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At length five o'clock came, and Georgios having first been taken to the lavatory it was but a stone trough to wash his hands, was led to the dinner, or rather to the supper-table, which stood upon a dais in front of the entrance to the solar.
Then the other casks of wine were stowed away in the stone cellar beneath the hall. Leaving his servant a silent, stupid-looking, dark-eyed fellow named Petros to bait the horses, Georgios entered the hall and began to unpack his carpets and embroideries with all the skill of one who had been trained in the bazaars of Cairo, Damascus, or Nicosia.
That, indeed, is a small thing, for what are our lives, of which your sword has taken tithe, and not only yours, but those of the twin brethren on the quay by the water?" "I thought it," broke in Sir Andrew contemptuously. "Indeed, that deed was worthy of you twenty or more men against two." Georgios held up his hand.
"Were I not a Christian would I visit this foggy land of yours to trade in wine a liquor forbidden to the Moslems?" answered the man, drawing aside the folds of his shawl and revealing a silver crucifix upon his broad breast. "I am a merchant of Famagusta in Cyprus, Georgios by name, and of the Greek Church which you Westerners hold to be heretical. But what do you think of that wine, holy Abbot?"
Sir Andrew, the time grows short, and I must fulfil my mission. Will you take the peace of Salah-ed-din, or force his servants to take your life?" The old knight listened, resting on his reddened sword; then he lifted his head, and spoke: "I am aged and near my death, wine-seller Georgios, or prince El-Hassan, whichever you may be.
The once desert square, 'Georgios A', has been planted with trees, which should be Eucalyptus; and adorned with two French statues of bronze which harmonise admirably with the surroundings. The thoroughfares are still Sloughs of Despond after rain, and gridirons of St. Laurence in dusty summer; but there are incipient symptoms of trottoirs.
Georgios replied that they would be very welcome, but if he could make shift to finish the repairs to his rudder, he was anxious to sail for London while the weather held calm, for there he looked to sell the bulk of his cargo.
Within five minutes there was a sound of shouting, and Wulf was back again saying that the wheel of the wain had broken at the first turn, so that now it was lying upon its side in the courtyard. Sir Andrew and Godwin went out to see to the matter, and there they found Georgios wringing his hands, as only an Eastern merchant can, and cursing in some foreign tongue.
But Rosamund, who understood their tongue, sprang in front of him, and answered in Arabic: "Ay, through my breast; and go, tell that tale to Saladin!" Then, clear and calm was heard the command of Georgios. "He who harms a hair of the Princess dies. Take them both living if you may, but lay no hand on her. Stay, let us talk." So they ceased from their onslaught and began to consult together.
This man, who, he explained, was a Cypriote a fisherman in summer and a muleteer in winter bowed, and fixing his dark eyes upon those of his master, spoke in some foreign tongue. "You hear what he says, the silly fellow?" said Georgios. "What? You do not understand Greek only Arabic? Well, he asks me to give him money to pay for his dinner and his night's lodging.
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