212 THE WONDER-BOOK OF HORSES 



have no doubt but that they are all far over the 

 sea by this time, and this east wind will waft 

 them swiftly to their own country." 



All Troy, when it awoke and heard the glad 

 news, stretched itself out and took a long breath. 

 The shopkeepers threw open their doors and hung 

 up their handsomest goods where they would 

 catch the eyes of the passers-by. The farmers 

 brought out their plows and mended their old 

 harness and talked about the big crops they 

 would raise in the fields that had lain fallow so 

 long and had been enriched with so much human 

 blood. The housewives returned to their long- 

 neglected spinning, or overhauled their linen 

 closets, and brushed the cobwebs out of their bed- 

 chambers. The citizen-soldiers hung up their 

 bows and quivers, their swords and shields, and 

 each began to furbish up the instruments of his 

 trade. The maidens donned their best gowns and 

 went out to walk and smile sweetly. The small 

 boys with their fishing-lines in their pockets, and 

 the great crowd of idlers who always expected to 

 grow rich upon what they could find, hastened 

 into the streets and elbowed their way to the 

 gates, only to find them closed. 



About noon, however, the gate next to the sea 



