her binding than to have it
solemnly cooked and thrust into his belly. What cared he for the rantings
of his wife and the crying of the children when he could wander in
imagination on Mount Ida, clad only in his beauty, and the three
goddesses came to him promising wonderful things? He was a tall, lean
man, with thin, white hair and blue eyes, but his wrinkled cheeks were
still rosy; incessant snuff-taking had given a special character to his
nose. And sometimes, taking upon him the spirit of Catullus, he wrote
verses to Lesbia, or, beneath the breast-plate of Marcus Aurelius, he
felt his heart beat bravely as he marched against the barbarians; he was
Launcelot, and he made charming speeches to Guinevere as he kissed her
long white hand....

But now and then the clamour of the outer world became too strong, and
he had to face seriously the question of his children's appetite.

It was on one of these occasions that the schoolmaster called his son to
his study and said to him,--

'Amyntas, you are now eighteen years of age. I have taught you all I
know, and you have profited by my teaching; you know Greek and Latin as
well as I do myself; you are well acquainted with Horace and Tully; you
have read Homer and Aristotle; and added to this, you can read the Bible
in the original Hebrew. That is to say, you have all knowledge at your
fingers' ends, and you are prepared to go forth and conquer the world.
Your mother will make a bundle of your clothes; I will give you my
blessing and a guinea, and you can start to-morrow.'

Then he returned to his study of an oration of Isocrates. Amyntas was
thunder-struck.

'But, father, where am I to go?'

The schoolmaster raised his head in surprise, looking at his son over
the top of his spectacles.

'My son,' he said, with a wave of the arm; 'my son, you have the world
before you--is that not enough?'

'Yes, father,' said Amyntas, who thought it was a great deal too much;
'but what am I to do? I can't get very far on a guinea.'

'Amyntas,' answered Peter, rising from his chair with great dignity,
'have you profited so ill by the examples of antiquity, which you have
had placed before you from your earliest years? Do you not know that
riches consist in an equal mind, and happiness in golden mediocrity? Did
the wise Odysseus quail before the unknown, because he had only a guinea
in his pocket? Shame on the heart that doubts! Leave me, my son, and
make ready.'

Amyntas, very cre