4 AUTUMN STORIES AND POEMS 



At the top of the staff is another pair of 

 wings. 



Now he is ready to start on his errand. 



Quickly he speeds along. He flies faster than 

 you can go on your bicycle. Yes; I saw you, 

 the other day, flying down the hill like a bird. 



But Mercury can fly up hill, too. 



He leaps from mountain to mountain. 



He flies over the sea, his winged feet just 

 touching the waves. 



APOLLO'S COWS 



I HAVE already told you that Mercury was 

 the son of Jupiter. But I did not tell you that 

 his mother was Maia. She was a goddess so 

 beautiful that flowers sprang up wherever she 

 stepped. 



She still walks through the meadows and calls 

 up the flowers from their winter sleep. 



She makes the earth beautiful with violets 

 and buttercups. 



She touches the apple-trees, and the sweet- 

 smelling blossoms come. 



