"We left the shrine in haste, and found the ship the Oracle spoke of.  Christened the Dolphin, it was captained by a fellow named Ramis.  He was not Athenian, though the crew was, but rather hailed from the Northmen, a giant of a man with long braided blond hair and a booming voice, who had accompanied a Norse raiding party twenty winters prior, and had stayed here, preferring the warmth and civilization to the barbarous cold north.  He spoke passable Greek, and greeted us warmly when we boarded.  He was sympathetic to our plight, though not personally interested, as he had no friends or family in Atherns.  The reaminder of the crew was distressed at the news, and would have rowed to Crete if the very breath of Triton had opposed us the entire way.  As the Oracle had promised though, the passage was smooth and fast.  Upon arriving at Crete, we found Epimenedes waiting on the end of the pier.  We never even dropped anchor, merely held position long enough for the shoreboat to pick him up.  Then we returned to Athens, the wind switching again to bear us along almost the very minute we left Crete's harbor.

    "During the voyage, Epimenedes queried us about everything we had done.  Had we made sacrifices to all the normal gods, he asked.  Of course we had, we are the men of Athens.  The help of every god we knew of had been sought.  Had we tried to contain the rats, he asked.  That too we had done, with little success, for the burrowers and scurriers of Charon's kingdom were numerous and clever.  Had we attempted to appease Charon's anger, he asked.  But that too we had tried, offering sacrifice after sacrifice to the reclusive keeper of the underworld.  Two days out from port, he stopped questioning, but instead knelt on the deck of the ship and began to ponder our words.  He did not move from there for four days, even after we had reached port.  Finally, as our patience was about to snap, he arose and announced that it was time to journey to Athens.