The king sent out his fastest ship to try to overtake the bull.  The sailors rowed far out to sea, much farther than any ship had ever gone before; but no trace of Europa could be found.  When they came back, everybody felt that there was no more hope.  All the women and children in the town wept for the lost Europa.  The king shut himself up in his house, and did not eat nor drink for three days.  Then he called his son Cadmus, and bade him take a ship and go in search of his sister; and he told him that, no matter what dangers might be in his way, he must not come back until she was found.

Cadmus was glad to go.  He chose twenty brave young men to go with him, and set sail the very next day.  It was a great undertaking; for they were to pass through an unknown sea, and they did not know what lands they would come to.  Indeed, it was feared that they would never come to any land at all.  Ships did not dare to go far from the shore in those days.  But Cadmus and his friends were not afraid.  They were ready to face any danger.

In a few days they came to a large island called Cyprus.  Cadmus went on shore, and tried to talk with the strange people who lived there.  They were very kind to him, but they did not understand his language.  At last he made out by signs to tell them who he was, and to ask them if they had seen his little sister Europa or the white bull that had carried her away.  They shook their heads and pointed to the west.

Then the young men sailed on in their little ship.  They came to many islands, and stopped at every one, to see if they could find any trace of Europa; but they heard no news of her at all.  At last, they came to the country which we now call Greece.  It was a new country then, and only a few people lived there, and Cadmus soon learned to speak their language well.  For a long time he wandered from one little town to another, always telling the story of his lost sister.

II.  THE PYTHIA.

One day an old man told Cadmus that if he would go to Delphi and ask the Pythia, perhaps she could tell him all about Europa.  Cadmus had never heard of Delphi or of the Pythia, and he asked the old man what he meant.

“I will tell you,” said the man.  “Delphi is a town, built near the foot of Mount Parnassus, at the very center of the earth.  It is the town of Apollo, the Bringer of Light; and there is a temple there, built close to the spot where Apollo killed a black serpent, many, many years ago.  The temple is the most wonderful place in the world.  In the middle of the floor there is a wide crack, or crevice; and this crevice goes down, down into the rock, nobody knows how deep.  A strange odor comes up out of the crevice; and if any one breathes much of it, he is apt to fall over and lose his senses.”

“But who is the Pythia that you spoke about?” asked Cadmus.