ish to see my lord exposed to a
hopeless risk. This poor place, such as it is, has been given to me
as an abode, and, if my lord can remain decorously till nightfall in a
maiden's chamber, he may at least be sure of quietude. I am a person,"
she added simply, "that in this camp has some respect. When darkness
comes, I will take my lord down to the sea and a boat, and so he may
come with ease to the harbour and the watergate."

8. THE PREACHER FROM THE MOUNTAINS

It was long enough since I had found leisure for a parcel of sleep,
and so during the larger part of that day I am free to confess that I
slumbered soundly, Nais watching me. Night fell, and still we remained
within the privacy of the temple. It was our plan that I should stay
there till the camp slept, and so I should have more chance of reaching
the sea without disturbance.

The night came down wet, with a drizzle of rain, and through the slits
in the temple walls we could see the many fires in the camp well cared
for, the men and women in skins and rags toasting before them, with
steam rising as the heat fought with their wetness. Folk seated in
discomfort like this are proverbially alert and cruel in the temper, and
Nais frowned as she looked on the inclemency of the weather.

"A fine night," she said, "and I would have sent my lord back to the
city without a soul here being the wiser; but in this chill, people
sleep sourly. We must wait till the hour drugs them sounder."

And so we waited, sitting there together on that pavement so long
unkissed by worshippers, and it was little enough we said aloud. But
there can be good companionship without sentences of talk.

But as the hours drew on, the night began to grow less quiet. From the
distance some one began to blow on a horn or a shell, sending forth a
harsh raucous note incessantly. The sound came nearer, as we could tell
from its growing loudness, and the voices of those by the fires made
themselves heard, railing at the blower for his disturbance. And
presently it became stationary, and standing up we could see through the
slits in the walls the people of the camp rousing up from their uneasy
rest, and clustering together round one who stood and talked to them
from the pedestal of a war engine.

What he was declaiming upon we could not hear, and our curiosity on
the matter was not keen. Given that all who did not sleep went to weary
themselves with this fellow, as Nais whispered, it would b