“‘The god will care for his own.’
“Then she fell forward into old Akeretos’s arms and was dead.”
Nikander shuddered. “Poor child,” he said, “poor, poor little girl.”
“But, Father, think what that means!” said Dryas. “‘The god will care for his own’!”
Nikander put his hand on Dryas’s shoulder.
“Yes, yes, my son, you are right, but had any one asked a question? How did it happen?”
“But, Father, don’t you know that Akeretos himself has been asking a question for days? He is so old, I suppose he knows the Oracle better than any of us. He says that in his youth this method was tried and answer received beyond all hope.
“But what did he do?” asked the dazed Nikander.
“He made sacrifice right in front of the Pythia House, not as usual on the Great Altar. The question which he was to ask was: ‘What shall we do to save the treasures of the god? Shall we hide them in the hills?’ But he repeated not this question at all, but instead, the while he was sacrificing, he kept repeating to himself the answer which he desired—thinking only of this answer: ‘The god will care for his own. The sacred things must not be touched by mortal hands. The god will care for his own.’ And sure enough within the house, locked within it indeed, Aristonikè awoke from sleep with a low cry and began to say those very words:
“Touch not the sacred things,