cted to meet his family there,--that he had an
appointment by telegraph--"

"In Athens!" exclaimed Mrs. Peterkin.

"Was his name Solomon John?" asked Elizabeth Eliza.

"Were there two little boys?" inquired Mrs. Peterkin.

"His initials were the same as mine," replied the
Englishman,--"S.J.P.,--for some of his luggage came by mistake into my
room, and that is why I spoke of it."

"Is there a Sphinx in Athens?" Mrs. Peterkin inquired.

"There used to be one there," said Agamemnon.

"I beg your pardon," said the Englishman, "but that Sphinx never was in
Athens."

"But Solomon John may have made the mistake,--we all make our mistakes,"
said Mrs. Peterkin, tying her bonnet-strings, as if ready to go to meet
Solomon John at that moment.

"The Sphinx was at Thebes in the days of OEdipus," said the Englishman.
"No one would expect to find it anywhere in Greece at the present day."

"But was Solomon John inquiring for it?" asked Mr. Peterkin.

"Indeed, no!" answered the Englishman; "he went every day to the Pnyx, a
famous hill in Athens, where his telegram had warned him he should meet
his friends."

"The Pnyx!" exclaimed Mr. Peterkin; "and how do you spell it?"

"P-n-y-x!" cried Agamemnon,--"the same letters as in Sphinx!"

"All but the _s_ and the _h_ and the _y_" said Elizabeth Eliza.

"I often spell Sphinx with a _y_ myself," said Mr. Peterkin.

"And a telegraph-operator makes such mistakes!" said Agamemnon.

"His telegram had been forwarded to him from Switzerland," said the
Englishman; "it had followed him into the dolomite region, and must have
been translated many timed."

"And of course they could not all have been expected to keep the letters
in the right order," said Elizabeth Eliza.

"And were there two little boys with him?" repeated Mrs. Peterkin.

No; there were no little boys. But further inquiries satisfied the
family that Solomon John must be awaiting them in Athens. And how
natural the mistake! Mrs. Peterkin said that if she had known of a Pnyx,
she should surely have looked for the family there.

Should they then meet Solomon John at the Pnyx, or summon him to Egypt?
It seemed safer to go directly to Athens, especially as Mr. Peterkin and
Agamemnon were anxious to visit that city.

It was found that a steamer would leave Alexandria next day for Athens,
by way of Smyrna and Constantinople. This was a roundabout course;
but Mr. Peterkin was impatient to leave, and was glad to gain mor