opportunity to make his escape, regardless of any risk of his life which
he might incur in doing so.

In the morning the door opened, and a black slave led him into the
garden, which was surrounded by a very high and lofty wall. It was large,
and full of trees and flowers, and far more beautiful than any garden
that Cuthbert had seen in his native land. There were various other
slaves at work; and an Arab, who appeared to be the head of the
gardeners, at once appointed to Cuthbert the work assigned to him. A
guard of Arabs with bow and spear watched the doings of the slaves.

With one glance round, Cuthbert was assured that escape from this garden,
at least, was not to be thought of, and that for the present, patience
alone was possible. Dismissing all ideas of that kind from his mind, he
set to work with a steady attention to his task. He was very fond of
flowers, and soon he became so absorbed in his work as almost to forget
that he was a slave. It was not laborious--digging, planting, pruning and
training the flowers, and giving them copious draughts of water from a
large fountain in the centre of the garden.

The slaves were not permitted to exchange a word with each other. At the
end of the day's work they were marched off to separate chambers, or, as
they might be called, dungeons. Their food consisted of water, dried
dates, and bread, and they had little to complain of in this respect;
indeed, the slaves in the gardens of the governor's house at Jerusalem
enjoyed an exceptionally favoured existence. The governor himself was
absorbed in the cares of the city. The head gardener happened to be a man
of unusual humanity, and it was really in his hands that the comfort of
the prisoners was placed.