“Wait a moment. The youth? I must find him. [pg 78]Bless me! how he has wandered! how many circles! Ah! there he is! I see him stretched at full length upon the ground.”
“That is good!” said Magistus eagerly; “that is good. He lies dead upon the ground. Go on.”
“He is not dead,” said the oracle slowly; “his heart still beats: he sleeps.”
“Not dead?” screeched the old man, “what say you, not dead? Is he not wounded? Is he not stabbed? Is he not bleeding?” he continued in the highest excitement.
“No!” said the woman calmly; “he is not dead, he sleeps.”
“Do you see no gashes upon his body?”
“No, I see only a bright new dagger.”
“Furies!” exclaimed Magistus; “he has escaped me. I have been deceived.”
Turning suddenly upon the woman, he seized her by the throat:
“Do you tell me the truth?”