"For love of gallant youth,

"More than a tear she gave,

"She would not live with constant ruth -

"Slept by him in his grave."

"There will be no poem for him!"

As she spoke a break occurred in her voice, and a sadness.

Perhaps she had not loved Pluto, but surely she had pitied him.

"He was ugly, hated, feared. I, who knew him best, held him in awe. And yet, for all his faults, he was gentle. Though master of that dark domain, he wept for those within. Though he had power, he had not the power to set them free.

"He loved me. A strange love, perhaps. When I returned for that brief moment to my mother, he wept. And when I returned to him once more, his face was radiant.

"Did I love him?"

She was silent. Yet, tears flowed from her eyes.

"Love? What is Love?"

She walked restlessly by the tarn, breathed deeply.

"Mother, I would rest. Take me home." She sobbed.

Demo listened silently, head bowed. Though a tragedy had now ended, still there was tragedy. How strange indeed this life, where evil destroyed did not bring happiness. Where maiden rescued did not bring joy. Where task performed did not bring triumph.

He picked up the broken sword, gazed at it musingly. With a half smile he shook his head, tossed it aside.

Finally he turned to comfort her, but she was gone. Where she had stood a rose bush grew. Its single blossom, one deep red rose, hung low in sorrow. A vagrant wave gently kissed its soft petals.

With a sigh Demo turned to climb again the mountain. Above its peaks a lone white cloud drifted. Sun's rays lit the tree tops.

The final task was done.

"Rough, you've come back . . . , alone! Oh, and you're hurt."

She dropped to her knees beside the dog, felt of his legs, ribs.

"At least there aren't any bones broken."

She stood up, thinking.

"You wouldn't have deserted him if he were in danger. I'm sure of that. So he sent you home. I only wish I knew that he is safe. Well, come, boy, I have some food for you."

She patted the dog, took him inside. After feeding him she stood in the open door.

A tear formed in her eye, and she wiped it away.

"Athena, if you truly love him, protect him."

24. Finale

The flutter of wings broke the silence, and she was there beside him. Athena! She reached out her hand, and he held it.

This time neither Zeus nor Pluto intervened. In moments they were flying upward, ever upward, to far off Olympus.

He glanced back to the tarn below. The water lilies had covered its surface. The waves lapped gently at the sandy sh.o.r.e, washed tenderly the wild rose.

A few red petals fell softly into the quiet waters, mingled with the white waterlilies floating there.