Jordan continued “War it not ‘round yere somewhar’ thet ther Greeks lived?”

“Yes, north of this sea, ahead of us, and to the left,” said Sedgwick.

“They wur the ones that fit Marathon and Thermoperlee, and it wur from ther thet big Aleck cum?” asked Jordan.

“Yes,” was the reply.  “It was only a little country, but had many states, The Spartans and Thespians, mostly the Spartans, fought at Thermopylae.  Marathon was fought mostly by Athenians, and Alexander was Phillip’s son, of Macedonia.”

“’Zactly,” said Jordan.  “Athens wur the boss place, wur it not?  It had ther best talkers, and best public schools, and wur it not thar thet the woman Frina kept house?”

“Yes, Phryne was an Athenian, I believe, a woman of a good model, but not a model woman,” said Sedgwick, with a faint smile.

“I reckon yo’ wur right, Jim,” said Jordan, “but it wur not singular she bested them fellers in her law-suit.  Her showin’ would ha’ brought a Texas jury every time, sho’, in spite of any ’structions, no matter how savage, from ther court.”

Then he continued, “Thar wur another bad one ’round here, somewhar.  Don’t yo’ reclect readin’ ’bout her and ther Roman?  They got spoony on one another.  He neglected his family and business, he wur thet fur gone; finally got hisself killed, and then she pizened herself with a sarpent, not a moccasin nor rattler, but a little short blue-brown scrub snake not a foot long.”

“You mean Antony and Cleopatra,” said Sedgwick.

“’Zactly, Cleopatra,” said Jordan.  “She wer ther one.  I never liked her, not half so well as the one with yaller ha’r thet they called Helen.  One wur bad on her own account; the other, as I calcerlate, wus bad jest because she hed er disposition to be entertainin’ and agreeable.  One wur naterally bad; t’other wur a lady by instinct but her edecation had been neglected.”

Still he ran on:  “Wur it not on this water thet old Solomon fitted out ships for ther Ophir diggings?”

“I do not know,” was the reply.  “It probably was, if, as is believed, a canal connected this sea with the Red Sea in his day.”

“Which way are Jerusalem from here, Sedgwick?” he asked.

Sedgwick pointed in the direction.

“And Tyre and Venice and Egypt and ther Hellespont?” Jordan asked.

Sedgwick explained.

“The country ’round this sea made ther world once, didn’t it?” was Jordan’s next exclamation.

“Very nearly,” answered Sedgwick.  “The cradle of civilization was rocked more on these shores than anywhere else.  Egypt and Greece and Carthage and Phoenicia and Syria and Rome, and a score of other nations, grew into form on the shores of this sea.  The arts had birth here; arts, architecture, ship-building, sculpture, poetry, eloquence, law and learning, all began on these shores; and Roman soldiers crucified the Savior a little beyond where the waves of this sea break against its eastern shore.”