THE CHIMERA. 195

of shoes; but then, how would a man like to see his horse
flying out of the stable window ? — yes; or whisking him
up above the clouds, when he only wanted to ride to
mill? No, no! I don’t believe in Pegasus. There
never was such a ridiculous kind of a horse-fowl made ! ”

‘““T have some reason to think otherwise,” said Beller-
ophon, quietly.

And then he turned to an old, gray man, who was
leaning on a staff, and listening very attentively, with
his head stretched forward, and one hand at his ear,
because, for the last twenty years, he had been getting
rather deaf.

‘And what say you, venerable si 2» inquired he.
“In your younger days, I should imagine, you must
frequently have seen the winged steed!”

* Ah, young stranger, my memory is very poor!” said
the aged man. ‘ When I was a lad, if I remember
rightly, I used to believe there was such a horse, and so
did everybody else. But, nowadays, I hardly know
what to think, and very seldom think about the winged
horse at all. If I ever saw the creature, it was a long,
long while ago; and, to tell you the truth, I doubt
whether I ever did see him. One day, to be sure, when
I was quite a youth, I remember seeing some hoof-tramps
round about the brink of the fountain. Pegasus might
have made those hoof-marks; and so might some other
horse.”

“And have you never seen him, my fair maiden ? ”
asked Bellerophon of the girl, who stood with the pitcher
on her head, while this talk went on. ‘ You certainly