iend's last wish, went into the presence
of the tyrant, and proposed to take the place of Pythias in prison, and
even on the cross, if need be, provided the latter were allowed to visit
his relatives once more.

Dionysius had heard of the young men's touching friendship, and hated
them both merely because they were good; yet he allowed them to change
places, warning them both, however, that, if Pythias were not back in
time, Damon would have to die in his stead.

At first Pythias refused to allow his friend to take his place in
prison, but finally he consented, promising to be back in a few days to
release him. So Pythias hastened home, found a husband for his sister,
and saw her safely married. Then, after providing for his mother and
bidding her farewell, he set out to return to Syracuse.

The young man was traveling alone and on foot. He soon fell into the
hands of thieves, who bound him fast to a tree; and it was only after
hours of desperate struggling that he managed to wrench himself free
once more, and sped along his way.

He was running as hard as he could to make up for lost time, when he
came to the edge of a stream. He had crossed it easily a few days
before; but a sudden spring freshet had changed it into a raging
torrent, which no one else would have ventured to enter.

In spite of the danger, Pythias plunged into the water, and, nerved by
the fear that his friend would die in his stead, he fought the waves so
successfully that he reached the other side safe but almost exhausted.

Regardless of his pains, Pythias pressed anxiously onward, although his
road now lay across a plain, where the hot rays of the sun and the
burning sands greatly increased his fatigue and faintness, and almost
made him die of thirst. Still he sped onward as fast as his trembling
limbs could carry him; for the sun was sinking fast, and he knew that
his friend would die if he were not in Syracuse by sunset.

[Illustration: Damon and Pythias.]

Dionysius, in the mean while, had been amusing himself by taunting
Damon, constantly telling him that he was a fool to have risked his life
for a friend, however dear. To anger him, he also insisted that Pythias
was only too glad to escape death, and would be very careful not to
return in time.

Damon, who knew the goodness and affection of his friend, received these
remarks with the scorn they deserved, and repeated again and again that
he knew Pythias would never break his word, bu