He raised his hand for the blessing of the threshold, then embraced Costobarus with more warmth than ceremony.
"What is this I hear ?" he demanded with affectionate concern.

"Thou leavest Ascalon for the peril of Jerusalem ?" "Can Jerusalem be more perilous than Ascalon this hour ?" Costobarus asked.
"Yes, by our fathers!" Philip declared.

"Nothing can be so bad as the condition of the Holy City.

But what has happened?
Three days ago thou wast as securely settled here as a barnacle on a shore-rock! To-day thou sendest me word: 'Lo! the time long expected hath come; I go hence to Jerusalem.' What is it, my brother ?" "Sit and listen." Philip looked about him.

The divan was there, stripped of its covering of fine rugs, but the room otherwise was without furniture.