out on each side of their heads. At any rate it is worth trying,
Nessus, and if by any chance we should fail in getting through the
gate, the mahout would, of course, take his elephant back to the
stable, and I might slip out there and conceal myself till night,
and then make my way back here again."

"That's what we have arranged," Nessus said. "And now, my lord,
I will leave you and go back to the stables, in case they should
search them again tonight. If you will push off and lie a short
distance away from the steps I will be here again half an hour
before daybreak. I will bring you a garb like my own, and will
take you direct to the stable where the animal is kept. There will
be no one there save the mahout and my two friends, so that it
will be easy for us to cover you in the howdah before the elephants
go out. There is little chance of anyone coming into the stables
before that, for they have been searched so frequently during the
last two days that Hanno's agents must by this time be convinced
that wherever you are hidden you are not there. Indeed, today
the search has greatly relaxed, although the vigilance at the gate
and on the walls is as great as ever; so I think that they despair
of finding you, and believe that you must either have made your
escape already, or that if not you will sooner or later issue from
your hiding place and fall into their hands."

Malchus slept little that night, and rejoiced when he again saw
Nessus descending the steps. A few strokes of his paddle sent the
raft alongside. Nessus fastened a cord to it to prevent it from
drifting away.

"We may need it again," he said briefly. Malchus placed his own