ppus,
who disliked the Thracian's fawning manner.

Thyone, too, did not favour her, and had glanced indignantly at her when
Althea made her rude remark. Now she turned to Daphne, and her plain face
regained its pleasant expression as she exclaimed: "We really promised
your father to let him show us the way, child; but, unfortunately, we are
not yet in Alexandria and the Paneum."

"But you would set out to-morrow," Hermon protested, "if we could succeed
in fitly describing what now awaits you there. There is only one
Alexandria, and no city in the world can offer a more beautiful scene
than is visible from the mountain in the Paneum gardens."

"Certainly not," protested the young hipparch, who had studied in Athens.
"I stood on the Acropolis; I was permitted to visit Rhodes and Miletus--"

"And you saw nothing more beautiful there," cried Proclus. "The
aristocratic Roman envoys, who left us a short time ago, admitted the
same thing. They are just men, for the view from the Capitol of their
growing city is also to be seen. When the King's command led me to the
Tiber, many things surprised me; but, as a whole, how shall I compare the
two cities? The older Rome, with her admirable military power: a
barbarian who is just beginning to cultivate more refined
manners--Alexandria: a rich, aristocratic Hellene who, like you, my young
friend, completed her education in Ilissus, and unites to the elegant
taste and intellect of the Athenian the mysterious thoughtfulness of the
Egyptian, the tireless industry of the Jew, and the many-sided wisdom and
brilliant magnificence of the other Oriental countries."

"But who disdains to dazzle the eyes with Asiatic splendour," interrupted
Philotas.

"And yet what do we not hear about the unprecedented luxury in the royal
palace!" growled the gray-haired warrior.

"Parsimony--the gods be praised!--no one need expect from our royal
pair," Althea broke in; "but King Ptolemy uses his paternal wealth for
very different purposes than glittering gems and golden chambers. If you
disdain my guidance, honoured hero, at least accept that of some genuine
Alexandrian. Then you will understand Proclus's apt simile. You ought to
begin with the royal palaces in the Brucheium."

"No, no-with the harbour of Eunostus!" interrupted the grammateus.

"With the Soma!" cried the young hipparch, while Daphne wished to have
the tour begin in the Paneum gardens.

"They were already laid out when we left Alex