7. Zerka

Horjan gave me a little room on the court and told me to stay there so that no one would see me; then he and Lodas left me. It was not long before Lodas returned to say that he was going to take his produce to market and then start home. He wanted to say goodby to me and wish me luck. He was a fine, loyal fellow.

The hours dragged heavily in that stuffy little room. At dusk Horjan brought me food and water. He tried to find out what I had come to Amlot for, but I evaded all his questions. He kept repeating that he would be glad to get rid of me, but at last he went away. After I had eaten I tried to sleep, but sleep didn't seem to want to come. I had just finally started to doze when I heard voices. They came from the adjoining room, and the partition was so thin that I could hear what was said. I recognized Horjan's voice, and there was the voice of another man. It was not Lodas.

"I tell you it is bad business," Horjan was saying. "Here is this man about whom I know nothing. If it is known that he is hiding here I shall get the blame, even though I don't know why he is hiding."

"You are a fool to keep him," said the other.

"What shall I do with him?" demanded Horjan.

"Turn him over to the Zani Guard."

"But still they will say that I had been hiding him," groaned Horjan.

"No; say that you don't know how he got into your house--that you had been away, and when you came back you found him hiding in one of your rooms. They will not harm you for that. They may even give you a reward."

"Do you think so?" asked Horjan.

"Certainly. A man who lives next to me informed on a neighbor, and they gave him a reward for that."

"Is that so? It is worth thinking about. He may be a dangerous man. Maybe he has come to assassinate Mephis."

"You could say that that was what he came for," encouraged the other.

"They would give a very big reward for that, wouldn't they?" asked Horjan.

"Yes, I should think a very big reward."

There was silence for several minutes; then I heard a bench pushed back. "Where are you going?" demanded Horjan's visitor.

"I am going to tell the Zanis," said Horjan.

"I shall go with you," announced his companion. "Don't forget that the idea is mine--I should have half the reward. Maybe two-thirds of it."

"But he is my prisoner," insisted Horjan. "It is I who am going to notify the Zani Guard. You stay here."

"I rather guess not. If I told them what I know, they would arrest you both, and I'd get a great big reward."

"Oh, you wouldn't do that!" cried Horjan.

"Well, I certainly shall if you keep on trying to rob me of