“I fear this will only increase the rigours of your confinement, unless you can explain why the holy man of the valley has made you this strange visit.”
“In truth, I know not. I never saw him until this night; and how should I be able to expound what you, who are familiar with the stranger, cannot comprehend?”
“He would not have visited you without a motive.”
“But I may be unacquainted with that motive.”
“He is not a man to act without calculating results.”
“Nevertheless his calculations may prove erroneous.”
“Then you do not understand the nature of his communication?”
“I do not.”
“These symbols will be shown to those who are quick at expounding riddles. Yet it is scarcely to be conceived that so worthy a minister of the Prophet should have addressed his symbols to one who cannot read their meaning.”
“He is but a man, and all men are alike prone to error.”