the messengers. They came in due time, one
after another, bringing the replies which they had severally obtained.
The replies were all unsatisfactory, except that of the oracle at
Delphi. This answer was in verse, as, in fact, the responses of
that oracle always were. The priestess who sat upon the tripod was
accustomed to give the replies in an incoherent and half-intelligible
manner, as impostors are very apt to do in uttering prophecies, and
then the attendant priests and secretaries wrote them out in verse.

The verse which the messenger brought back from the Delphic tripod was
in Greek; but some idea of its style, and the import of it, is
conveyed by the following imitation:

"I number the sands, I measure the sea,
What's hidden to others is known to me.
The lamb and the turtle are simmering slow
With brass above them and brass below."

Of course, Croesus decided that the Delphic oracle was the one that
he must rely upon for guidance in respect to his projected campaign.
And he now began to prepare to consult it in a manner corresponding
with the vast importance of the subject, and with his own boundless
wealth. He provided the most extraordinary and sumptuous presents.
Some of these treasures were to be deposited in the temple, as sacred
gifts, for permanent preservation there. Others were to be offered as
a burnt sacrifice in honor of the god. Among the latter, besides an
incredible number of living victims, he caused to be prepared a great
number of couches, magnificently decorated with silver and gold, and
goblets and other vessels of gold, and dresses of various kinds richly
embroidered, and numerous other articles, all intended to be used in
the ceremonies preliminary to his application to the oracle. When the
time arrived, a vast concourse of people assembled to witness the
spectacle. The animals were sacrificed, and the people feasted on the
flesh; and when these ceremonies were concluded, the couches, the
goblets, the utensils of every kind, the dresses--every thing, in
short, which had been used on the occasion, were heaped up into one
great sacrificial pile, and set on fire. Every thing that was
combustible was consumed, while the gold was melted, and ran into
plates of great size, which were afterward taken out from the ashes.
Thus it was the workmanship only of these articles which was destroyed
and lost by the fire. The gold, in which the chief value consisted,
was saved. It wa