202 THE WONDER-BObK OF HORSES 



at the hands of Achilles. Despoiled of his armor, 

 he lay bound to the tail of the victor's chariot, 

 his head trailing in the dust. The pitiless lord 

 of the Myrmidons stood in the car alone, and 

 lashed his steeds to their utmost speed, and Swift 

 and Old-Gold, unused to such cruelty, leaped 

 wildly in their traces and flew over the plain with 

 the swiftness of the wind, while a cloud of dust 

 arose about them as if to hide their master's heart- 

 less deed from the eyes of the pitying beholders. 



Hector's mother shrieked aloud in her grief, 

 and tore her long hair, and threw her veil far 

 over the wall. The king, his father, moaned pite- 

 ously, and would have gone out alone from the 

 gates to entreat the mercy of Achilles, had not 

 those around him held him back. And the cries 

 of the people upon the walls were echoed through- 

 out the town, and there was mourning and wild 

 grief in every house. Around the entire circuit 

 of the city, Achilles drove his team, and then, fol- 

 lowed by his Myrmidons and with the body of 

 Hector still trailing in the dust, he betook him- 

 self to his own encampment beside the sea. 



Then Hector's squire, heavy of heart because 

 of that day's work, went out into his master's 

 courtyard and unyoked the steeds ^thon and 



