f on the mercy of
Zakar-Baal, the prince of that city. Wenamon, it will be remembered, had
always considered that he had been robbed by a Sicilian of Dor,
notwithstanding the fact that only a sailor of his own ship could have
known of the existence of the money, as King Bedel seems to have pointed
out to him. The Egyptian, therefore, did not regard this forcible
seizure of silver from these other Sicilians as a crime. It was a
perfectly just appropriation of a portion of the funds which belonged to
him by rights. Let us imagine ourselves robbed at our hotel by Hans the
German waiter: it would surely give us the most profound satisfaction to
take Herr Schnupfendorff, the piano-tuner, by the throat when next he
visited us, and go through his pockets. He and Hans, being of the same
nationality, must suffer for one another's sins, and if the magistrate
thinks otherwise he must be regarded as prejudiced by too much study of
the law.

Byblos stood at the foot of the hills of Lebanon, in the very shadow of
the great cedars, and it was therefore Wenamon's destination. Now,
however, as the ship dropped anchor in the harbour, the Egyptian
realised that his mission would probably be fruitless, and that he
himself would perhaps be flung into prison for illegally having in his
possession the famous image of the god to which he could show no written
right. Moreover, the news of the robbery of the merchants might well
have reached Byblos overland. His first action, therefore, was to
conceal the idol and the money; and this having been accomplished he sat
himself down in his cabin to await events.

The Prince of Byblos certainly had been advised of the robbery; and as
soon as the news of the ship's arrival was reported to him he sent a
curt message to the captain saying simply, "Get out of my harbour." At
this Wenamon gave up all hope, and, hearing that there was then in port
a vessel which was about to sail for Egypt, he sent a pathetic message
to the prince asking whether he might be allowed to travel by it back to
his own country.

No satisfactory answer was received, and for the best part of a month
Wenamon's ship rode at anchor, while the distracted envoy paced the
deck, vainly pondering upon a fitting course of action. Each morning the
same brief order, "Get out of my harbour," was delivered to him by the
harbour-master; but the indecision of the authorities as to how to treat
this Egyptian official prevented the order being b