ys was to give the king answer to his
suit, for he refused to come to Zimboe unless he were allowed to bring
a larger force than it was thought prudent to admit into the city gates.
At some distance from the tents they halted, while messengers were sent
forward inviting Ithobal to a conference on the plain, as it seemed
scarcely safe to trust themselves within the stout thorn fence which had
been built about the camp. Metem, who said that he had no fear of the
king, went with these men, and on reaching the _zeriba_ was at once
bidden to the pavilion of Ithobal. He found the great man pacing its
length sullenly.

"What seek you here, Phoenician?" he asked, glancing at him over his
shoulder.

"My fee, King. The king was pleased to promise me a hundred ounces
of gold if I saved the life of the Lady Elissa. I come, therefore, to
assure him that my skill has prevailed against the poisoned arrow of
that treacherous dog of the desert, which pierced her hand as she spoke
with the prince Aziel the other night, and to claim my reward. Here is a
note of the amount," and he produced his tablets.

"If half of what I hear is true, rogue," answered Ithobal savagely, "the
tormentor and the headsman alone could satisfy all my debt to you. Say,
merchant, what return have you made me for that sackful of gold which
you bore hence some few days gone?"

"The best of all returns, King," answered Metem cheerfully, although in
truth he began to feel afraid. "I have kept my word, and fulfilled the
command of the king. I have made it impossible that the prince Aziel
should wed the daughter of Sakon."

"Yes, rogue, you have made it impossible by causing her to be
consecrated Baaltis, and thus building a barrier which even I shall find
too hard to climb. It is scarcely to be hoped that now she will choose
me of her own will, and to offer violence to the Baaltis is a sacrilege
from which any man--yes, even a king--may shrink, for such deeds draw
the curse of Heaven. Know that for this service I am minded to settle
my account with you in a fashion of which you have not thought. Have
you heard, Phoenician, that the chiefs of certain of my tribes love to
decorate their spear-shafts with the hide of white men, and to bray
their flesh into a medicine which gives courage to its eater?"

With this pleasing and suggestive query Ithobal paused, and looked
towards the door of the tent as though he were about to call his guard.

Now Metem's blood ran c