Hezilo nodded. A strange look had passed into his eyes.
"There is a means—to obtain the proof."
"I am ready!" replied Eckhardt with quivering lips.
"If you will swear on the hilt of this cross, to be guarded by my counsel, to let nothing induce you to reveal your identity, I will help you," said the harper.
Eckhardt touched the proffered cross, nodding wearily. His heart was heavy to breaking, as the harper slowly outlined his plan.
"The woman has been seized by a mortal dread of her betrayer,—the man who wrecked her life and yours. No questions now,—this is neither the hour or the place! In time you shall know, in time you shall be free to act! Acting upon my counsel, she has bid me summon to her presence a sooth-sayer, one Dom Sabbat, who dwells in the gorge between Mounts Testaccio and Aventine. To him I am to carry these horoscopes and conduct him to the Groves on the third night before the full of the moon."
The harper's voice sank to a whisper, while Eckhardt listened attentively, nodding repeatedly in gloomy silence.
"On that night I shall await you in the shadows of the temple of Isis. There a boat will lie in waiting to convey us to the water stairs of her palace."
The harper extended his hand, wrapping himself closer in his mantel.
"The third night before the full of the moon!" he said. "Leave me now, I implore you, that I may care for my dead. Remember the time, the place, and your pledge!"