a riddle! that thou mayst not read. Yet is
the answer written on earth and sky and sea, and in the hearts of men.

"Now hearken! To-morrow night thou shalt take me and twine me about thy
body, doing as I bid thee, and behold! for a while thy shape shall wear
the shape of the Golden Helen, and thy face shall be as her face, and
thine eyes as her eyes, and thy voice as her voice. Then I leave the
rest to thee, for as Helen's self thou shalt beguile the Wanderer, and
once, if once only, be a wife to him whom thou desireth. Naught can I
tell thee of the future, I who am but a counsellor, but hereafter it may
be that woes will come, woes and wars and death. But what matter these
when thou hast had thy desire, when he hath sinned, and hath sworn by
the Snake who should have sworn by the Star, and when he is bound to
thee by ties that may not be loosed? Choose, Meriamun, choose! Put my
counsel from thee and to-morrow this man thou lovest shall be lost to
thee, lost in the arms of Helen; and alone for many years shalt thou
bear the burden of thy lonely love. Take it, and he shall at least be
thine, let come what may come. Think on it and choose!"

Thus spake the Ancient Evil, tempting her who was named Meriamun, while
she hearkened to the tempting.

"I have chosen," she said; "I will wear the shape of Helen, and be a
wife to him I love, and then let ruin fall. Sleep, thou Ancient Evil.
Sleep, for no more may I endure thy face of fear that is my face, nor
the light of those flaming eyes that are my eyes made mad."

Again the Thing reared its human head and laughed out in triumph. Then
slowly it unloosed its gleaming coils: slowly it slid to the earth and
shrank and withered like a flaming scroll, till at length it seemed once
more but a shining jewel of opal and of amethyst.

The Wanderer, when he left the inner secret shrine, saw no more the
guardian of the gates, nor heard the clash of the swords unseen, for
the Gods had given the beauty of Helen to Odysseus of Ithaca, as it was
foretold.

Without the curtains the priests of the temple were gathered
wondering--little could they understand how it came to pass that the
hero who was called Eperitus had vanished through the curtains and had
not been smitten down by the unseen swords. And when they saw him come
forth glorious and unharmed they cried aloud with fear.

But he laughed and said, "Fear not. Victory is to him whom the Gods
appoint. I have done battle with the ward