r your own sake and the
sake of your companion, say nothing of it in the city, lest it should
come to the ears of the priests of El."

"Certainly it would have been death to you had I _not_ chanced to hear
it, having lost my way in the darkness," answered the prince laughing.
"Well, since I did hear it I will add that it was a beautiful prayer,
revealing a heart high and pure, though I grieve that it should have
been offered to one whom I hold to be a demon."

"I am honoured," she answered coldly; "but, Prince, you forget that
though you, being a Hebrew, worship Him they call Jehovah, or so I have
been told, I, being of the blood of the Sidonians, worship the lady
Baaltis, the Queen of Heaven the holy one of whom I am a priestess."

"So it is, alas!" he said, with a sigh, adding:--

"Well, let us not dispute of these matters, though, if you wish, the
prophet Issachar, the Levite who accompanies me, can explain the truth
of them to you."

Elissa made no reply, and for a while they walked on in silence.

"Who was that black robber whom I slew?" Aziel asked presently.

"I am not sure, Prince," she answered, hesitating, "but savages such as
he haunt the outskirts of the city seeking to steal white women to be
their wives. Doubtless he watched my steps, following me into the holy
place."

"Why, then, did you venture there alone, lady?"

"Because, to be heard, such prayers as mine must be offered in solitude
in the consecrated grove, and at the hour of the rising of the moon.
Moreover, cannot Baaltis protect her priestess, Priest, and did she not
protect her?"

"I thought, lady, that I had something to do with the matter," he
answered.

"Ay, Prince, it was your hand that struck the blow which killed the
thief, but Baaltis, and no other, led you to the place to rescue me."

"I understand, lady. To save you, Baaltis, laying aside her own power,
led a mortal man to the grove, which it is death that mortal man should
violate."

"Who can fathom the way of the gods?" she replied with passion, then
added, as though reasoning with a new-born doubt, "Did not the goddess
hear my prayer and answer it?"

"In truth, lady, I cannot say. Let me think. If I understood you
rightly, you prayed for heavenly wisdom, but whether or not you have
gained it within this last hour, I do not know. And then you prayed for
love, an immortal love. O, maiden, has it come to you since yonder moon
appeared upon the sky? And you prayed----"