But she who lay upon the blackening barge
Spoke swiftly, yet so clear, it was to Creon
Like a friend's lip awhisper at his ear.
Then lowering down the ponderous rock, he stretched
A welcoming hand to them. And so they took,
And carried to the barge, and placed upon
The deck.
And Charmian, she who stood beside
The queen, delicate in her draperies
Of white, marked first the many rended garb
Of Creon, but the queen said: "Lo! a king Has come before us."
Steadfastly the queen
Looked on him till he shook his shoulders back
And gazed again. "Thou drawst a mighty bow,"
She said, "But say in what strange country thou
Wast taught to level angry shafts at women;
Say whence thou comest?"
Then: "Creon my name.
I came from out the quarries in the sand.
At dawn I struck the rock with other slaves,
And armed men strode at guard, even such as these.
To-night they yell along my track, and here—
An empty quiver at my side!"
But still
She questioned, smiling: "Stranger, name thy land."
"My country lies beyond the seas, and
I Have seen its outlines dim in western clouds.
[ 7 ]
