interest
in the exercise.

"It is a name given to a country in the north-eastern corner of Asia
Minor, on the Black Sea, the ancient name of which was Pontus Euxinus,
or Euxine Sea, from which it got its name. His mother was of Greek
descent, and nothing is known of his father. I suppose you all know what
strabismus means."

"I am sure I don't," replied Mrs. Blossom; and probably she was the only
one who could answer in the negative.

"In plain terms, it means cross-eyed; and doubtless Strabo obtained his
name from having this defect in his eyes. Whether any of his family were
called so before him is not known. He studied with various learned men
in Greece, Rome, and Alexandria. It does not appear that he had any
occupation, but devoted all his time to study and travel. He wrote
forty-seven books, and those on geography were very valuable; for he
wrote from his own observation, though sometimes he is very full, at
others very meagre. He is regarded as by no means the equal of
Herodotus.

"The third of whom I am to speak is Diodorus Siculus."

"You have put a tail on his name, Professor," added the magnate.

"That is as much a part of his name as the rest of it, as used by
scholars. It means that he was born in Sicily. Very little is known
about him beyond what he told himself. He lived in the time of Julius
Caesar and Augustus, and for a long time in Rome. He travelled in Europe
and Asia for material. He wrote a history of the world from the creation
to the time of Julius Caesar. Some of the volumes are lost, and some of
them are still read.

"Diodorus was deficient in the qualifications of a historian; and about
all that is valuable in his writings is the mass of facts he gives, from
which he was not competent to make the proper deductions. The material
he gathered is valuable; but the thirty years he spent in the
composition of his works have not purchased for him the literary
reputation of Herodotus, or even of Strabo."

"I am very much obliged to you for your lecture, and I hope others
besides myself have profited by it," said Mr. Woolridge.

The professor bowed, and took some manuscript from his pocket.

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE ANCIENT KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD

When the promenade had been transformed into Conference Hall, the
arrangement for the maps had not been forgotten, and the frame had been
set up against the after end of the pilot-house. It covered the two
windows; but they were not needed w