"Be brave, my Halcyone," said the shade of the dead king. "Be brave and patient, and soon perchance, if the gods will, thou shalt come to me in the land of shades."
When the dream left her, Halcyone sprang from her couch and ran again to the seashore. She stretched out her arms and called aloud to Aeolus, the father of the winds.
"O great father Aeolus," she prayed, "give me wings so large and strong that they will carry me to the spot where the king now lies.
"Hear me, Aeolus! Hear Halcyone, thy child!"
And as she prayed, lo, she rose slowly into the air. The folds of her blue robe enwrapped her.
Halcyone floated out across the sea. Again and again her breast touched the white crest of the waves and left its foam on her throat and on the bosom of her dress.
On and on she sped across the billowy waters. Her wings were firm, strong, untiring.
At last, floating upon the water she spied the form of the king. With a hoarse rattling in her throat she called to him.
With her strong wings outspread, Halcyone hung motionless above the king. Those broken cries came again and again from her throat.
And Juno, looking down from her cloudland home, saw Halcyone kneeling on the waves beside the dead king. She leaned down from her place in the heavens and touched the king's forehead.