Nothing is so hard to guard as a woman.
- 1. Twin serpents from Tenedos.
- 2. News from Galilee.
- 3. An escort dealing with escorts.
- 4. Home at last.
VIII.
THE ESCORT.
In going to the Serapeum, our friends had noticed near the gate of the khan the Cretan who, as agent for Malus, had dealt with the Phenician dealer in dyes. They recognized him readily, though he turned hastily away as they approached him. The catspaw of Malus! they both thought; and would perhaps have thought no more of it had not——
But, on going a little farther, whom should they see but Malus himself coming toward them! They could not be mistaken—the same obese figure, the same waddling gait, the same wooden face and gimlet eyes. He stopped almost immediately at a fruiterer’s stall, and seemed busy in selecting some fruit as they passed. After they had passed he turned and watched them. They did not turn to notice the fact, but they knew it all the same—knew that Malus had tracked them to their quarters and made sure of a close connection between them.
When Aleph came out with Rachel to her sedan, he very naturally looked about to see if he was still under surveillance. But he saw only the porters of the rich conveyance that waited for the daughter of Alexander. Nor did he, on the way to Miriam’s, as he walked by the side of the chair and occasionally exchanged a word with its inmate, observe anything but that courteous general observation which a very distinguished looking man in honorable attendance on a great lady might be expected to draw.
There was one interruption on the way—a pleasant one. Rachel, through her curtains, happening to descry Shaphan at a distance, stopped her bearers and begged Aleph to beckon the Jew to them. He promptly crossed the street. The lady gave him her hand and said that she had been hearing with great interest the story of his visit to Judea, but wished to hear it again at first hand. Could he not go with them a short distance to where her nurse lived and there gratify her? He could: in fact, his brother, who had just returned from Judea, and himself were even now returning from the Egyptian khan near the Serapeum, whither they had gone for the purpose of seeing the young Chaldean (he bowed to Aleph) and his friend, and communicating some new information about the Messiah.