"By that rule, good sheik, I will live a hundred years. I am a hungry wolf at thy door," Ben-Hur replied.
"Well, thou shalt not be sent away like a wolf. I will give thee the best of the flocks.
Ilderim clapped his hands.
"Seek the stranger in the guest-tent, and say I,Ilderim, send him a prayer that his peace may be as incessant as the flowing of waters.
The man in waiting bowed.
"Say, also," Ilderim continued, "that I have returned with another for breaking of bread; and, if Balthasar the wise careth to share the loaf, three may partake of it, and the portion of the birds be none the less."