54 THE WONDER-BOOK OF HORSES 



there was n't a drop of water to be seen — ^nothing 

 but a little patch of boggy ground where the tall 

 grass grew rank and thick. In his anger he 

 spread his wings and gave the earth a tremendous 

 kick with both of his hind feet together. The 

 ground was soft, and the force of the blow was 

 such that a long, deep trench was opened in the 

 boggy soil. Instantly a stream of water, cool and 

 sweet and clear, poured out and filled the trench 

 and ran as a swift brook across the plain toward 

 the distant river. The horse drank his fill from 

 the pleasant fountain which he himself had thus 

 hollowed out; and then, greatly refreshed, un- 

 folded his wings again and rose high in the air, 

 ready for a flight across the sea to the distant 

 land of Lycia. 



Men were not long in finding out that the 

 waters of the new spring at the foot of Mount 

 Helicon had some strange properties, filling their 

 hearts with a wonderful sense of whatever is 

 beautiful and true and good, and putting music ■ 

 into their souls and new songs into their mouths. 

 And so they called the spring Hippocrene, or the 

 Fountain of the Horse, and poets from all parts 

 of the world went there to drink. But in later 

 times the place fell into neglect, for, somehow, 



