next morning for the operation. During
the ceremony of consecrating the temple it would be quiet in the house
and its vicinity. The preliminary fasting which he imposed upon his
patients Hermon had already undergone.

"The pure desert air here," he added, "will be of the utmost assistance
in recovery. The operation is slight, and free from danger. A few days
will determine its success. I shall remain here with their Majesties,
only"--and here he hesitated doubtfully--"where shall I find a competent
assistant?"

Herophilus looked his colleague in the face with a sly smile, saying,
"If you credit the old man of Chalcedon with the needful skill, he is at
your disposal."

"Herophilus!" cried Thyone, and tears of emotion wet her aged eyes,
which easily overflowed; but when Hermon tried to give expression to his
fervent gratitude in words, Erasistratus interrupted him, exclaiming,
as he grasped his comrade's hand, "It honours the general in his purple
robe, when he uses the spade in the work of intrenchment."

Many other matters were discussed before the professional friends
withdrew, promising to go to work early the next morning.

They kept their word, and while the temple of the god Turn resounded
with music and the chanting of hymns by the priests, whose dying notes
entered the windows of the sick-room, while Queen Arsinoe-Philadelphus
led the procession, and the King, who was prevented by the gout from
entering and passing around the sanctuary at her side, ordered a
monument to be erected in commemoration of this festival, the famous
leeches toiled busily.

When the music and the acclamations of the crowd died away, their
task was accomplished. The great Herophilus had rendered his equally
distinguished colleague the aid of an apprentice. When Hermon's lips
again tried to pour forth his gratitude, Herophilus interrupted him
with the exclamation: "Use the sight you have regained, young master, in
creating superb works of art, and I shall be in your debt, since, with
little trouble, I was permitted to render a service to the whole Grecian
world."

Hermon spent seven long days and nights full of anxious expectation in
a darkened room. Bias and a careful old female slave of the Lady Thyone
watched him faithfully. Philippus, his wife, and his famous son Eumedes
were allowed to pay him only brief visits; but Erasistratus watched the
success of the operation every morning. True, it had been by no means
dangerous, and c