"Claim the property, the whole of it, or you are a fool for a Jew, much more for a Greek," said Menelaos eagerly.
"But if any heir should return?" queried Glaucon.
"But you said there was no heir."
"True, but one doesn't always know about such matters."
"Well, if there be, what then? On what ground could he make claim for restitution? All titles of absentees now rest with the King. The property, according to the last edict, will be confiscated. I can fix it at Antioch that your indebtedness will be recognized. One hundred? Make it a thousand. I myself will file claim, and vouch for it that your credit in the matter is worth the entire estate of Shattuck."
"You have great power with the King, my dear Menelaos."
"Power with the King? Why, I bought him when I bought my High Priesthood. You know that Jason, my brother, sent me to Antioch with six hundred talents to bribe the royal pleasure for his appointment to be High Priest. I appropriated the six hundred, added three hundred more to it, and bought the office for myself; and so outplayed the young trickster at his own game. Beside that, you recollect that it was I who gave Jerusalem to the King."
"How was that? I am not so well versed in state secrets as I should be," replied Glaucon.
"Why, when Jason, the Priest, came suddenly back from Egypt, hearing the false report that Antiochus had died, he threw me into the dungeon at Akra. To rescue me, and regain my conduct of affairs, the King sent his army and took the city. So without me the King would not have had it. No man, my dear friend, has had more to do with making the King's fortune than I. And he cannot dispense with me yet. But I must have some return for what I do for him—and for you. For my part in your business, Glaucon, I shall have what portion of the gain?"