But he knew it well, as he knew the speech of the people
of Egypt; for he had seen the cities of many men, and had spoken with
captains and mercenaries from many a land in the great wars.
The Sidonians, however, jibed and spoke freely before him, saying how
they were bound for the rich city of Tanis, on the banks of the River
of Egypt, and how the captain was minded to pay his toll to Pharaoh
with the body and the armour of the Wanderer. That he might seem the
comelier, and a gift more fit for a king, the sailors slackened his
bonds a little, and brought him dried meat and wine, and he ate till his
strength returned to him. Then he entreated them by signs to loosen the
cord that bound his legs; for indeed his limbs were dead through the
strength of the bonds, and his armour was eating into his flesh. At his
prayer they took some pity of him and loosened his bonds again, and he
lay upon his back, moving his legs to and fro till his strength came
back.
So they sailed southward ever, through smooth waters and past the
islands that lie like water-lilies in the midland sea. Many a strange
sight they saw: vessels bearing slaves, whose sighing might be heard
above the sighing of wind and water--young men and maidens of Ionia and
Achaia, stolen by slave-traders into bondage; now they would touch at
the white havens of a peaceful city; and again they would watch a smoke
on the sea-line all day, rising black into the heavens; but by nightfall
the smoke would change to a great roaring fire from the beacons of a
beleaguered island town; the fire would blaze on the masts of the ships
of the besiegers, and show blood-red on their sails, and glitter on the
gilded shields that lined the bulwarks of their ships.
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