Under Thoth’s guidance the car rose straight upwards to a great height. Daphne looked down with wonder at the vessel beneath, so far off that the maidens through the distance could no longer be distinguished. * * * * * Then suddenly she cried out in alarm to her guide. The vessel had disappeared beneath the waves, and there was nothing to be seen but a few of the maidens struggling and shrieking in the water. Daphne looked at Thoth. His face showed most unfeigned surprise and vexation. For the moment he seemed to lose his self-command, but it was only for the moment. Apparently without an effort he became as calm and unimpassioned as before. “Hasten!” cried Daphne; “descend to the rescue!” “It is impossible,” he said. “All will be drowned before we can reach them; and besides this, the car can sustain no more.” Daphne looked with horror at the composure of this man, and began to suspect treachery. “Didst thou expect this catastrophe?” she said, trembling. “Nay,” said he; “nothing was further from my thoughts. I can ill spare my men, and my scheme has broken down at the outset. It will be troublesome to replace the maidens.” The coldness of his manner seemed to Daphne unnatural and inhuman. “At least,” she said, “make an effort to save their lives.” “It is useless,” he replied calmly; “but as thou wilt.” They descended, but long before they reached the spot, the sea had swallowed up every trace except a few remnants of floating wreckage. “There is no time to lose,” said Thoth. “We must go direct to my city. The strength of my bird will just suffice to reach it.” Daphne sank down helpless and dismayed. Thoth applied to her lips a small phial, and she was powerless to resist. Again she tasted the strange flavour of the nepenthe, and again care and sorrow were dispelled from her mind. She heard Thoth say, as if to himself— “It is not possible that they would have dared to disobey and become traitors.... Yet they hated the women.... But what flaw was possible.... Truly chance is great.” CHAPTER VI. A STRANGE WELCOME. When Daphne awoke from her trance, she found herself lying on a couch in a luxurious apartment looking on to a beautiful garden. The scene was peaceful in the highest degree. The sun was high in the heavens, and the air was laden with sweet odours. Strange coloured birds flitted through the trees, and seemed quite fearless.