"They take their spoils elsewhere," he muttered, "but we will care little for that if Odin hath sent us the slaying of them. I would be glad to kill some robbers."
"Men in Galilee owed me money for merchandise," explained Abbas as he ate. "I came to obtain it, thinking to return in strong company. The Romans make the highways safe to all, and I had no fear. But this band numbereth a score. I think they will return before the morning."
"Put out the fire!" commanded the jarl. "Every man to his spear and shield. We will not let one of them escape. It is evil to leave a man to die of thirst instead of giving him the sword."
"The Romans will thank thee well, O chief of the gladiators," said Abbas. "They have striven to destroy these robbers of Gilboa, but if these are pressed hardly, they flee across the Jordan. They are from the wilderness."
Ben Ezra heard standing in the doorway, and he already knew all. To Ulric he said in the North tongue:
"Beware whom thou slayest. Thou art but a gladiator in this tower. Thou art not here a jarl, to do as thou wilt."
"Ever am I a son of Odin," said Ulric. "I have sold my sword to no man. Who shall stay me from slaying? I will spare not one."
"If thou slayest one, slay all," said Ben Ezra. "There is danger in the enmity of the men of the wilderness. They forget not, and the next of kin may find thee."
"Not if he be wise," said Ulric, but he bade his men lie down and rest, keeping watches.
"I will tell thee a thing. Me they may have thought to ransom. I know not. But they will be here at the dawn to lie in wait for a company that cometh from Tiberias with much merchandise. Thou mayest be sure that, if thou slayest them not, then thou and all of thine are to be slain."
"That I may well believe," said the jarl, "but they who slay Saxons may count their men and we will count how many remain."
"So be it," said Abbas. "Thou art a tall one. But thou, Ben Ezra, come hither and commune with me."
So went they apart and they talked much together in the old Hebrew tongue, and it seemed to the jarl that these two Jews might be of kin to each other, so many names did they speak of men and of women and of places.
"I will trust Ben Ezra," he thought, "but of this Abbas I shall know more at another time. I would see the sun upon his face before I can read its meaning."