“How terrible these things are!  What pain it causes to see the being one loves most, the mother of the fairest children, so cruelly heighten the anguish of parting, choose death, as it were, for a constant companion, amid the whirl of the gayest amusements!  She daily looks all his terrors in the face, yet with proud contempt turns her back upon the bridge which might perhaps enable her for a time to escape the monster.  This is grand, worthy of her, and never have I loved her more tenderly.

“You, too, must think of her kindly.  She deserves it.  A noble heart which sees itself forced to pity a foe, easily forgives; and was she ever your enemy?

“I have written a long, long letter to solace your seclusion from the world and relieve my own heart.  Have patience a little while longer.  The time is not far distant when Fate itself will release you from exile.  How often your relatives, Archibius and Gorgias, whom I now see frequently in the presence of the Queen, long to visit you!—­but they, too, believe that it might prove a source of danger.”

The warnings in this letter were confirmed by another from Archibius, and soon after they heard that Caesarion had really sailed up the Nile for Ethiopia with his tutor Rhodon, and Antyllus had been sent to Asia to visit Octavianus.  The latter had received him, it is true; but sent him home without making any pledges.

These tidings were not brought by letter, but by Gorgias himself, whose visit surprised them one evening late in March.

Rarely had a guest received a more joyous welcome.  When he entered the bare room, Barine was making a net and telling the fisherman’s daughter Dione the story of the wanderings of Ulysses.  Dion, too, listened attentively, now and then correcting or explaining her descriptions, while carving a head of Poseidon for the prow of a newly built boat.

As Gorgias unexpectedly crossed the threshold, the dim light of the lamp fed by kiki-oil seemed transformed into sunshine.  How brightly their eyes sparkled, how joyous were their exclamations of welcome and surprise!  Then came questions, answers, news!  Gorgias was obliged to share the family supper, which had only waited the return of the father who had brought the guest.

The fresh oysters, langustae, and other dishes served tasted more delicious to the denizen of the city than the most delicious banquets of the “Comrades of Death” to which he was now frequently invited by the Queen.

All that Pyrrhus said voluntarily and told his sons in reply to their questions was so sensible and related to matters which, because they were new to Gorgias, seemed so fascinating that, when Dion’s good wine was served, he declared that if Pyrrhus would receive him he, too, would search for pursuers and be banished here.