"But why did they clear it away?"
"The villagers thought they might burn the statues for lime."
"O godless people!" cried Apafi, "to make lime out of rare works of art. Did you not try to save at least part from destruction?"
"I bought a cover of a sarcophagus adorned with sculpture, and a well preserved sphinx; but it was not convenient for the Wallachian who was moving them to lift them whole, so he broke the statues in five or six pieces that he might carry them in his cart more easily."
"He deserves to be impaled! I will have a law passed that nobody hereafter shall dare lay hands on any antique."
"I am afraid your Excellency will be too late, for when the people learned that I was paying for their stones, the story went abroad that I was hunting for diamonds and carbuncles in the stones, and they broke them all up in such small pieces that now they might be used for writing sand."
"Have you spoken with the Lord of Deva about the mosaic?"
"He will not let it go at any price. He said that none of his ancestors had ever sold any of their possessions. If he would only allow it to be moved from the spot where it was found,—but he will not even consent to that. As it is the corn-stall stands over it and the oxen lie on the figures of Venus and Cupid."
"I have a great mind to confiscate the property and so get possession of the priceless treasures," said Apafi, with the zeal of a student, and again turned to examine the puzzling coin.
At this moment Teleki entered the Prince's apartment with an important air, took some writing from a silk envelope, opened it and placed it in Apafi's hand. The Prince appeared to read it with care and knit his brow as he did so. Suddenly he called out, "They certainly are Dacian letters!"