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So she went, and sat in the twilight by the other wall, and Ulysses sat by a pillar, with eyes cast down, waiting till his wife should speak to him. But she was sore perplexed; for now she seemed to know him, and now she knew him not, being in such evil case, for he had not suffered that the women should put new robes upon him.

And Telemachus said, "Mother, evil mother, sittest thou apart from my father, and speakest not to him? Surely thy heart is harder than a stone."

But now

But Ulysses said, "Let be, Telemachus. Thy mother will know that which is true in good time. let us hide this slaughter for a while, lest the friends of these men seek vengeance against us. Wherefore let there be music and dancing in the hall, so that men shall say, 'This is the wedding of the queen, and there is joy in the palace,' and know not of the truth.”

So the minstrel played and the women danced. And meanwhile Ulysses went to the bath, and clothed himself in bright apparel, and came back to the hall, and Athene made him fair and young to see. Then he sat him down as before, over against his wife, and said—

"Surely, O lady, the gods have made thee harder of heart than all women besides. Would other wife have kept away from her husband, coming back now after twenty years?"

And when she doubted yet, he spake again, "Hear thou this, Penelope, and know that it is I myself, and not another. Dost thou remember how I built up the bed in our chamber? In the court there grew an olive tree, stout as a pillar, and round it I built a chamber of stone, and spanned the chamber with a roof; and I

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hung also a door, and then I cut off the leaves of the olive, and planed the trunk, to be smooth and round; and the bed I inlaid with ivory and silver and gold, and stretched upon it an ox-hide that was ornamented with silver."

Then Penelope knew him that he was her husband indeed, and ran to him, and threw her arms about him and kissed him, saying, "Pardon me, my lord, if I was slow to know thee; for ever I feared, so many wiles. have men, that some one should deceive me, saying that he was my husband. But now I know this, that thou art he and not another."

And they wept over each other and kissed each other. So did Ulysses come back to his home after twenty years.

KING ARTHUR AND THE KNIGHTS

OF THE ROUND TABLE

CHAPTER I.

SIR GARETH'S TRIAL.

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T was in the old days of England, when instead of one King, there were many, who divided the country between them and constantly made war upon each other, to increase their possessions.

The noblest of all these Kings was Arthur. He was the son of Uther Pendragon, and he succeeded to the throne at a very early age, though not without great trouble, as the knights and barons said they would not be ruled over by a "beardless boy," and if he wanted his crown, he might fight for it. However, by the aid of an old man named Merlin, who was supposed to have magic powers, the rising insurrection was stopped, and young King Arthur was crowned with great pomp in London.

The King proved himself able not only to take the crown, but to keep it, and the other Kings found they had to be very respectful to him, and very careful not to encroach on his boundaries.

For the encouragement of feats of arms, and all sorts

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