midday
Thereon Sakon , her father , and Aziel blessed him , but Issachar said nothing . As the Phoenician was walking through the market-place early on the next day an aged black woman , whom he did not know , accosted him , saying that she had a message for his ear from the king Ithobal who was camped without the city and who desired to see the merchandise that he had brought with him from the coasts of Tyre . Now Metem had already sold all his wares at a great advantage ; still , as he would not neglect this opportunity of trade , he purchased others from his fellow merchants , and loading two camels with them , set out for the camp of Ithobal , riding on a mule . By midday he had reached it . The camp was pitched near water in a pleasant grove of trees , and on one of these not far from the tent of Ithobal Metem noted that there hung the body of a black dwarf . `` Behold the fate of him who shoots at the buck and hits the doe . Well , I have always said that murder is a dangerous game , since blood calls out for blood , '' thought Metem as he rode towards the tent .