"Thou of the Greeks, I understand thy saying concerning skill. I am many times stronger than thou art, and yet I think thee the better bowman. I will call on thee if I would have a sure arrow sent."
Lysias lifted the spear, which was a fathom long, and light, but he looked around the room and found more of the same pattern and made a bundle of them.
"They are well made," he said, "and their points are of good steel. I once threw one like these through the heart of a man from Athens. He was an enemy of my father. I met him on the seashore and I was quicker than he in casting. He should have worn a thicker breastplate.
"Hah!" laughed Ulric. "I am a spearman, but I prefer the North spear and the pilum."
"I like them," said Lysias, "but I know one man that can outthrow thee. He is a Roman knight named Pontius, and they call him the spearman. He is the procurator I told thee of. I would I might live until I can kill him. He liveth now in Jerusalem."
"Thither go I!" exclaimed Ulric. "I have promised Ben Ezra that I will take him to his own, and I must go to that city and see the temple. I have it in mind that I may see his god. They say he is a good god and a great fighter like Thor."
"I have heard much of him," said Lysias, "but he is more like Jupiter. If thou wilt land at the island Paphos, I will show thee his statue and thou canst see what he is like. We shall hear his voice thunder if I read this weather rightly."
"Then he is Thor!" said Ulric, turning to the door. "Come! I know not the weather signs of this sea."
Out they went and Lysias glanced around the sky. His face was brighter now and he stepped firmly like a warrior.
"O jarl," he shouted, "I am a seaman also. Take down thy sails quickly! Put out a bank of oars. Bid thy steersman keep the head of thy keel southward, for from thence cometh a tempest. The sky will darken rapidly."