THE BURIED TREASURE. 243

out of my own pocket. Well, if that is behaving like
a rascal, as you put it, I plead guilty.”

Meg. “You are right; I have nothing to say.”

Cal, “ And now I want you to help me.”

Meg. “Tam at your service. But tell me, where
does the young man now live?”

Cal. “When he sold the house, he kept back this
little building in the rear, and he is living there now.”

Meg. “ And the daughter?”

Cal. “She isin my house. I treat her just as I
do my own child. Good by, my friend, and don’t be
so ready to believe all that these busybodies say.
They know everything: what the king whispers in
the queen’s éar, what Zeus has to say to Heré, in
short, everything that is, and a great deal that is not.”

Meanwhile, a conversation was going on elsewhere
in the city which promised to produce a new compli-
cation. A young Athenian named Lysiteles has
fallen in love with the daughter of Charmides. The
difficulty was that the girl was probably without a
dowry. Her father was abroad, no one knew where;
her brother, who was the most notorious young spend-
thrift in Athens, could not be expected to do any-
thing for her. The young man was in great doubt
whether Philto, his father, could be induced to con-
sent to his marriage with a portionless girl, Anyhow,
he would see what could be done. Accordingly he
proceeded to pay the old gentleman a visit. He
found him in a moralizing mood. “My son,” said