hear not another word in their favour, the prisoners were now led away, and clapped into a dungeon, where the jailer advised them to go to sleep as soon as possible, because the Minotaur was in the habit of calling for breakfast early. The seven maidens and six of the young men soon sobbed themselves to slumber. But Theseus was not like them. He felt conscious that he was wiser, and braver, and stronger than his companions, and that therefore he had the responsibility of all their lives upon him, and must consider whether there was no way to save them, even in this last extremity. So he kept himself awake, and paced to and fro across the gloomy dungeon in which they were shut up.
Just before midnight, the door was softly unbarred, and the gentle Ariadne showed herself, with a torch in her hand.
'Are you awake, Prince Theseus?' she whispered.
'Yes,' answered Theseus. 'With so little time to live, I do not choose to waste any of it in sleep.'
'Then follow me,' said Ariadne, 'and tread softly.'
What had become of the jailer and the guards, Theseus never knew. But, however that might be, Ariadne opened all the doors, and led him forth from the darksome prison into the pleasant moonlight.
'Theseus,' said the maiden, 'you can now get on board your vessel, and sail away for Athens.'
'No,' answered the young man; 'I will never leave Crete unless I can first slay the Minotaur, and save my
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