Page:Tanglewood tales (Dulac).djvu/110

 Telephassa, weeping bitterly, 'that is only another reason why I should go with you. If I should lose you, too, as well as my little Europa, what would become of me?'

'And let me go likewise!' said their playfellow Thasus, who came running to join them.

Thasus was the son of a seafaring person in the neighbourhood; he had been brought up with the young princes, and was their intimate friend, and loved Europa very much; so they consented that he should accompany them. The whole party, therefore, set forth together. Cadmus, Phœnix, Cilix, and Thasus clustered round Queen Telephassa, grasping her skirts, and begging her to lean upon their shoulders whenever she felt weary. In this manner they went down the palace steps, and began a journey which turned out to be a great deal longer than they dreamed of. The last that they saw of King Agenor, he came to the door, with a servant holding a torch beside him, and called after them into the gathering darkness:—

'Remember! Never ascend these steps again without the child!'

'Never!' sobbed Queen Telephassa; and the three brothers and Thasus answered, 'Never! Never! Never! Never!'

And they kept their word. Year after year King Agenor sat in the solitude of his beautiful palace, listening in vain for their returning footsteps, hoping to hear the familiar voice of the queen, and the cheerful talk of his sons and their playfellow Thasus, entering the door together, and 82