"Has the prince not gone out all the evening?" inquired he.
"Not a step."
"Can I give a priest's word for this?"
The heir was astonished.
"It seems to me," answered he, haughtily, "that thy word is not needed, since I have given mine. What does this mean?"
They withdrew to a special chamber.
"Dost Thou know, lord," asked the excited priest, "what has happened, perhaps an hour since? Some young men attacked the worthy Sargon and clubbed him."
"Who were they? Where did this happen?"
"At the villa of a Phoenician priestess named Kama," answered
Mentezufis, watching the face of the heir sharply.
"Daring fellows," said the prince, shrugging his shoulders, "to attack such a stalwart man! I suppose that more than one bone was broken in that struggle."