"The water is good," said Knud the Bear, "and I was thirsty. The gods make wells."
They ate and drank, and then Ulric the Jarl knew that it was his duty to further explore the tower. He first climbed the stone stairway to the upper part. Here was no roof, and the walls were notched well for bowmen. There was a place, also, for the burning of a beacon light.
"It is a strong tower," said the jarl. "A few men might keep it against many if the portal had a stout gate with arrow holes. We are garrison enough. I will go down."
The stars above were bright, but there was no moon, and nothing could he discern of the plain or of the mountains. He descended the stairway and went to the downward steps, taking a larger torch but asking no company.
"O jarl," said Sigurd, "have a care for thyself. Thou knowest not who may be the god of this place."
"Odin!" laughed Ulric. "Whoever he may be he hath not hindered our coming in. I will see what is below."
None followed him but Tostig the Red, who was ever curious and who had no fear of demons, thinking them of no account.
"O jarl," he said, at the bottom of the steps, "hold up thy torch. This winding stairway hath taken us down two fathoms or more. There is a bad smell. I like it not. I hear something that moveth."
"Help me! For the sake of Jehovah the Blessed!" gasped a human voice not far away. "I perish with thirst. They bound me and left me here to die."
He spoke in the old Hebrew tongue, not unlike the tongue which was commonly spoken in that land, and Ulric answered:
"I am Abbas, the merchant, of Jerusalem," responded the voice. "Water! Water! They were robbers from Mount Gilboa. I was rash, for I had little treasure with me. They got but my ass and a bag of denarii, and they were wroth to have so little. This was their hiding place, but they are gone out for prey."
Over him stood Ulric, holding the torch, while Tostig with his knife cut the hempen fetters and lifted Abbas to his feet. He was naked save a torn tunic, but he did not seem to be wounded. The Saxons above had heard, and a horn of water was brought down by Sigurd, the son of Thorolf, for Ben Ezra was outside of the tower. Abbas drank, gaining strength, and went up the stairway with little help, while Tostig searched that place in vain for anything worth the taking.