have I, and I only, slain my husband."

And she had scarce finished these words when Hyllus her son came in
great haste; and when he saw her, he cried, "O my mother! would that I
had found thee dead, or that thou wert not my mother, or that thou wert
of a better mind than I know thee to be of."

But she said, "What have I done, my son, that thou so abhorrest me?"

"This day thou hast done my father to death."

"What sayest thou? Who told thee this horrible thing that thou bringest
against me?"

"I saw it with mine own eyes. And if thou wilt hear the whole matter,
hearken. My father, having taken with his spear the city of Eurytus,
went to a certain place hard by the sea, that he might offer sacrifices
to Zeus, according to his vow. And even as he was about to begin, there
came Lichas the herald bringing thy gift, the deadly robe. And he put it
upon him as thou badest, and slew the beasts for the sacrifice, even
twelve oxen chosen out of the prey, and one hundred other beasts. And
for a while he did worship to the Gods with a glad heart, rejoicing in
the beauty of his apparel. But when the fire grew hot, and the sweat
came out upon his skin, the robe clung about him as though one had
fitted it to him by art, and there went a great pang of pain through
him, even as the sting of a serpent. And then he called to Lichas the
herald, and would fain know for what end he had brought this accursed
raiment. And when the wretch said that it was thy gift, he caught him by
the foot, and cast him on a rock that was in the sea hard by, and all
his brains were scattered upon it. And all the people groaned to see