At the foot of the grand staircase Maurice burst out laughing. “What is the matter?” asked Crispin, who walked near him. “I am thinking of Caliphronas, whom I flung into one of the hot springs.” “The deuce you did! It’s a pity he was not drowned.” “He is not born to be drowned,” retorted Roylands sardonically; “he is born to be hanged.” At the Acropolis the Bacchanalians left them; and they saw the long procession stream like a serpent of light along the road, down the staircase, with glimmer of white robes and distant sounds of mirth. A last flash of innumerable torches, a last burst of frenzied mirth, then darkness and quiet—the Dionysia was ended. CHAPTER XXIV. THESPIAN. The silvery smoothness of sweet Sophocles, The rolling thunder of Æschylean verse, The subtle twistings of Euripides To prove the better reason by the worse;— Such poets gained the light Athenian’s praise By daring dealings with the universe, And yearly won the envied crown of bays; But not on Attic shores alone,—for we Yet know their greatness in these modern days, In alien lands across the stormy sea, Where with much painful learning do we dare In pristine splendor to revive the three, Till, foiled by antique genius high and rare, We quit the task with unalloyed despair. The theatre of Melnos was crowded the next day to witness the one performance of the year, and the whole semicircle of seats was occupied by a chattering throng, resembling, doubtless, the gossip-loving Athenians of old. All were in gala dresses, the men brilliant in Albanian costumes of fustanelli, embroidered jackets, gaudy gaiters, and vivid red silk sashes; while the women, in accordance with the edict of the Demarch, still wore their graceful, antique robes of white; indeed, the male bird here had the more splendid plumage of the two, but what the female lacked in color, she made up for in grace. The population of Melnos were, indeed, fine specimens of humanity, as, owing to the selective genius of Justinian, none but the physically perfect were admitted to the privileges of the island, and in the case of births he exercised an almost Spartan rigor. Certainly he departed so far from the laws of Lycurgus as to permit any child born with a blemish to live, but it was sent away from Melnos at the moment of its birth, and provided for elsewhere. In consequence, therefore, of this untiring care in such matters, the Melnosians were all strong, healthy, and beautiful; while their constant out-door life and congenial occupations kept them in a wonderfully vitalized condition, which was eminently calculated to form a race as physically perfect in form and health as is possible on this earth.