es in
her hand, an offering to Diana.

'Let her come to me,' said Saronia.

'Come within and seat thyself. I have much to say to thee, mother of
Chios. I know I may trust thee. Thou wilt never betray?'

'No. By all that is left for my eternal salvation, I swear to be true!'

'Then hear me. Take this message to Chios. I must see him.'

'Thou knowest, lady, Chios is a Christian?'

'I do. Dost thou know aught of this sect, seeing thou movest abroad
among the people?'

'O noble Saronia, 'tis a mighty God they serve.'

'What meanest thou?'

'I will tell thee. One day there came to my house the sons of Sceva;
they came to cast out a spirit of evil from a tortured man.'

'Did they succeed?'

'No. Miserably failed! And I, by my power, tried by Hecate to draw him
forth, but I could not.'

'By what process did they attempt this?'

'They invoked the name of the Jewish Christ, but the spirit rebelled
against them, and disowned their power. They had made a cross, the
symbol of that God, to carry out their plan, and when they had fled and
I also looked back, I saw the cross all lit with glorious sheen in the
hands of the man, and the spirit had come out of him. I fear this faith;
Diana, Hecate are servants to it, and this Christ will prevail in
Ephesus. I would this God would shield me from the curse, and I would
lie at His feet in gratitude and joy.'

'Endora, thou speakest strange sayings. Art thou certain of all those
things, or are they phantasies of the mind?'

'They are true, noble Saronia, as true as yonder Temple is the shrine of
thy goddess; true as there is a central sun in the universe, around
which all other suns revolve. And this Christ, they say, is the great
spiritual orb, the grand Spirit of the whole around which every other
intelligence moves, and to whom every spirit in the vast domains shall
bow. It's a terrible thought, is it not?'

'Why?'

'Because, if this saying be true, Diana is no more. She is not supreme,
and will fade away as the ages grow, dwindling into nothingness, and her
teaching be but a beautiful story.'

'Ah! Endora, thou speakest wisely. Truly thou art acting a part in
assuming the craft of a low-born fortune-teller. I see thou art skilled
in words, and still hast the soul and wisdom of a priestess; as a
diamond thou wilt sparkle, begrimed as thou art with the adverse
circumstances of thy life. Thou hast interested me. It is well one
should know what is propagated around he