astily bolted it, while she enquired:

"Who is there?"--preparing herself for the worst. "Hiram," was the
whispered reply. She opened the door, and he told her that meanwhile the
side door had been locked, and that he knew no other way out from the
great rambling house whither he rarely had occasion to come.

What was to be done? He could not wait till the door was opened again,
for he must carry out her commission quite early in the morning, and if
he were caught and locked up for only half the day the Nabathaean would
take some other engagement.

With swift decision she twisted up her hair, threw a handkerchief over
her head, and said: "Then come with me; the moon is still up; it would
not be safe to carry a lamp. I will lead the way and you must keep behind
me If only the kitchen is empty, we can reach the Viridarium unseen. If
the upper servants are still sitting in the court-yard the great door
will be open, for several of them sleep in the house. At any rate you
must go through the vestibule; you cannot miss your way out of the
viridarium. But stay! Beki generally lies in front of the tablinum--the
fierce dog from Herrionthis in Thebais; and he does not know you, for he
never goes out of the house, but he will obey me.

"When I lift my hand, hang back a little. He is quite quiet with his
masters, and does not hurt a stranger if they are by. Now, we must not
utter another word.--If we are discovered, I will confess the truth; if
you alone are seen, you can say--well, say you were waiting for Orion, to
speak to him very early about the horse-fair at Niku."

"A horse was off--off--offered me for sale this very day."

"Good, very good; then you lingered in the vestibule to speak of that--to
ask the master about it before he should go out. It must be daylight in a
few hours.--Now, come."

Paula went down the stairs with a sure and rapid step. At the bottom
Hiram again took off his shoes, holding them in his hand, so as to lose
no time in following his mistress. They went on in silence through the
darkness till they reached the kitchen. Here Paula turned and said to the
Syrian:

"If there is any one here, I will say I came to fetch some water; if
there is no one I will cough and you can follow. At any rate I will leave
the door open, and then you will hear what happens. If I am obliged to
return, do you hurry on before me back by the way we came. In that case I
will return to my room where you must wait outside