Chapter III

I know—I know
What makes the wood-dove moan _bis_
In the dark coppice lone;
I know the cure.
When floats the owlet’s cry,
Her quavering lullaby,
Who!—ah, who!
While night winds sigh,
Who would not quaff the cure!
Ah, who!—ah, who!

(_Chorus_)

We know, we know the cure.
When floats the owlet’s cry,
Her quavering lullaby,
Who!—ah, who!
While night winds sigh,
Who would not quaff the cure!
Ah, who!—ah, who!

GLAUCUS

[_Loudly, in a musical tone_] Hola!—hola!

[_Directly upon the utterance of this call the low, shaded recess of the doorway, which was dark before, grows bright with the same golden radiance that had shone intermittently upon the fountain; and the throng of visitors, excepting their leader, press swiftly forward and disappear through the opening. Again immediately the light in the doorway changes to blue, with electrical sparks. EURYLOCHUS, who is directing his gaze toward the opening, shrinks back in alarm; and at the same moment the spray of the fountain becomes blue and remains of that color. Descending to a lower stair EURYLOCHUS peers under the doorway, listening intently. No sound is heard. Then, his attention being drawn to the sombre hue of the fountain, while he is looking away from the entrance, a large serpent lets down its coils from the roof of the porch; and as the man turns again toward the entrance he is confronted with its wide-open jaws, forked tongue, and glittering eyes. As he retreats precipitately from the stairs the serpent draws itself up out of sight. EURYLOCHUS stops once more in the foreground to watch and listen for some sign of his men within the palace; but as he turns toward the building, the head of a wolf with glowing eyes is protruded from a clump of shrubbery. Upon encountering this final apparition he flees in consternation from the scene._]