In olden days folks mostly stayed at home, Nor e’er in quest of unknown lands departed, And tho’ some ne’er-do-weels at times would roam, They came back poorer than the day they started: From which disastrous lives there comes alone That foolish proverb of a rolling stone. If such advice in earnest we obeyed, Its narrow views would certainly benumb us; The progress of the world would be delayed, For lack of Marco Polo and Columbus! They tore aside the veil which hid our eyes, And showed us unknown worlds and unknown skies. So now that proverb trite is obsolete; Our enterprise has made far lands alluring, And north and south our fellow-men we meet, With Cook and Gaze in restless parties touring, A rolling stone gains something for its loss, And polish is more valuable than moss. In due time Alexandros came back to the Acropolis, and reported that Caliphronas had left the island in a small boat, and when last seen his craft was running before the wind in the direction of Kamila. On hearing this, Justinian had no doubt but that the Greek was on his way to stir up Alcibiades to immediate action; therefore resolved to lose no time in putting Melnos in a thorough state of defence. In the meantime, he placed a strong guard at the gate of the tunnel and in the western pass, so as to prevent the island being taken by surprise. At all events, there was no special necessity for prompt action, as Caliphronas had only departed that day, and in all probability Alcibiades would not attack Melnos for at least one week. Privately, Maurice wondered if the Greek, adrift in a small boat, would succeed in reaching land safely, as, judging from his terror on the night of the shipwreck, he had not much pluck in foul weather. The sky, however, was perfectly clear, and there was no chance of the castaway being caught in a storm, so Justinian laughed at the fears of his nephew, and bade him set his mind at peace. Caliphronas, he said, knew the waters of the Ægean Sea well, he had but a few miles to sail before reaching Kamila, and once there he would doubtless meet with some of Alcibiades’ followers to guide him to their chief. In his innermost heart, the old Demarch rather regretted that Caliphronas should thus escape safely, and would not have grieved much had the treacherous scamp been drowned in the sea, instead of reaching Alcibiades without harm, and stirring up that accomplished cut-throat to immediate war. There was no chance, however, of such an event happening, and Justinian quite expected within the week to see the Melnosian waters covered with the boats of his bitter enemies.