In her own
mind she no doubt said with MacMahon, "J'y suis! j'y reste!" Mounting
again, we rode round to the south of Coressus, passing along a regular
street, with the remains of paving and curbing, parallel with the
southern wall of the ancient city, which ran along the declivity of
Mount Pion. Here was pointed out the tomb of St. Luke. Extensive
excavations were being made near here under English auspices, and tombs
were daily being discovered, both pagan and early Christian. On the very
day of our visit a substantial tomb had been exposed, cut clearly and
deeply into the stone of which was the inscription in Greek, "Alexander
the Rich."

The sun by this time was more than warm, and we were three or four miles
from our luncheon. So the horses' heads were turned toward Aiasulouk; on
which sign of being homeward bound they developed a speed little to be
expected from their looks and previous conduct. Passing a breach in the
wall of the ancient city, more tombs and the remains of an extensive
colonnade, we came out upon the marshy plain which we had crossed once
before, having completely circled Coressus. On the left, as we rode
along, the ruins of the church dedicated to the Seven Sleepers were
pointed out to us. The church or chapel was cut out of the solid rock as
to the walls, with a groined roof of stone. We have all heard of the
"Seven Sleepers" from our boyhood, perhaps the toughest yarn incident to
that period. The Turks and Persians have their legends about them as
well as the Christians. The Mohammedans preserve one set of names and
the Christians another, so an inquirer may take his choice. The Moslems
certainly make the most of the legend, for they place the names of the
Sleepers upon buildings to prevent their being burned, and upon swords
to prevent them from breaking; and they preserve the name of the dog
which was shut up with them. The legend refers to the persecution of the
Christians in the reign of Diocletian--some say the Decian persecution.
The story goes that seven noble youths of Ephesus (being Christians and
under persecution) fled to this cave for refuge--were pursued,
discovered and walled in. In this dreadful condition they were
miraculously put into a sleep which lasted, some say two, some three,
hundred years.

The Koran relates the tale in a circumstantial way, regarding Moslems
persecuted by Christians of course. It declares that the sun, out of
respect for these young martyrs, altered