26 Iinaginary Cofi versation . would there he nothing of insincerity and falsehood in it^ my Critolaus? He caught her up in his arms, and, as in his enthusiasm he had raised her head above his, he kissed her bosom. She reproved and pardoned him, making him first declare and protest he would never do the like again. O soul of truth and delicacy ! cried he aloud ; and Thelymnia, no doubt, trembled lest her lover should in a moment be forsworn ; so imminent and inevitable seemed the repetition of his offense. But he observed on her eyelashes^ what had arisen from his precipitation in our presence, A hesitating long-suspended tear, Like that which hangs upon the vine fresh-pruned. Until the morning kisses it away. The Nymphs, who often drive men wild, they tell us, have led me astray : I must return with you to the grot. We gave every facility to the stratagem. One slipt away in one direction, another in another; but, at a certain distance, each was desirous of joining some comrade, and of laughing to- gether ; yet each reproved the laughter, even when far off*, lest it should do harm, reserving it for the morrow. Pane- tius, you have seen the mountains on the left hand, east- ward, when you are in Olympia, and perhaps the little stream that runs from the nearest of them into the Alpheus. Could you have seen them that evening ! the moon never shone so calmly, so brightly, upon Latmos, nor the torch of Love before her. And yet many of the stars were visible ; the most beautiful amongst them ; and as Euthymedes taught Thelymnia their names, their radiance seemed more joyous, more eff*ulgent, more beneficent. If you have ever walked forth into the wilds and open plains upon such moonlight nights, cautious as you are, I will venture to say, Panetius, you have often tript, even tho the stars were not your study. There was an arm to support or to catch The- lymnia; yet she seemed incorrigible. Euthymedes was pa- tient : at last he did I know not what, which was followed by a reproof, and a wonder how he could have done so, and another how he could answer it. He looked ingenuously and apologetically, forgetting to correct his fault in the mean- while. She listened to him attentively, pushing his hand away at intervals, yet less frequently and less resolutely in
