The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1875-11-05

ried it alive to Mycenae upon his shout
ders. Eurystheus saw him coming and
was so terrified mt the sight OF the mon
ster that he himself had ordered that he
shut himself up in his underground
room for number of days.
AS fifth labor, he was told that he
must clean in one day some stables
where three thousand oxen had been
kept for years. There were two rivers
near, and Hercules took away part OF the
wall of the court and sent the rivers,
Peneus and Alpheus, flowing through
the filthy stalls. So they were cleansed
in day.
Then he was obliged to kill some hor-
rible birds that lived in the Vale Of
Stamphalos. They had talons of iron
and sharp, arrow-hke feathers, and used
to eat human flesh. Hercules could not
think at first how to manage with these
frightful creatures but, while he was
bordering the matter, Minerva came to
him, bringing some brazen rattles that
friendly Vulcan had sent. Hercules
shook these, and so dreadful was the
sound they made that the birds flew into
the air from very fright, and then the
arrows OF Hercules did their work.
AS the seventh task, Hercules caught
tremendous wild bull in the Island of
Crete, and made the monster carry him
across the water on his back, and finally
both reached Mycenae, as ordered.
Diomedes, King of Thrace, had some
very fierce horses that lived ON human
flesh. To take these from their keepers
and present them at Nycenae was the
eighth labor of Hercules.
Hippolyte, Queen of the Amazons, the
warrior-women, had a girdle which Mars,
the god of war, had given her. Now,
Eurystheus thought that his daughter
Admeta would look well in this belt.
So he sent Hercules TO fetch it. He went
with some other heroes to Themiscyra,
and Hyppolyte met them and asked why
they had come. When she found that
Hercules wanted her girdle she said that
he might take it. So all would have
ended happily if jealous Juno had not
interfered. She suddenly appeared in
the form of an Amazon among the
warlike women, and told them that these
strange men who had come to their
country meant to carry away their Queen ;
whereupon they made ready to fight,
and, mounting their horses they rode
down to the shore. Seeing this, and sus-
pecting the Queen instead of mischief
making Juno, Hercules killed Hippolyte
and carried the girdle away.
The tenth labor was very great one
There lived on the Island of Erythea a
being of most remarkable personal APP
pearance, for we are told that "he had
three bodies, three heads, three pairs of
legs, and six arms" He owned some
purple oxen, and, to take care of them,
the herdsman Eurytion and two
headed dog called Orthos. Hercules
was sent for these oxen. The sun-god
lent him the golden cup in which he
himself travels from west to east, and III
it hercules sailed TO the island. He sue
ceeded in Staying the dog, the herdsman,
and the monster Geryon himself, and
brought the purple cattle from the island
IN the sun-god's cup. He lost some of
them. The rest Eurystheus offered az n
sacrifice to Juno.
Hercules was next sent to pluck GER
tain golden apples, guarded by the
huge dragon that was, after he killed it,
turned into the constellation Draco.
The last of the twelve labors was the
capture of the dog Cerberus. Mercury
and Minerva went down TO Hades with
him. The dog bit him with his dragon
tail, but he succeeded in bringing him
to the upper world.-Hedrth and Home.