"Speak thou only good concerning him," said Ulric, sternly. "What hast thou to do with a sword? I go."
The warder stepped backward a pace, for not many men willed to stand before the jarl when his hand seemed to be seeking for the hilt of his seax.
"A sudden man!" he muttered, as he watched his going. "And they say he hath cleft both a lion and a tiger in one combat and that he would wear no armor. A man's head might go from his shoulders as if it were but a flower from a stem. His eye is a fire!"
"I would I better knew the streets," said the jarl, as he strode swiftly onward. "I learn them but slowly, for they are very many and they are crooked and the city is great. Whither, now, shall this one lead me?"
As in an unknown path, therefore, he went on, thinking of many things. The way led him over a hill and through a valley and to a gate in the outer wall that he knew well. Here were Roman guards standing at rest, hindering none, and Ulric halted near them. "Many go out," he thought, "but a multitude cometh yonder along the road across the Mount of Olives. I will wait and see."
Nearer and nearer along the broad highway poured a vast throng of people, while through the gate passed on a tide which went to mingle with them. Many of those who were coming bore in their hands branches of palm trees and they were shouting joyously.
"What is this which they sing?" said Ulric. "What is the meaning of 'Hosanna in the highest,' and who is David, and what is his son? It is a saga of the Jews. The whole city is stirred up behind me. This is a wonder!"
Across the valley and then up toward the gate came on the multitude. Among them were some who took off their outer robes and cast them upon the road before an ass and before his rider, shouting and singing.
"I have heard them say 'a king,'" said Ulric. "But here is no king. None of these men are armed. What saith the procurator to this business?"