have we to reproach them
except that they use their omnipotence?"

"And, mother," Eumedes eagerly added, "do not the royal pair on the
throne merely follow the example of far greater ones among the immortal
gods? When the very Gauls who are devoted to death yonder, greedy for
booty, attacked Delphi, four years ago, it was the august brother and
sister, Apollo and Artemis, who sent them to Hades with their arrows,
while Zeus hurled his thunderbolts at them and ordered heavy boulders to
fall upon them from the shaken mountains. Many of the men over there fled
from destruction at Delphi. Unconverted, they added new crimes to the old
ones, but now retribution will overtake them. The worse the crime, the
more bloody the vengeance.

"Even the last must die, as my sovereign commands; only I shall determine
the mode of death according to my own judgment, and at the same time,
mother, feel sure of your approval. Instead of lingering starvation, I
shall use swift arrows. Now you know what you were obliged to learn. It
would be wise, mother, for you to leave this abode of misery. Duty
summons me to my ship." He held out his hand to his parents and Hermon as
he spoke, but the latter clasped it firmly, exclaiming in a tone of
passionate emotion, "What is the name of the woman to whom, though she is
not of their race, the lawless barbarians yielded?"

"Ledscha," replied the admiral.

Hermon started as if stung by a scorpion, and asked, "Where is she?"

"On my ship," was the reply, "if she has not yet been taken ashore with
the others."

"To be killed with the pitiable band there?" cried Thyone angrily,
looking her son reproachfully in the face.

"No, mother," replied Eumedes. "She will be taken to the others under the
escort of trustworthy men in order, perhaps, to induce her to speak. It
must be ascertained whether there were accomplices in the attack on the
royal palaces, and lastly whence the woman comes."

"I can tell you that myself," replied Hermon. "Allow me to accompany you.
I must see and speak to her."

"The Arachne of Tennis?" asked Thyone. Hermon's mute nod of assent
answered the question, but she exclaimed: "The unhappy woman, who called
down the wrath of Nemesis upon you, and who has now herself fallen a prey
to the avenging goddess. What do you want from her?"

Hermon bent down to his old friend and whispered, "To lighten her
terrible fate, if it is in my power."

"Go, then," replied the matron, and turne