178 THE WONDER-BOOK OF HORSES 



by their industry they waxed rich, there came a 

 sudden flash of lightning and a stunning clap of 

 thunder from the clouds that hovered over Mount 

 Olympus, and, presto ! all was changed. The ant- 

 hill was suddenly transformed into a white-walled 

 town, and the insects themselves into busy men 

 and women hurrying through the streets, car- 

 rying burdens, building houses, and buying and 

 selling, just as though they had always been used 

 to doing so. Armed warriors stood g^ard at the 

 gates, and sturdy farmers with their teams of 

 oxen were bringing in the produce of the fields; 

 and in the middle part of the city, surrounded by 

 a garden of olives and pomegranates, was a white 

 palace which the Myrmidons had built for Peleus, 

 whom they now hailed as their king. 



But the most interesting happening in the life 

 of King Peleus was his wedding with the sea- 

 nymph Thetis, for that was the starting point of 

 the greatest romance that has ever been sung or 

 written. Whether Thetis was really a silver- 

 footed nymph, as the poets would have us believe, 

 or whether she was only the daughter of a fisher- 

 man, it matters not, the time was so long ago. 

 It is certainly true that she was famed all over 

 the world for her beauty and her many graces; 



