'Where is he?' asked Zoë, as soon as the maids were gone.
'He is in a dry cistern near the north wall of the city.'
'Hiding?'
'No—a prisoner. In escaping last night he ran among the soldiers who were to have helped us, and they held him for a ransom. The Tartar came to extort the money. You know all.'
'At least, he is safe for the present,' Zoë said, but very doubtfully, for she did not half believe what she said.
'No,' Gorlias answered; 'he is not safe for long, and we must get him out. They demand a ransom, but they know well enough that even if they get it they will not dare to let him go free, since he could hang them all by a word.'
'What will they do?'
'If they can get the money they will let him starve to death in the cistern. If they do not, they will give him up to Andronicus for the reward. The Emperor has proclaimed that he will give ten pounds of gold to any one who will bring him Carlo Zeno, dead or alive. That is not enough.'
'The Emperor knows it was he?' asked Zoë with increasing anxiety.
'Yes.'