"Let him look to it, let him look to it! Ha, AntaresAldebaran! Shall he not, O honest Rigel? and thou,Atair, king among coursers, shall he not beware of us? Ha, ha! good hearts!"
So in rests he passed from horse to horse, speaking,not as a master, but the senior of as many brethren.
After nightfall, Ben-Hur sat by the door of the tent waiting for Ilderim, not yet returned from the city. He was not impatient, or vexed, or doubtful. The sheik would be heard from, at least. Indeed, whether it was from satisfaction with the performance of the four,or the refreshment there is in cold water succeeding bodily exercise, or supper partaken with royal appetite,or the reaction which, as a kindly provision of nature,always follows depression, the young man was in good-humor verging upon elation. He felt himself in the hands of Providence no longer his enemy. At last there was a sound of horse's feet coming rapidly, and Malluch rode up.