the sound of feet above him and the
laughter of men who, no doubt, were drinking on this almost their
last night in port.

A sound came from another portion of the hold, and Heraklas
listened, trying to discover whether the living being in that
direction were a beast or a person. While he listened, a faint light
began to shine in the hold. There descended softly into the hold two
men, one bearing a light. Heraklas drew back farther into the
darkness. The men passed on, their light held so that Heraklas did
not see their faces. But the hasty glimpse that the lad had of his
surroundings told him that the beast he had crept away from was a
lion that was securely caged in one portion of the hold.

Softly the two men proceeded toward the direction from which
Heraklas had heard sounds. Stealthily Heraklas rose. He surmised
where the two men were going. He wished, yet hardly dared, to
follow.

The light swung one side. One man turned to speak to the other, and
the light fell full on the speaker's face.

Heraklas leaped softly forward, and followed without hesitation. For
the face he had seen was the face of Athribis!

There were eight of the Christians. Heraklas, peering from a
distance behind, saw the light held high, as the men paused beside
the Christians. Absolutely exhausted, most of them, by the forced
march of the desert, and by the lack of enough food, they were
asleep, and Heraklas noted with a great pity their gaunt faces.

Athribis bent eagerly forward, scanning one worn countenance after
another.

"Hold the light this way--more this side--here!" he said.

Athribis laid his hand on one sleeper's shoulder, and turned him,
slightly.

"This is he!" joyfully exclaimed Athribis. "This is he! I had feared
he was not among these, after all. This is he! I would know him
anywhere! I never saw that brand, though. That is what made him look
differently to me at first. But this is he! This is he!"

"Cease thy prating!" warned his companion, fearfully. "If the men of
this ship were not so drunk, thou wouldest have little time to talk!
Thinkest thou I care nothing for my head? Hasten! Wake him, if thou
wilt, but hasten! Thinkest thou the petty coin thou gavest me will
pay me for my head? Hasten! They think I am guarding these prisoners
safely."

"Small time wilt thou spend guarding them, if thou knowest where
aught is to drink!" responded Athribis sarcastically. "How much hast
thou drank today?"

The wearied Ti