[Illustration: SYRACUSE. FORT EURYELUS. _Page 353._] [Illustration: SYRACUSE. EXAMPLE OF SICILIAN GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. _Page 352._] [Illustration: GIRGENTI. A WINE CART.] [Illustration: GIRGENTI. A SICILIAN CART.] of Ortygia, the island where the original Greek settlement was planted. The five prosperous towns that once surrounded the central city have disappeared; the magnificent harbor alone remains unchanged; it could still hold a fleet of battleships. “Where can we get the best view of Greater Syracuse?” Patsy wondered; “it must have been very like Greater New York. The central city built on an island in a magnificent harbor surrounded by five cities and connected by a bridge to the mainland. You can see the remaining ruins of the five cities on this map--see here they are, they correspond quite well to Brooklyn, Hoboken, Jersey City, Staten Island and the Bronx!” We had fixed Sunday afternoon, our last day, to deliver a letter of introduction to a lady of Syracuse; our time was so short we could not risk being tempted with hospitalities! When the hour for the visit arrived Patsy “begged off!” “That old Greek fort of Euryelus,” he began, “I didn’t half see it the other day--the English officer I met in the catacombs says that Archimedes invented the catapult for its defence. He says it’s still so solid it could be repaired to stand a siege--an old-fashioned one of course--like the siege of Troy!” “_You_ more interested in an old ruin than a new acquaintance?” I cried. No use, for once Patsy deserted me. On the way to deliver the letter I stopped at the cathedral, formerly a Pagan temple. The baroque façade is disappointing. Where are the remains of the temple, of the costly treasures Verres carried off to Rome, and got soundly scolded by Cicero for, in consequence? To get back to that time you must go over step by step what has happened since then. In the seventh century the temple was turned into a Christian church by Bishop Zosimus, in the eighth it became a Mohammedan mosque; temple, mosque, cathedral, it has served its purpose of worship well! When my guide, a bright-eyed boy, rattled off his lesson, the place immediately grew interesting. I found the temple’s superb Doric columns--they are whitewashed now and hard to discover--imbedded in the cathedral walls; at the sight of them the church vanishes, a splendid temple stands in its place. Near this deep-fluted column, may have knelt Simaetha, the deserted girl, imploring help of Artemis to win back false Delphis--hark, her old cry echoes through the ages: “Three times do I pour libation, and thrice, my Lady Moon, I speak this: Be it with a friend he lingers, be it with a leman, may he clean forget them, as Theseus of old forgot the fair-tressed Ariadne!” “There will be a baptism,” said the boy, “if the lady cares to see the font--“