But, instead of completing this task as soon as possible, she ravelled by night the work done during the day, until the suitors discovered the trick.
"The work she plied; but, studious of delay, By night reversed the labors of the day.
While thrice the sun his annual journey made, The conscious lamp the midnight fraud survey'd; Unheard, unseen, three years her arts prevail: The fourth, her maid unfolds the amazing tale.
We saw as unperceived we took our stand, The backward labors of her faithless hand"[3] They now suggest that Telemachus send Penelope back to her father, but the youth indignantly refuses, and the council closes while he prays for vengeance.

That he has not been unheard is proved by the appearance of two eagles, which peck out the eyes of some of the spectators.

This is interpreted by an old man as an omen of Ulysses' speedy return, and he admonishes all present to prove faithful, lest they incur a master's wrath.
The assembly having dispersed, Telemachus hastens down to the shore, where Minerva visits him in the guise of his tutor Mentor, and instructs him to arrange for secret departure.

Telemachus, therefore, returns to the palace, where the suitors are preparing a new feast.
Refusing to join their revels, he seeks his old nurse Eurycleia, to whom he entrusts the provisioning of his vessel, bidding her if possible conceal his departure from Penelope for twelve days.
Meantime, in the guise of Telemachus, Minerva scours the town to secure skilful oarsmen, and at sunset has a vessel ready to sail.
Then, returning to the palace, she enchains the senses of the suitors in such deep slumber that Telemachus effects his, departure unseen, and embarking with Mentor sets sail, his vessel speeding smoothly over the waves all night.
_Book III._ At sunrise Telemachus reaches Pylos and finds Nestor and his friends offering a sacrifice on the shore.

Joining the feasters,--who gather by fifties around tables groaning beneath the weight of nine oxen apiece,--Telemachus makes known his name and errand.