“Sheshà says Time is a magic thing,” returned Rachel, dreamily. “And it isn’t, anyhow, more wonderful than all the other things that have happened.... Just see how lovely everything looks, Diana. Don’t let’s bother about how we got here.” “The sun is just going to rise, isn’t it?” whispered Diana, still bewildered and rather awed by the suddenness of this change of scene. They were standing on a rocky spur of mountain looking down upon a huge circular space, enclosed by tier above tier of empty seats. On the left, through a gap in the hills, they saw the calm blue sea, stretching away to where above the horizon the sun, like a shield of fire, was just rising. In front of them, and overshadowing part of the enclosed space (which at once reminded the children of a huge circus ring) there lay a thick wood. Everything was very still. Not a sound broke the silence, and there was something in the appearance of the vast empty ring with the empty seats about it, and the mountains and the sea as background, which for a moment was rather terrifying. Diana drew closer to Rachel. “I wish someone would come,” she murmured. It was just then that a well-known voice made the children turn with joyful relief to see Sheshà. They knew him at once, though he was dressed in the Grecian costume to which they were now growing accustomed. “Oh, we’re so glad you’ve come!” sighed Rachel. “It was getting lonely here. This is Olympia, isn’t it? But where is Agis?” “And Phidolas?” put in Diana. [Illustration] “This is Olympia, on the western shores of Greece. Here, when the sun has fully risen on this the first day of the games, will be held those contests renowned throughout the world. From every part of Greece the competitors have already arrived, Agis and Phidolas among them. The youths are lodged in yonder town; and in all the villages near, other athletes, as they are called, have found lodging. Ere long they will begin to assemble.” “And you will tell us all about it!” exclaimed Diana. “Better than Agis, because _you_ know who we are, and he can’t understand—lots of things. But he’s awfully nice,” she added hastily. [Illustration: THE OLYMPIC GAMES] Sheshà smiled. “Come with me, and, before the games begin, I will show you what I can. First shall you see the temple which encloses one of the Wonders of the World.” “One of the Seven Wonders?” asked Rachel. “One of the Seven Wonders,” repeated Sheshà. In another second, and without knowing how they reached it, the children found themselves standing near a temple in front of which stretched the wood they had seen from the mountain side. “This is the famous temple of Zeus or—to give him the name more familiar to your ears—of Jupiter Olympius. He it was who, according to the Greeks, first commanded these games—the Olympic Games—to be held. Later you shall behold the great statue it contains. For the moment let us wander a little through this wood, sacred to Jupiter.”