Page:The-story-of-the-golden-fleece--281903-29-andrew-lang.djvu/49

The Story of the Golden Fleece So she thanked him, and said it was a kind deed, for she was longing to reach the cottage where her little grandson lay sick.

Then he knelt down, and she climbed upon his back, and he used his spear for a staff, and stepped into the river. It was deeper than he thought, and stronger, but at last he staggered out on the farther bank, far below where he went in. And then he set the old woman down.

“Bless you, my lad, for a strong man and a brave!” she said, “and my blessing go with you to the world’s end.”

Then he looked and she was gone he did not know where, for she was the greatest of the goddesses, Hera, the wife of Zeus, who had taken the shape of an old woman. 43