"And to what end, good master?"
"That we may have an answer propitious to our suit."
"What! are ye about to sacrifice me to your infernal deities!" cried the captive, almost frantic with the anticipation.
"My friend, thou art bound for another purpose; to wit that, through thy instrumentality, we may discover the divining cup the emperor hath lost. Knowest thou aught of this precious crystal?" inquired the Chaldean, with a searching look.
But it were vain to describe the astonishment of the victim. He looked almost in doubt of his own identity, or as if he were trying to shake off the impression of some hideous dream. At length he replied,
"'Tis some device surely, that ye may slay me!"
He wept; and the tears trickling down his cheek, were indeed piteous to behold, "I know not," said he, "your meaning. Let me depart."
"Nay," said the soothsayer, "thou mayest content thyself as thou list, but the cup shall be found, and that by thy ministry. The emperor hath offered rewards, nigh to the value of three silver talents, for the recovery, and assuredly thou shalt be held in durance until it be regained."
"And by whose authority?" inquired the Briton.
"Why, truly, it becometh thee to ask, seeing thou art a party interested in the matter. The emperor, in whose care the jewel was left, hath sworn by the River Styx, that unless the cup be brought back to the palace ere to-morrow's dawn, he will punish the innocent with the guilty; and that with no sparing hand. He hath already laid hands on some of the more wealthy citizens, and amerced them in divers sums; others are detained as hostages for suspected persons who are absent from the city. The loss of this cup being connected with a daring attempt on the emperor's life by some unknown hand, he doth suspect that the very palace wants purging from treason; yet where to begin, or on whom to fasten suspicion, he knoweth not. Mine art has hitherto failed me in the matter. The tools they work with baffle my skill, save that the oracle I consult commanded that I should lay hold on the first male person that came hither to-day, and by his ministry the lost treasure should be restored. Shouldest thou refuse, thou art lost; for assuredly the emperor will not be slow to punish thy contumacy."