THE CHIMERA. 217

lerophon, meanwhile, turning about, found himself face
to face with the ugly grimness of the Chimeera’s visage,
and could only avoid being scorched to death, or bitten
right in twain, by holding up his shield. Over the
upper edge of the shield, he looked sternly into the
savage eyes of the monster.

But the Chimera was so mad and wild with pain,
that it did not guard itself so well as might else have
been the case. Perhaps, after all, the best way to fight
a Chimera is by getting as close to it as you can. In
its efforts to stick its horrible iron claws into its enemy,
the creature left its own breast quite exposed ; and per-
ceiving this, Bellerophon thrust his sword up to the
hilt into its cruel heart. Immediately the snaky tail
untied its knot. The monster let go its hold of Pega-
sus, and fell from that vast height, downward; while
the fire within its bosom, instead of being put out,
burned fiercer than ever, and quickly began to consume
the dead carcass. Thus it fell out of the sky, all a-flame,
and (it being nightfall before it reached the earth) was
mistaken for a shooting star or a comet. But, at early
sunrise, some cottagers were going to their day’s labor,
and saw, to their astonishment, that several acres of
ground were strewn with black ashes. In the middle
of a field, there was a heap of whitened bones, a great
deal higher than a haystack. Nothing else was ever
seen of the dreadful Chimera!

And when Bellerophon had won the victory, he bent
forward and kissed Pegasus, while the tears stood in his
eyes. |

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