Thoth became silent and gloomy, and most reluctantly agreed to obey her requests. Daphne attempted to soothe him, and to make his deed appear great and noble, but without effect. “Surely thou dost not repent?” she said. He replied as if he had not heard her question— “Canst thou not remain with me a few months in this city until I arrange some kind of order? There are none left now but the people thou hast seen, as harmless as sheep, and, without a ruler, as helpless. My brothers were weaker than I, but every one played some necessary part. If I leave the city without a guiding mind, a disaster is possible. Why art thou in such haste to be gone? Thine enemies are irrevocably dead.” “I fear even the dead,” she answered. “I cannot stay in this place.” “Not even with me—in the first glow of our love?” “Restore me to Greece,” she said, “and then, if thou wilt, return hither and put in order the affairs of thy giants and pigmies.” “And this,” he said bitterly, “is thy love, when for thee I have sacrificed everything.” “Restore me to Greece,” she said; “I can stay no longer in this dreadful place.” He yielded, and in silence conducted her to the car. Then he said to her with gentle, affectionate persuasion— “Drink again of the nepenthe, and thou shalt awake in Athens.” She hesitated, as if with distrust, and he said with a tone of reproach— “Nay, if I intended harm to thee, there are still a thousand ways in which I could show my power.” She drank as he bade her, and again felt the strange soothing effect of the drug. * * * * * She was awakened by the words of Thoth. “Thou art at the rocks from which we departed, and the dawn is near at hand. Here is abundance of gold and jewels. Meet me at daybreak in the same place in ten days.” He kissed her hand and said— “I return to my people to set the city in order.” And without further farewell he entered the car and disappeared. * * * * * Some peasants found Daphne and took her into the city. The plague had vanished, and she found that many friends and companions had survived. When questioned as to her journey, she said simply that the vessel had been wrecked, and that she alone had been saved, and after much toil and suffering she had been restored to Athens by a man of Grecian birth, who wished to take her to wife. She showed the treasures in token of the truth of her words. * * * * * Every day, as the old familiar life was renewed, the recollection of Thoth and his city became more odious to her. On all sides she saw vestiges of the plague, and she could not efface from her mind the thought that he and his companions had first implanted it in Greece. How could she love a man who had done such a deed? She began to dread his return. She knew not what to do. She feared if she let him depart from her in anger that he might renew the work of destruction.