Once or twice , he fancied that he saw a glare of some bright object , a long way off , flinging a gleam across the waves . `` Did you see that flash of light ? '' he inquired of the master of the vessel . `` No , prince ; but I have seen it before , '' answered the master . `` It came from Talus , I suppose . '' As the breeze came fresher just then , the master was busy with trimming his sails , and had no more time to answer questions . But while the vessel flew faster and faster towards Crete , Theseus was astonished to behold a human figure , gigantic in size , which appeared to be striding , with a measured movement , along the margin of the island . It stepped from cliff to cliff , and sometimes from one headland to another , while the sea foamed and thundered on the shore beneath , and dashed its jets of spray over the giant 's feet . What was still more remarkable , whenever the sun shone on this huge figure , it flickered and glimmered ; its vast countenance , too , had a metallic lustre , and threw great flashes of splendor through the air . The folds of its garments , moreover , instead of waving in the wind , fell heavily over its limbs , as if woven of some kind of metal . The nigher the vessel came , the more Theseus wondered what this immense giant could be , and whether it actually had life or no . For , though it walked , and made other lifelike motions , there yet was a kind of jerk in its gait , which , together with its brazen aspect , caused the young prince to suspect that it was no true giant , but only a wonderful piece of machinery . The figure looked all the more terrible because it carried an enormous brass club on its shoulder . `` What is this wonder ? '' Theseus asked of the master of the vessel , who was now at leisure to answer him . `` It is Talus , the Man of Brass , '' said the master . `` And is he a live giant , or a brazen image ? '' asked Theseus . `` That , truly , '' replied the master , `` is the point which has always perplexed me . Some say , indeed , that this Talus was hammered out for King Minos by Vulcan himself , the skilfullest of all workers in metal .
But who ever XXXXX a brazen image that had sense enough to walk round an island three times a day , as this giant walks round the island of Crete , challenging every vessel that comes nigh the shore ?
brazen countenance fell glimmered made saw see seen suspect wondered