Eumæus. The herdsman and steward of Ulysses who knew his master on his return after an absence of twenty years. He was the king’s right-hand man in the plot against, and fight with, the suitors of Penelope.
THE ADVENTURES OF ULYSSES
THE FIRST EPISODE
How They blinded the Son of Poseidon
A warm mild wind, laden with sweet scents, blew over the sailors from the island, which now lay far astern.
In the weary west the charmed sunset still lingered over Lotus Land.
A rosy flush lay on the snow-capped mountains which were yet spectral in the last lights of the day, but looking out over the bows the sky was dark purple changing into black, and where it met the sea there was a white gleam of foam.
The companions of Ulysses sat idle from the oars, for the wind filled the belly of the sail and there was no need for rowing. A curious silence brooded over them all. No one spoke to his fellow. The faces of all were sad, and in the eyes of some the fire of an unutterable regret burnt steadily.
The heads of all were turned towards the island, which was fast disappearing from their view. Some of the men shaded their eyes with their hands in one last long look of farewell.
As the curtain of the dark fell upon the sea, the warm offshore wind died away. A colder breeze, full of the sea-smell itself, came down over the port bow; it moaned through the cordage, and little waves began to hiss under the cutwater.