t the Bishop, and briefly imparted the Princess Miriam's
ultimatum.

"It is painful to a spiritual man," replied the prelate, "to be accessory
to a murder. It is also repugnant to his feelings to deny a beloved niece
anything on which she has set her heart. To avoid such grievous dilemma, I
judge it well that ye both ascend to heaven without further ceremony."

That night the ascent of Prometheus and Elenko was witnessed by divers
credible persons. The new church was consecrated shortly afterwards. It was
amply stored with relics from the wardrobe of Prometheus and what remained
of the eagle. The damsels of the capital regained their admirers, and
those who had become enamoured of Prometheus mostly transferred their
affections to the Bishop. Everybody was satisfied except the Princess
Miriam, who never ceased to deplore her indulgence in giving Elenko the
chance of first speech with her uncle.

"If I had been five minutes beforehand with the minx!" she said.

IV

The heaven to which Prometheus and Elenko had ascended was situated in a
sequestered valley of Laconia. A single winding path led into the glen,
which was inhabited only by a few hunters and shepherds, who still observed
the rites of the ancient faith; and sometimes, deeming but to show kindness
to a mortal, refreshed or sheltered a forlorn and hungry Deity. Saving at
the entrance the vale was walled round by steep cliffs, for the most part
waving with trees, but here and there revealing the naked crag. It was
traversed by a silvery stream, in its windings enclosing Prometheus's and
Elenko's cottage, almost as in an island. The cot, buried in laurel and
myrtle, had a garden where fig and mulberry, grape and almond, ripened in
their season. A few goats browsed on the long grass, and yielded their milk
to the household. Bread and wine, and flesh when needed, were easily
procured from the neighbours. Beyond necessary furniture, the cottage
contained little but precious scrolls, obtained by Elenko from Athens and
the newly founded city of Constantine. In these, under her guidance,
Prometheus read of matters that never, while he dwelt on Olympus, entered
the imagination of any God.

It is a chief happiness of lovers that each possesses treasures wholly
their own, which they may yet make fully the possession of the other. These
treasures are of divers kinds, beauty, affection, memory, hope. But never
were such treasures of knowledge shared between lovers