Moreover they felt that although they had left their farms in the best of condition and in faithful hands, yet their desire to return home would soon overcome their interest in sight-seeing and would grow more overmastering daily.
I readily accorded what they asked.
Murmex Lucro was there, and his appearance of superhuman strength impressed me even more than on the road, I bade him meet me at the Palace, and instructed him by which entrance to approach it and at what portal and precisely where to take his stand in order that I might not miss him.
Agathemer suggested that I detail one of my slaves to act as his guide and I did so.
My salutants disposed of without hurry and to the last man, in spite of Agathemer's protests, I ordered my litter.
At the Vedian mansion I was refused admission.

Agathemer and even I argued and expostulated, but the doorkeeper said he had explicit orders not to admit me, and the four big Nubians flanking the vestibule, two on a side, looked capable of using muscular force on any would-be intruder and appeared eager for a pretext for hurling themselves on me.
I climbed back into my litter.
As my men shouldered it, the doorkeeper or some one of his helpers made the mistake of unchaining the watch-dog at me.
He was a big, short-haired, black and white Aquitanian dog.

He flew at the calves of my bearers, snarling, and would have bitten them badly had I not half rolled, half fallen from my litter, almost into his jaws; in fact, not a foot in front of him.
As all such animals always do with me, he checked, cowered, fawned and then exhibited every symptom of recognition, delight and affection.

I patted him, pulled his ears, smoothed his spine and climbed back into my litter.

The dog took his place under it as naturally as if I had raised him from a puppy and kept neatly underneath it, all the way to the Satronian Mansion.
There, at sight of me, as I descended from my litter, the doorkeeper loosed his big fawn-colored Molossian hound at me.