"Oh, it is nothing," she said. "Just a queer little cup I found and thought Baby Domna might like to play with."
"Let me see it," said Marco, and he examined it carefully. "Where did you find it?" he asked at length and Zoe answered,
"When I fell by the river it lay in the dirt. Is it too dirty for the babycoula?"
"Zoe," Marco looked strangely excited. "I believe this old cup is of great value."
"Oh Marco!" the little girl could say no more.
"Yes," he said. "I may be mistaken, but I think it is very old and that it is like some cups I saw in Athens. They were sold for many drachmas. They were black like this with a little red on them, in lines and figures, and with two handles. A man in my regiment said they were of ancient pottery and that they were dug up out of the earth. He said the museum at Athens paid good prices for such things."
"Oh Marco!" Zoe's eyes were like stars. "If it would only turn out that this was worth something, even a little, how happy I should be! I want money so badly."
"What do you want it for?" Marco looked surprised.
"To give to Aunt Anna, of course," said Zoe, surprised in her turn. "Georgios said to-day that your father needed money and Aunt Anna needs many things." The child said it so simply that one would have supposed she never needed anything for herself, and Marco caught her hand with a sudden impulse.