"Since I came a thousand years ago."

Then he added more firmly:

"But the earth and the sea are always giving up their secrets. So saith
the good King Hiram; and since I am a witness proving the wisdom of the
speech, I at least must believe him. Wherefore it is for me to govern
myself as if another will shortly follow me. The saying of the king is
an injunction."

With that, he turned the glittering sword over and over admiringly.
Loath to let it go, he drew the blade partly from the scabbard, and its
clearness had the depth peculiar to the sky between stars at night.

"Is there anything it will not buy," he continued, reflectively. "What
king could refuse a sword once Solomon's? I will take it."

Thereupon he passed both the emerald and the sword out to the slaves,
whom he presently joined.

The conviction, but a moment before expressed, that another would follow
him to the tomb of the venerated Tyrian, was not strong enough to hinder
the master from attempting to hide every sign which might aid in the
discovery. The negro, under his direction, returned the lid exactly to
its former fitting place on the sarcophagus; the emerald and the sword
he wrapped in his gown; the bags and the tools were counted and
distributed among the slaves for easy carriage. Lamp in hand, he then
walked around to see that nothing was left behind. Incidentally he even
surveyed the brown walls and the dim dome overhead. Having reached the
certainty that everything was in its former state, he waved his hand,