"We must go!" Clearchus exclaimed. "Tell Nathan so at once. Tell him that if he cannot release us, we will release ourselves. We must be on our way to Tyre to-morrow."
"Quietly," Chares said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Not so loud. You forget!"
"Did you not hear what he said?" Clearchus demanded impatiently. "Artemisia is in Tyre and in the power of Phradates!"
"So is Thais, and she is in the greater danger," Chares said, "if what Joel tells us is true; but we shall never see either of them again unless we are discreet."
There was a stir in the great hall of the building as the inmates gathered from the various smaller apartments. "The king has sent a summons!" Joel said, hastening away.
"Do not forget my message," Clearchus insisted.
"I will deliver it," Joel responded over his shoulder.
Chares and Clearchus joined the main body of prisoners, who were assembled in the hall. They found there Boupares himself, with scribes bearing the register of the inmates of the place. The governor scrutinized the lists with care, selecting from among them the names of prisoners, who were called by a crier. Each man, as he heard his name, stepped forward to await the directions of Boupares.
"Amyntas of Macedon!" shouted the crier, and a small, thin man with a sallow face stood out from the rest.
"Charidemus of Corinth!" the crier called.