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compassionate, all in one look.
    "Let the people of Athens this year draw lots for only six young men,
instead of seven," said he, "I will myself be the seventh; and let the
Minotaur devour me if he can!"
    "O my dear son," cried King Aegeus, "why should you expose yourself to
this horrible fate? You are a royal prince, and have a right to hold
yourself above the destinies of common men."
    "It is because I am a prince, your son, and the rightful heir of your
kingdom, that I freely take upon me the calamity of your subjects,"
answered Theseus, "And you, my father, being king over these people, and
answerable to Heaven for their welfare, are bound to sacrifice what
is dearest to you, rather than that the son or daughter of the poorest
citizen should come to any harm."
    The old king shed tears, and besought Theseus not to leave him desolate
in his old age, more especially as he had but just begun to know the
happiness of possessing a good and valiant son. Theseus, however,
felt that he was in the right, and therefore would not give up his
resolution. But he assured his father that he did not intend to be eaten
up, unresistingly, like a sheep, and that, if the Minotaur devoured him,
it should not be without a battle for his dinner. And finally, since he
could not help it, King Aegeus consented to let him go. So a vessel
was got ready, and rigged with black sails; and Theseus, with six other
young men, and seven tender and beautiful damsels, came down to the
harbor to embark. A sorrowful multitude accompanied them to the shore.
There was the poor old king, too, leaning on his son's arm, and looking
as if his single heart held all the grief of Athens.
    Just as Prince Theseus was going on board, his father bethought himself
of one last word to say.
    "My beloved son," said he, grasping the Prince's hand, "you observe that
the sails of this vessel are black; as indeed they ought to be, since it
goes upon a voyage of sorrow and despair. Now, being weighed down with
infirmities, I know not whether I can survive till the vessel shall
return. But, as long as I do live, I shall creep daily to the top of
yonder cliff, to watch if there be a sail upon the sea. And, dearest
Theseus, if by some happy chance, you should escape the jaws of the
Minotaur, then tear down those dismal sails, and hoist others that shall
be bright as the sunshine. Beholding them on the horizon, myself and
all the people will know that you are coming back victorious, and will
welcome you with such a festal uproar as Athens never heard before."
    Theseus promised that he would do so. Then going on board, the mariners
trimmed the vessel's black sails to the wind, which blew faintly off
the shore, being pretty much made up of the sighs that everybody kept
pouring forth on this melancholy occasion. But by and by, when they had
got fairly out to sea, there came a stiff breeze from the north-west,
and drove them along as merrily over the white-capped waves as if they
had been going on the most delightful errand imaginable. And though
it was a sad business enough, I rather question whether fourteen young
people, without any old persons to keep them in order, could continue
to spend the whole time of the voyage in being miserable. There had been
some few dances upon the undulating deck, I suspect, and some hearty
bursts of laughter, and other such unseasonable merriment among
the victims, before the high blue mountains of Crete began to show
themselves among the far-off clouds. That sight, to be sure, made them
all very grave again.
    Theseus stood among the sailors, gazing eagerly towards the land;
although, as yet, it seemed hardly more substantial than the clouds,
amidst which the mountains were looming up. Once or twice, he fancied
that he saw a glare of some bright object, a long way off, flinging a
gleam across the waves.
    "Did you see that flash of light?" he inquired of the master of the
vessel.
    "No, prince; but I have seen it before," answered the master. "It came
from