The man stood paralyzed with awe. He knew Manasseh's voice. After a long pause he asked: "Did not the angel let you in by the south gate? for I heard a strange noise there, as of creaking of stone on stone, but saw that the gate was bolted." "I may not answer you," replied Manasseh. "But you have disturbed my meditation, and I will withdraw." "Pardon! pardon! O servant of the Lord," said the man, kneeling in the darkness. "But call not the angel. I myself will open the gate." "It is the angel's prompting," said Manasseh. The gate was unbarred. In a few moments the watchman heard a light whistle out among the stones beneath the south wall, and something that sounded like-- "Give me your hand! Up with you! And now for Gibeah!" CHAPTER XXXVIII. Tyre was never more splendidly arrayed than on the day set for the coronation of King Rubaal. To one approaching from the sea the island city seemed like a mighty ring studded with gems, so many were the bright banners that flashed in the sunlight from its encircling walls; while the centre of the city glowed with the golden roofs of the Temple of Melkarth. The day was perfect. The clear azure of the sky reflected itself in the bending mirror of the waters,--an omen of the favor of Heaven upon the plans of men. Even the rough sailors from other Phoenician cities, as they turned their prows towards the Tyrian harbor, called the slight motion of the graceful billows the nod of Baal; and when the waves broke with pleasant murmur upon the outlying rocks, they cried, "Behold the laughter of our gods!" Although more than a year had passed since the reins of power had fallen into the hands of Rubaal, many things had occurred to delay his formal investiture with the regal dignity. Chief among these causes was the refusal of the Great King, Artaxerxes, who was an unbeliever in the religion of the Phoenicians, to grant his official recognition of the miraculous taking-off of the late king. The court at Susa had insisted upon better evidence than the word of the priests for the bodily translation of Hiram to the unseen world.