“I will do my utmost to save thee, and I will perish with thee if I fail. But fear not—all shall be well.” Daphne reflected, and every way of escape from the power of the sleeping tyrants seemed closed. She had hoped at least to gain delay, and had even tried to believe that Thoth might, through his love for her, disregard altogether the past. The future seemed more hopeless than ever, and she began to feel the courage of despair. If, she thought, this man were slain suddenly, would not the whole power of the tyrants be shattered! She said to him, “But if thou wert to perish with me, how would it fare with the sleepers?” “We have never,” he said, “imagined that we could avoid all the accidents of nature. If I were to fail, there are others to take my place. In my absence in Greece another was appointed vice-regent, and for every conceivable emergency provision has been made. It is useless to discuss the matter further, or to delay longer. This very day thou must be prepared to face the assembly.” “And if we fail, whither shall we flee?” said Daphne. “Nowhither,” he replied. “And, after all thy promises, wilt thou leave me to the mercy of these haters of women? If thy love for me is real, and if thou art prepared to die with me, at least redeem thy promise and take me back to Greece, and there we can await our doom. Thou dost not think,” she said, anxiously, “that the plague has destroyed all the Greeks?” “No,” he replied; “I have no doubt that by this time it is spent, and that many survive.” “Then,” she said, “if we fail, flee with me. In any case thou wilt be an outcast from thy tribe. And I am very young, and life is very sweet. I would fain see my country and fellows again. And in some remote corner of the earth we might escape with a few companions from the general doom, by thy wisdom.” She looked at Thoth in a beseeching manner, and his heart became hot with love. He seemed lost in thought for a long time, and then said— “If we fail, I shall be, as thou sayest, an outcast; and the little delay that thou prayest for may be granted. “Listen to my plan. “I have discovered recently a most curious and powerful substance. I can, by breaking a small vessel, fill the council-chamber with a vapour which shall at once send into a heavy sleep all present, unless they are prepared by an antidote. The drug is the most powerful of all our agents of destruction yet discovered. In a few hours the sleep will end in irrevocable death unless the remedy is applied, and then the recovery is slow. For love of thee, if we fail, I will use this means for a little delay. We will then prepare everything for flight, and only just before we depart will I administer the remedy.