'I will be there should all the Furies in Hades block the way....
'By the bend of the river—by the bend of the Cayster which washes the fringe of the horrible grove. I know the place well, where the chrysophrus with golden-coloured head swims to and fro. I know the spot where the iris bends its yellow flowers, where the lordly swans glide past, and the cranes dwell, and the nightingale sings from the silvery leaves of the sacred trees.
'I will be there, Saronia, my soul, my light, my love! I will be there to strike for thee with the strength of a lion if needs be!'
CHAPTER XXX
BY THE RIVER CAYSTER
The grove of Hecate was filled with beautiful trees—palm and myrtle, cypress and pine, the rich springing laurel, and the holy shoot of the deep blue olive.
Statues studded the wood, and the river Cenchrius watered the ground, and here had been heard the sound of the dance-loving lyre at the feasts of the gods.
Through this tree-clustering wood the fair-haired Muses came to worship, and the Sybil let loose her golden locks when the gods breathed on her.
The Cayster came south to the margin of the grove, moving rapidly northward and westward, sweeping by myriad blooms of the rose and iris, till it flowed from the land to the sea, carrying with it the snow-born waters of Cenchrius, Marnas, and Selinus—all goodly streams which watered the plain of Ephesus.