Some of these things did not belong to him at all, he said:  many of them were necessary to defend the place against brigands and marauders, especially the Arabs.  Many of the objects in the vault had been the property of his father, and he had allowed them to remain untouched.  As he spoke, he managed to get in advance of the proconsul and preceded him along the corridors with rapid steps.  Presently he halted and stood close against the wall as the party came up; he spoke quickly, standing with his hands on his hips, so that his voluminous mantle covered a wide space of the wall behind him.  But just above his head the top of a door was visible.  Vitellius remarked it instantly, and demanded to know what it concealed.

The tetrarch explained that the door was fastened, and that none could open it save the Babylonian, Jacim.

“Summon him, then!” was the command.

A slave was sent to find Jacim, while the group awaited his coming.

The father of Jacim had come from the banks of the Euphrates to offer his services, as well as those of five hundred horsemen, in the defence of the eastern frontier.  After the division of the kingdom, Jacim had lived for a time with Philip, and was now in the service of Antipas.

Presently he appeared among the vaults, carrying an archer’s bow on his shoulder and a whip in his hand.  Cords of many colours were lashed tightly about his knotted legs; his massive arms were thrust through a sleeveless tunic, and a fur cap shaded his face.  His chin was covered with a heavy, curling beard.

He appeared not to comprehend what the interpreter said to him at first.  But Vitellius threw a meaning glance at Antipas, who quickly made the Babylonian understand the command of the proconsul.  Jacim immediately laid both his hands against the door, giving it a powerful shove; whereupon it quietly slid out of sight into the wall.

A wave of hot air surged from the depths of the cavern.  A winding path descended and turned abruptly.  The group followed it, and soon arrived at the threshold of a kind of grotto, somewhat larger than the other subterranean cells.

An arched window at the back of this chamber gave directly upon a precipice, which formed a defence for one side of the castle.  A honeysuckle vine, cramped by the low-studded ceiling, blossomed bravely.  The sound of a running stream could be heard distinctly.  In this place was a great number of beautiful white horses, perhaps a hundred.  They were eating barley from a plank placed on a level with their mouths.  Their manes had been coloured a deep blue; their hoofs were wrapped in coverings of woven grass, and the hair between their ears was puffed out like a peruke.  As they stood quietly eating, they switched their tails gently to and fro.  The proconsul regarded them in silent admiration.

They were indeed wonderful animals; supple as serpents, light as birds.  They were trained to gallop rapidly, following the arrow of the rider, and dash into the midst of a group of the enemy, overturning men and biting them savagely as they fell.  They were sure-footed among rocky passes, and would jump fearlessly over yawning chasms; and, while ready to gallop across the plains a whole day without tiring, they would stop instantly at the command of the rider.