Lysias, the Greek, stood reverently before the Roman ruler of Jerusalem, and the dark, piercing eyes of Pontius were watching his face intently.
"O most noble Pontius," said Lysias, "I have done as thou didst order. All these were the words of Ben Ezra, nor have I failed to tell thee every saying of Abbas and of him who was with him. The messenger from Machærus goeth swiftly to Joppa and the galley of Herod waiteth for him."
They were standing in the small chamber near the banquet hall, and the voice of Lysias was hushed and tremulous, for the brows of the procurator were knitting and the veins in his temples were swelling.
"Well for thee, O Greek," he muttered, hoarsely. "But now it is as if Herod himself were to be with Cæsar, bringing gifts. The very gods are against me!"
"O most noble Pontius," said Lysias, raising his head courageously, "bid me depart and it may be that neither galley nor messenger shall cross the sea to Rome."
"I may not hinder a royal messenger," said Pontius, gloomily. "To do so were sure destruction. Thou canst do nothing."
"But if," whispered Lysias—"if Herod, the tetrarch, might know that his galley had departed, and if afterward no man came to tell him of her voyage?"
"A man may hear good tidings," said the procurator, with a dark smile dawning in his face. "But be not thou at any time the bringer of news concerning this galley. Thou hast a letter to bear for me to Cornelius at Cæsarea. I bid thee to go by way of Joppa and to return. I now write the parchment. Ride thou thy own swift beast. Whoever may be traveling upon their own errands at this time, I meddle not with their affairs."
"Thanks, noble Pontius," said Lysias, "but I will give thee a token. A man will come to thee in haste shortly from the keeper of the circus. He will know nothing of the galley of Herod, but he will tell thee of her departure from Joppa and of her crew. So shalt thou be sure that I know not aught except my errand to Cornelius."