“Ah, but there lies the difficulty,” said Eumetis, “She does not love him. I called her his sweetheart wrongly, for it is purely a one-sided affair, and I fear that she will never return. Cimon idolizes her, and would have made her his wife ere this, but she refused. Can you think of anything more tragic than unrequited love?”
“It is most unfortunate, but I believe unusual, for in my opinion true love has its origin in a mutual attraction, for we creatures, of dust though we be, are conceited enough that we love those who love us. There are exceptions, of course.”
Eumetis turned away. “The exceptions often prove the rule, and unfortunate are they whose lives give proof of this.”
They joined the others as did Polygnotus and Corinna, and all entered the house to partake of refreshments.
CHAPTER XIV.
Beyond the Dipylon Gate.
“Athens, the stately-walled, magnificent!”
Pindar.
The sun sank in an unclouded blaze, but with the approach of evening the toilers did not cease. The builders of the pyramids of Egypt could boast no greater zeal than that with which the Athenians fortified their city. Men, women and children, rich, middle-class and poor worked together for the attainment of but one end; the erection of a wall about their city which would protect it from over-ambitious states and cities. Stones from partly demolished buildings, broken pieces of statuary, the debris of structures once the pride of every loyal Athenian, added bit by bit to the work of defense.
Zopyrus labored near the Diomean Gate lifting the large stones into places which had been freshly spread with mortar by the women and children. In vain his eyes searched the throng for a figure, the memory of which occupied his thoughts almost constantly since Salamis. He had worked at different sections of the wall in the hope that somewhere he would see her employed in the common task of all, but though he anxiously scanned a thousand faces during the course of his labor, hers was not among them.
A young man at his side nudged his elbow. “By tomorrow at this time the wall should be of sufficient height for Aristides and his companion to leave for Sparta to join Themistocles who awaits them.”