just ready for his bath--"is good enough for mortals. When I married
Psyche, I brought her home to my mother's house, and for some nineteen
thousand years we lived together. If Love can stand it, mortals must."

"Excuse me," said I, apologetically. "I have not suffered. However, in
all my study of you mythologians, it has never occurred to me before
this that Venus was the goddess of the mother-in-law."

"You mustn't blame me for that," said Cupid, dryly. "I'm the god of
Love; wisdom is out of my province. For what you don't know and
haven't learned you must blame Pallas, who is our Superintendent of
Public Instruction. She knows it all--and she got it darned easy, too.
She sprang forth from the head of Jove with a Ph.D. already conferred
upon her. She looks after the education of the world. I don't--but
I'll wager you anything you please to put up that man gains more real
experience under my management than he does from Athena's department,
useful as her work is."

I could not but admit the truth of all that the boy said, and of
course I told him so. To change the subject, which, if pursued, might
lead to an exposure of my own ignorance, I said:

"But, Dan, what interests me most, and pains me most as well, is to
hear that you are separated from Psyche. I do not wish to seem
inquisitive on the subject of a--ah--of a man's family affairs"--I
hesitated in my speech because he seemed such a baby and it was
difficult to take him seriously, as is always the way with Love,
unless we are directly involved--"but you have told me of the
separation, and as a man, a newspaper-man, I am interested. Couldn't
you reconcile your mother, Madame Venus, to Psyche--or, rather, Mrs.