t the back."

"Theatre? Nonsense!" said the old lawyer with a snort.

"I meant amphitheatre, effendi--either Greek or Roman," said Yussuf
politely.

"Here, I say, Yussuf," said Mr Burne, lowering the piece of bread which
he had raised half-way to his mouth; "are you an Englishman in disguise
pretending to be a Turk?"

Yussuf smiled, and then turned and arrested Mr Preston, who was about
to leave his breakfast half finished and get ready to go and see the
amphitheatre.

"Pray, finish first, excellency," he said. "You will not miss it now,
but in a few hours' time you will be growing faint, and suffer for want
of being well prepared."

"You are right," said the professor.

The breakfast was ended, and then, while the horses were being loaded,
the travellers followed their host down the steep slope which formed his
garden, and then by a stiff bit of pathway to where a splendid spring of
water gushed right out of the rock; and the presence of this source
explained a great deal, and made plain why ruins were to be found close
at hand.

In fact, they came upon dressed stones directly, and it was evident that
there had been a kind of temple once close to the spring, for a rough
platform remained which had been cut down level to the edge of the
water. The face of the rock had been levelled too, and upon it there
were remains of a rough kind of inscription, while, upon examining the
dressed stones which lay here and there, several, in spite of their
decay, still retained the shape which showed that they had formed
portions of columns.

But, search how the professor would, he could find nothing to show what
the date of the edifice had been.

Five minutes' climbing amongst broken stones brought them to a clump of
trees and bushes, mingled with which were a few white-looking fragments
which looked so natural that the professor's heart sank with
disappointment. The stones appeared to be live stones, as geologists
call it; in other words, portions of rock which had never been
disturbed.

But their host pushed on through the brambles and roses, which looked as
natural as if they were in an English wilderness, only that the trees
that rose beyond them were strange.

"It's all labour in vain, Yussuf," said Mr Preston in rather a
disappointed tone. "You have not seen this theatre."

"No, excellency; but the man described it so exactly, that I felt he
must be right; and--yes, he is."

As he spoke, he drew aside so