He came up again, with a heavy heart, and examined his till. There was not much; enough, however, for William's wages and any small debts. He made a list of these, and left it there with the coin. "They must settle it among themselves," he thought, wearily; "I can't be bothered with business now." He was thinking whether it was worth while to shut the shop up or not; when a clear voice sounded from above-- "Leander, where art thou? Come hither!" And he started as if he had been shot. "I'm coming, madam," he called up, obsequiously. "I'll be with you in one minute!" "Now for it," he thought, as he went up to his sitting-room. "I wish I wasn't all of a twitter. I wish I knew what was coming next!" The room was dark, but when he got a light he saw the statue standing in the centre of the room, her hood thrown back, and the fur-lined mantle hanging loosely about her; the face looked stern and terrible under its brilliant tint. "Have you made your choice?" she demanded. "Choice!" he said. "I haven't any choice left me!" "It is true," she said triumphantly. "Your friends have deserted you; mortals are banded together to seize and disgrace you: you have no refuge but with me. But time is short. Come, then, place yourself within the shelter of these arms, and, while they enfold you tight in their marble embrace, repeat after me the words which complete my power." "There's no partickler hurry," he objected. "I will directly. I--I only want to know what will happen when I've done it. You can't have any objection to a natural curiosity like that." "You will lose consciousness, to recover it in balmy Cyprus, with Aphrodite (no longer cold marble, but the actual goddess, warm and living), by your side! Ah! impervious one, can you linger still? Do you not tremble with haste to feel my breath fanning your cheek, my soft arm around your neck? Are not your eyes already dazzled by the gleam of my golden tresses?" "Well, I can't say they are; not at present," said Leander. "And, you see, it's all very well; but, as I asked you once before, how are you going to _get_ me there? It's a long way, and I'm ten stone, if I'm an ounce!" "Heavy-witted youth, it is not your body that will taste perennial bliss." "And what's to become of that, then?" he asked, anxiously. "That will be left here, clasped to this stone, itself as cold and lifeless." "Oh!" said Leander, "I didn't bargain for that, and I don't like it." "You will know nothing of it; you will be with me, in dreamy grottoes strewn with fragrant rushes and the new-stript leaves of the vine, where the warm air woos to repose with its languorous softness, and the water as it wells murmurs its liquid laughter. Ah! no Greek would have hesitated thus." "Well, I ain't a Greek; and, as a business man, you can't be surprised if I want to make sure it's a genuine thing, and worth the risk, before I commit myself. I think I understand that it's the gold ring which is to bind us two together?"