her maidens, flower-bearers, libation-carriers, and
incense-girls, stood between the priests and priestesses, ready to place
their offerings on the altar in honour of Diana.

All was ready, all were expectant, when the great High Priestess,
Saronia, came forward in flowing robes of white, costly silk, and stood
in all her magnificent beauty.

The offering to the goddess was soon made, but Saronia stood in silent
meditation; neither had the soft cadences of sweet Ionian music from the
costliest instruments any charm. Then, when their harmonies fell low and
died in plaintive echoes, Saronia looked upwards through the open roof
towards the circle of azure sky, until a calm, a radiant calm,
o'erspread her face, making her seem like a visitant from the
heavens.... During this brief pause a profound solemnity pervaded the
assembly--a quietude in which even the rustle of a leaf would have
seemed discord.

The people, spellbound by the force of her character and the beauty of
the Priestess, held their breath and earnestly waited.

Then spoke Saronia to them, in a voice full of love and hope, saying:

'Priestesses and priests, and all you gathered here, listen to
the words of Saronia. Me you found helpless at your gates, a
slave seeking shelter, seeking sanctuary at the shrine of great
Diana, whose image, hidden by a veil of purple and gold, towers
majestically behind me.

'You brought me within the precincts of this mighty Temple, and
cared for me tenderly.

'After awhile you thought me fit to serve your goddess.

'Step by step I rose until, with one bound, I became the High
Priestess.

'My spirit, yearning with desire to understand the hidden
meaning of your mystic faith, became a receptacle for all the
teachings of your goddess. My mind became permeated with your
creed, and every fibre of my nature shaken and respondent to
the spirit's voice, as leaves move to the breathings of the
winds.

'In this spiritual ecstasy I revelled and moved on from mystery
to mystery, diving into the deep ocean of your sacred
knowledge, satisfying my soul with draughts of wisdom from the
choicest fountains of your faith; and, as I swept into the
mysteries of your creed, my spirit became intoxicated with
delight, and seemed to purify by contact with the unseen
presence of your goddess.

'Light after light flooded m