lete it, Euphorion had quietly
gone to some remote corner of his provision-shed and brought to light an
amphora full of noble Chian wine which had been given to him by a rich
merchant, for whose wedding he had performed the part of Hymenaeus with a
chorus of youths. For twenty years had he still preserved this jar of
wine for some specially happy occasion. This jar and his best lute were
the only objects which Euphorion had carried with his own hand from
Lochias to his daughter's house and then again to his own new abode. With
an air of dignified pride the singer set the old amphora before his sons,
but Doris laid hands upon it at once and said:

"I am glad to bestow the good gift upon you, and would willingly drink a
cup of it with you; but a prudent general does not celebrate his triumph
before he has won the battle. As soon as the statue of the beautiful lad
is completed, I myself, will wreathe this venerable jar with ivy, and beg
you spare it to us, my dear old man--but not before."

"Mother is right," said Pollux. "And if the amphora is really destined
for me, if you will allow it, my father shall not remove the pitch wig
from its venerable head, till Arsinoe is mine once more!"

"That is well my boy," cried Doris, "and then I will crown, not merely
the jar but all of us too, with nothing but sweet roses."

The next day Pollux, with his unfinished statue, removed to the workshop
of his brother's master. The worthy man cleared the best place for the
young sculptor, for he thought highly of him and wished to make good, as
far as lay in his power, the injustice the poor fellow had suffered from
the treachery of Papias. Now, from sunrise till evening fell, Pollux was
constant to his work. He gave himself up to the resuscitated pleasure and
power of creation with real passion. Instead of using wax he had recourse
to clay, and formed a tall figure which represented Antinous as the
youthful Bacchus, as the god might have appeared to the pirates. A mantle
fell in light folds from his left shoulder to his ankles, leaving the
broad breast and right aria entirely free; vine-leaves and grapes
wreathed his flowing locks, and a pine-cone, flame-shaped, crowned his
brow. The left arm was raised in a graceful curve, and his fingers
lightly grasped a thyrsus which rested on the ground and stood taller
than the god's head; by the side of this magnificent figure stood a
mighty wine-jar, half hidden by the drapery.

For a whole we