blood soaking into the grass had made it slippery.  Down he fell into the puddle, and in a moment his chance of victory had disappeared.  But even then, in spite of his disappointment, he was mindful of his affection for Euryalus, and resolved that since he could not win the race, his friend should do so.  He rose to his feet just as Salius was coming up, and contrived to stand in his way so as to overturn him.  Euryalus, who had still kept the third place, now sprang forward, and was easily victorious amid the applause of the crowd.  Elymus came in next, and close behind him Diores.  But Salius loudly demanded that the first prize of right belonged to him, because he had been deprived of the victory by unfair means.  The spectators, however, favored the claim of Euryalus because of his youth and beauty; and Diores vehemently took the same side, since, if Salius were adjudged the victory, he would not receive a prize at all.  AEneas speedily silenced all contention by declaring that the promised rewards should go to the three who had arrived first at the winning-post; but he added that he would show his sympathy for the disaster which had befallen Salius, and therefore bestowed on him the shaggy hide of a Getulian lion, still retaining the claws, which had been gilt.  Upon this, Nisus also merrily asked for some consolation, since but for an accident the first prize would have been his, and he showed his face and limbs all besmeared with mud.  His chief entered into the jest, and gave him a buckler, finely carved, which had once hung on the walls of Neptune’s temple at Troy.

[Illustration:  HE ROSE TO HIS FEET JUST AT THE MOMENT THAT SALIUS WAS COMING UP, AND CONTRIVED TO STAND IN HIS WAY SO AS TO OVERTURN HIM.  EURYALUS, WHO HAD STILL KEPT THE THIRD PLACE, NOW SPRANG FORWARD, AND WAS EASILY VICTORIOUS AMID THE APPLAUSE OF THE CROWD.  ELYMUS CAME IN NEXT, AND CLOSE BEHIND HIM DIORES.  BUT SALIUS LOUDLY DEMANDED THAT THE FIRST PRIZE OF RIGHT BELONGED TO HIM.]

The next contest was that with the cestus, the boxing-glove of the ancients, a formidable implement, intended not to soften the blows dealt by the boxers, but to make them more painful, for it was composed of strips of hardened oxhide.  To the competitors in this sport—­if such it could be called—­AEneas offered two prizes,—­the first a bullock, decked with gold and fillets, and the second a sword and a shining helmet.  A noted Trojan warrior named Dares, a man of immense strength and bulk, who was also celebrated for his skill with the cestus, presented himself to contest this prize.  He brandished his huge fists in the air, and paced vaingloriously backward and forward in the arena, challenging any one in the assembly to meet him.  But there was no response; his friends were too well acquainted with his skill, and the Sicilians were awed by his formidable appearance.  At last, therefore, imagining that nobody would venture to encounter him, he advanced to AEneas and asked that the prize might be given