64 THE WONDER-BOOK OF HORSES 



" ' I am not afraid/ said I. ' I will start to the 

 mountains this very hour, and if I don't bring 

 you the head of the Chimaera to hang up in your 

 halls, you may brand me as a coward.' 



" ' You are a brave young man,' said the king, 

 * and I will take you at your word, but I would 

 advise you to lose no time in starting.' 



" I was surprised at the way in which the king 

 dismissed me, and the longer I thought about the 

 matter the stranger it all seemed. But there was 

 only one thing to do. I walked out of the king's 

 palace, found the shortest road to Mount Climax, 

 and — here I am ! " 



IV. THE DREAM AND THE GIFTS 



" Do you have any idea what it was that King 

 Proetus wrote to King lobates ? " asked the old 

 man. 



"Why should I?" 



" Then I will tell you. He wrote to say that 

 you had been accused of treasonable crimes in 

 Tiryns, and that, not wishing to harm you him- 

 self, he had sent you to Lycia to be put to death. 

 King lobates was loath to have this done, and 

 so he has sent you out against the Chimaera, 



