At
length there appeared a building, looking in the dusky distance like
a solitary country house. It proved to be the ruin of a temple.
'Here we must stop,' said Basil. 'My horse can go no further.
Indeed, the darkness would stay us in any case. We must shelter in
these walls.'
The men peered at each other, and a whisper went among them. For
their part, said one and all, they would rest under the open sky.
Basil understood.
'What! you are afraid? Fools, do as you will. These walls shall
shelter me though all the devils in hell were my bedfellows.'
What had come to him? asked his followers. Never had Basil been
known to speak thus. Spite of their horror of a forsaken temple, two
or three entered, and respectfully made offer of such food as they
had with them. Basil accepted a piece of bread, bade them see to his
horse, and crept into a corner of the building. He desired to be
alone and to think; for it seemed to him that he had not yet been
able to reflect upon the story told by Sagaris. What was it that
lurked there at the back of his mind? A memory, a suggestion of some
sort, which would have helped him to understand could he but grasp
it.
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