possessing Daphne; perhaps she would wait for him and reject other
suitors until he learned in the capital whether he might not hope to
recover his lost sight. He was at least secure against external want;
the generous Archias would hardly withhold from him the prize he had
intended for the successful statue, although the second had been
destroyed. The great merchant would do everything for his fame-crowned
nephew, and he, Hermon, was conscious that had his uncle been in his
situation he would have divided his last obol with him. Refusal of his
assistance would have been an insult to his paternal friend and guardian.

Lastly, he might hope that Archias would take him to the most skilful
leeches in Alexandria and, if they succeeded in restoring his lost power
of vision, then--then Yet it seemed so presumptuous to lull himself in
this hope that he forbade himself the pleasure of indulging it.

Amid these consoling reflections, Hermon fell asleep, and awoke fresher
and more cheerful than he had been for some time.

He had to spend two whole weeks more in Tennis, for the burns healed
slowly, and an anxious fear kept him away from Alexandria.

There the woman he loved would again meet him and, though he could assure
Thyone that Nemesis had turned her wheel away from him, he would have
been permitted to treat Daphne only with cool reserve, while every fibre
of his being urged him to confess his love and clasp her in his arms.

Gras had already written twice to his master, telling him with what
gratifying patience Hermon was beginning to submit to his great
misfortune, when the notary Melampus returned from Alexandria with news
which produced the most delightful transformation in the blind artist's