Page:Stories from Old English Poetry-1899.djvu/301

Rh heir to the crown of Naples, and his brother Sebastian, besides many other noblemen of Naples and Milan. All these nobles, dukes, and princes were on board the King’s vessel, which headed the fleet.

Prospero had for some time known of the approach of this fleet, and had divined what persons were on board, and at what moment the King’s ship would sail near the island. When this moment arrived he sent Ariel to intercept the King’s ship, and to separate it from the other vessels.

Ariel did his work well and faithfully, like a true creature of the elements to which he belonged. He made the whole atmosphere around the ship glitter with flames and flash with lightning. Here, there, and everywhere, he flamed in the eyes of the astonished crew. Upon the mast, the bows, and in the vessel’s track he sat aflame, so that the air and water seemed to vomit fires. The sailors, struck with fear, could hardly work the ship, which Ariel all the time drew closer and closer to the shores of the island. At length the lords, the young prince, and the King himself, leaped into the foaming sea, and all swam to the shore in safety.

Ariel plunged the sailors into a deep sleep, and left them securely fastened under the hatches on the vessel. Then he managed cunningly to