‘I WOULD not mention it to your lordship last night,’ said Baroni; ‘I thought enough had happened for one day.’
‘But now you think I am sufficiently fresh for new troubles.’ ‘He spoke it in Hebrew, that myself and Sheikh Hassan should not understand him, but I know something of that dialect.’
‘In Hebrew! And why in Hebrew?’ ‘They follow the laws of Moses, this tribe.’ ‘Do you mean that they are Jews?’ ‘The Arabs are only Jews upon horseback,’ said Baroni. ‘This tribe, I find, call themselves Rechabites.’
‘Ah!’ exclaimed Tancred, and he began to muse. ‘I have heard of that name before. Is it possible,’ thought he, ‘that my visit to Bethany should have led to this captivity?’
‘This affair must have been planned at Jerusalem,’ said Baroni; ‘I saw from the first it was not a common foray. These people know everything. They will send immediately to Besso; they know he is your banker, and that if you want to build the Temple, he must pay for it, and unless a most immoderate ransom is given, they will carry us all into the interior of the desert.’
‘And what do you counsel?’
‘In this, as in all things, to gain time; and principally because I am without resource, but with time expedients develop themselves. Naturally, what is wanted will come; expediency is a law of nature. The camel is a wonderful animal, but the desert made the camel. I have already impressed upon the great Sheikh that you are not a prince of the blood; that your father is ruined, that there has been a murrain for three years among his herds and flocks; and that, though you appear to be travelling for amusement, you are, in fact, a political exile. All these are grounds for a reduced ransom. At present he believes nothing that I say, because his mind has been previously impressed with contrary and more cogent representations, but what I say will begin to work when he has experienced some disappointment, and the period of re-action arrives. Re-action is the law of society; it is inevitable. All success depends upon seizing it.’
‘It appears to me that you are a great philosopher, Baroni,’ said Tancred.
‘I travelled five years with M. de Sidonia,’ said Baroni. ‘We were in perpetual scrapes, often worse than this, and my master moralised upon every one of them. I shared his adventures, and I imbibed some of his wisdom; and the consequence is, that I always ought to know what to say, and generally what to do.’
‘Well, here at least is some theatre for your practice; though, as far as I can form an opinion, our course is simple, though ignominious. We must redeem ourselves from captivity. If it were only the end of my crusade, one might submit to it, like Coeur de Lion, after due suffering; but occurring at the commencement, the catastrophe is mortifying, and I doubt whether I shall have heart enough to pursue my way. Were I alone, I certainly would not submit to ransom. I would look upon captivity as one of those trials that await me, and I would endeavour to extricate myself from it by courage and address, relying ever on Divine aid; but I am not alone. I have involved you in this mischance, and these poor Englishmen, and, it would seem, the brave Hassan and his tribe. I can hardly ask you to make the sacrifice which I would cheerfully endure; and therefore it seems to me that we have only one course—to march under the forks.’