"Bad news?" he asked Alorcus.
"My father is dying, and he has sent for me."
"What shall you do?"
"I must go immediately. My people demand my presence."
The two horsemen began the descent to the city, followed by the Celtiberian messenger.
Actæon sympathized with his comrade's emotion. At the same time the curiosity of the traveler, so often aroused by the Celtiberian's tales, was awakened within him.
"Do you wish me to accompany you, Alorcus?"
The young man received the proposition with a look of gratitude. Then he declined, saying that he must depart in haste; the Greek might wish to bid farewell to Sónnica; perhaps the separation would be a grief to her; and he desired to start on the journey at once.
"We will omit the farewell," said the Greek in his light, happy manner. "Sónnica will be resigned when I make known to her through a slave that I shall be absent for some days. Do you wish to leave immediately? I will accompany you. I am curious to see that land with its strange customs, and its valiant and sturdy inhabitants, of whose brave deeds you have so often told me."
They crossed the city. The streets were deserted. The entire population had gone up to the Acropolis. Actæon stopped a moment before Sónnica's warehouses to give the news of his journey to her slaves, and then he followed his friend, riding forth from the city.