me of what she makes you think."

John Derringham was growing interested by now, but had no idea in the
world of the marvel he was going to see. He started more perceptibly
than even Mr. Carlyon had done seven years before, when he had realized
the superlative beauty of the Greek head.

Halcyone uncovered it reverently, and then took a step back, and waited
silently for him to speak.

He looked long into the marvelous face, and then he said as though he
were dreaming:

"Aphrodite herself!"

"Ah! I felt you would know and recognize her at once--Yes, that is her
name. Oh, I am glad!" and Halcyone clapped her hands. "She is my mother,
and so, you see, I am never alone here, for she speaks always to me of
love."

John Derringham looked at her sharply as she said this, and in her eyes
he saw two wells of purity, each with an evening star melted into its
depths.

And he suddenly was conscious of something which his whole life had
missed--for he knew he did not know what real love meant, not even that
which his mother might have given him, if she had lived.

He did not speak for a moment; he gazed into Halcyone's face. It seemed
as if a curtain had lifted for one instant and given him a momentary