a jeweled crown upon his head; for

the inhabitants, when they found out that he was a king's son,
had considered him the fittest of all men to be a king himself.

One of the first acts of King Cilix's government was to send
out an expedition, consisting of a grave ambassador, and an

escort of bold and hardy young men, with orders to visit the
principal kingdoms of the earth, and inquire whether a young

maiden had passed through those regions, galloping swiftly on a
white bull. It is, therefore, plain to my mind, that Cilix

secretly blamed himself for giving up the search for Europa, as
long as he was able to put one foot before the other.

As for Telephassa, and Cadmus, and the good Thasus, it grieves
me to think of them, still keeping up that weary pilgrimage.

The two young men did their best for the poor queen, helping
her over the rough places, often carrying her across rivulets

in their faithful arms and seeking to shelter her at nightfall,
even when they themselves lay on the ground. Sad, sad it was to

hear them asking of every passer-by if he had seen Europa, so
long after the white bull had carried her away. But, though the

gray years thrust themselves between, and made the child's
figure dim in their remembrance, neither of these true-hearted

three ever dreamed of giving up the search.
One morning, however, poor Thasus found that he had sprained

his ankle, and could not possibly go a step farther.
"After a few days, to be sure," said he, mournfully, "I might

make shift to hobble along with a stick. But that would only
delay you, and perhaps hinder you from finding dear little

Europa, after all your pains and trouble. Do you go forward,
therefore, my belovedcompanions, and leave me to follow as I

may."
"Thou hast been a true friend, dear Thasus," said Queen

Telephassa, kissing his forehead. "Being neither my son, nor
the brother of our lost Europa, thou hast shown thyself truer

to me and her than Phoenix and Cilix did, whom we have left
behind us. Without thy loving help, and that of my son Cadmus,

my limbs could not have borne me half so far as this. Now, take
thy rest, and be at peace. For--and it is the first time I have

owned it to myself--I begin to question whether we shall ever
find my beloved daughter in this world."

Saying this, the poor queen shed tears, because it was a
grievous trial to the mother's heart to confess that her hopes

were growing faint. From that day forward, Cadmus noticed that
she never traveled with the same alacrity of spirit that had

heretofore supported her. Her weight was heavier upon his arm.
Before setting out, Cadmus helped Thasus build a bower; while

Telephassa, being too infirm to give any great assistance,
advised them how to fit it up and furnish it, so that it might

be as comfortable as a hut of branches could. Thasus, however,
did not spend all his days in this green bower. For it happened

to him, as to Phoenix and Cilix, that other homeless people
visited the spot, and liked it, and built themselves

habitations in the neighborhood. So here, in the course of a
few years, was another thriving city, with a red freestone

palace in the center of it, where Thasus sat upon a throne,
doing justice to the people, with a purple robe over his

shoulders, a sceptre in his hand, and a crown upon his head.
The inhabitants had made him king, not for the sake of any

royal blood (for none was in his veins), but because Thasus was
an upright, true-hearted, and courageous man, and therefore fit

to rule.
But when the affairs of his kingdom were all settled, King

Thasus laid aside his purple robe and crown, and sceptre, and
bade his worthiest subjects distribute justice to the people in

his stead. Then, grasping the pilgrim's staff that had
supported him so long, he set forth again, hoping still to

discover some hoof-mark of the snow-white bull, some trace of
the vanished child. He returned after a lengthened absence, and

sat down wearily upon his throne. To his latest hour,
nevertheless, King Thasus showed his true-hearted remembrance

of Europa, by ordering that a fire should always be kept
burning in his palace, and a bath steaming hot, and food ready

to be served up, and a bed with snow-white sheets, in case the
maiden should arrive, and require immediate refreshment. And,

though Europa never came, the good Thasus had the blessings of
many a poor traveler, who profited by the food and lodging

which were meant for the little playmate of the king's boyhood.
Telephassa and Cadmus were now pursuing their weary way, with

no companion but each other. The queen leaned heavily upon her
son's arm, and could walk only a few miles a day. But for all

her weakness and weariness, she would not be persuaded to give
up the search. It was enough to bring tears into the eyes of

bearded men to hear the melancholy tone with which she inquired
of every stranger whether he could not tell her any news of the

lost child.
"Have you seen a little girl--no, no, I mean a young maiden of

full growth--passing by this way, mounted on a snow-white bull,
which gallops as swiftly as the wind?"

"We have seen no such wondrous sight," the people would reply;
and very often, taking Cadmus aside, they whispered to him, "Is

this stately and sad-looking woman your mother? Surely she is
not in her right mind; and you ought to take her home, and make

her comfortable, and do your best to get this dream out of her
fancy."

"It is no dream," said Cadmus. "Everything else is a dream,
save that."

But, one day, Telephassa seemed feebler than usual, and leaned
almost her whole weight on the arm of Cadmus, and walked more

slowly than ever before. At last they reached a solitary spot,
where she told her son that she must needs lie down, and take a

good long rest.
"A good long rest!" she repeated, looking Cadmus tenderly in

the face. "A good long rest, thou dearest one!"