"So my man from Harran, if he dresses as a priest and goes to a temple, must be a priest; and if he wears beard and hair, he must be a Chaldean priest. But if he meets priests here in secret, there must be some rogue's tricks. I will not tell the police, for I might be caught. But I will inform some great man from Sidon, for there may be profit in this, if not for me, for our people." Soon the other messenger returned. Asarhadon went down to the cellar with this one also, and heard the following narrative,-- "I stood all night in front of the 'Green Star.' The man of Harran was there; he got drunk and raised such shouts that the policeman warned the doorkeeper." "Did he?" inquired the innkeeper. "The man of Harran was at the 'Green Star' all night, and thou didst see him?" "Not only I, but the policeman." Asarhadon brought down the first servant, and commanded each to repeat his story. They repeated the stories faithfully, with the utmost conviction. It appeared then that Phut of Harran had remained all night at the "Green Star" without leaving the place for a moment; at the same time he went to the temple of Set, and did not return from it. "Oh," muttered Asarhadon, "in all this there is some very great villany. I must inform the elders of the Phœnician society, as quickly as possible, that this Hittite knows how to be in two places at once. I shall also beg him to move out of my inn. I do not take people who have two forms,--one their own, the other in supply. For a man of that kind is a great criminal, a wizard, or a conspirator." Asarhadon was afraid of such things; so he secured himself against enchantment by prayers to all the gods which adorned his inn. Then he hurried to the city, where he notified the elder of the Phœnician society and the elder of the guild of thieves of what had happened. Then, returning home, he summoned the decurion of police, and informed him that Phut might be a dangerous person. Finally he asked the man of Harran to leave the inn, to which he brought no profit, nothing but loss and suspicion. Phut agreed to the proposition willingly, and informed the innkeeper that he intended to sail for Thebes that same evening. "May thou never return!" thought the hospitable host. "May thou rot in the quarries, or fall into the river to be eaten by crocodiles." CHAPTER XXI Prince Rameses began his journey in the most beautiful season of the year, during the month Phamenoth (end of December and beginning of January). The river had fallen to half its height, laying bare new strips of land day by day. From Thebes many barges with wheat were sailing down toward the sea; in Lower Egypt clover and beans had been harvested. Orange and pomegranate trees were covered with blossoms; in the fields earth-tillers had sown lupines, flax, barley, and had planted various beans, cucumbers, and other garden products.