"Hullo, kid!" said Magnus. "Here you are--three shots a penny, and twopence if you hit me at twenty yards!"
Cupid aimed and missed, and then very foolishly began to cry.
"What are you blubbering at?" asked Joe. "You young soft!"
Cupid said he was miserable. Everybody up there bullied him, and he couldn't hit anything nowadays with his bow and arrows.
"Jack it up then, and come to our school," said Magnus, slapping him on the back. "Lots of larks there. You can wear Etons and a topper, and chum in our study--can't he, Joe?"
"Yes, if he likes to do his share of the fagging," said Joe.
"I don't much mind what I do, as long as I get away from this lot."
"All serene; come down with us. We're hanging out at Llandudno for the holidays. My mater will take you in, I'm certain."
"Ah, yes, and by the way," said Joe, once more making a brilliant dive into his classics, "there's a friend of yours, you know, called what's- her-name, only a few doors off. Isn't there, Magnus?"
"Rather!" said Magnus, who had not a notion what was being referred to.
"You don't mean to say Psyche--"
"That's her--the very article; rather a wonner, too. Magnus is spoons on her, you know," added Joe, with a wink at his friend; "but he'll back out for you."
"Oh," said Magnus, blushing, "it don't matter to me. Besides, she's going to-morrow."
This settled matters.
"Let's cut," said Cupid, impatiently, "or we shall be too late."
A great row was going on among the gods. Goodness knows what it was about--nobody ever did know that! Venus and Juno were scratching one another's faces; Jupiter was shaking his fist and thundering all round; the other men were arguing in high Greek, and the other ladies were screaming at the top of their voices.
"They're at it again," said Cupid, making a wry face. "That sort of thing goes on here from morning to night. We shan't be missed. Come on, you fellows!"
Down they went at a great pace, Cupid (who was much less encumbered with clothes than the other two) showing a lead. Presently they lost sight of the top, and through the clouds below caught a distant glimpse of the black lake.
"Can't we take a short cut down there?" asked Joe.
"Not good enough," said Cupid. "That's where Charon hangs out; and he and I don't hit it off. No, we'd better go down to where you went asleep, and then trot down by the track to Llanberis. I know the way-- come on."
They followed, wondering at the pace at which they went. In scarce five minutes from the top they stood on the spot where they had first halted hours and hours ago.
There a remarkable thing happened.
Cupid, who had all along seemed the most eager of the three to escape into the valley, suddenly halted, spread his little wings, and with a merry laugh began to fly upwards.
"Hold on," said Magnus; "that's not the way down, you young cad!"
"Ha, ha!" said Cupid, rising higher. In vain they besought him to stay.
He only laughed, and soared higher and higher and--
The next thing they were aware of was that they were lying on their backs, waking up from their sleep, and watching a white gull skimming the air overhead, and crying out seaward.
Whether they had been to Olympus at all, or had only dreamt it, they could never say. The one thing they did know was that they just managed to catch the last train that night back to Llandudno, where they found supper waiting them.
THE END.