Page:The Song of the Sirens.djvu/95



"The wings on his cap and bracelets and sandals made rainbow colors in the air about his ankles and wrists and temples, like the iridescent shimmer of a dragonfly's wings when it hovers over a pool. I could hear the whiz of their buzzing motion.

"'He alighted not two yards from me on the edge of the cliff.

"'You have seen me more than once at Troy,' he said, 'though not so clearly nor for so long; you know who I am and whose messenger I am. His message is but one word: 'SAIL!' That means sail at once. You have no right to rest or ease or comfort. It was never right for you to linger one needless day anywhere. Still less was it right for you to form ties in any land except the land appointed for you and indicated to you. Least of all is it right for you to assist another race to strengthen a colony. You know all this. Jove reminds you through me. Heed him. ACT! SAIL!

"'Like a bird from a flower he whirled upward, flashed in the sunlight and was gone.

"'Do you wonder I obey? Can I, could I yield to any appeal from you or her or my own heart? Is there any use in saying anything?

"I turned away to my litter and my bearers carried me back to the palace, but I remember nothing of the way home. He was right."