"No," I agreed; "and from the thickness of the wood, and from the bolts being driven in without wedges, I have no doubt that it is an Egyptian craft that has been wrecked."
"Look here!" cried Himilco; "here is proof positive; the goose's neck from the prow!"
"It may be," I said, "that some Egyptians accompanied Bodmilcar, and have come to grief in the tempest."
"I hope Bodmilcar has not shared their fate," said Gisgo; "drowning is too good for him; I want him to have a stout rope round his neck. And besides, the rascal has three-quarters of our merchandise that I should like to get back."
"Rather too much to expect, I am afraid," I said; "however, we must now embark. We are bound for Sicily where perhaps you may recover your lost ears."
A grim smile passed over the old pilot's face.
"Until the wind changes," I observed, "we shall have to keep on tacking;" and I moved towards the ships.
At this moment the Dorian King approached me with the air of having something important to communicate; he broke out abruptly:
"You are a Phœnician, a ruler of the sea: I am a Dorian prince, a ruler of my people: so far we are equal. These oxen, these horses, these chariots are all mine; from my thirty villages I can summon twelve thousand men. I am favoured of the gods. I am mighty."