ions which made a
debate with him a thing to be apprehended. Still, I did not exactly
like to yield, for, to tell the truth, the Olympian folk have always
interested me hugely, and, while I would not of course endorse any one
of them for a high public trust in these days, I have admired them for
their many remarkable qualities.

"Of course," said I, reverting to the question a few moments later, as
Hippopopolis opened a box of sardines and set the bread a-toasting on
the fire he had made. "Of course, I should not venture to say that I,
a stranger, know as much about the private habits of the gods as do
you, who have been their neighbor; but that they are rogues is news to
me."

"That may be, too," said Hippopopolis. "People are often thought more
of by strangers than by their own fellow-townsmen. Even you, sir, I
might suspect, who are by these simple Greeks supposed to be a sort of
reigning sovereign in your own country, are not at home, perhaps, so
large a hill of potatoes. So with Jupiter and Apollo and Mercury, and
the ladies of the court. I haven't a doubt that in the United States
you think Jupiter a remarkably great man, and Apollo a musician, and
Mercury a gentleman of some business capacity, but we Greeks know
better. And as for the ladies--hum--well, your Excellency, they are
not received. They are too bold and pushing. They lack the
refinements, and as for their beauty and accomplishments--"

Hippopopolis here indulged in a gesture which betokened excessive
scorn of the beauty and accomplishments of the ladies of Olympus.

"You have never seen these people, Hippopopolis?" I asked.

"I have been spared that necessity," said he, "but I know all about
them, and I assert to you upon my honor as a courier and the best
guide in the Archipelago that Jupiter is the worst old _roue_ a
country ever had saddled upon it; Apollo's music would drive you mad
and make you welcome a xylophone duet; and as for Mercury's business
capacity, that is merely a capacity for getting away from his
creditors. Why shouldn't a man wax rich if, after floating a thousand
bogus corporations, selling the stock at par and putting the money
into his own pocket, he could unfold his wings and fly off into the
empyrean, leaving his stock and bond holders to mourn their loss?"

[Illustration: HIPPOPOPOLIS EXPLAINS]

"Excuse me, Hippopopolis," I put in, interrupting him fearlessly for
the moment, "pray don't try to deceive me by any such st