“You—are a Greek in disguise?” she faltered.
“On the contrary, I am a Persian officer in the army of Xerxes,” he replied, and perceiving her look of terror, he added, “but I will not harm you, rather I have rescued you from a horrible fate.”
“And I am truly grateful, but I am puzzled as to why you should care to do that for me, a daughter of the enemy.”
“The motives of a Persian are not always altogether base,” he replied somewhat coldly.
“A thousand pardons,” she beseeched, “I am greatly indebted to you for your kindness, but my people have suffered horribly at the hands of yours, and surely you can not wonder at my attitude!”
“No,” he replied more gently, “I do not blame you, but I am glad to prove to you that Ahura-Mazdâo may be as deserving of worship as Zeus.”
To his surprise the suspicion of a smile flitted across her face. Was this bewitching Athenian maiden mocking him? Her features were again serious as she said: “Ahura-Mazdâo and Zeus are one. There is one all-powerful God, and compared with Him the others are quite insignificant.”
“You believe that?” he asked with fresh interest. “I had supposed polytheism to be the unshaken belief of the Greeks.”
“Of the majority that is true,” she replied seriously, “but many of us, while performing the rites due our gods and goddesses, send our prayers to a Deity who is above the petty jealousies of the gods of Olympus. It was a prayer to that Deity which saved me from a tragic fate on the Acropolis!”
He looked at her with a new interest. Not only did he consider her very beautiful, but he was surprised to find her possessing more intellect than was usual among the Persian girls of his acquaintance. He knew too, that the Greek women were educated to be principally home-makers, and that beyond the duties of wives and mothers, their training was somewhat deficient. Therefore he was not a little amazed that this maid of Athens could express her views on religion with the assurance of a man.
“If a prayer to the Deity saved you, can not another such prayer save your ships there at Salamis?” he asked, but so kindly that she did not resent his question.
“Let us go to the shore,” she cried eagerly, “and there I shall pray that success may come to my poor fellow-countrymen who know that their beloved city lies in ashes!”