blue eyes, and your rich, royal dress shall adorn his noble figure.  Your generous heart, your love of truth, and your beautiful reverence for the gods, your courage and heroism, in short, every thing that I love and honor in you, I shall give to the hero of my tale.  How the children will listen! and when they cry, ’Oh, how we love the prince, how good and beautiful he must be! if we could only see him? then I shall press them close to my heart and kiss them as I kiss you now, and so they will have gained their wish, for as you are enthroned in my heart, you must be living within me and therefore near to them, and when they embrace me they will embrace you too.”

“And I shall go to my little sister Atossa and tell her all I have seen on my journey, and when I speak of the Greeks, their grace, their glorious works of art, and their beautiful women, I shall describe the golden Aphrodite in your lovely likeness.  I shall tell her of your virtue, your beauty and modesty, of your singing, which is so sweet that even the nightingale is silent in order to listen to it, of your love and tenderness.  But all this I shall tell her belongs to the divine Cypris, and when she cries, ‘O Aphrodite, could I but see thee!’ I too shall kiss my sister.”

“Hark, what was that?  Melitta surely clapped her hands.  Farewell, we must not stay! but we shall soon see each other again.”

“One more kiss!”

“Farewell!”

Melitta had fallen asleep at her post, overcome by age and weariness.  Her dreams were suddenly disturbed by a loud noise, and she clapped her hands directly to warn the lovers and call Sappho, as she perceived by the stars that the dawn was not far off.

As the two approached the house, they discovered that the noise which had awakened the old slave, proceeded from the guests, who were preparing for departure.

Urging her to make the greatest haste, Melitta pushed the frightened girl into the house, took her at once to her sleeping-room, and was beginning to undress her when Rhodopis entered.

“You are still up, Sappho?” she asked.

“What is this, my child?”

Melitta trembled and had a falsehood ready on her lips, but Sappho, throwing herself into her grandmother’s arms, embraced her tenderly and told the whole story of her love.

Rhodopis turned pale, ordered Melitta to leave the chamber, and, placing herself in front of her grandchild, laid both hands on her shoulders and said earnestly, “Look into my eyes, Sappho.  Canst thou look at me as happily and as innocently, as thou couldst before this Persian came to us?”

The girl raised her eyes at once with a joyful smile; then Rhodopis clasped her to her bosom, kissed her and continued:  “Since thou wert a little child my constant effort has been to train thee to a noble maidenhood and guard thee from the approach of love.  I had intended, in accordance with the customs of our country, to choose a fitting husband for thee shortly myself, to whose care I should have committed thee; but the gods willed differently.