There the boy found in what fashion Perion was living and won the
dearly purchased misery of seeing him, from afar, in his deplorable
condition, as Perion went through the outer yard of Nacumera laden with
chains and carrying great logs toward the kitchen. This befell when
Jocelin had come into the hill country, where the eyrie of Demetrios
blocked a crag-hung valley as snugly as a stone chokes a gutter-pipe.

Young Jocelin had begged an audience of this heathen lord and had
obtained it--though Jocelin did not know as much--with ominous
facility.




7.


_How Perion Was Freed_

Demetrios lay on a divan within the Court of Stars, through which you
passed from the fortress into the Women's Garden and the luxurious
prison where he kept his wives. This court was circular in form and was
paved with red and yellow slabs, laid alternately, like a chess-board.
In the centre was a fountain, which cast up a tall thin jet of water. A
gallery extended around the place, supported by columns that had been
painted scarlet and were gilded with fantastic designs. The walls were
of the colour of claret and were adorned with golden cinquefoils
regularly placed. From a distance they resembled stars, and so gave the
enclosure its name.