Chapter 10

Tony shook his head and scowled; muttered that he had given up trying to understand the Jews. Mencius explained briefly; but his friend was uninterested. The Jews had always been too religious for their own good, he said.

‘I’m surprised that you have so much concern for such rubbish,’ continued Tony impatiently. ‘You read too much! You think too much! You know too much! It wouldn’t surprise me to hear, some day, that you’d gone off to live in a cave in the mountains, having it out with the gods—and the fleas.’

‘I’ll admit,’ said Mencius, ‘a man can live a much happier life by not using his mind at all…I’m going to bed now. I have been all day in the saddle. Doubtless you will be turning in, too.’

‘Not quite yet,’ growled Tony. ‘I’ve an errand to do first. I must go down to the docks and notify my mate to be on the alert for an Arabian stowaway.’

‘You’re putting yourself to unnecessary bother,’ said Mencius.

‘I shall be satisfied if your new friend gives me no more bother than that,’ said Tony.

After Voldi had sat alone, staring absently at the fountain for a quarter of an hour, he was joined on the divan by the lawyer, who hoped he was not intruding.

‘Expect to be with us for a while?’ inquired Atrius casually.

‘I am leaving in the morning, sir,’ replied Voldi. It had occurred to him that if he showed an inclination to be frank, his explanations might be more readily believed. ‘I have an errand in Galilee,’ he went on. ‘I have been sent to look for a young Arabian who ran away from home and is believed to have gone up into the neighbourhood of the Sea of Galilee. I am to persuade him to return—if I find him.’

‘Know anything about the city of Tiberias?’

‘Not much. It’s the seat of the Tetrarch. There is a Roman fort hard by.’

‘You will make inquiries at the fort?’

‘Not at first; not until I have to. I’d much rather find my fugitive friend without calling so much attention to him. I shall not needlessly embarrass him…Do you know that country, sir?’

‘A little. If I may venture a suggestion, Voldi, there is a discreet man of my acquaintance living in the small town of Bethsaida, only a short distance from Tiberias. He is a lawyer, in retirement now: a man of broad sympathies and much prudence. You might give him your confidence.’

Voldi was glad to accept the advice. He brought out a small slate tablet from his pocket and wrote the Bethsaidan’s name and the directions for finding him. Atrius negligently allowed his eyes to follow the red chalk as the Arabian wrote.

‘You’ve lived in Greece?’ he inquired when Voldi had pocketed the tablet.

‘No, sir; I have never been in Greece.’

‘Do many Arabians understand Greek?’

‘Probably not.’ Voldi rose, thanked Atrius for his kindness, and remarked that he must find Mencius before retiring.

‘It would please me to learn how your mission succeeds,’ said Atrius, as they parted; ‘and please convey my greetings to my friend, and former colleague, David Ben-Zadok.’

* * * * *