"The stoning of Stephen--hast thou not heard of it? The very day after his death this persecution broke out. Saul of Tarsus and the Sanhedrim----"

"Where is John?" interrupted Ben Hesed. "And the other apostles--what of the women?"

"Some of the apostles are in prison," answered the man; "others are in hiding. Many of the disciples are fled from the city. Some are in their graves; they alone are safe," and the speaker shivered with apprehension, and again looked furtively about him.

"'Verily, they build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity,"

said Ben Hesed solemnly. "'Therefore shall Zion for your sakes be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become as heaps; and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.'"

"I cannot tarry longer," said the carpenter impatiently. "If thou art a discreet man thou wilt leave Jerusalem before nightfall. For my part I would that I had never heard of the Nazarene. Farewell."

Ben Hesed looked after his retreating figure thoughtfully. "What shall be the end of these things, O Lord?" he murmured. "Behold many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly and shall not understand; the wise shall understand."

"Wilt thou that we return unto the encampment?" said his younger son.

"We shall not be able to find them that we would; and we are not sufficient in number to succor the distressed."

The eyes of Ben Hesed flashed. "Return if thou wilt, son, and hide beneath the robe of thy mother; but as for me, the Lord hath brought me up to Jerusalem at this time that I might smite the destroyer."

"I am no coward, and that thou knowest right well, my father," answered the young man haughtily; "but remember, I pray thee, that we have left the tribe with no leader--now that Pagiel hath been proven false. If we should all three fall, what of our wives, our little ones, our flocks and our herds? Verily they would come upon evil days, and shall not a man set them of his own household before them which are strangers?

Return thou, my father, we will remain."

"Thou hast spoken not unwisely, son," admitted Ben Hesed. "We must even go cautiously about this matter; and if presently it appear that there is a likelihood of bloodshed, thou, Ben Abu, shalt return with two of the strong men. As for me I am already old; if I fall, it matters not.

Come, let us be going."

So they went their way towards the house of John; past the market-places where excited groups were discussing the reign of blood which had begun in Jerusalem; past the synagogues crowded with people--for the scourging of the Nazarenes was going forward briskly in many places at once; through dark alleys and beneath covered archways, where men garbed as temple police lurked to entrap the unwary; till at length they had come to the street which they sought. It was choked with people from end to end; but a singular and almost breathless silence prevailed.

"What hath befallen here?" asked Ben Hesed of a woman who stood holding a baby in her arms. The woman turned upon him a white frightened face.

"Alas," she cried. "They refused to fly when they were warned, declaring that G.o.d would take care of them. And now it hath come to pa.s.s that Saul himself hath entered into their dwelling. G.o.d help them!"

"Dost thou speak of the household of John?" asked Ben Hesed.

"Yes, yes.--My G.o.d, he has seized them!" and the woman burst into a hysterical shriek as a deep low murmur arose from the mult.i.tude.

"Shame! Shame!" cried several voices at once. "Leave the women in peace!"

"Room there! Silence!" cried a harsh voice. "Use your swords, men, to clear the way!"

There was an instant scattering amongst the crowd, mostly composed of women and children--two or three of the more timid ones bursting into loud screams at sight of the glittering weapons.

"Forward!" commanded the leader, a swarthy undersized man, from whose scowling face and fiery eyes the frightened children hid their faces.

So this was the dreaded Saul of Tarsus. Ben Hesed looked at him with undisguised contempt. "Murderous coward!" he muttered beneath his breath.

But now the prisoners, bound with heavy chains, were filing past. Three women, their faces wrapped in their mantles, in whom he nevertheless recognized Mary, the mother of Jesus, Anna, the wife of Caiaphas, and Anat the Egyptian girl. Behind these walked a young man, also bound, whose bleeding face and torn garments betrayed the fact that he had not failed to defend those committed to his charge.

"If we had but come an hour earlier we might have held the place,"

exclaimed Ben Hesed clenching his fists. "Let us follow and see whither they will take them. It is useless to attempt a rescue now."

"To the Temple," came the second command. "Close up there, and march more rapidly. Save thy tears, woman; thou wilt have further need for them."

"Coward!" cried Ben Hesed again.

And this time it was evident that the quick ear of Saul had caught the sound, for he turned and fixed a murderous look upon the speaker. "Dog of an apostate!" he hissed, "thy day is coming."

"Callest thou me dog?" cried Ben Hesed in a fury, and would have closed with the Pharisee on the spot, had not his two sons held him.

"Let be," whispered the younger of the twain, "or we shall not be able to save them."

Ben Hesed drew back, muttering fiercely. "I will slay him for that word," he said. "Let us follow them in."

But this it presently appeared was impossible; for the prisoners being now arrived at the Temple, were conducted by way of the Court of the Women into the lesser chamber of judgment. And immediately the doors were shut.

CHAPTER x.x.xIII.

THE MERCY OF ISRAEL.

The light which streamed in from the single window high up in the ma.s.sive wall revealed a square room, ceiled and paved with stone. It was empty save for an oaken table, behind which in a high-backed chair sat an old man of severe and reverend aspect. On either side of him stood two officers of the temple police, motionless as statues and armed with long spear-pointed staves. All this Anat, who was the first of the women to pa.s.s into the chamber, saw with a single timid glance. She shrank back before the stern eyes of the man in the chair, and reaching out one manacled hand touched the robe of Mary, who was just behind her.

The mother of Jesus took the little trembling hand and held it firmly.

Saul advanced to the table and laid upon it a slip of parchment, at the same time whispering a few words into the ear of the old man, who frowned slightly and nodded once or twice as his eye pa.s.sed slowly from one to the other of the four prisoners.

"Where is the man John?" he demanded suddenly.

No one answered.

"Can ye not speak?" he cried, striking the table with his clenched fist, "or hath it come to pa.s.s that your scurrilous tongues are already withered in your mouths?"

"If thou art questioning me," said Seth calmly, "I wot not where the apostle is; he went forth on some errand of mercy early this morning, leaving me in charge of the house. We be law-abiding citizens, dwelling in a law-abiding city, wherefore hath it come to pa.s.s that we are thus dragged through the streets in chains?"

"That shalt thou shortly hear," replied Annas grimly. "Hast thou examined these prisoners?" he asked, turning to Saul.

"I examined them briefly before making the arrests, according to my custom," answered Saul. "For I would not that I transgress the law in this work of purging the holy city of them that blaspheme. I found all of these prisoners obstinate and stiff-necked, unwilling to renounce their sins and to make confession of their unrighteousness, therefore I have brought them before thee for further examination and sentence."

"This being so, the law must take its course with them," said Annas sternly. "Do thou, Mary of Nazareth, stand forth. Remove the veil from off thy face."

With a firm step the mother of Jesus advanced and stood before the table; she threw back the shrouding mantle, her beautiful, pallid face shining forth as if illumined with a strange inward radiance.

Annas looked at her for an instant, then he dropped his eyes and fell to turning over the parchments which lay before him.

"Art thou the mother of the Man of Nazareth?"

"I am."

"Thou didst teach him to believe unholy and blasphemous things regarding himself when he was a child," said Annas, still looking down at the table; "therefore did he continue to delude himself and others when he was grown, and at the last perished miserably on the accursed tree.

Hath not G.o.d punished thee sufficiently for thy presumptuous sin that thou dost still persist in pretending that thy son is the Messiah of Israel?"