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diff --git a/old/53851-0.txt b/old/53851-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 32dbf4f..0000000 --- a/old/53851-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12777 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Deborah, by James M. Ludlow - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Deborah - A tale of the times of Judas Maccabaeus - -Author: James M. Ludlow - -Release Date: December 31, 2016 [EBook #53851] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEBORAH *** - - - - -Produced by Christopher Wright and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - -DEBORAH - - - - -By James M. Ludlow - - - _Along the Friendly Way._ Reminiscences and impressions. Illustrated, - $2.00. - - - _Avanti!_ _Garibaldi's Battle Cry._ A Tale of the Resurrection of - Sicily--1860. 12mo, cloth, net $1.25. - - Sicily, the picturesque in the time of Garibaldi, is the scene of this - stirring romance. - - - _Sir Raoul._ A Story of the Theft of an Empire. Illustrated. 12mo, - cloth, net $1.50. - - "Adventure succeeds adventure with breathless rapidity."--_New York - Sun._ - - - _Deborah._ A Tale of the Times of Judas Maccabæus. Illustrated, net - $1.50. - - "Nothing in the class of fiction to which 'Deborah' belongs, exceeds - it in vividness and rapidity of action."--_The Outlook._ - - - _Judge West's Opinion._ Cloth, net $1.00. - - - _Jesse ben David._ A Shepherd of Bethlehem. Illustrated, cloth, boxed, - net $1.00. - - - _Incentives for Life._ _Personal and Public._ Cloth, $1.25. - - - _The Baritone's Parish._ Illustrated, .35. - - - _The Discovery of Self._ Paper-board, net .50. - -[Illustration] - - - - - DEBORAH - - A TALE OF THE TIMES - - _of_ - - JUDAS MACCABAEUS - - _by_ - - JAMES M. LUDLOW - - _AUTHOR OF - THE CAPTAIN OF THE JANIZARIES_ - - _ETC_ - - [Illustration] - - NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO - - FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY - - - - - Copyright, 1901, by - FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY - - - New York: 158 Fifth Avenue - Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. - London: 21 Paternoster Square - Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street - - - - -TABLE OF CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I.--THE CITY OF PRIDE, 11 - - II.--THE CITY OF DESOLATION, 22 - - III.--THE LITTLE BLIND SEER, 32 - - IV.--THE DISCUS THROW, 39 - - V.--A FLOWER IN A TORRENT, 46 - - VI.--A JEWISH CUPID, 54 - - VII.--IN THE TOILS OF APOLLONIUS, 63 - - VIII.--DEBORAH DISCOVERS HERSELF, 71 - - IX.--THE NASI'S TRIUMPH, 79 - - X.--JUDAS MACCABÆUS, 91 - - XI.--THE PRIEST'S KNIFE, 106 - - XII.--THE FORT OF THE ROCKS, 111 - - XIII.--THE DAUGHTER OF THE VOICE, 120 - - XIV.--THE SPY, 130 - - XV.--THE BATTLE OF THE WADY, 140 - - XVI.--THE BATTLEFIELD OF A HEART, 146 - - XVII.--A FAIR WASHERWOMAN, 160 - - XVIII.--HIGH PRIEST! HIGH DEVIL! 171 - - XIX.--THE RENEGADE, 179 - - XX.--A FEMALE SYMPOSIUM, 185 - - XXI.--BATTLE OF BETHHORON, 193 - - XXII.--A PRELUDE WITHOUT THE PLAY, 200 - - XXIII.--THE GREED OF GLAUCON, 205 - - XXIV.--LESSONS IN DIPLOMACY, 209 - - XXV.--A JEWESS TAKES NO ORDERS FROM THE ENEMY, 215 - - XXVI.--TO UNMASK THE PRINCESS, 221 - - XXVII.--THE QUEEN OF THE GROVE, 227 - - XXVIII.--A PRISONER, 234 - - XXIX.--A RAID, 243 - - XXX.--FOILED, 250 - - XXXI.--THE SHEIKHS, 258 - - XXXII.--THE CASTLE OF MASADA, 266 - - XXXIII.--WITH BEN AARON, 276 - - XXXIV.--QUICK LOVE: QUICK HATE! 282 - - XXXV.--WORSHIP BEFORE BATTLE, 289 - - XXXVI.--THE TEMPTRESS, 298 - - XXXVII.--"IF I WERE A JEW," 304 - - XXXVIII.--THE POISONER, 309 - - XXXIX.--BATTLE OF EMMAUS, 313 - - XL.--"A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM," 321 - - XLI.--A STRANGE VISITOR, 327 - - XLII.--A CLOSE CALL FOR DION, 332 - - XLIII.--BATTLE OF BETHZUR, 339 - - XLIV.--A WIFE? 346 - - XLV.--THE TRIAL, 354 - - XLVI.--DISENTANGLED THREADS, 363 - - XLVII.--A QUEEN OF ISRAEL? 367 - - XLVIII.--A BROKEN SENTENCE FINISHED, 377 - - XLIX.--THE HIDDEN HAND, 386 - - L.--THE VENGEANCE OF JUDAS, 392 - - LI.--A KING, INDEED, 401 - - AUTHOR'S NOTE, 407 - - - - -DEBORAH - - -I - -THE CITY OF PRIDE - -King Antiochus, self-styled Epiphanes, the Glorious, was in a humor -that ill-suited that title. He cursed his scribe who had just read to -him a letter, kicked away the cushions where his royal and gouty feet -had been resting, and strode about the chamber declaring that, by all -the gods! he would make such a show in Antioch that the whole world -would be agog with amazement. - -The letter which exploded the temper of his majesty was from Philippi, -in Macedonia, and told how the Romans, those insolent republicans of -the West, had made a magnificent fête to commemorate their conquest of -the country of Perseus, the last of the kings of Greece. - -Epiphanes was a compound of pusillanimity and conceit. He could forget -the insult offered by a Roman officer who drew about "The Glorious" a -circle in the sand, and threatened to thrash the kingship out of him -if he did not at once desist from a certain attempt upon Egypt; but he -could not endure that another should outshine him in the pomp for which -Antioch was famous. This Eagle of Syria, as he liked to be called, -would rather have his talons cut than lose any of his plumage. - -Hence that great oath of the king. So loud and ominous was it that -the pet jackanapes sprang to the shoulder of the statue of the Syrian -Venus, and clung with his hairy arms about her marble neck. The giant -guardsmen in the adjacent court, who, half asleep, stood leaning upon -their pikes, were startled into spasmodic motion, and shouldered their -weapons, before their contemptuous glances showed that they understood -the words that rang out to them. - -"By all the gods! if Rome has the power, and Alexandria the commerce, -Antioch shall be queen in splendor, though it takes all the gold of all -the provinces to dress her." - -The scribe smiled blandly and bowed his appreciation of this new-coming -glory of his master. The jackanapes took heart, and, after annihilating -some of his own personal enemies with vigorous scratching of his -haunches, leaped from the statue to the arm of the King's chair. So the -grand pageant was ordered. - -All the world was invited to the Syrian capital. For an entire -month such splendors and sports were seen at Daphne, the famous -pleasure-grounds near to Antioch, that ever after the capital was -called Epidaphne, the City by the Grove. The heights of Silpius, on -whose lower slope Antioch lay like a jewel in the lap of a queen, -blazed by day with a thousand banners, and at night with fires whose -reflection turned the Orontes that flowed below the city into a stream -of molten gold. - -One day was devoted to military display. There were fifty thousand -soldiers of many nations, from the perfectly formed Greek of the -Peloponnesus to the Persian, who made up for his lack of muscle by the -superior glitter of his spear, and the lithe and swarthy Arabs from -all the deserts between the Ægean and the Euphrates. Plumes of gold -nodded above shields of bronze and silver. Hundreds of chariots glowed -like rainbows in their parti-colored enamel, and were drawn by horses -buckled and bossed with precious gems. Droves of elephants armored in -dazzling steel carried upon their backs howdahs like thrones. - -A stalwart young Greek stood looking at this martial display. He wore -the chiton, or under-garment, cut short above the knees, and belted -at the loins, where hung a stout sword indicating that he too was a -soldier. - -"What think you, Dion?" asked a comrade. - -"Why, that the body-guard of our King Perseus, though numbering but -three thousand, could have annihilated this whole mongrel horde as -readily as Alexander did the million when he won this land for his -degenerate successors. But I must not criticise the service I am -enrolled to enter." - -Following the soldiery in the procession came a thousand young men, -each wearing a crown of seeming gold, clad in glistening white silk, -and holding aloft a huge tusk of ivory. These symboled the trade wealth -of Syria. - -But the army having passed by, the Greek was soon wearied with the rest -of the display; and, bidding his companion farewell, with a few sage -suggestions about the temptations of the Grove at night, such as one -young fellow might give another, went into the city. - -The second day's festivities were of a less valiant, though not less -fascinating sort. It was the Day of Beauty. Hundreds of fair women, -in balconies that overhung the narrow streets of the city, or grouped -upon platforms here and there throughout the Grove, flung into the air -the dust of sandalwood and other spiceries, or sprinkled the crowds -with drops of aromatic ointments. At the crossing of the paths were -great vessels of nard and cinnamon and oils, scented with marjoram and -lily, that even the paupers might delight themselves with the perfume -of princes. Tanks of wine and tables spread with viands were as free as -they were costly. - -But the King himself was the most extravagant provision of the show. -In him the dignity of a king was less than the vanity of the man: his -coxcomb more than his crown. It cut him to the quick that a courtier -should outdress him, a charioteer better manage his steeds, or a -fakir set the mouths of the crowd more widely gaping. In the military -procession yesterday he had sat between the tusks of an enormous -elephant, and pricked the brute's trunk with a golden prod. He had also -ridden a famous stallion,--tightly curbed, it is true, and flanked by -six athletic grooms. - -His majesty's originality was especially shown on the Day of Beauty by -his riding beside Clarissa, the famous dancer, in the chariot where -she reclined as Queen of the Grove, an apparition of Astarte herself. -The extemporized divinity of love wore a moon-shaped tiara of silver, -the symbol of the Queen of Heaven; Epiphanes put on an aureole of gold -to represent the glory of the Sun. A score of women whose forms were -familiar to all the frequenters of the dancing gardens of Daphne lay at -their feet. - -Dion was an onlooker. He had caught so much of the spirit of the day as -to curl his locks and drape a purple himation or outer cloak from his -left shoulder. - -"That's the Macedonian," said one of Clarissa's satellites, as from her -float she spied the graceful form in the crowd. - -"A perfect Apollo!" was the critical response, which drew a jealous -glance from even The Glorious, who made the unkingly comment: - -"No. His nose isn't true. Has the snout of a Jew." - -His Majesty deserved to hear, though he did not, the comment the Greek -was at the same moment making to his comrade: - -"Humph! Epiphanes, the Glorious! Well do the people call him Epimanes, -the Fool." - -Captain Dion, notwithstanding the contemptuous sentiments thus far -awakened by the great show, was an observer the day following; for the -spectacular greatness of the affair would have drawn a Diogenes into -the crowd. - -This was All-Gods Day. The various deities of the nations which -Epiphanes' fathers had conquered for him, and those of lands which the -ambitious monarch claimed, though he had not yet subdued them,--these -were represented by their statues, or by living personages who were -apparelled in celestial hues; that is, so far as the King's costumers -were acquainted with the fashions of the world beyond the clouds. - -One float bore a tableau in which Mount Olympus appeared, peopled with -divinities, among whom Jupiter sat with uplifted hand holding a sheaf -of golden spears for lightning bolts, which the shaking of the float -made to menace the spectators with celestial ire. A bull-headed Moloch -of brass was contributed by the adjacent Phœnician city of Sidon; this -was followed by a stone Winged Bull from Babylon. - -Lesser divinities held their court before the gaping crowds, as if -heaven were trailing its banners beneath the greater glory of the -earthly monarch. Indeed, the vanity of Epiphanes did not hesitate -to make this monstrous pretension. He was magnificently enthroned, -his head canopied by a device in which a golden sun and silvery -planets were made to float through fleecy azure. At his feet on a -lower platform were priests representing every religion in his wide -domain--those of the Phœnician Baal in white robes with fluted skirts -slashed diagonally with violet scarfs, their heads covered with -close-fitting caps of knitted hair-work, as if of a piece with their -black beards; Greek priests with gloomy brows inspecting the entrails -of the sacrifice; and naked Bacchantes, crowned with the leaves of the -vine. - -Among these sacred officials was Menelaos, the High Priest of the Jews, -clad in the beauty of the ancient pontificate; his white tunic partly -covered with the blue robe; his head surmounted with the flower-shaped -turban. Menelaos was not the rightful High Priest of his people. His -brother, the sainted Onias, had held that office, until, after long -captivity in the prison of Daphne, he was murdered by Menelaos' order, -not far from the spot the fratricide was now passing. - -As on the previous days, Dion, the Macedonian, had his station as a -spectator on the raised platform by the splendid gate of Daphne. By -his side was a young man. He was of decided Jewish countenance, of -slight form, head uncovered except for the silver band which held his -artificially curled hair close down upon his forehead--the fashion -of Antiochian fops of the time; from his shoulders a yellow himation -buckled with an enormous jewel and cornered with purple devices. - -"I take it, Glaucon," said Dion, "that you are in feather with the High -Priest of your people. If I mistook it not, you gave him a knowing nod, -which he would have returned had not his pose at the feet of the King -prevented." - -"Yes," replied the Jew, "Menelaos and I are good friends. And well we -may be, for, next to his own, my family is the noblest in Jerusalem. -Menelaos has great influence with the King, and has brought me into -much favor in Antioch." - -"Such favor you will doubtless need, if reports be true," replied Dion. -"They say that General Apollonius has made your city of Jerusalem a -butcher's pen. That surely might have been avoided, since Menelaos, and -your house--the house of----" - -"The house of Elkiah, the Nasi," quickly interjected Glaucon. - -The Greek continued: "Since such great families as yours have been -induced to accept the lordship of Antioch, why not all others? I fear -that Apollonius is given to the wearing of the bones on the outside of -his hand." - -"Well he may be," replied Glaucon, "for my people are -obdurate,--stupidly so. Many of them are crazed with their religious -bigotry. For the precept of some dead Rabbi they would live in -the tombs. They would cut off their flesh rather than part with a -traditional hem of the garment. They are so proud that one of them -would not marry Astarte herself. But a few of us are wiser. We are -going to introduce the Greek customs which are so beautiful and joyous; -learn your philosophy; adorn our Temple with your art. Young Jewry -hears the call of the Greek civilization, as does all the rest of the -world. Old Jewry is soured with its traditions, as milk is from too -long standing." - -"I am glad that I am not a Jew," replied Dion. "I fear that my love of -fight would make me a rebel." - -"Not you, Captain Dion," said the Jew, looking with admiration into the -Greek's handsome face and his blue eyes, that were as full of frolic as -of fire. "You, Dion, could fight for a woman, if she were beautiful; -but not for a gray-walled temple, and a lot of psalm-snoring priests." - -"Well," replied Dion, "I shall soon have a chance to study your strange -people; for I am ordered by the King to join Apollonius. I sail -to-morrow on the _Eros_, from the harbor of Seleucia to Joppa." - -"Then I am in high luck," replied the Jew enthusiastically, "since -I will have you for a fellow-passenger. One night more in Daphne! I -assure you that I shall play the true Greek, and fill myself with the -best that is left in Antioch, since to-morrow I pay tribute to Neptune. -You will join me at sunset, Captain? Celanus' wines are excellent." - -"Impossible," replied Dion. "I must keep my legs steady under me, -and my brain-pan level, for to-morrow I shall have to take charge of -a hundred of the most villainous wretches that the King ever got -together. And he calls them 'Greek soldiers,' though there isn't a man -of them that can tell his race two generations back. A lot of pirates, -robbers, mine-slaves, and old wine-skins on legs! Greek soldiers! When -Mars turns chambermaid to a stable we Greeks will be such soldiers. But -they may be good enough for the work that Apollonius has for them in -Jerusalem. Farewell! To-morrow at noon on deck!" - - * * * * * - -Even a king must sometimes work. So Antiochus, the Glorious, laid aside -the trappings of divinity and attended to business. A vast empire, -such as he had inherited through several generations from Alexander -the Great, needed care. So far as possible the King farmed out the -government of the provinces to those who would return the largest -revenue, and trouble him least about the method of their gathering it. -Yet something was left for even the King to do. - -First in the royal interest, after he had returned to his palace, -was the report of the chief of the city spies--old Briareus, he -fondly called him, since he was as one that had a hundred arms, and -a thousand fingers on them, which were in all the private affairs of -the inhabitants of the capital. Having satisfied himself with his -chief's account, and feeling confident that the royal throat was in -no immediate danger of being cut by any of the multitude he was daily -outraging, the King turned to less interesting matters, such as the -whereabouts of his many armies, their victories and defeats. - -"Your tablets, Timon." - -The scribe read: - -"Apollonius reports all quiet at Jerusalem. Executed two hundred -yesterday." - -"Good!" said the King. "Bid him leave not so much as a ghost of a Jew -above Hades; and then let him hasten the work in the country to the -north. The Jewish peasants are unsubdued. It is not safe for a single -company of our troops to go over land to Judea. I have had to send the -detachment tomorrow by water down the coast." - -"There is the matter of Glaucon, son of the Nasi. You recall your -Majesty's promise to spare his property. It was a part of the bargain -with Menelaos, the Priest." - -"To Hades with the Priest!" cried the King. - -"Would it be wise to break with Menelaos?" timidly suggested the scribe. - -"You are right, Timon. The High Priest will be convenient in -Jerusalem,--like the handle to a blade. Has Menelaos paid up all he -promised?" - -"Yes; the nine hundred talents are safe." - -"Nine hundred talents! That rascal must have robbed the Temple." - -"Well, if he did, it will save your Majesty the trouble of finding the -hidden coffers. They say that the old King Solomon put his gold into -wells as deep as the earth, and that only the High Priest knows where -they are." - -"A good thought!" said the Glorious, thumping the bald head of the -scribe with the royal seal. "Your skull, Timon, is as full of wisdom -as a beggar's is of fleas. When Menelaos has gobbled down all the gold -there is in Jerusalem, we will open his crop and let out the shekels, -as they do corn grains from a turkey's gullet. A good thought! But -enough of these things. They tire me. Business is for slaves, not for -kings. Did you note to-day how the people looked as I appeared in the -procession?" - -"Your Majesty's glory can but grow upon the multitude. It is like that -of a mountain,--of a sunset--of--of the Great Sea when the glowing orb -of day with rays like the dishevelled hair----" - -"Stop, good Timon; no flattery. You know I never could abide flattery." - -"No words could flatter your Majesty." The scribe bowed upon the marble -floor, and kissed the feet of his master. - -"Now begone," said the King. "Let everything be ready for to-night. -Clarissa, the Queen of the Grove, comes with a troop of her dancers." - -With a wave of the royal hand the scribe vanished, and instead came the -King's costumers and physician; for the body of the Glorious must be -re-apparelled, and his stomach put in order for feasting. - - - - -II - -THE CITY OF DESOLATION - - -The streets of Jerusalem in every age have been thronged with the same -motley multitude: cool-looking, white-shirted market venders from -the stalls; no shirted sweat-hot artisans from the cellar workshops; -dyers, designated by their badges of bright-colored threads; tailors, -in heraldry of ornamented needles; carpenters, wearing their symbol -of square and compass--of which they were as proud as the scribe was -of the pen stuck behind his ear; fishermen from Galilee and the coast -jostling the fruiterers with great baskets on their heads; bare-legged, -dirt-tanned laborers from the fields; half-naked children of either -sex, playing with equal carelessness whether they knocked over the -piles of fruit and black bread that stood upon the stone pavement, -or were themselves knocked over by the sharp hoofs of asses or the -spongy feet of camels. These exponents of common, toiling humanity -made way for the gay tunic-clad aristocrats of the Upper City of Sion, -white-robed priests from the Temple Mount, gray-sheeted women from the -Cheesemakers Street, and ladies in black silken garments and caps of -coins, who were borne in palanquins from the more fashionable Street of -David. - -But in the year 167 before our Era all these had disappeared,--as -suddenly and completely as the sea-mullets and blackfish are driven -out of the shallows in the bay of Joppa by an invasion of sharks. - -The costumes and speech of the new crowd on the streets were foreign, -chiefly those of Greek and Syrian soldiers, with broad-brimmed hats, -loose-knit, iron-linked corsage, tight leather leggings, and short, -stout cleaver-like swords hanging from their girdles. Here and there -one stood stock still, sentinelling his corner of the street, with the -point of his sarissa or long spear gleaming ten cubits above his head, -while his broad circular shield held abreast made an eddy in the living -current as it swept around him. These were the soldiers of Antiochus -Epiphanes. - -Mingled with them were many foreign civilians, as their dress -indicated; merchants whose belts were well filled with gold to purchase -what the soldiers might steal; colonists to resettle the lands from -which the conquered people were expelled; and hordes of hucksters and -harlots who followed the armies of the time as dust clouds come after -chariots. - -Nor were there wanting in the crowd those whose curved noses -contradicted the disguise of their newly cropped hair, and proclaimed -them to be renegade Jews: men who preferred to retain their ancestral -property by denying the faith of their fathers. - -One afternoon the crowd in the Street of David became suddenly -congested. Through it a man, venerable with age, was vainly trying to -make his way. His long white locks, which curled downward in front of -his ears and mingled with the snowy beard upon his bosom, betokened his -Jewish race; while the broad fringes of white and hyacinth upon his -outer garment designated him as one of the Chasidim or Purists, who -preferred to part with their blood rather than with their religion. The -old patriot made no retort to the jostling and gibes of the crowd, but -his deep-set eyes flashed hatred from beneath their shaggy brows, and -told of the tragedy in his soul even more eloquently than if his lips -had poured forth fiery speech. - -"You can't swim up this stream, old man," said a soldier, giving the -frail form a twirl that made it face the other way. - -"It is the Nasi himself, Chief of the Rabbis," whispered a young Jew in -Greek cloak to a soldier. "Herakles club me, if you haven't caught the -biggest rat left in the hole. But Apollonius has given protection to -the Nasi's house. Be careful." - -"Protection to his house! Why then did he come out of it? Fetch him -along. Strip him naked, and warm his toad's blood in the new gymnasium." - -With this insult the soldier tore the outer garment from the old man's -back. The Jew was dazed for the instant by the Greek's audacity, and -mumbled within his sunken lips the words of the Prophet: "I gave my -back to the smiters, and my cheek to them that plucked off the hair." - -He then raised his eyes heavenward, apparently unconscious of a -staggering blow between his shoulders from the flat of a sword. He -stood a moment until he had completed the sacred sentence: "For the -Lord God shall help me; therefore shall I not be confounded; therefore -have I set my face like a flint." - -"'Face like a flint,' does he say? Let's see if it will strike fire -like a flint," shouted one, smiting the old patriot on the mouth with -the palm of his hand. - -This dastardly deed drew blood which stained his white beard. But it -brought a quick retaliation from an unexpected direction; for a blow -like that of a catapult fell upon the assailant's head. - -"By the thunderbolt of Zeus! that made you see fire," cried a comrade, -as the coward reeled into his arms. "Captain Dion's fist is as heavy -as the hammer of Hephæstus, the blacksmith of the gods, and makes the -sparks fly as well. I'll wager, Ajax, that you saw the sky full of -stars, or else your head is harder than an anvil." - -By the side of the venerable Jew now stood a young Greek officer. If -Hephæstus had need of an assistant blacksmith the shoulders of Dion -would have attracted his notice; yet it is doubtful if the goddesses -of Olympus would have allowed so graceful a man to be consigned to -the celestial workshop. His face, too, was peculiarly attractive. -Topped with a brush of light hair and lighted by his blue eyes, it was -beautiful, but without a trace of femininity; a blending of dignity, -intelligence, courage, and kindly feeling, though the latter quality -was just then outglowed by rage. - -On his well-curled head was a chaplet of myrtle, for he was returning -as victor in the day's sports at the new gymnasium which, as an -intended insult to the religious prejudices of the people, the -Governor, Apollonius, had recently built against the southern wall of -the Temple plaza. - -"Bravo, Dion! If you had hit the Theban boxer yesterday like that, they -wouldn't have called for another round." - -Dion faced the crowd, and with utmost detestation in his voice, -exclaimed: "If I had been here yesterday, this crew of cowardly knaves -had not hanged the babes to their mothers' necks, and thrown them from -the walls. Let one of you garlic chewers dare confess any part in that -beastly business, and I will heave him over the walls into Gehenna, -where other carcasses rot. Who touched those women?" - -As Dion looked from face to face his blue eyes flashed like the -sword-point of a fencer feeling for an exposed spot in the breast of -his antagonist. The challenge was not taken, one venturing to say: - -"It was done at the Governor's orders." - -"I pronounce that a lie. Who repeats it?" cried Captain Dion. - -A fellow-officer suggested that it might have been ordered by -Apollonius, since the women had plainly broken the new law and had -circumcised their brats. - -"Shame on you, comrade!" said Dion. "They were women and mothers, and I -would say as much to the King's face." - -The old Jew, hearing the reference to the scene which he himself had -been compelled the day before to witness, turned boldly to the crowd of -Greeks, and, with uplifted hands, repeated this imprecation from one of -the Psalms of his people: - -"Let your children be fatherless and your wives be widows! Let your -children be vagabonds and----" - -But Dion's hand was firmly laid upon the speaker's mouth. - -"Nay, hold your breath, old man. If you give us much of it that way, -this crowd will take the rest of it with the hangman's rope." - -Dion gently took the Jew's arm. "You must go back to your house. Come, -I will see you safely within doors, if you will stay there." - -"No, I will go to the house of the Lord, and worship, for it is the -ninth hour," replied the determined man. - -"That you cannot do," said Dion, kindly. "Don't you see that the Temple -gate is burned, and that soldiers are guarding the opening? Your -worship is no longer permitted there. Your sort of priests are all -gone." - -"Then," said the patriot, "I will be my own priest. Surely the Lord -will accept an old man's last worship on earth before he goes hence." - -"Nay, my good man, but the priests of the new religion are at the -Temple. To-morrow they celebrate the feast of Bacchus. If you go there, -they will crown you with ivy, and make you drunk in honor of the god. -You must go home, and stay within doors." - -"Then let me go--to my own house! My God! Why was it not my sepulchre -ere I saw what the Prophet foretold?" - -Captain Dion led him safely along the Street of David, the crowd giving -way as it gazed upon the two and remarked the contrast between the -half-mummied saint and the strong-limbed, festive-crowned youth. - -"Old Elkiah is about the last of this damnable race left in Jerusalem. -It is a wonder that Apollonius has given him tether so long." - -"Perhaps Dion knows the Jew," responded some one. "The captain is as -good a Greek as ever drew sword or loved a woman, but his nose isn't -straight on a line with his forehead. See, it has a Jewish twist." - -"A fine observation," laughed another, "for one always follows his -nose, and that may account for Dion's kindness to some of these rebels." - -"Don't insult Captain Dion!" said one. "He's close in with Apollonius. -Besides, he's a good fellow. He always gives a weaker man his handicap -in the arena without having it ordered." - -"True, or you would not have won yesterday. But I wish he wouldn't -interfere with the sport of the men. I know that it is cruel, but the -sooner the bigots are exterminated the sooner it will cease. Were it -not for Dion's friendship for that Glaucon--as Elkiah's fool of a son -now calls himself--we would soon find out what the old Jew's house has -for us. They say his cellar is as good as a gold-mine." - -"Better kill off Glaucon, and let the old man die himself. You saw that -his life is about burned out, and his old body only like a heap of -ashes with a spark in it," was the humane response. - -Dion paused by the oaken door in the wall of the Jew's house. He -took from a little pouch at his belt a pinch of aromatic sawdust of -sandalwood, and dropped it upon a small square altar whose brazier -emitted a thin curl of white smoke, clouding the entrance. This was an -altar to Zeus which the Governor had commanded to be placed at all the -houses which were still occupied by the Jews. Just above the altar the -lintel had been torn by the destruction of the Mezuzah or wooden box -which, according to the Hebrew custom, contained the sacred sentences -from the Law, and through the small apertures in which a visitor to any -Jewish home could see the word "Shaddai," the Almighty One, and thus -make the common salutation, "Peace be to this house," into a prayer. -Dion's worship at the little altar by the gate was marred by a muttered -curse upon Apollonius for the needless insult perpetrated by this act -of sacrilege. - -The Greek had scarcely time to knock at the outer entrance when the -door flew open, and with the cry "Father!" a young girl's arms were -about the old man. - -She drew him inside, and stood with her left arm supporting, while she -raised her right hand as if it were a shield to protect him. - -Captain Dion was familiar with the finest statuary in Athens and -Antioch, but thought he had never seen anything to match this,--the -white head and beard of age shielded by the raven locks of youth and -beauty. He would tell Laertes, his sculptor friend, of this pose. - -The girl was apparently about seventeen years of age, tall and lithe, -with sufficient muscle to give that exquisite grace which only -accompanies strength. Her hair, bound about the temples with a single -fillet of silver, fell in wavy profusion of jet black upon a white -linen chiton. This was gathered at the shoulders, and left fully -exposed a neck which might have illuminated a copy of Solomon's Song. -Beneath the breasts the garment was girdled with a rope of golden -threads, and thence fell below the knees. Her ankles were wound with -long white sandal lacings, which were in harmony with the silver band -that bound her brow. Her arms were bare. In her haste she had not put -on her outer garment, and thus stood revealed in a more exquisite -modelling of nature than she would have chosen had she known that she -was to be beneath so critical an eye. Yet she could not have been more -charming had she practised for hours before her mirror of polished -brass, and passed her proud old nurse Huldah's inspection before she -made her début at the gate. - -Dion noted that the girl's features were perfect, but strictly on the -Semitic model. Her face might be a hard one, for it well fitted the -tragic feeling of the moment; or it might be sweet as any he had loved -to dream about, for it also fitted the intensity of filial affection -and solicitude she now displayed. The Greek seemed transfixed by her -eyes. These were enlarged by her surprise, and their pupils gleamed -from their deep black irises with the fire of excitement. - -"A Jewish Athena!" thought Dion, as in a brief sentence or two he -begged the girl to be more prudent in the care of her father. Surely -there was no scorn of the Jewish race in the profound bow with which he -took his departure, nor in the hasty glance he stole as the door was -closing. - -He plucked a leaf from his myrtle crown and dropped it upon the altar. -As he went away he sighed a prayer for the maiden, and grumbled another -curse upon the King's cruelty. Then he whistled a sort of musical -accompaniment to his thought, which ran something like this: - -"That girl is Glaucon's sister. He never told me that he had one." -He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, in that he was wise, since he only -knows me for a Greek adventurer, and thinks my honor like his own, a -spur on the heel, to be used or not according to one's inclination. -But, by the arm of Aphrodite! what a woman! Beautiful as a lioness, -and as brave too. Strange that the Jew could be father of both her -and Glaucon--of a lioness and a jackal! Glaucon and I must be good -friends, though I despise the fool. Why doesn't he fight for his house? -I would--especially with that woman in it." - -Dion stopped and stood a long time looking at the narrow strip of sky -visible between Elkiah's house and those which lined the opposite side -of the street. There were no angels in the blue ether; but something -prompted him to take from his bosom a piece of onyx enclosed in a -casket of gold, and to look at a sweet face cut into the stone. - -"I wonder if she was anything like Elkiah's daughter!" - -He put the intaglio back into its pocket and went away. - - - - -III - -THE LITTLE BLIND SEER. - - -The house of Elkiah was one of the most stately in Jerusalem, though -inferior to the structure which, in more ancient days, rose from the -same foundations. Whenever Elkiah told of his ancestral dignities -he was apt to show his listeners what were now the cellars and -sub-cellars of the house, the great stones of which, by the flat -indentations chiselled about the borders, proved that they were as -old as the days when Solomon built the Temple, and perhaps wrought -by the same Phœnician workmen. The second story, and the battlements -which enclosed the roof, were of newer construction, and had evidently -been made of the débris of a former and more palatial edifice, for an -occasional huge and broidered stone showed upon the street in ancient -architectural pride--just as some moderately circumstanced people wear -an occasional jewel left them by their richer forebears. - -The residence of Elkiah thus maintained a relation to the other and -ordinary houses of the city not unlike that which its occupant held -to his fellow-citizens. He traced his blood to the days when another -Elkiah stood high in the court of Solomon, and thence back to the -settlement of the land by the emigrants from Egypt. This could be -attested by the official records, and was illustrated by numerous -priceless antiques now stored away in secret closets cut into the -solid walls, but which in safer times had ornamented the house from -battlement to court. - -For many years Elkiah had been the Nasi, or President of the Sanhedrin, -that combined ecclesiastical and secular court of seventy-two men who -legislated for and judged the people. Of late years the Sanhedrin -itself had become utterly debauched by the gold of Egyptian Ptolemies -and Syrian Antiochuses, in their rivalry for the possession of -Palestine. Most of the members of this sacred council had become -Hellenized, and adopted Greek philosophies and customs; and now -that the Syrian monarch had invaded the city, these renegades saved -themselves from being despoiled by becoming despoilers of their -brethren. A former High Priest, Joshua, had changed his name to the -Greek Jason, as the Greeks scornfully said, for the sake of the "Golden -Fleece." The present incumbent of the sacred office, Menelaos, had been -circumcised as Onias, and was now the chief of the traitors in the -sacrilegious extinction of the national religion. - -The crowning grief of the venerable Elkiah was the apostasy of his own -first-born son, Benjamin, who had taken the heathen name of Glaucon, -and thus shamed the house of his fathers while he protected it from the -general pillage. - -The late afternoon of the day following that of Dion's rescue of Elkiah -from the mob the old man was reclining upon the thick rug and pillows -which Deborah--for so was his fair daughter called--had spread upon the -roof. Here he loved to lie, sheltered from view by the parapets, while -his eyes followed the white clouds which flecked the deep blue of the -sky--"Jehovah's banners," he called them--or caught the gleam of the -Temple roof when he was disposed to pray. - -"Where is Caleb?" he asked. - -A lad of some ten years was lying in the upper chamber, the room which, -like a little house by itself, occupied half of the roof upon which -it opened. Hearing his father's call, the child sprang up, and in an -instant was by Elkiah's side. - -"Here am I, father!" - -With his long black hair clustering upon his white chiton, and his -large black eyes, the boy resembled his sister. One would have noted, -however, a strange look; the pupils too widely expanded, as when one -tries to see in the dark. And this the child had been doing ever since, -five years ago, his sight was destroyed by a strange malady which not -even the physician Samuel could cure, for all that this learned man was -skilled in the potencies of herbs, the baleful and blessed beams of the -stars, and even the deeper mysteries of the words of the Rabbis. - -Little Caleb was marvellously beautiful in spite of the stare of his -blind eyes and the marble pallor of his face. It was a child's face, -yet there was in it the placid sweetness of a woman's look, and at -times it seemed to glow with the intelligence of riper years--for the -boy had thought and felt more than most men had done. - -Caleb knelt down by his father's side, and kissed his forehead. The -old man's harsher features relaxed at the touch of the young lips, and -tears sprang to his eyes as he drew the lad to his breast. - -"Blessed be God, who has left me this fair image of my Miriam! Come, -Caleb, and look for me. Your blind eyes are better than mine, which my -sins have smitten. Can you see the chariots of the Lord?" - -"Nay, father, but you have taught me to trust in Him who is Himself -like 'the mountains round about Jerusalem.' What need have we for -chariots? Can He not save by His word as well as by war?" - -"True, child! Yet I myself once saw, when the impious Apollodorus -raged through our street, slaughtering all he met, and no one could -stand against him, I saw--or do I dream it?--I saw a heavenly warrior, -clad from head to foot in solid silver, waving a sword of fire, who -stood before the wicked man, and smote him to the ground. But when -they lifted the heathen there was not the sign of the stroke upon him, -though he breathed no more. Would that the Avenger might come again, -and speedily! But until He come--until He come--we must trust the word, -only the word. Bring the Roll of the Prophet. It surely tells of the -times that are now passing." - -The boy felt for his sister's hand. Taking it, he pressed it against -his blind eyes--a way he had of checking his own too violent feeling. -He whispered, as he felt her comforting touch: - -"Sister, the troubles have surely broken our father's mind. He does not -remember even yesterday." - -Then, raising his voice, "You have forgotten, father, that the soldiers -came and searched the house and took the Books away." - -Elkiah passed his hands over his forehead as if to smooth the mirror -of his memory. Recollection came, but with it a rage that shook his -decrepit form until Deborah's kiss allayed his emotion. - -"No matter for the Roll, father," said Caleb. "You know that I can -repeat what the Books say. Now that I am blind, I keep in memory all -that I hear. In that way God lets me have more, perhaps, than if I -could see even to white Hermon there in the north." - -"Bless the eyes which the Spirit of the Lord has opened!" cried the old -man. "Tell me, child, what says the Prophet of this monster who calls -himself our King--Epiphanes, the Glorious--for shame!" - -"The Prophet says," replied Caleb, quoting the words of Daniel, "that -his heart shall be against the Holy Covenant, and they shall pollute -the Sanctuary of Strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and -shall place the Abomination that maketh desolate." - -"Woe! Woe upon Jerusalem!" cried Elkiah. "Why did I not slay the -impious Apollonius, that child of Satan, when he rode into our Holy of -Holies? Alas! the breath of the Lord has withered the arm of Elkiah -that it cannot smite. But the Avenger will come. He will come yet. What -says the Prophet further, my son?" - -Caleb continued, "And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall be -corrupt with flatteries." - -"Ah!" groaned the old patriot, his voice gurgling in his throat -like the growl of a wild beast. "And my own son, the son of Miriam, -corrupted by the flatteries of the Greek! My Benjamin turned into a -Glaucon! God forgive me for having begotten a traitor!" - -Elkiah sat upright on the rug. With averted palm he swept the air, -as if he would banish from his heart its paternal instinct. He then -covered his face with his hands and cried: "O my Miriam! I thank Thee, -O God, that Thou didst take her ere she knew this. But, Lord, why didst -Thou take my Miriam, and leave me that--that--traitor? But read on, -child." - -Waiting a moment until his father's paroxysm had passed, Caleb -completed the prediction: "But the people that do know their God shall -be strong, and shall do exploits." - -"Do exploits? Be strong? That we shall," shrieked the old man. "Your -hand, Deborah! My sword! I will go and smite the Syrian." - -"Nay, father, that cannot be," said Deborah, as she laid the exhausted -form back upon the pillows. "Let the children fulfil the Prophet's -word." - -"The children! My children!" muttered the old man. "One of them a -heathen, another blind, and the other only a girl. Deborah, oh, that -thou wert a man, or could wear a sword like the Deborah of old!" - -Deborah summoned Ephraim, an old servant of the house, who with Huldah -his wife assisted in bringing Elkiah into the roof chamber; for the air -grew cold as the sun dropped behind the citadel by the Joppa gate, and -left only his golden glow on the top of Olivet eastward. - -Little Caleb stood a while leaning over the parapet, his face showing -the tremendous movement of his soul, now expressing some ineffable -longing, and now hardening under some heroic purpose. He turned toward -the Temple as if he could see the sacred precincts: but suddenly his -great blind orbs were directed southward. As his sister returned to the -roof he called to her. - -"Deborah, there is a strange noise beyond the city gate, over Ophel!" - -"Dear child, you are not yet familiar with the cries at the heathen -games. The shouts come from the gymnasium." - -"Why, sister, I know all sounds. I know by the dog's barking whether -he has the fox on the run or at bay, or has lost him in the hole. And -men cry just as the brutes do. I don't need to hear words. I sometimes -follow the games in the gymnasium off there. Now it is the hum of the -crowd before the contests begin; now the cheer for the runners; the -laugh when the wrestlers tumble; the rage of the losers; the joy of the -crowd when a favorite wins--I hear it all. But, Deborah, somebody has -been hurt over there. Can't you hear something sad in the murmur on -Ophel? It is as the fir-trees moan when a storm is coming." - -The sound which Caleb heard will be interpreted if we tell of Captain -Dion's doings that day. - - - - -IV - -THE DISCUS THROW. - - -The high plateau of Ophel swells out from the southern wall of the -Temple, and looks down upon the vales of Hinnom and Kedron, which come -together at its base, five hundred feet below. From this promontory -one can see for miles through the deep valley, which is lined near -the city with rock-hewn tombs, and in the distance with whitish-gray -cliffs, as if the Kedron had become a leper outcast from the company -of the beautiful hills and vales which elsewhere surround Jerusalem. -Down, down the valley it goes until lost to sight amid the mountains -of stone and sand that make the wilderness of Judea. There the leper -dies and is buried in the Dead Sea. Whichever way lies the wind, except -from the north, it sweeps this promontory of Ophel with refreshing -coolness. Here in the olden time the sages and saints of Israel had -been accustomed to walk, their meditations on the judgments of God -perhaps more sombre because of the gloomy grandeur of the scene; and -here the multitudes had thronged, with hearts gladdened by the contrast -of joy of their city with the distant desolation. - -But now, by the orders of Apollonius, the Governor under Antiochus, -the top of Ophel had been levelled for the stately building of the -gymnasium. - -To one looking up from the valley of the Kedron, the graceful Greek -porticos must have showed against the old gray walls of the Temple like -vines on the scarp of a mountain boulder. In front of the structure lay -the athletic field, dotted with many colored pennants which denoted the -places reserved for the various games. At one end of the field was the -stadium, the running track, some six hundred feet in length. Adjoining -this was an open court in which were practised wrestling, throwing the -discus, swinging the great hanging stone, hurling the javelin, archery, -sword play, boxing, and the like. By the side of this court were baths, -and near them great caldrons supplying the luxury of heated water. - -In shaded porches were raised platforms upon which at stated hours -rhetoricians who plumed themselves upon their eloquence discoursed -of philosophy and poetry and love. Here, too, professors of the -calisthenic art exhibited in their own persons and those of their -pupils the graces of the human form. - -Captain Dion emerged from the Street of the Cheesemakers upon the -athletic field. He saluted the banner of Apollonius, which flaunted -from its tall staff, then cast a spray of ivy at the foot of the statue -of Hermes, the god of the race. He was at once hailed by a group of -young men with whom he was evidently a favorite. - -Among these was Glaucon. A broad-brimmed hat topped his head. -Artificially curled black locks stuccoed his brow. A white chlamys, or -outer robe, of linen broadly bordered with purple was draped from his -shoulder in the latest style of the capital. - -"Ah, Glaucon, well met! How has it fared with you since we parted at -Joppa?" was Dion's greeting. "Has the sea jog gotten out of your legs -yet? If the mountains of Carmel and Cassius on the coast had been -turned to water the waves could not have tossed us more than when we -came from Antioch." - -"Jerusalem is a poor exchange for Antioch," replied Glaucon. "One day -at Daphne for a lifetime here, but for a few good fellows like you, -Captain." - -"Did you succeed in getting the order for confiscation reversed?" asked -the Greek. - -"Oh, yes, I shall hold the property; that is, if I can keep the old -man, my father, within doors, so that he doesn't bring a mob about -our ears as he did yesterday. Apollonius--Pluto take him!--mulcted -me heavily of shekels last night as a guarantee that the old bigot -would keep the peace. I wish that you would give the Governor a fair -word for me, Dion. You see, I have not come into the estate yet, and -haven't many gold feathers to drop. Apollonius seems to think that I am -moulting all my ancestral wealth." - -"I think I can get the Governor to at least pare your nails without -cutting the quick hereafter," replied his friend. - -"My thanks. I shall need your help, Captain, in all ways, for though -I have donned the King's livery, you Greeks look on me as a Jew. I am -like to fall between the upper and nether millstones. My people have -cast me off, and, by Hercules! yours do not take to me as they should." - -"Never fear, Glaucon," replied Dion. "A man who can swear 'By -Hercules!' instead of 'As the Lord liveth!' will soon have the favor of -our gods." - -"And goddesses, too, I hope," laughed Glaucon. "But I have not thanked -you, Dion, for saving my father from his crazy venture on the streets -yesterday. The shade of Anchises bless you for that!" - -"Well up in the poets, too, I see," said the Captain, slapping his -comrade on the back. "Your brain is Greek if your blood be Hebrew. But -let us hear what this blabber is saying." - -The men stood a moment listening to an orator who, with well-oiled -locks and classically arranged toga, was addressing a small group -within a portico. He was just saying: "Hear then the words of the -divine Plato, 'When a beautiful soul harmonizes with a beautiful body, -and the two are cast into the same mould, that will be the fairest of -sights to him that has an eye to contemplate the vision.' Truly the -soul is made fair by the fairness of the body. Thought glows when the -eye sparkles. Heroism is bred of conscious strength of muscle. Love -burns within the arms of beauty, and with the kisses scented with the -sweet breath of health. Think you that the gods would dwell within -the statues if the sculptors did not shape the marble and ivory to -exquisite proportions? - -"Behold, then, the stupidity of these Jews whose foul nests we are -destroying. They read their Rolls, but they gain no wisdom. They pray, -yet remain impious. It is because they know not the first of maxims, -namely, that the body is the matrix of the mind." - -"The fool!" was Dion's comment. "There are better declaimers in any -Greek village. And"--more to himself than to his comrade, as a band of -Jews, among them even some renegade priests, stripped naked, ran by -them on their way to the racing stadium--"yet see, there are bigger -fools!" - -When the two men passed into the gymnasium proper, the crowd on the -benches raised the cry of "Dion! Dion!" until the crossbeam shook down -its dust of applause. - -The Captain gracefully acknowledged the compliment by taking from his -brow the chaplet, now well withered, and flinging it from him into the -crowd with the exclamation: "I will win it again before I wear it." - -The magnanimous challenge brought the champion another ovation. - -The chief gymnasiarch approached, and read from his tablets the names -of the day's victors in the various contests that had already taken -place. He bade Dion select an antagonist from the list. - -"I will throw the discus," said the Captain. - -"Then your competitor will be Yusef, the Lebanon giant," read the -gymnasiarch. He shouted: - -"Hear ye! Yusef of Damascus is challenged by Dion of Philippi." - -Divesting himself of his garment the Greek now stood naked among his -compeers. - -"Adonis has descended," shouted one, in a tone that might have been -taken for either admiration or contempt. - -An alipta came and rubbed Dion's arms and back with oil mingled with -dust. - -"Better rub him against the Jew. He'll get both grease and dirt at a -touch," sneered some one. - -Dion turned, and, fronting the group whence the insult came, scanned -the faces one by one; but there was no response to his mute challenge. - -As he moved away one ventured to say, loud enough to be heard by a few -about him: - -"The Jewish renegade is protected by special order of the King, or, by -the club of Herakles! I would grind his face with my fists." - -"The Captain seems to be the pimp's special body-guard just now," -was a reply; after which the knot of men talked in low tones among -themselves, casting furtive glances in the direction of Dion. - -"Yusef stands on his record of this morning," shouted the gymnasiarch. -"He need not throw again unless Dion shall pass him." - -The Greek balanced in his hand two circular pieces of bronze, in order -to select one of them. The crowd densely lined the way the missile was -to fly. There was eager rivalry for places at the goal end, where the -friends of the contestants craned their necks to see the exact spot -the discus would strike, ready to applaud or dispute it. In this group -Glaucon had secured a foremost stand, and waited, leaning with the -crowd. - -"Here's your chance to stick the pig of a Jew," whispered one to his -neighbor, who stood just behind Glaucon. - -Dion held the bright bronze in his right hand, his fingers grasping -tightly the outer rim, while the weight fell upon his open palm and -wrist. Raising his left arm the more perfectly to balance his weight, -he pivoted himself upon his left foot, then, swinging the discus -backward in almost a complete circle, and combining the muscles of arm -and trunk and leg in one tremendous return motion, he flung the metal -gleaming through the air. - -At the same instant Glaucon was thrust by those behind him headlong -into the path of the flying missile. The swift swirl of the disc -together with its weight made its impact as dangerous as that of a -sword blade. It struck the falling form of Glaucon, terribly bruising -the base of his head, and laying open a ghastly wound in his neck and -shoulder. - -Dion strode down the line. He glanced an instant at the prostrate form -of his friend, turned as quickly as a bear, seized two of the throng of -bystanders, dashed their heads together until they were half-stunned, -then flung them sprawling apart. They lay moaning and cursing on the -ground amid the derisions of the crowd until the gymnasiarch ordered -them under arrest. - -The gymnastæ, or surgeons of the field of sports, were summoned; but -the case of Glaucon was beyond the present need of their splints and -unguents. - -Dion bade them carry the apparently lifeless form to Elkiah's house, -and himself led the way. It was this sad company which the clairvoyant -mind of the blind boy detected before the searching gaze of Deborah saw -the approaching litter. - - - - -V - -A FLOWER IN A TORRENT - - -"It is Benjamin! Benjamin is hurt!" cried Caleb, leaning an instant -over the parapet. While Deborah was looking into the street he felt -his way to the steps leading down from the roof into the open court -around which the house was built. He darted across this as quickly and -silently as a flash from the brass mirror, not even waking Ephraim, -the servant, who had fallen asleep watching the ripples in the great -basin of the fountain that stood in the centre of the court. In -another instant the boy had raised the crossbar from the lintels and -was hasting down the narrow street. Extending his hands he guided -himself through the crowds, keeping always in the centre of the way as -infallibly as a stick floats in the middle of a wild rushing torrent. -In vain did Deborah, as she saw him, call him from the parapet. She -flew down the stone stairway and out into the street. - -"What haste, my black-eyed beauty?" said an impudent soldier, blocking -her way. - -By a quick movement Deborah eluded him, but only to be stopped -scarcely twenty paces beyond by another, who stretched out his arms -and seized her by the wrists. She stood as if paralyzed by her -wrath at this indignity, for never before had a rude hand touched -her; then, with sudden agility and strength which seemed beyond a -woman's, she wrenched herself from her captor. Taking time and breath -for one indignant cry, "You coward!" she ran on, while the crowd was -temporarily diverted by their jeers at the discomfited soldier. - -"The eunuchs are stronger than you, man, for they can keep the women -from running away from the harems." - -"Her fire-eyes burnt out your heart, did they? Open your corselet, and -let's see if it be charred." - -Deborah turned into the Cheesemakers Street. Here she met a company of -officers. - -"Catch the gazelle! She is my spoil!" shouted the leader. - -Her arms were instantly seized from behind. - -"Apollonius has captured the very Daughter of Jerusalem that the Jews -talk about," remarked one. - -"Apollonius?" cried Deborah, looking at one whose gorgeous plumage -indicated that he was the chief officer. - -He was a man of prepossessing appearance. His brow was broad, features -finely proportioned; a man evidently trained to think and govern. In -younger days he must have been exceedingly handsome, but middle life -showed the effects of dissipation. A furtive flicker in his eyes belied -his assumption of self-command. His lips were swollen from too frequent -communion with the spirit of the vine. - -"Apollonius!" cried Deborah. "Does Apollonius dare to break his own -orders? Is it true, then, as men say, that there is neither honor nor -mercy in a Syrian?" fixing her gaze unflinchingly upon the Governor's -face. - -"Ah! and who is my charmer? Beautiful as a leopard at bay, or Aphrodite -herself is a hag. Come, can you leap as high as my arms?" said the -Governor, amid the laughter of his attendants. - -"I am the daughter of Elkiah," said Deborah, "whose house you have -given your sworn word to spare, if you be indeed General Apollonius." - -"By all the nymphs this side of Olympus! I am sorry to hear it," -replied he. "If I had known that the old bigot had so fair a daughter, -I would have qualified my order. But let her pass, my men. We must keep -our word, of course." - -A counter commotion was heard down the street. - -"Way for the litter! Way for the litter!" shouted those coming. - -With a sharp outcry, Deborah darted from the soldiers about her and ran -to the side of the wounded man. - -"It is Benjamin!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms about the insensible -form which the bearers had for the moment put down. "Speak to me, my -brother!" - -The girl's grief at first seemed inconsolable. But suddenly she was -transformed into a Fury. She stood straight but trembling, with hands -clenched, and glared upon the bystanders. For a little her passion -prevented speech. Then she broke forth, with tone and gesture and look -which fitted her words: - -"A curse upon his murderer! Who struck this cowardly blow?" - -She raised her hand as if to smite any one who dared confess the deed. - -"It was but an accident, fair daughter of Elkiah," responded Dion, -with a manner that disarmed her rage. "Your brother is not dead. See, -he lives." - -He bent over his friend with evident joy as the Jew opened his eyes -and gazed, at first with stupidity and then curiously, at the Greek -and his sister. The glance at Dion was with the flicker of a smile; -that upon his sister brought an expression of pain. The next moment -he put his hand to his head, and, uttering a sharp cry, lapsed into -unconsciousness. - -Deborah and Dion stood one on either side of the litter. Their hands -touched as they stroked the forehead of the sufferer. They looked into -each other's faces. With her it was only the recognition of a common -sympathy. - -But Dion had other thoughts. The vision of the face he had seen at -Elkiah's doorway had not faded for an instant from his imagination. -Now his impression of her beauty was reinforced by the revelation of -her soul. What courage! what audacity! yet not beyond a woman's right! -Had he struck a wilful blow at Glaucon, he thought that her wrath -would have killed him, so just would it have been, and so imperious -was her voice and action. Yet what love this woman was capable of! She -seemed to him like some goddess weeping at her own altar which had been -despoiled; for surely Glaucon was not worthy of this outpouring of -her affection. Dion thought that he knew women. To him the most were -but as stagnant pools, with surface glistening in the sunlight, while -the depths--if there were any--were soiled. But he imagined that this -woman's soul was transparent, limpid, and infinitely deep; pouring -itself out spontaneously, with as little self-consciousness as that of -a fountain when it throws aloft its white spray. - -Yet he had injured this woman--unintentionally, it was true; but his -hand had thrown the fatal disc which cut its way into her soul, as -really as into the flesh of her brother. How could he atone for this? - -There came also to Dion a deeper anxiety. Glaucon would recover; but -what of this girl's coming life? A Jewish maiden left alone amid the -license of Antiochus' soldiers! A dove in the serpent's nest would -be as safe. Glaucon could not protect her. With Elkiah's death the -renegade son would--as he had heard frequently in the camp--quickly "be -cashed," and another estate rattle as coin in Apollonius' belt. Then -what of this girl? Dion felt as if a hand from the sky was ordaining -him her protector. Yet what power had he? - -Upon hearing the commotion about the litter Apollonius turned back. -As if to redeem his repute for the dastardly insult of a few moments -before, he now made most respectful salaam to the young woman, and, -with the semblance of kindly solicitude for Glaucon, gave orders -detailing Captain Dion to act as guard for the wounded man. Thus, -having assumed by his manner the credit for what Dion had already done, -he rejoined his suite. - -The men were about to lift the litter when Deborah startled them with -the cry: - -"But Caleb! Where is the blind boy? Surely he came this way." - -"We have seen none such. He must have passed by another street. -Doubtless he has gone home," was the Greek's response. - -"Oh, I must find him!" - -There was a maternal depth in the girl's tones. - -"Where could he have gone? Help me, good sir, and the blessing of the -Lord will be upon you." - -"We could not find him in these streets," said Dion. "Let us go first -to your home. If he is not there we will search elsewhere. And I think -that my name will open any place where he may be detained." - -"Quick, then; let us haste!" - -The girl in her eagerness led the way. Reaching the house, she opened -the outer door, which had not been fastened after her exit a little -while before, and sped across the open court. Elkiah was calling. - -"Here am I, father!" and in an instant more she was beside him on the -roof. - -"My daughter, where have you been? Have the Gentiles bewitched even my -Deborah, that she should go out of doors to gaze at them? Nay, veil -your face with shame, child. Henceforth you must abide strictly in the -house. It may be our sepulchre, but I would rather my daughter died -here, than that the same sun should greet her eyes and theirs, except -that she hated them. But for a daughter of Jerusalem to so much as look -upon their garments is to play the wanton." - -"Speak not such words, my father," cried Deborah, kneeling by his side, -and placing his hands upon her forehead in claiming his blessing. - -"It is Benjamin, father. They have brought him back to us, and----" - -"Benjamin!" cried the old man, his voice failing in utterance until -it became almost a hiss. "Benjamin! I have no son Benjamin. He has -disowned his name; I disown his blood. What does the traitor Glaucon -do in the house of Elkiah? Let him be gone! I charge thee, Deborah, if -thou be a true daughter, banish him from our house." - -"But, father----" - -"Nay, let him be gone!" - -"But, father, Benjamin is harmed; wounded; it may be he is killed." - -The venerable man raised himself on his arm, and stared about him. -Deborah laid him gently back upon the pillows. - -"Oh, father, do not curse him. It may be he will not live. Do not curse -him." - -He gazed at her, taking her face between his hands and drawing it close -to his. - -"Aye, my Miriam again! Would God, Deborah, you had been my son!" - -"But, father, pity our Benjamin. He is grievously hurt." - -A change passed over the features of Elkiah. Suddenly the tears dimmed -his sight, and he said: - -"Benjamin hurt? My boy? The child of Miriam harmed? Where is he? Help -me, that I may go to him." - -He vainly tried to rise. His hands clenched as he muttered: - -"The Lord avenge the house of Elkiah upon the heads of the heathen! The -Lord spare my child! Benjamin! Benjamin! Would God I had died for thee!" - -When she had seen the wounded man brought safely into the lower -chamber, Deborah quickly searched every part of the house, and her cry -for Caleb rang from the roof to the court. - -"He is not here. I will go again to the street." - -The strong, but kind, hand of Dion blocked the way: "Nay, good maiden, -you cannot return to the city. I will go where you could not. I swear -to search the streets and camps if you will but pledge me to abide -here." - -"A pledge to a Greek!" - -But the look of scorn passed quickly from her face, as she saw the -solicitude in his. After a little thought, in which her agitated manner -told that she could keep such a promise only with her body, and that -her whole soul would go with Dion in his search, she replied: - -"It is well. I see it is my duty to stay here, sir. But hasten! Hasten, -and I will pray for you every step. The Lord bless you, good sir!" - -"Your own blessing were enough," said Dion, as he ran down the steps. - - - - -VI - -A JEWISH CUPID - - -Dion knew that a personal search for the lad among the crowds of -soldiers, who were lodged in half the houses of the city, and in -hundreds of tents beyond the walls, would be a long, if not a useless -one, since, if any persons had captured the child, they would have -reason for concealing his whereabouts. Dion went, therefore, at once to -the headquarters of Apollonius, that he might obtain an order that none -would dare disregard. - -The house appropriated to the Governor's use was the palace on Mount -Sion. Though the finest residential structure in Jerusalem, like -Elkiah's house, it was but a sorry scion of its architectural pedigree. -For instead of the colonnades where Solomon once walked, and the golden -roof which had sheltered the harem of that pious libertine, where now -the lime whitened walls and domes of what, but for its site, might have -been taken for a caravansery. - -Captain Dion passed through the court, with its broken ancient -fountains and cheap reproductions of recent Greek statuary. He was -greeted by Apollonius at the entrance to the hall of audience. - -"Welcome, Dion! In time to sup with me to-night. After the feast we -will have a symposium that will make the dead Alexander come to life -with envy. He would risk another death by fever for the sake of a -draught of such wines as the King has sent me from Antioch." - -Dion excused himself, and stated the purpose of his visit. - -"Nay; so jovial and witty a comrade as yourself cannot be let off," -cried the roystering commandant. "Nor need you trouble yourself about -the boy. I will issue the order that he be brought here. It will be -a quicker way and more certain--that is, if the circumcised dog be -living, which we may doubt; for, since the permission given yesterday, -the men are making short work of all this Jewish spawn." - -Dion changed his tack, and urged that he must return to take care of -his friend Glaucon. - -"What care you for the traitor Glaucon?" replied the General. "If that -man betrays his own race he will not be true to you. It is enough that -such creatures as Glaucon are allowed to live, and keep their property, -which should be our common spoil. Let him die of his hurt; we shall -all be the better off, with one Jew less and houses more. But stay you -shall, Dion, or, by Herakles! I will issue orders to cut the boy's -throat when found. No carouse is complete if Dion be absent," he said, -throwing his arm about him. "Come now, it's a treaty with you. I know -that your friendship is not for Glaucon, but for the black-eyed Diana, -his sister, whom I saw to-day. Drink with us you shall, or I shall be -jealous as Zeus is of his Hera, and send your Jewish goddess straight -to Antiochus as a gift. Go, then, get your ivy and head-grease, and -come back quickly; for see, the gnomon already casts shadow of six -paces--the hour the gods themselves have set for supper." - -"Then I must eat your dainty meats," said Dion, seeing the futility of -opposing the distempered will of his superior. Veiling his resentment -under a forced hilarity, he retired, and a half-hour later returned in -company with the other guests. - -These were high officers in gorgeous togas, and caps whose tasselled -tops lapped down to their shoulders. Each of these revellers was -accompanied to the palace by one or more slaves, who would wait upon -their masters at the feast, and take them home when drunk. A few -subalterns were invited who, like Dion, compensated for lack of rank by -their ready wit and their repertoire of stories and songs. - -As the guests reclined upon the cushions their shoes were unlaced and -removed by Apollonius' menials, their feet washed in scented water, and -gently rubbed with towels, while their caps were displaced by crowns -of bay leaves gemmed with the pearly berries. Then the low tables were -drawn within reach, laden with all that the distant markets of Antioch -could furnish; for the conquered land of Judea gave them not so much as -a fig or date. The Jews had left for the invaders only fish and game; -but woe to the Syrian soldier who should venture beyond his camps to -drop a line in lake or send an arrow after beast or bird! - -The viands were quickly disposed of, for, following the Greek custom, -no wine was poured until the meats and spicy condiments had created -abundant thirst. - -"A soldier's hunger is soon satisfied, but his thirst is like the river -Oceanus that runs round the earth and has no end," cried Apollonius. -"Let's to the potation. Who shall be master of the feast?" - -"Dion! Dion!" was shouted, with clapping and cheers. - -Apollonius whispered to his next neighbor: - -"The master of the feast, according to custom, must remain sober. We -must have Dion's tongue loosened with wine, or we shall not skim the -cream of his wit. Call for Kallisthenes. He is duller drunk than sober." - -"Kallisthenes! Kallisthenes!" went round the table, as the suggestion -of the host was whispered from one to another. - -"This is a deserved honor," shouted Apollonius, "for the man who fired -the gates of the Jews' Temple." - -"Aye, it was a valiant deed, for there wasn't so much as a lame Jew to -stop him," said Sotades to Dion, who reclined next to him. - -"If Apollonius is scattering heroic honors to-night, he should send for -the High Priest, Menelaos, for he stole the golden candlesticks from -the Holy Place before we could get hold of them," said another. - -"Menelaos! The Jew turned Greek! Dion says he once frightened an -Ethiopian into a white man. So Menelaos became a Greek. That Jew's lips -would poison the wine. Let him get ready for his feast with the worms -of Gehenna," grunted the Governor. - -Kallisthenes at once assumed the prerogative of Ruler of the Feast. He -put on a chaplet of ivy, and proclaimed the laws for the hour. - -"Hear ye, my subjects, the rules of the feast, which all shall obey -under penalty of the wrath of the gods. May Bacchus and Aphrodite both -desert the wretch who fails in his duty." - -"Law the first--The wine shall not be mixed with more than half water." - -"What goblets shall we use?" asked one. "If the larger ones, I vote for -one part wine to three parts water, as Hesiod recommends." - -"A frog's drink, as Pharecrates called it," replied the Ruler. "Half -and half it shall be, and he who shirks the large goblet shall drink -from the crater itself. Are we not all philosophers? And did not -Socrates drink from the wine cooler?" - -"Agreed! Agreed!" echoed round the circle. - -One ruddy-faced veteran knelt in mock adoration at the feet of the -Feast Master: - -"I humbly crave that, since I was born in distant Phrygia, we to-night -follow the custom of the barbarians, and drink no water at all. Let us -be inspired with the unadulterated soul of the god." - -"Bacchus pardon thy gluttony for the sake of thy piety," said the -Master. - -"Law the second--Whereas wine should be drunk either hot or cold, and -whereas, these Jews who are still above Hades have stopped the way to -the mountains where lies the snow to chill it, therefore it is ordained -that all drinks shall be heated with both fire and spice." - -"Agreed! Agreed!" - -"Law the third--Every goblet shall be quaffed from brim to bottom -between two breaths." - -"It is agreed!" - -"Oh! my paunch!" cried one. "Do you think me a Deucalion to stand the -deluge?" - -Servants poured the water and wine in equal quantities into the crater, -or great bowl, from which it was ladled into the large goblets, -holding half a quart each. - -"A bumper first to Bacchus." - -It was drunk with avidity. One started a song from the old poet -Anacreon: - - "Thirsty earth drinks up the rain, - Trees from earth drink that again, - Ocean drinks the air, the sun - Drinks the sea, and him the moon. - Any reason canst thou think - I should thirst while all these drink?" - -"Eros follows Bacchus," cried the Feast Master. "Now a cup to the -Syrian goddess Astarte, since we are in her land, or to Aphrodite, -Venus, or whatever name each one calls his lady-love." - -"Aye, a cup to Bathsheba! if any one has found a Jewess to his taste," -shouted Apollonius, lifting his goblet toward Dion. - -Songs and comic speeches, extemporized pantomimes, riddles and stories, -as the wine happened to stir the peculiar talent or caprice of the -guest, interspersed the drinking. - -As the hours advanced the curtains at the doorway were swung aside, and -a troop of dancing girls entered. They were of various races; the fair -Caucasian from the Euxine, the Egyptian whose hue was the reflection -of her desert sands, swarthy half-black Arabs from beyond Jordan, and -Nubians whose faces seemed cut from solid jet--slaves whom Apollonius -had captured or exchanged for other spoil of battle. These rendered -the various songs and dances of their native lands. One performed the -hazardous exploit of stepping to the throbbing of the zither between -a score of sword blades, set with points upward. Another honored -Apollonius by advancing on her hands, seizing the ladle of the wine jar -between her toes, and dexterously filling with its contents the empty -cup of the commandant. - -"Let Apollonius, the valiant conqueror of Jerusalem, show us a daughter -of Israel. He is making a harem of them, if report be true," cried one. - -"Jewish maidens will not dance on anything except the thin air. So we -had to hang a score of them yesterday," replied Apollonius. "But I will -show you a genuine Jewish Cupid." - -"A circumcised Cupid! Apollonius' wit is as sharp as his knife," cried -Kallisthenes. - -The Governor whispered to an attendant. In a few moments there was -thrust into the room a naked boy. His limbs were exquisitely moulded. -His large distended pupils shone with strange lustre in the flashing -lights of the jewelled lanterns. His outstretched hands and cautious -step showed that there was no sight in his eyes. - -"Bravo! Bravo! Cupid is blind! Well thought, Apollonius! Let us see to -whom he has brought a message from the goddess," said Sotades. - -At this moment Kallisthenes uttered a cry of surprise and horror. He -leaped to his feet and pointed to the great bowl from which the wine -was taken. - -The servant, whose attention had been unduly drawn to the revellers, -had inadvertently laid the ladle across the brim of the crater,--a -thing regarded as ominous of dire calamity to some one of the guests, -the evil to be averted only by the instant cessation of the revelry. - -The feasters looked, and echoed the consternation of the Feast Master. - -The guests unceremoniously rose, and were hastening as fast as their -uncertain legs and frightened attendants could carry them, when -Apollonius recalled them. "A curse on the slave! Let us appease our -Nemesis of the feast with the offal of the villain who has broken its -rules!" and lifting the crater he felled the unfortunate man who had -perpetrated the dire omen. - -As the guests, half sobered by the scene, stood about the prostrate -body Apollonius said: - -"Hear you, good friends, to-morrow we will treat you to something more -ominous still. We will offer another sacrifice,--a sow upon the Jews' -altar in the Temple, court. Attend me there. Farewell! Bacchus protect -his own!" - -Dion took the hand of Apollonius. - -"My thanks, General, for your aid in recovering this child, whom I will -return to his home." - -The Governor lowered his voice: - -"Serve me as well when occasion requires, Captain Dion; and if Elkiah's -daughter does not reward your service with her favor, tell her what she -owes to Apollonius, and I will cast my bait." - -The revellers dispersed to their various quarters, some to the citadel, -some to the camps outside the walls, and some to the mansions from -which they had ejected the owners. One or two of the slaves lighted -torches of resinous wood to guide the feet of their masters along the -stones, which were slippery with the sewage thrown from the doorways, -or poured over the roof parapets into the street. But most of the -servants were fully occupied in supporting the limp bodies of their -lords, and now and then lifting them out of the holes where, once -fallen, they insisted upon sitting, while they called for more wine, or -relieved themselves of what they had already taken. - - - - -VII - -IN THE TOILS OF APOLLONIUS - - -Dion hastened toward the house of Elkiah, leading the blind child by -the hand. As they threaded their way through the narrow streets, Caleb -told his story of the day's adventures. He had been seized in the -afternoon, and taken somewhere beyond the walls, among the soldiers in -the tents. He overheard his captors talking of the reward that Elkiah -would give for the return of his son, and intimating how much more -they could wring from Glaucon, when some one claimed him in the name -of Apollonius. He was led away, as he supposed, to be killed, and was -surprised at being conducted to the palace. - -Dion plied him with questions, but could elicit no further information. -The Captain knew Apollonius too well to believe that the introduction -of a Jewish Cupid at the feast, and the rescue of the lad, were all -there was to his purpose. He pondered the problem in the light of the -Governor's well-known selfishness and sensuality. Did his design reach -to the possession of Deborah? - -Coming to the house of Elkiah they were surprised to find the outer -door unfastened. Caleb ran up the stairs and heralded his coming with -many shouts. - -Elkiah was sitting beside the wounded Benjamin in the darkness. - -"The Lord be praised! His mercy endureth forever!" ejaculated the -father as Caleb flung himself into his arms. - -"But where is Deborah?" cried the lad. - -"Is not your sister with you? Then how came you hither, child?" replied -the old man, in that quick terror to which the events of recent days -had made him susceptible. - -"I brought him here, sir. I, Dion." - -"Met you not my daughter? You sent for her? No? I understand it not. -One came bringing as a token a bit of the lad's clothing, and pledged -to take her where the lost might be found. I thought the messenger had -come from you. Ere I could detain her, Deborah was gone. Was it not you -that sent? May I believe a Greek? Trifle not, I beseech you, with one -whose life-thread can endure but little more. My daughter! O give me my -daughter! If harm has come to her through thee, the curse of the Lord -rot thy bones! O my child! My child!" - -"It is the trick of the soldiers. They thought to get Deborah too," -cried Caleb. - -"Alas," said Dion, "that you were not blind, and could see to take me -to the place where they kept you before the General sent for you." - -"That I can do," said the boy. "I saw all the way." - -"Saw?" - -"Aye, with my feet and with my nostrils and with my ears, I saw -everything. Outside the walls we went down, down, down; it must have -been to cross the Kedron. Then we went up, up, up, fully halfway the -ascent toward Bethany. We went close to a cactus hedge, for I felt on -my cheeks the cool air the cactus breathes. Then over a broken wall, -for I fell among the stones. Next a house, high and of smooth mortar -walls, for I can tell such things by the echo one's footfall makes. The -tent we stopped at was near where horses, as many as threescore, were -tethered; this I knew from their neighing. It is an old camp, for the -odor of the dung was old." - -"I have the spot," said Dion. "It is the camp of Cleanthes. Let me -away! But Glaucon, your Benjamin, does well?" bending a moment over the -sleeping form. - -"So said the surgeon you brought," replied Elkiah. "But haste! O God of -Abraham, take my son if Thou wilt, but spare, oh, spare, my Deborah! -God be merciful! Thy billows are gone over me. Spare me that I may see -again the face of my child, and gather strength before I go hence, and -be no more!" - -Caleb's judgment that Deborah had been decoyed by the soldiers proved -true. Her guide led her to the palace of Apollonius. On the way she -passed the roysterers returning from the banquet. The presence of the -soldier did not shield her from the insult of their tongues so well as -did her preoccupation with anxiety for her brother. She was left alone -in the antechamber of the Governor. Now and then she inquired in vain -of the passing servants for the blind child. Growing suspicious, she -endeavored to make her escape, but found the exits fastened, as she -tried them one by one. - -At length the Governor came to her. He was flushed and unsteady from -the effects of his debauch, and accosted her with maudlin insolence. - -"Ah, my pretty Jewess!" - -"I came, sir, to claim the blind child, son of Elkiah." - -"But suppose I should first claim the daughter of Elkiah. On the street -I let you go, but since you have come to me, well--that is different. -My will must rule in my own palace." - -"Aye, the will of Apollonius, who has given his word for the safety of -the house of Elkiah," replied the girl undaunted. - -"True, my fair one, and Apollonius will keep his word. You are in -danger anywhere else than here. None are safe in Jerusalem but those -who come beneath my shadow. To-morrow the soldiers will be let loose. I -cannot hold them back any longer. Elkiah's house may go with the rest -of the damned Jews. Apollonius' friendship is better than the sword of -his soldiers, eh, is it not?" - -He put out his hands. - -This terrible threat and the hideous alternative it presented to -her were too much for the girl to take in at once. She sank at the -monster's feet. - -"Ah, my sweet one, don't do that. No slave shall you be to me; but I -will give you as many jewels as--as the fair Clarissa, the Queen of -the Grove of Daphne, wears. And I swear by your bright eyes, you shall -outshine the very goddesses of Antiochus' palace." - -He stooped and touched her. Then she quivered as if stung by a scorpion. - -"Mercy, sir! Mercy for the house of Elkiah! An old man, a blind child, -a wretched girl,--these are not enemies for the great Apollonius to -crush. Brave men would despise him for harming such." - -"Humph!" grunted the Governor, "and they would despise me more for -letting such a splendid woman as you go to another,--even to Dion." - -At this word Deborah leaped to her feet. - -Apollonius held out his arms to her, but recoiled as he saw her whole -frame the impersonation of hatred and rage. He would as soon have -ventured to grasp a sheet of flame. Then his face hardened. Fixing upon -her a pair of cold, steely eyes, he assumed the pose of a bargainer. -Had each word been a knife-cut severing a piece of her flesh for the -weighing scale, he could not have more cruelly tortured her. - -"I have heard that the daughters of Jewry are of such filial devotion -that they will give their lives for their sires. Will this one not give -Apollonius her friendship for her father's life?" - -Deborah stood like a statue. The flush faded from her face as if her -soul had fled. She forgot for the moment the scene and the man before -her. She was with her father. She saw his face so white, with blood -on his beard. She imagined him led out to death; thrust over the city -walls; prodded with spear; tortured on the rack; having the tongue torn -from his mouth,--for such things had recently been done in Jerusalem. - -The cry came from her lips: - -"Give me my father's life!" - -"Aye, and thine with it, sweet maiden," cried Apollonius, imagining -that his prey was yielding to his importunities. - -But he was quickly undeceived. Deborah's whole form seemed to expand. -In the wine-dimmed eyes of her captor she was transformed from a -helpless girl into the most queenly of women, whose dignity awed him; -then into some avenging deity; a divine apparition of purity which had -come to scourge him for his lifetime of lust and cruelty. - -"My life?" she cried. "Can a Greek understand this--that Elkiah would -slay his daughter with his own hand if he knew that Apollonius had -touched her?" - -The soldier who had never quailed before men was cowed by this woman. -What was left of manhood in him asserted itself in maudlin apology. He -sought to appease the righteous fury he had excited. - -But it was too late. The woman was no longer a suppliant. As a soldier -is turned by excitement of the battle into a fiend, so Deborah was -turned into a soldier, and now became her own defender. She withdrew to -the farther side of the apartment. As she did so she caught sight of -the sword of the General lying upon a table. She noted its hilt gemmed -with jewels, and its blade etched with heroic devices. She seized it, -and sprang like a tigress upon the unarmed man. As he crouched back to -avoid the stroke, Deborah stopped. - -"Stay, I will not slay you like a caged beast. Let the great Apollonius -outrage a defenseless woman--a Jewish woman would despise herself if -she harmed a defenseless Greek. The daughter of feeble Elkiah will give -the brave Apollonius a chance for his life. Unbar the door, or let it -be said that a woman slew thee. I will not ask a pledge of a Greek to -spare my father. I would not trust the word he has already broken. -Jehovah of Israel will avenge my father's house! Unbar the door!" - -Apollonius flung a quick glance around to discover a mode of escape. -Had he been fully possessed of his wits he would doubtless have found -some means of disarming his assailant. Yet the action of the woman was -so alert and resolute that most men would have been held at bay. She -poised the weapon for its lunge. Had the Jewess learned the art of -fence? Or did the quickening of her faculties by the intensity of her -purpose supply the deficiency of training? Her attitude was perfect -for the giving of the fatal blow. In the General's eyes at the moment, -if she were not Ares, the god of war, she was Athena armed,--no less -puissant. - -The baffled chieftain had no alternative but submission. Yet it was not -mere submission to the accident of her advantage. There was a sort of -voluntary homage in the way in which, half sobered by the situation, he -yielded to the inevitable. - -"The daughter of Elkiah has won her liberty," said he, with a wave of -his hand that nearly sent him sprawling. He staggered to where a bronze -plate hung, and struck it. As its signal was answered from without, he -cried: - -"Ho, Servites, let the woman pass!" - -Without losing for an instant her attitude of caution, Deborah passed -to the doorway. Putting the weapon beneath her robe, she said: - -"This will I keep as the pledge of Apollonius' honor until he shall -win it back from braver hands than his own. Our God will raise us up a -defender. The Avenger of Israel shall come." - -Pausing a moment between the curtains which Servites held back for her -passage, and fixing upon her captor a look of utter contempt, she drew -the sword again from her garment, and flung it ringing upon the marble -floor, with the exclamation: - -"But no! Let it not be said that a Hebrew girl despoiled the General of -the Greeks. Apollonius may keep his sword until the Lord Jehovah gives -us a man strong enough to take it from him." - -She passed out. - - - - -VIII - -DEBORAH DISCOVERS HERSELF - - -With the impulse of flight Deborah glided out from beneath the portal -of Apollonius' palace. For a moment she glanced backward, as if her -soul would hurl its final malediction upon her enemy. Then she was -seized with fright as she realized her danger. The lanterns which -hung about the great doorway and throughout the court, with their -transparent screens of red and yellow and blue, glared upon her like -the eyes of demons. She ran at first without thought of her direction, -driven by a wild impulse to escape. - -When she reached the open street the light of the moon, shining down -serenely between the house-tops, seemed like the white shield of some -heavenly defender to save her from the pursuing lanterns. She paused to -think. Whither should she flee? Should she flee at all? Caleb? Surely -he must be somewhere in the place she had left. With that thought her -feet became as lead. She could not desert the child. - -She would go back, demand admission to the presence of the tyrant, and -risk anything, everything, for her brother's liberation. - -Quickly she saw the futility of this project. She might not be -readmitted, and if so, Apollonius would now avenge himself by the -accomplishment of his original purpose. What should she do? If she -went to her home, would not some emissary of the enraged Governor -intercept her? Surely this proud and remorseless man would not let her -live to tell the story of his shame. - -Partly from instinctive caution, partly from the feeling that the -darkness of the night better fitted her own uncertainty of purpose, she -kept close to the houses on the shadowed side of the narrow street. -Though she walked on rapidly, her soul stood still, like a sentinel -peering through the gloom that echoes the step of some as yet unseen -danger. - -By her side at length loomed piles of fallen stone and half-standing -walls. These were the ruins of what a few weeks before had been the -elegant residence of Ben Isaac, one of the wealthiest merchants of -Jerusalem. It had been razed by order of King Antiochus, who had first -pillaged its treasures and then carried its master captive to Antioch, -and there exacted from him by torture the remnant of his riches. - -Deborah turned in amid the ghastly wreck. The wild desolation so fitted -her experience that the spot seemed restful. The moon was sinking -toward the west, and poured its full lustre against a still-standing -wall. The very sharpness of the beams cut a block of contrasted -darkness on the side toward the east. Deborah climbed over the rough -stones and hid within the shadow. - -Beneath her lay, like snowdrifts, the squat domes and flat roofs of -the houses in the lower Street of the Cheesemakers, once the homes of -honest artisans and tradespeople, now the sleeping-troughs of the vile -herd hired to trample out the life of the nation. - -Beyond, the vision broken only by the massive shape of the Temple on -Moriah, lay the vale of Jehoshaphat, the quiet slopes of Olivet, and -the long hills to the north glittering here and there as the moonlight -fell upon the hated tents of the enemy. As the rising sea pours its -tide into a narrow creek, so there came upon her a sense of her -nation's shame and woe. At first her power of definite thought seemed -destroyed by the flood. Why could she not cease also to feel? Why could -she not die and become as insensate as the stones, these other ruins -about her? - -At length she realized a strange transformation taking place within -her; she felt that she had grown suddenly to be no longer a child, but -a woman. Nor was she merely a woman of Jerusalem, but a strong avenging -spirit. She drank the bitterness of her own heart, and was intoxicated, -frenzied, with it. She, who had never felt anything but love, had now -learned to hate, and it seemed good to her. Then she became frightened -at this revelation of herself to herself. She had possessed a mastiff, -gentle, affectionate. Little blind Caleb would lie between its great -paws as in the lap of Huldah. Once the beast was stoned upon the -street. From that day his temper was changed. He became a savage brute; -doubtless his original wild nature reasserting itself. Was she herself -not some cruel, vicious spirit suddenly awakened? - -She prayed, "God save me from myself!" - -An answer came. It did not allay her excitement, but exalted her; -seemed to inspire her. - -The music of revelry in the tents beyond the walls became to her -spiritualized senses like the timbrel and song of Miriam of old, when -that woman led the hosts of Israel by the waters of the Red Sea. Was -not her own name Deborah? and did not a Deborah once lead her nation -in battle? She remembered how her father had bemoaned her being only -a girl, unless she could grow into another Deborah indeed. She heard -again the words of the ancient song, "Awake! awake, Deborah! awake! -Awake! Arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive!" - -If she could not imitate the great prophetess, why could she not -emulate the deed of Jael, who drove the nail through the head of the -sleeping Syrian general, Sisera? Why had she not slain Apollonius? A -woman, a common woman of Israel, had delivered her land; why should not -she? She murmured aloud the words of the Scripture, "Blessed above all -women shall Jael, the wife of Heber, the Kenite, be; blessed shall she -be above all women in the tent." - -Then she prayed, "Oh, God of Israel, take Thy handmaiden for what Thou -wilt--for what Thou wilt!" - -A chill, as of a wind from icy Hermon, ran through her frame, though -the night was not cold. Was this the breath of the Lord? Then her -blood became like liquid fire, and burned along the veins. Was she -in communion with the divine fury? Again her flesh felt a cooling -sensation, as if fanned and softly touched by an angel's wing. Was not -an angel with her? These experiences were repeated again and again. - -Long time she sat upon a stone amid the ruins. She hailed the moonlight -that lay beyond as some all-watchful Power; the shadow in which she -sat became like some awful Presence. Was not this a token of God's -will, approving her own thought to become an avenger of the wrongs of -her people? - -At length the moonlight faded; the shadow disappeared, for the dawn -sent its ruddy gleams along the east. That was to her the smile of the -Lord. Henceforth she was to be, not the daughter of Elkiah, but the -daughter of Jerusalem; the child of her nation; the sacrifice, if need -be, for her people. The fire had been put out on the Temple altar. Holy -priests could no longer bind the brutes for sacrifice. But the great -cause of God was itself the altar, and she--she would cling to that -altar, binding herself there by the cords of a willing consecration. -With the words of an oft-repeated psalm--words that had a meaning -infinitely deeper now than she had ever conceived before--"Lo, I come -to do Thy will, O God; bind the sacrifice to the altar," she stepped -out of the shadow of the wall into the blending light of the setting -moon and rising sun. - -In an instant she darted back into her retreat. The stalwart form of -a soldier was passing; but she was too late to escape his detection. -The man halted, put his hand above his eyes as if to brush away the -darkness, and turned in among the ruins. - - * * * * * - -Captain Dion's search for Deborah in the camp of Cleanthes beyond the -Kedron had, of course, been fruitless. As he returned to the city, what -had heretofore been a vague suspicion of the treachery of Apollonius -became a conviction, and filled him with rage. Had he questioned -himself, he would have said that his wrath was because of the personal -insult the Governor had put upon him, in tricking him in his purpose. -He even thought of the slight at the banquet when Apollonius refused -to allow him the honor of being Feast Master. Dion was not aware--for -he had no skill in introspection--that he had been driven over the -stones of Kedron and through the streets of the city like a madman, by -love for a girl; that but for such fuel to his passion his resentment -against Apollonius might have died away, or been suppressed by the -sense that it was imprudent to antagonize one so much his superior in -rank. - -Dion's mind was somewhat confused by its own effervescence when he -passed along the street in front of the house of Ben Isaac. His -attention was drawn by a figure moving amid the ruins. Was this some -strolling woman? Surely none would seek such a place at such an hour. -He was not superstitious, but might not this be some shade of the -slaughtered household of Ben Isaac? or, perhaps, one of the former -servants searching furtively for jewels and coins which were known to -have been concealed in secret nooks between the walls? His curiosity, -if not his soldierly duty, would have led him to inspect. - -With drawn sword he strode in between the fallen stones. - -"Out of this!" he cried. - -Captain Dion was a brave man, but at the moment he preferred that any -pilferer might escape rather than he himself should encounter the ghost -of a dead Jew. With the sun rising and a goodly rattle of a carnal -weapon any self-respecting wraith from Hades ought to flit back to his -appointed shades. - -He turned the angle of the standing wall. Surely that was no -apparition. Deborah stood with right hand uplifted to challenge the -intruder. It was the attitude Dion had seen within Elkiah's gateway. -He would scarcely have recognized her otherwise, so changed was she in -feature by the tragedy of the night. - -"The daughter of Elkiah! Gods! why are you in this place? What villainy -have you fled from? Tell me, and I swear that I shall not sheathe my -sword until you are avenged." - -The familiar voice recalled her. - -"The child! My Caleb!" she cried. - -"The lad! He is at home. I found him; I brought him." - -Complete as had been her transformation from a child into a spirit of -vengeance, the kindly tone and news brought by Dion made her a girl -again. She felt her weakness, her need of protection. She sat upon a -stone, and the tears which she thought had been forever dried within -her by the terrors of the night, burst forth as from a fresh fountain. - -"My dear Deborah----" - -She shrank from Dion's touch as he laid his hand upon hers, but it was -only for an instant; his interest in her was evidently too sincere for -her to resent. Jew and Greek, of races divided by eternal hatred, yet, -as beneath the deepest sea the land connects the shores, they were two -human creatures. Need and helpfulness--they are the two lobes of one -heart, and beat from common impulses. She allowed him to take her hand -in his, as even her blind brother would have done. - -She said nothing of Apollonius' insolence. Had she told that, our -story would have been different, for Dion's hot blood would surely have -anticipated the great Avenger who was to come. - -As they walked toward her home, the Greek studied furtively the face -of his companion. How changed! He assigned for it but one occasion, -her loving anxiety for her father and brother. He had known but little -of such emotions, for his own life had been from childhood among the -friends whom rank or chance had brought him; love was to him only a -closer good comradeship. But now, through Deborah's eyes he seemed to -be looking into unknown depths, fathomless places of the soul, while -heretofore in his intercourse with women and men, he had sounded only -the shallows. - -As they neared the house of Elkiah, Deborah with the frankness of a -child said: - -"The Lord reward you, sir, for your kindness to me and to my father's -house!" - -"Will not your God reward me by letting me serve still further one -whom, before all the gods, I have learned to love?" - -She surely heard his words, but did not take in their meaning. Love? -Yes, for her brother Benjamin; the love which a valiant soul has for -doing any chivalric deed; the love which is respect and sympathy for -one in distress--this was all she took from his words. How could a -Greek mean more when speaking of love to a daughter of the race he was -commissioned to destroy? - -With these thoughts--or was it with lack of real thought about the -significance of Dion's words?--she entered her house, and the Greek -went slowly back to his camp. - - - - -IX - -THE NASI'S TRIUMPH - - -It was the twenty-fifth day of the month Chisleu, which answers to -the Roman December. Ten days before, Apollonius, by order of King -Antiochus, had erected in the Temple court an altar to Jupiter Olympus. -This day the crowning of the blasphemy was to be perpetrated by the -destruction of the ancient altar of the Jews, and the pollution of the -great rock where it stood--the rock sacred in the reverence of the -nation since Abraham had there bound his son Isaac for the sacrifice; -the loadstone of the people during the years of captivity, toward which -they prayed when they hung their harps upon the willows by the rivers -of Babylon. - -Apollonius' invitation to the revellers of the previous night to be -present in the Temple court, was honored by the attendance of all that -company with the exception of Captain Dion. These, the Governor's -guests of honor, occupied a platform near to the gate of the Holy -Place, while the soldiers from barracks in the city and camps in the -fields swarmed like bees, and settled in disorderly masses everywhere -about the Temple mount. The overlooking walls were topped with a dense -array of conical felt hats and bronze helmets, while thousands of legs, -ending in the heavy cothurn--the buskin worn with gruesome propriety by -both tragedians and soldiers--depended from the coping, and dangled -above the heads of the crowd that stood below. Warriors from the -mountains of Bithynia chaffed in unintelligible speech with those from -the Euphrates, as together they clung to cornices and capitals like -chattering bats. Wherever an elevation or projection offered a glimpse -of the Temple plaza there was a mouth full of derision for the religion -of a people that had not so much as a statue or idol to worship. - -At Apollonius' nod an enormous trumpet brayed forth the signal. Men -took down the bar that blocked the gateway, where once hung the -splendid doors--those which Kallisthenes had burned. A procession, such -as might appropriately have had its rehearsal in Pandemonium, entered -the sacred precincts. It was headed by a huge Syrian who personated -the Jewish High Priest. His gigantic proportions were magnified by -an enormous tub, which he wore on his head to burlesque the genuine -Pontiff with his flower-shaped mitre inscribed "Holiness to the Lord." -On the breast of this buffoon was a clumsy shield, painted coarsely in -panels of twelve different colors, to represent the Urim and Thummim, -from whose twelve mysterious jewels once flashed the will of the Lord. -The pomegranates, wrought in silk upon the vestments of the real -priest, and the tiny bells which interspersed them, were imitated by a -string of dried gourd shells which clattered against one another as the -mountebank strode along. - -Behind him came a herd of swine, prodded by soldiers clad as common -priests. The mock Pontiff shouted a lewd prayer to Jehovah, and drove -his short sword into the throat of a huge black boar, the signal for -the slaughter of the herd. Obscene songs and shouts mingled with -the death squeals of the victims, while the blasphemers, stripping -bare their lower limbs, danced in the blood which drenched the sacred -pavement. - -One huge sow was covered with a white blanket on which was inscribed -the four letters indicating the name of the God of Israel. This beast -was led to what remained of the foundation of the old altar, and there -disemboweled. Her broth was scattered about the Holy of Holies, and her -offal flung by the hilarious crowd into one another's faces. - -Piles of the sacred Rolls, containing the Law collected by the great -scribe Ezra, were brought from their cabinets in the Temple. These were -sprinkled with swine's filth and burned. - -There was then led in a band of captive Jews, mostly of the servant -class, since their masters had already been disposed of. These were -stripped naked amid hilarious taunts for the sign of their race. -Each was forced to hold a piece of the sow's flesh in his teeth. If -one allowed it to fall, he was stabbed to death and cast among the -carcasses of the beasts. - -The crowd grew demented with their blasphemous sport. They demanded -more and more human victims. Every Jew found in the streets was haled -with insult of tongue and the prick of spear-points to the scene -of butchery. The decree of the King granting immunity to certain -households was of little moment. While the demonized multitude did not -dare to altogether ignore the certificate of royal clemency which was -affixed to the gates and lintels of a favored few, private soldiers -themselves assumed to test the loyalty of the inmates. - -Elkiah's household was thus challenged. The old man was dragged to his -doorway and given the alternative of worshipping Jupiter or being put -to death. He took the spices which they thrust into his shaking hand, -as if he purposed to drop them upon the Greek altar at the gate. A howl -of disappointment rose from the crowd, who imagined that their victim -was thus escaping them; but it soon changed to a wild cry of cruel -gratification, for Elkiah only looked a moment upon the grains, while -his lips moved in some inaudible prayer; then he flung them into the -faces of his challengers: - -"The curse of Nadab and Abihu, who offered strange fire upon the altar, -be upon the son of Israel who this day denies his God! The worms of -hell consume you all!" - -Before he could be hindered Elkiah threw himself against the little -heathen altar. It fell crashing beneath him. The next instant he was -seized and thrown like the carcass of a beast across the shoulders of a -gigantic Greek, who carried him to the Temple. Here he was cast into a -pile of patriots, some still breathing, the most dead. - -"The old bigot is gone at last," said his bearer. - -"Then I will grease him for better frying over in Gehenna," said -another, as he forced a piece of swine's fat into Elkiah's mouth. - -The insult revived the patriot. He spat out the uncleanness. Then a -strange strength came into the venerable man. Before hands could grasp -him he had risen to his feet. His bent form became suddenly erect with -the inspiration of his passion. The crowd drew back a little as if the -dead had come to life. Elkiah's voice rose to a shrill outcry, and rang -above the howling of the multitude: - -"Say the heathen, 'The sacrifice shall cease on the altar of Jewry'? It -shall not cease. I myself will be a sacrifice. God receive my offering!" - -He raised his clenched hands above his head and stood an instant, -glaring upon the bystanders like the incarnation of a curse. Then he -strode with shaking steps to the side of the old altar, and before any -one could stop him threw himself upon the stones. His frame quivered -an instant as if a priest's knife were indeed turning in his heart. -Soldiers lifted him, and flung him back upon the pavement. - -The Jew had conquered. He had made his sacrifice to his God. Elkiah, -the Nasi, the last of the Sanhedrin, was dead. - - * * * * * - -Deborah had essayed to follow her father when his captors took him from -his house. A Greek officer seized her and forced her back. - -"By all the gods of Greek and Jew, you shall not go!" - -The speaker was Dion. - -For a little her resolution seemed to yield before the imperiousness -of her friend. But her spirit was as a Damascus blade which, suddenly -bent, springs back into shape. With a wild cry, "I will go to my -father; they shall not harm him!" she broke from Dion. His stronger -arms regained her. - -"You will not be harmed if you stay here," Dion said; "but both you and -your father will perish if you go. None but I can save you, Deborah. By -my love I entreat." - -"Your love! your love!" There was utter contempt in her tone. "You, a -hired slaughterer of our people!" - -"Nay, then by my strength you shall not go." - -He grasped her wrists. The might of her soul was imparted to her arms, -and she had nearly freed herself. It required a rough grip of even the -athlete's strong hands to detain her. His hard fingers deeply indented -her softer flesh. Her face was contorted with pain. Dion relaxed his -hold, but not enough to allow her to escape. - -So close they stood that their breaths mingled. If soul were breath, as -the one Hebrew word for both signifies, it might be that their spirits -touched and mingled also; for the fire slowly died from her eyes. - -"You are stronger than I," she said, with panting breath. - -"Forgive my use of force," replied Dion; "but I had to choose between -offending and saving you. I have seen too many cruelties to dare to let -you go from the door." - -Deborah's look searched Dion to the heart. She spoke with slow accents, -as if uncertain whether to venture the words: - -"I will trust you, though a Greek. Let no harm come to my father." - -"If man can save him, I will. But do you pledge me, Deborah, that you -will not go to the streets. A flower would be safer thrown there under -the feet of the mob than you among the soldiers. Pledge me, I beg you; -pledge me." - -"Then I will wait. But fly! oh, Dion, fly! Your word! Your sword if -need be! My father! Oh, my father!" - -Dion was gone. - -As the Greek hurried away only the arm of the old servant Huldah -prevented Deborah falling to the pavement. She moved close to the -street door, but did not open it. There she stood, not unlike the -statue of a runner whose whole attitude shows flight while the feet are -motionless. She had almost broken her pledge and gone after Dion, but -something held her back. Was it her word? She did not think of that. It -was rather the word of the Greek; for had he not said, "If man can save -him, I will"? She saw that in this man of hated race was the only hope. -If he should fail, then God had willed the worst, and she would submit. - -Submit? To what? To grief? To bereavement? Yes. To insult? Perhaps to -death, for the assailants of her father would not spare his child. - -But there was another submission she deliberately contemplated. It -was submission to the overmastering passion which had been born last -night amid the ruins of the house of Ben Isaac--to become a minister of -vengeance for her people. She seemed to hear her father's voice above -the din of the street calling her to avenge his name. The shades of the -martyrs of Israel in her excited imagination trooped from Sheol, and -stood around her as if to lay their hands upon her in ordination to a -life entirely devoted to patriotism and religion; devoted, whether with -her hands red in the blood of Israel's enemies, or white with nursing -service of Israel's distressed people, she knew not, she cared not. - -She was aroused from her reverie by the voice of Caleb. - -"Sister, shall we not flee? Death is over the house. They have slain -our father. I but now heard the passers-by say, 'Elkiah is dead.'" - -"Flee, child? Whither can we flee? The angel of destruction hovers -over us, his wings black, oh, so black! and over all the city, and over -all the land. We are safe for the moment only here. We must wait on the -Lord, and--on the Greek!" - -"Has fear driven away your memory, sister dear?" said Caleb. "There are -passages from our home into the great quarry which underlies the city." - -"True, child, but we have never learned them." - -"But I have. I go where those who can see find no way. From the cellar -of our house a way opens into the cellar of our neighbor Moses, and -from that into the cellar of Omri. They both fled that way. I heard -them beg father to escape with them, but he would not. He declared that -he would die in Jerusalem rather than flee so long as the altar of the -Lord stood on Moriah. But the altar has fallen, sister; the people in -the streets just now said that not a stone of it stood any longer. Were -our father here, he would now flee. Come! Benjamin will be safe, since -he has become as one of the Greeks, and Dion will care for him. Come! I -can guide you, and God will guide me as He always has done. Come!" - -"Nay, child, the daughter of Elkiah cannot leave her house while her -father lives. He will return--or Dion." - -"But our father will not come again," urged the child. "Did I not hear -them say, 'The Jew is dead'? Come!" - -"I will not believe it until Dion returns and tells me with his own -lips. They will not, they dare not kill my father. Besides, I have -given the Greek my word." - -"Your word to a Greek! What is there in that?" - -"True, only my word to a Greek! To a Greek! Then let us go for your -sake, child." - -She followed the blind boy as he darted across the court to the door -which opened into the servants' apartment, and thence into the cellar. -At the entrance she stopped. - -"Nay, child, I cannot go. I have given him my word." - -"Trust not the Greek," cried Caleb. "He will not come back. He dare not -if he would. They would kill him if he befriended us or our father. But -hark!" - -The blind boy stood in an attitude of listening. Then he cried -excitedly, "Aye! He comes. I hear Captain Dion's voice in the street. -He has turned the corner--now he is at the door." - -Dion stood before them. - -For a little he was speechless, as if the words he would speak were too -cruel to utter. He did not even lift his eyes to the young woman's face. - -"Do not speak, sir!" said Deborah. "I know it all. My father has been -slain by your people." - -"Nay, not slain," replied the Greek. "Your father's God has taken him. -As Zeus lives--as Jehovah lives--Elkiah died as only the greatest and -best of men can die; no hand struck the blow. On the steps of the altar -of his God he himself gave up his life. The gods take the breath of -such men with a kiss." - -Deborah bowed herself upon the pavement. - -"Aye, he was a sacrifice. Oh, my father!" Then she rose. Her eyes -seemed to see the ascended spirit as she said slowly: - -"Now I swear by thy white locks--by the altar of thy broken heart! I, -too, will be a sacrifice!" - -The Greek was paralyzed by the sense of his helplessness to say or do -anything to mitigate the woman's woe. Though he knew not what it meant, -he knew that there was a tragedy in her heart as real as the one that -had just occurred at the Temple. - -Dion lingered to offer--what? Comfort? Help? Perhaps he acted simply -from the instinct by which noble natures wait to give themselves to -others for whatever may be needed. One thing he could do. - -"Your father shall have honorable interment. I have secured from -Apollonius the order that he be buried in the sepulchre of his fathers. -With your brother's sickness and the hazard to your life and that of -Caleb, I ask your permission that I may be his mourner." - -"My thanks, good sir. And my father's God will bless you." - -Still Dion lingered, until Deborah herself said: - -"Captain Dion, you must go away. This house is no place for a Greek." - -"Nay, it is the place for such a Greek as I. Let me help you. Tell me -your desire, and it shall be done." - -Deborah did not look at her companion. Advancing to the centre of the -court where the sun gleamed fairly upon her, she raised her hand. -It was not now the attitude of defense from danger such as Dion had -seen before. It was not that of daring which had cowed the besotted -Apollonius. It was that of supreme spiritual exaltation. It seemed to -enlarge her physical form and to transfigure her countenance with the -strong glow of inner light. Dion had seen the priestesses of almost -every shrine among his own and foreign peoples, but nothing so august -as this self-ordination of the Jewish maiden to her mysterious service, -as she said in suppressed tones: - -"Now, O God of my father, I will fulfill my vow! Lead Thou whither Thou -wilt. Guide me as Thou hast all true sons and daughters of Israel. -Amen!" - -Then her eyes rested a moment upon Dion's. A faint smile, or rather the -slightest yielding of the rigidness of her alabaster features, denoted -a not unkind recognition. If her voice was softened, it lost no tone of -determination as she repeated: - -"You must go away. I shall need no further help." - -"You know not what you say," replied Dion eagerly. "You are utterly -helpless here. Your brother's name will not save you one moment from -the danger which I know will follow you. You must flee. Can you conceal -yourself for a little while? I will return with the dress of a Greek -woman, and in that disguise I can take you to a place of safety." - -"Nay, go you and bury my father," said she. - -"Promise me that you will not pass into the street." - -"I will not go--into the street." - -"The gods be praised!" cried Dion. He seized her hand, and before she -could withdraw it had pressed it to his lips. Then he hastened away. - -Caleb had been a silent auditor of all this. Now he ran to his sister's -side. - -"Not with the Greek, Deborah, with me. You said, only, 'Not into the -street'." - -"Yes, I will go with you, child. And may your blind eyes see the way of -the Lord!" - -She passed into the chamber where Benjamin lay. The leech had -pronounced his healing sure, though he was not yet recovered from his -stupor. Deborah softly imprinted a kiss upon her brother's forehead. -She glanced at the familiar objects in the apartment, most of which -were sacred with memories. At length her eyes rested upon a little -ivory shrine of the Greek Aphrodite, a token of the new religion her -brother had embraced. Then she fled from the desecrated chamber. - - - - -X - -JUDAS MACCABÆUS - - -Jerusalem crowns a massive ridge of rock. To the eye of the inhabitant -this was a projecting portion of the very foundation of the earth; to -his faith it was the symbol of the eternity of the Jewish religion. The -rock is not, however, as solid as it seems. For ages it has served as -the quarry from which the builders of walls and fortresses, pavements -and palaces, have taken their material, leaving little more than the -shell of the dome which first attracted the worshipful gaze of Abraham -as he journeyed up from the south country. The rock of Moriah may then -be taken as a symbol of the hollow formality into which the religion of -Israel has at times degenerated. In the time of our story there were, -beneath the streets and houses of the city, long labyrinthine passages -that were unlighted except by the occasional lantern of an explorer -or prowler, and vast chambers where no sound, save of some cautious -footstep, had echoed since the click of the hammer of the Phœnician -stone-cutter in the days of Hiram, the royal friend of Solomon, whose -Tyrian artisans built the Temple. - -In the flight of Deborah and Caleb, the lad led the way first to the -upper cellar of the house of Elkiah. The floor of this was laid in -well-squared blocks of white marble, cornered with smaller blocks in -black, making an artistic pattern which could be discerned in the dim -light that now fell upon it. In ancient times this cellar floor had -been the pavement of an upper court, and opened to the full daylight; -for Jerusalem had been again and again destroyed and rebuilt upon its -own ruins. - -Passing through this cellar the fugitives struck a series of winding -stone steps which brought them to a sub-cellar. Here the darkness was -dense. Caleb stood a moment with his hands extended, as if possessing -eyes in his finger-tips. - -"I have it. The air comes this way. I can feel it as it oozes up from -the cracks about the loose trap-door, as easily as you, Deborah, could -see the light around window shutters. Here is the trap. The stone -tilts. It is hung on an iron bar. The big end of the stone rests on a -rim, and is enough heavier to prevent the other end from sinking when -one steps on it, but not heavier than you and I can lift. Uriah and I -have often opened it, and he is no stronger than I am. Your fingers -here, Deborah." - -As the stone was tilted there came up a stream of damp, chilly air, -which, Caleb said, was "the breath of the thousand toads and bats that -live in the crannies below." - -The blind boy leaped unhesitatingly into the black depths. - -"It's smooth here, sister. The old Phœnicians swept up all their stone -chips before they went home. I could run barefoot here without stubbing -my toe." - -Deborah let herself cautiously down into the darkness. - -"Ah," said she, as she felt the solid level beneath her feet, "if we -could only trust God as easily as I can trust my child!" - -"But why shouldn't we, dear heart?" replied the boy. "God says, 'I will -guide thee with mine eye.' Hasn't He done so with me?" - -He took his sister's hand and led on boldly for a few paces. - -"Wait. Yes, we turn this way, for the air comes from this direction. -Stoop, sister! Uriah once bumped his head here. Now we are past it. -Uriah said the roof here was twenty cubits high, and was held up by -big pillars of the rock which hadn't been cut away. One day he lit -a lamp in here, and the bats flew about like black shooting-stars. -Listen! That's the water that comes from Solomon's Pools, down by -Bethlehem; the same that spouts up in our fountain. And that drip, -drip, drip--Uriah said it was the dying heart-beats of our nation. God -make him mistaken for once! It's nothing but leaks. And----" - -Caleb did not finish his sentence. Even Deborah exclaimed in alarm. A -sharp cry rang through the cavernous passage. At the next instant Caleb -was thrown from his feet. Something large, yet soft, brushed him. He -heard the quick snapping of teeth, then a rustling beyond them, which -suddenly ceased. - -"It's only a fox. Uriah said that one day he chased one into the big -crack in the north wall. Lots of them must live in here, or else foxes -haven't got the wit they are thought to have." - -A little further on the fugitives felt the air to be fresher and -warmer. A light flickered in the distance. It seemed to Deborah to come -through a window with shifting lattice-work. - -"That's the opening through the city wall, not far from the north -gate," said Caleb. "It is covered up with bushes on the outside. That's -the reason the soldiers haven't found it yet. The wind blows the bushes -like a curtain, Uriah says, and it makes the light blink." - -The exit from the cavern through the city wall was very narrow, a mere -crevice between the great stones which some earthquake, or possibly the -stroke of some battering-ram, had dislodged. - -"Let me look out, sister. I can see with my ears without pushing the -bushes." - -Caleb lifted himself to the aperture, and crawled into it, where he lay -for a moment as still as a lizard. He suddenly slipped down again to -his sister's side. - -"A sentinel is passing. He is a big, awkward fellow, for I hear his -feet roll on the little stones. Now he has gone. The soldiers are -afraid to come among the bushes or close to the walls, because the -cracks in the stones are full of little adders. But they never harm me." - -"The Psalm reads," said Deborah, "'Thou shalt tread upon the lion and -adder.'" - -"But," rejoined the lad, "I don't even tread on them. One day, though, -I put my hand on one, and he didn't bite me. Maybe that is what the -Lord means, too." - -"Yes," replied his sister, "for Esaias says, 'The sucking child shall -play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand in -the cockatrice's den.' But that is to be when Jerusalem is redeemed by -a new David. God grant that your safety from these reptiles may mean -that glorious days are near at hand. The Deliverer must come. He must -come. Maybe we shall see Him, Caleb." - -So they talked in whispers while the aperture grew dim with approaching -night. - -Caleb and Deborah did not venture to come out of the old city quarry -until darkness had fully fallen, and the ray of a star shot its -salutation to them through the crevice. When they emerged they stood -for a long time close to the wall, screened by the bushes. - -"How large the stars look!" whispered Deborah. "They hang as in -mid-air; the constellations like ear-rings and necklaces on the -invisible angels. They seem nearer than the camp-fires and tent -lanterns of the Greeks on the hills yonder. So let us trust Heaven's -help is nearer to us than our enemies." - -"Amen!" rejoined Caleb. - -Deborah glanced upward at the majestic march of what Caleb said were -"God's Helmets," and then along the line of the Greek encampment, as -she exclaimed, "O stars that fought in their courses against Sisera, -fight against Apollonius!" - -Caleb started, pressing his sister's hand. "Are the stars moving, -sister?" - -"No, child; it is but the night winds warring against the high walls of -the city. The stars hear no command of the Lord as yet." - -"But listen!" again interposed the excited child. - -"No, that is only the wind among the olives in the old garden of -Kedron," replied Deborah. - -"But was there not once the 'sound of a going in the tops of the -mulberry trees' that told David the Lord went before him to battle?" -quoted the child. - -"Oh, if God would be to us as thy faith, my child!" and Deborah -stooped to kiss his forehead as they hurried away. - -It was not difficult to avoid the soldiers, for, with the exception of -an occasional sentry posted along the high road, the companies kept -within their various camps. The Greeks had learned lessons in caution -during their brief occupancy of Palestine such as had not been needed -in the other countries they had subjugated. It was quite a common -thing in the neighborhood of Jerusalem for sentinels never to return -from their beats. Small companies of guards sometimes disappeared -mysteriously, as if swallowed by earthquakes which made no rumble and -closed their lips in silence. Even close to the camps men dropped in -their tracks, while a stone, the size of one's fist, went clattering -over the ground, leaving its mark in a broken skull or a mangled -face; for the Jewish herdsmen were still as expert with the sling as -they were in the days of David. Rumor attributed many of these daring -exploits to a single family, five young men, the sons of a priest in -Modin, chief of whom in this outlawry was Judas, reputed a giant. - -Deborah and Caleb were comparatively safe, for they did not attempt the -highways, nor even the beaten footpaths, but passed hastily across the -stony fields, and glided crouching between the vine-rows on cultivated -terraces. Now they paused to listen in the deeper shadows, by some -gnarled olive whose dusky branches made the night darker; again, they -hid behind the broad-bottomed cypresses if noise were heard; then, -utterly wearied, they rested quietly for a few moments under the -fig-trees. - -Their course brought the fugitives beneath the frowning palisades of -solid rock into which were cut the tombs of the Judges. These had no -terrors for Deborah. Indeed, she lingered as if to commune with those -departed spirits who might be near to the gates of Sheol listening for -tidings from the upper world. Did these heroes of old still live? Were -they unconscious of the awful fate that had fallen upon their land? -Were there no powers among them which could return to the visible -world and avenge the sorrows of those who are still forced to endure -existence in the flesh? She remembered that once she had been poisoned -by passing a noxious plant. Now she wondered if the other world had no -destroying breath with which to slay the Greeks. Would not the soul of -Elkiah, the righteous, stir up the abode of the dead by his coming, and -by the story of his wrongs? Was Jehovah dead, too? - -She condemned such thoughts as blasphemous and pushed on. - -Only the stumbling of their feet against the stones broke the night -silence. - -At length dawn began to pour over the mountains of Moab. The jagged -peaks far to the east, like prisms, unwound the white light and -twisted its threads into robes of purple and orange, and transformed -snowy points here and there into diamond and pearl. Deborah felt the -inspiration of the scene. Surely the chariots and horses of God must -charge from the sky, if Jehovah were indeed the "Lord of Hosts." - -A noble hill rose before the fugitives; this was Mizpah. Here, as -Deborah related, was where Samuel gathered the faithful to smite the -Philistines, and down these very slopes God pursued the enemies of -Israel with His thunders. Some one of these great stones might be the -very stone Samuel had set up and called "Ebenezer," to commemorate the -Lord's help. Oh, if she knew which it was, that she might kneel beside -it, and repeat aloud the vow to serve her country's God! - -On the hill gleamed the white, flat roofs of the houses of the little -city of Mizpah, just showing themselves above the brown walls. Should -she hasten onward? The fatigue of the long, excited tramp, the chill -of the night, which the warm glow in the distant east seemed to drive -deeper into their aching flesh, the human longing for companionship, -and the hope of help urged her forward. She would enter Mizpah. There -must be many there who had known Elkiah, and would protect his children. - -But what was that which the dawning light made suddenly visible against -the background of the walls? Alas! Deborah was too familiar with the -ubiquitous banner flying from the spear-head. Mizpah, like Jerusalem, -was occupied by the enemy. To go nearer was to court the very danger -from which they were fleeing. But to flee again was too much for -exhausted flesh. The shock of this discovery paralyzed her remaining -energy. She tried to cling to the side of the rock against which she -had been leaning. She fell fainting at its base. - -Then the brain, too much excited, and unchecked by will, wrought its -usual work. Memory and imagination became confused. The hill of Mizpah -appeared to her repeopled with its ancient inhabitants. Old scenes of -which she had read took the place of those she had just witnessed. -The Greek tents became those of the ancient Philistines. Who should -deliver Israel? She thought that the tall form of Saul, son of Kish, -strode again along the slope of Mizpah, looking for his father's asses. -Where was Samuel with the horn to anoint him king? - -A full flash of the sun bursting over the eastern mountains revived -her. Did it awaken her, or merely vitalize and make real her dream? She -could not tell, for though this was Caleb sleeping by her side, surely -yonder was Saul. His herdsman's dress could not disguise his kingly -bearing. It needed not the prophetic gift of Samuel to distinguish the -Lord's anointed. So stalwart was he, a head taller than most men; so -majestic of mien; so noble of countenance. The apparition came near. -It stood over her, taller than the rock, and seeming stronger. It bent -down to her, and then it spoke: - -"My children, why are you here?" - -The voice aroused Caleb. His movement and the quick grasp of his -sister's hand brought Deborah fully back from her dream. She pressed -her eyes, if possible to press out any mere illusion; but the figure of -Saul was still there. - -He repeated his question, "Why are you here, children?" - -Kindly he gave a hand to the startled girl. She grasped it, partly to -discover whether it were real or a phantom; partly because she was so -weak in flesh and will that she would have grasped any human hand that -did not strike her or wear the mail of the hated Greek. She rose to -her feet. The stranger started as if he, too, were uncertain whether -this were not an apparition; for Deborah was not a child, as her face -asleep had betokened, but now a woman. Into her youthful features the -sharp suffering of a few days had put those lines which ordinarily come -only of mature years and slow corroding care. Her black eyes had sunken -deeper into their sockets. Their gleam seemed to be a reflection from -some inner mirror of the soul, rather than a direct outlook,--that -resilience of intense introspection which martyrs have in their eyes -when they gaze upon those who have come to see them die. - -The stranger's manner became that of reverential sympathy. - -"My good woman, how came you here? And who are you? Where is your home?" - -Deborah's uncertainty as to her own identity was at that moment nearly -as great as that of her inquirer. She gazed intently into his face -until she could assure herself that she was waking. - -"My home, sir, is nowhere and everywhere. When the nest is destroyed -the birds' home is on any tree or rock, and God provides for them. Such -is our only refuge. I am a daughter of Jerusalem. We are children of -Elkiah, son of Reuben." - -"Then the news I have heard is true," exclaimed the man excitedly. "God -of Israel, avenge thy murdered saints!" - -The face of the stranger underwent a contortion that transformed it. -Had Deborah seen this aspect first she had not dared to trust the man; -so wrathful, so cruel he looked. But instantly his expression reverted -to kindliness. There came into it a wonderful benignity. His eye was as -clear a fountain of honesty and affection as the sun is of light. Every -lineament also spoke of courage that matched the tremendous strength -which his stalwart frame and protruding muscles displayed. - -Deborah briefly narrated the events of recent hours. - -"And you, sir? Who are you that dares speak kindly to one whom even God -seems to have forgotten?" - -"I am Judas, son of Mattathias, the priest of Modin. But it is enough -that I am a son of Israel and your protector," showing a stout sword -beneath his herdsman's goatskin shirt. "A few of us have given -ourselves during these dangerous times to the help of the fugitives -from the Sacred City, and I thank our Lord that He has directed me to -this spot where I may serve the house of Elkiah. But here, my children, -you cannot remain; nor can you enter the town yonder. You must go with -me. I will see you safely among those who revere your father's name, -and are brave enough to defend his children as they would their own." - -He took the lad into his strong hands, and placed him astride his -shoulder. - -Avoiding the open places, and as much as possible keeping the rocks -between them and Mizpah, he led the way down the hill, skirting its -northern base. At length they struck the bed of a brook, which, though -torn by the winter freshets, was now dry. Scarcely had they begun to -follow its water-whitened stones when they were challenged. A Greek -sentinel strode out before them. - -"The password!" - -Judas leisurely placed Caleb upon the ground. His bowed attitude was -that of a lion when he is about to spring upon his prey, and, swift -as the king of beasts, the Jew was upon the sentinel. Bending him -backward, his iron grip was about the challenger's throat. In another -instant the Greek's skull was shattered against a stone. - -Judas stood a moment, grim as a fiend, contemplating his work. Then his -lips moved: - -"Forgive me, O my God! But was not my frenzy Thine, O Avenger of -Israel?" - -Gradually his harsh features relaxed. He glanced at his helpless -charge, then at the dead body. He sat down and burst into tears. - -"Demon or angel, into whose hands have I fallen?" murmured Deborah, for -her rescuer seemed either less or more than man. - -A moment later the opening between the rocks where they stood was -shadowed. A Greek armor blocked the way. - -Deborah uttered a cry of horror. Surely they were entrapped. But -her guide advancing familiarly embraced the intruder. The stranger, -removing his broad-brimmed Greek hat, showed a head marvelously like -the other's; the same bristling red hair, broad forehead and decidedly -aquiline nose. Though not so tall as Judas, the newcomer was equally -broad-shouldered and as compactly built; his arms longer in proportion -to the body; his calves more knotty. If Judas were a lion, this man was -of a panther's build. - -"The attempt succeeded, brother Jonathan?" inquired Judas. - -"Perfectly," replied the seeming Greek. "I spent the night within the -walls of Mizpah, and learned that Apollonius has about twenty thousand -between Jerusalem and the sea." - -"So many? And we are a brood of partridges before the hawks." - -"But Elijah's God is left, brother Judas." - -"Aye, but there is no Elijah." - -"Say not so. Elijah was not Elijah until God called him, and made him -feel the truth his name signified,--Elijah, 'whose God is Jehovah.' And -God can call whom He will, and whom He calls, He will empower. Gideon -was hiding his wheat from the Philistines, when the Lord said, 'Go, -in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel.' To whom may He not -speak? And woe to the man unto whom the Lord speaks, if he shall not -obey, though he be a Simon or a Judas. Our father's house is not like -Gideon's, least in the tribe; nor are you, Judas, least in our father's -house." - -"Enough of this talk, Jonathan," replied Judas. "Our swords are only -sharp enough to drink the blood of the enemies of the Lord; not bright -enough to lead the host. Such words as yours savor of blasphemy. I -will have none of them further. But these children of Jerusalem are in -need. Take care of them. I must away. You have all the lads of Modin -accounted for?" - -"Every one at his station." - -"No Greeks on Bethhoron?" - -"Not out of the town walls, or their souls would flee their bodies as -soon as their bodies left the covert." - -"It is well." - -Judas donned the Greek armor which his brother Jonathan had taken off. - -"The Lord watch over you, my lady!" - -His farewell was spoken with that mixture of humility and dignity -which only men who are conscious of their own exaltation, either of -rank or character, can exhibit in rendering service. - -"Your father is Mattathias?" asked Deborah of Jonathan, when Judas was -gone. "Is he not very old? Surely he has often been with my father in -Jerusalem." - -"Alas, Mattathias is old, or our cause would not lack a leader. But -these events are too much for him. His life burns rapidly with the -excitement, and the news of good Elkiah's death will make it burn the -faster; for Mattathias is as old as Elkiah was, though less broken. Yet -I well know that his life is only a breath of the Lord. Our father has -five sons. Simon is the eldest and wisest; but there is that about our -Judas which marks him for the leader. To his care is due the fact that -these hills are so guarded that not even a little waif of Judaism like -that blind child can lose his way. But Judas does not yet believe in -himself. The Lord open his eyes, or send us another leader, else the -people will perish. But you should rest." - -Jonathan sought for his charge a little nook in the side of a ravine. -Even the hard ground was inviting, for Deborah's limbs ached sorely -from the unaccustomed strain of the past few hours. The quiet of the -dell, and the knowledge that eyes as friendly as they were sharp -watched over her, came as a sweet relief from the incessant fright -of their journey. Long time she lay endeavoring to catch some of the -calm out of the white clouds that floated above her; or listening to -the hum of insects and the calls of birds, while she thanked God that -there were creatures less savage than man. At length nature asserted -its claim, and, with Caleb in her arms, she fell asleep. Jonathan came -and threw over them a coarse outer garment such as the better class -of peasants wore; but the fugitives were as unaware of their friend's -deeds as of the thoughts which passed through his mind when from time -to time he came and stood awhile beside them. Darkness fell. Their -guardian let them sleep. - -It was past midnight when he roused them, and the journey was resumed. -Over hills and across ravines, avoiding the usual footpath, they toiled -on, Jonathan carrying Caleb on his shoulder, and Deborah borrowing -strength of limb from her indomitable spirit, until the stars faded in -the dawning light. - - - - -XI - -THE PRIEST'S KNIFE - - -Toward noon of the next day the party came near to the little city of -Modin. They paused to take in the view from an adjacent hilltop. Far -to the west glistened the waters of the Great Sea, bordered by the -blazing yellow of the sand-dunes that divide that vast blue waste from -the rich plains of Sharon. The brief chill of winter had not despoiled -this fertile tract of the beauty in which the other seasons had arrayed -it. Yonder glowed the white walls of Lydda, like a pearl in a setting -of emerald. Many quiet villages looked out from beneath their brows of -dusky olive-trees, and gardens sent their challenge of life to the gray -limestone rocks which seemed to bind the hills in sterility. - -At length Deborah's gaze was diverted from this fascinating view by a -strange sight. A conical knoll rises before Modin. This was crowded -with an excited multitude. The gay attire of some of the people -proclaimed a festival, while the movements of others upon the outskirts -of the crowd were rather suggestive of an angry mob than of a happy -concourse. Upon the summit of the knoll stood an altar. It was made of -wood, but painted to resemble ivory ornamented with bands of gold. Its -graceful shape supported a basin or brazier of burning coals. - -The altar was surrounded by a detachment of Greek soldiers mingled -with a small group of civilians. These latter were of various races: -Phœnicians from the coast, who happened to be detained in Modin by -their business as traders; men of Moab and other strolling tribesmen -from beyond the land of Judea, who had less contempt for the frivolous -rites of the Greek than hatred of the severer worship of the Jews, -which they were willing to see supplanted; Samaritans, whose kinsmen -at Shechem had already obeyed the commands of Antiochus, and offered -heathen sacrifice upon their temple heights of Gerizim; and renegade -Jews, only too willing to believe that the new religion was favored -of heaven, since its observance on their part brought them immunity -from confiscation of goods and bodily harm. In the crowd were a score -or more women, the camp-followers of the Greeks, whose tawdry finery -afforded a rather pleasing contrast with the polished metal and stiff -forms of the soldiers. All were crowned with sprigs of ivy, for the -rite now in progress was in honor of Bacchus. Female flute-players, -with skirts split to their thighs, led the dance, and were followed -about by companies of half-drunken men and youths, who observed so much -of the steps as their unsteady legs permitted. - -Avoiding this crowd, Jonathan brought Deborah and Caleb near to -the gate of the town. Here was a very different scene. The native -populace swarmed under the shadow of the wall. It was evident that -these people were of a temper utterly hostile to that which swayed -the devotees about the altar of Bacchus. In the centre of this crowd -stood an officer of the King. By his side was the herald, who had just -completed reading a proclamation commanding all persons above twelve -years of age to make an offering to Bacchus before the sun should set, -under penalty of being put to death. - -The cruel mandate evoked cries of fright and fury from the people. -Some shrieked wildly with alarm, well knowing the terrible alternative -of apostacy or death, and knowing also that in almost every household -there were those who would deliberately choose the latter. Some cursed -deeply, and glared upon the officials with eyes not unlike those of -wild beasts answering the challenge of their captors. Then uprose that -strange lamentation in which Eastern people are accustomed to express -their grief--agonized outcries accompanied by tearing the hair, rending -garments, and flinging handfuls of dust in the air. - -In the throng was an old man. Though many years had whitened his locks, -his form was erect and evidenced the strength and vigor of well-kept -manhood. His face was strikingly beautiful, its lineaments such as are -formed only by the habit of lofty thinking and gentle impulses. Deborah -could not but recall the faces of her two guides from Mizpah, which -this one resembled. - -"Venerable sir," said the Greek officer, "you are ruler here, and as -their priest high in honor among this people. Your words they obey. -Your example they follow. You are their shepherd. Why should you -lead them into needless calamity? Come, then, and fulfill the King's -demand. It is but a little thing required of you; not to disobey your -nation's God, but to recognize the gods of others. Surely, some power -beyond our own makes the vine grow, and fills its clusters with wine. -Call that power Bacchus, or think of it by the nameless name of your -own God--what matters it? Recognize that power by casting a pinch of -incense upon the altar. Pray as you please in the depths of your soul; -only do this little act. Will you lead the people to slaughter for -so simple a thing as a crushed berry of spice, or drop of oil from a -pressed olive? The great King Antiochus would delight to favor with -riches the noble Mattathias, of whose devotion to Jewry he has heard -so much; and he longs to have such faithful servants as you and your -stalwart sons to promote his own generous rule over these lands which -the gods have given him." - -The King's officer would have proceeded further, but the impatience of -the old man prevented him. Raising his voice, he cried out: - -"Let Antiochus know, that, though all nations that are now under the -King's dominion obey him, and fall away every one from the religion of -their fathers, yet will I, and my sons, and my brethren walk in the -ancient covenant. We will not hearken to the King's words, to go from -our religion, either to the right or to the left." - -"The priest is mad with bigotry, and would destroy us. Let us go and -sacrifice," said one, moving from the crowd toward the altar on the -knoll. - -Mattathias gazed upon the renegade. A look of unutterable pity -overspread his features. - -"Thou shalt not sin thus against the Lord our God, brother Laban," said -he, as he laid his strong hand upon the other's shoulders. - -"Is Mattathias still a priest to kill as if we were sheep for -sacrifice? Unhand me, lest I smite thee in spite of thy years," said -Laban. - -"Aye, a priest still," cried the old man, suddenly transported with -rage, "priest still to sacrifice. It is better that the dust of the -ground of our Holy Land receive the blood of Laban than that the altar -of the heathen receive his offering." - -He drew from his robe a priest's knife and drove it into the heart of -the traitor. - -As the body fell the venerable man broke out into lamentation, "Oh, my -brother Laban, why didst thou drive me so mad? O my God, forgive me, -save me! Save Thy people!" - -The King's officer sounded an alarm, and soldiers hastened from the -adjacent knoll. But these were soon overpowered by the infuriated mob -of Jews; and from the mêlée was dragged forth the dead body of the -Greek Commandant himself. - -Mattathias stood a moment and gazed upon the bruised and bleeding form -of the officer. Then he raised his hands and, with face uplifted to the -white clouds that floated above, he cried: - -"O God of Israel, forgive Thy priest! Forgive Thy people if they have -this day been led into sin. But Thou, Lord, knowest our hearts. The -zeal of Thine house hath eaten us up!" - -Then he turned to the people. All fury suddenly died from his features. -Instead there came a look of wonderful compassion and solicitude. It -was as the clear azure following the thunder-storm. - -"To your homes, friends! To your closets! Let no one eat this day, but -with fasting let us spread our woes before the Lord. I know, I know -that He will appear for us. For we are His people and the sheep of His -pasture. But alas! who shall be the Avenger?" - - - - -XII - -THE FORT OF THE ROCKS - - -At the bidding of Mattathias, the people passed hurriedly into the -town. The stones of the street were torn up; some of them piled in -heavy masses against the city gates; others carried to the walls, -ready to be hurled down upon assailants. In vain did those returning -from the knoll, where they had taken part in the heathen worship, -seek admission. Their rapping and calls to their fellow-townsmen were -answered by taunts. Mattathias insisted on their exclusion, lest there -should be division in counsel and action, while he foresaw that there -was no alternative other than fighting for their lives, or voluntarily -surrendering themselves to the atrocities of the foe. A low wail of -lamentation could be heard from hundreds of homes, like the murmur of -a torrent. Now and then it broke into a sharp cry of defiance from -maddened groups on the house-tops, as a torrent leaps and splashes high -in air over some sharp obstacle that opposes its course. - -The night that followed was one of fearful expectancy in Modin. The -news of the assault upon the King's representative might bring the -Greek soldiers, who were scattered along Bethhoron, in retaliatory -vengeance. But the sentinels on the walls made no alarms. The next day -the extemporized scouting parties reported no hostile movement. But it -was certain that the authorities at Jerusalem would not long delay a -blow which would vindicate their power, and the honor of the monarch. - -In the little town all was confusion, for the inhabitants made -preparations to migrate from their now insecure homes. The excitement -increased as from the hills and valleys around their herdsmen hastily -gathered the flocks, and drove them close to the city. - -On the second night strange sounds floated everywhere through the -darkness--the lowing of cattle, bleating of sheep, braying of asses, -and the occasional grunt of camels resenting the unseemly hour of their -lading. These moved eastward through the darkness, and later were -followed by an exodus of the inhabitants from the town. Deborah noted -the women, whose hands had scarcely lifted heavier weight than the -distaff, now bowed beneath bulky loads of household stuff. Boys carried -jars of provisions as big as themselves. Men, armed with swords, -javelins, bows, and bludgeons, led the way, or deployed as guards on -flank and rear of the unsteady column. - -In the confusion little notice was taken of Deborah and Caleb, except -as some one peered into their faces in the endeavor to identify them. -They trudged along with a group of women and children, old men and -cripples, whose slow pace excited impatience and an occasional unkind -taunt from the stronger limbed. - -In the company with Caleb hobbled a lad some years older than he. The -feet of this boy were strangely malformed. Both were so twisted from -their normal relation to his legs that his toes pointed very nearly -backward. This infirmity and the weight of his heavy wooden sandals -were, however, largely compensated for by the boy's muscular strength -and alertness of faculty. With the aid of a stick, crotched at the -upper end, he swung himself along the road and over obstacles in the -fields which tangled legs better than his own. Only by the harsh words -and cuffs of the men who were leading or guarding the multitude was the -boy kept with the weaker folk. Now some sentinel, with hand to ear, -pausing, and listening for the remotest sound of approaching soldiery, -was startled by the rattling of the stones under the boy's feet and -crutch. Now, again, he was hobbling along with the rear guard as -valiantly as if his stick were the sword of Goliath of Gath. - -Through the dim night the lame lad noticed that Caleb's gait was -different from that of the others. His occasional stumbling and his -clinging to his sister's hand excited the curiosity of his observer. - -"Say, are you lame, too?" the strange boy asked. - -"No, I am only blind, the Lord be praised!" replied Caleb. - -"Only blind! Whew!" and a long whistle threaded the stillness of the -march. - -"Silence!" said a gruff voice. - -"Can't you see a bit?" - -"No, not as you see." - -"Haven't you any eyes?" and the boy drew Caleb's face close to his. -"Oh, such big eyes! and can't see? But such eyes must see somewhere. -Maybe they are like my feet, that look in the direction they aren't -going. Can't you see the inside of your head?" - -Caleb laughed, and fell in with the mirthful mood of his companion. - -"They say I can see out of my ears and from my finger ends." - -"I shouldn't wonder," replied the lame boy. "And can you see as well in -the dark as in the light?" - -"Just as well." - -"Whew!" - -"Silence there!" - -"Say, couldn't you and I have fun with the jackals?" - -There was a pause. - -"Say, can you see"--and the boy's voice sunk to a whisper--"can you -see God? Or maybe the angels? What are they like? Like Judas? or old -Mattathias? or like--like your sister there?" - -Caleb protested against his companion's irreverence and ignorance. - -"Well, at any rate, the angels see you." - -"How do you know they do?" - -"Because, blind as you are, you do not stumble half as much as I do. -There, you stepped right over that rock that I nearly broke my heels -on; and the Psalmist said of somebody, 'that the angels keep him from -stubbing his toes.' Those are not the words, but something like them. -But how can the angels lift you over the stones if they can't see you? -Eh! But what's your name?" - -"Caleb. What's yours?" - -"Solomon; but they don't call me that. They call me Mephibosheth, -because Mephibosheth was lame in his feet; that is, they call me Meph -because the whole word takes too much breath, and folks need all -they've got, especially in such travelling as this." - -The night wore wearily away. Once old Mattathias joined the little -group, but only for a few moments; for though the conduct of the -expedition was left to the younger men, chiefly his five sons, the -responsibility of the movement rested with the venerable priest. Once -Judas came to them, but it was only to insist that the daughter of -Elkiah should make use of a rude palanquin, which two strong-limbed -men carried between them upon two poles. This Deborah refused, and, -footsore and weary though she was, trudged by its side while the -bearers conveyed a sick woman with her babe at her breast. - -In the early dawn the fugitives threaded the wild, narrow ravine in the -neighborhood of Michmash, once the scene of the adventures of Prince -Jonathan, during the wars of Saul against the Philistines. As the day -advanced, women and children sought rest and shelter among the caverns -and chasms which made that region frightful in days of peace, but a -welcome retreat to those whom the troublous times had ejected from -better homes. Here, at Judas' advice, Mattathias decided to halt the -little host. All fell to work building the defenses which they would -surely need in coming dangers, and which became ever after famous -as the eyrie whence the Maccabæan eagles, those sons of Mattathias, -swooped down upon the Syrian prey. - -Rapidly the natural rocks grew into an orderly fortification. Loose -stone walls were built between the outcropping ledges, until a vast -space was enclosed and divided into compartments, where a few defenders -could withstand many assailants, and to capture which would be for -the victors to fasten themselves into slaughter pens. Across the top -of the natural chasms were laid poles covered with brushwood, which -screened the people from the sun by day and from the dews by night. -Great boulders scattered over the adjacent fields were connected by -ditches, which were so roofed that, while they effectually obscured -those passing beneath, they were at the same time pitfalls for any -intruders. Each great rock thus became an outlying fortress, behind -which, day and night, lay wary men. - -At one place was a rude forge, where all sorts of iron implements were -wrought into weapons; reversing the ancient prediction, for plowshares -were now beaten into swords, and pruning-hooks into spears. - -Day by day even the women and children were practised in archery, -and learned to hurl the javelin and sling stones; while the men were -drilled in companies to execute manœuvres which the genius of Judas -devised, and which were especially adapted to warfare in the craggy -battlements of the hills. Far and wide scouts answered one another -with mysterious signals, quick flashes at night, and sounds by day -in which the cries of birds and beasts were imitated according to a -code prepared by Jonathan. The country for leagues about was thus -practically under one eye and one voice of command. - -One evening Judas came to the little enclosure of rocks which the -respect and sympathy of the people had assigned to the privacy of -Deborah. It was screened by a coarse matting, which served both as door -and wall. - -"This is no place for the daughter of Elkiah," said the young man. "I -have come to ask that you allow half a score of our brave men to escort -you to a spot of more safety and comfort. The strong castle of Masada, -in the wilderness by the Sea of Salt, will prove impregnable to any -attack. The journey will not be more difficult than remaining here." - -Deborah expressed her gratitude. She looked at the upturned face of -Caleb. It was pale and emaciate with fatigue and exposure. - -"Surely, this is no place for the lad," she said, as she held his -cheeks between her hands. - -"As soon as the shadows darken the ravine yonder you will start?" -inquired Judas. - -Deborah for a moment made no response. She gazed upon the women and -children about her. - -"And these?" - -"They must remain where they are, and share the fortunes of the men. It -would be unsafe to move so many. Besides, the castle is a little one, -and would not hold them. But you, if I mistake not, as the daughter of -Elkiah, have claims of kinship with Ben Aaron, who occupies Masada." - -Deborah sought the sky as if in prayer; then she said: - -"Judas, call me no longer the daughter of Elkiah. Call me now only one -of the daughters of Israel. Why should I flee to the castle when these, -as worthy as I, have no such refuge?" - -"But surely----" - -"Nay, do not entreat me. Tell me, Judas, have you not a vow to live or -die in defense of Israel?" - -"Truly, as God lives!" said he, raising his right hand. - -"Would you break your vow? Nay, do not answer. And I, too, have a -vow--to die if God will take the sacrifice, with His people. Here I -can serve, if not with those who fight, then with those who watch and -care for the helpless. Take the lad, but here I must stay." - -Caleb, who had been a listener, now uttered a cry such as never escaped -him except when in some agony of pain. He flung himself into his -sister's arms. No word passed between them, but there is a converse of -hearts that needs no speech. She loosened his embrace. - -"It is His will. My child, we shall not be separated. We will both -stay." - -Scarcely had she said this when cries of alarm rose without. Judas was -instantly gone. - -In an hour came Meph, utterly winded with his haste, but he managed -with detached mouthfuls of breath to give the report of a wonderful -encounter with the enemy. He declared that-- - -"The Greeks came along--a whole army of them--marching as stiff as -a grove of palm-trees--shields on one shoulder and pikes on the -other. All of a sudden whiz! whiz! whiz!--and they dropped in their -tracks--lots of them did--as if they were bulrushes. The rest of them -closed up, and put their shields together like a tent; but rocks came -down on them like hailstones--and they broke and ran like hares." - -With his crutch Meph mapped on the ground the plan of the battle, and -then appealed to Caleb to predict that such a magnificent victory would -be the end of the war. "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon is with -us! The sword of the Lord and of Judas!" and he whirled his crutch in -pantomimic extermination of the foe. - -But, alas, such engagements were to be the almost daily experience -of the patriots. The Greek bands were worsted by the intense bravery -of the Jews, and the more shrewdly laid plans of their untrained but -heaven-gifted leaders. In resisting these forays, and in their devoted -care of the threatened people, the five sons of Mattathias won the -titles which history has added to their names--John, the _Good_; -Simon, the _Wise_; Judas, the _Hammerer_; Eleazar, the _Sunburst_; and -Jonathan, the _Crafty_. - -The incessant excitement wrapt the popular mind with a frenzy of -religious enthusiasm and credulity. Much of the time was spent in -prayer and song. The devoted people saw in the skill of their earthly -champions only a fuller measure of that Divine Spirit whose impulse -gave wisdom and valor, and whose invisible Presence was a surer defense -than ten thousand phalanges of shields. As in the days of Elijah, so -once more ardent souls saw, as Deborah had done, "the chariots of -Israel and the horses thereof" in the embattled clouds at sunset and -sunrise; and God in armor strode among the spectres of the night. - -In such experiences, in which mental exaltation put on physical -prowess, and the spiritual world was inwoven with the material--as -we may believe the soul is knit with the body--passed a year in the -"Fortress of the Rocks." - - - - -XIII - -DAUGHTER OF THE VOICE - - -To Deborah this was a year of mighty transformation. The traces of -girlhood were worn from her face by the hardness of her daily life. Her -sparkling eyes deepened and steadied their fire. Her features became -more immobile and rigid under the stress of her one persistent thought -and purpose. Even her body was changed. She was taller. The rounded -contour of her form became more masculinely muscular. The graceful -carriage of the maiden, brought up in the elegance of Elkiah's home, -was somewhat lost in the heavier tread and more angular movement -developed by bearing burdens with her humbler sisters in the rude -encampment, and even by training at arms with the men. - -Yet, if less fair and maidenly, she was more nobly beautiful than ever -before. Could Dion have seen her, he would have thought her more like -Athena than when he first saw her at Elkiah's gate. Hers was now a head -for a helmet rather than for ornaments. Armor would have fitted her -figure as well as robes. - -To her people she had become the incarnation of patriotism. They gave -her the sacred appellation, "The daughter of Jerusalem," the name -by which the ancient prophets had designated the nation. Even old -Mattathias gazed upon her as if to take from her face some sign of that -diviner will he prayed daily to know. To the maiden's words he would -listen as to the counsel of his battle-trained advisers. - -On one subject, however, the venerable leader was inexorably opposed -to her wishes. She asked that she might be permitted to wear the armor -of the soldier, and join in the battles. The old priest replied in the -words of the ancient law: - -"The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither -shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all that so do are an -abomination unto the Lord thy God." - -To this prohibition he was led to make one conditional exception--that -in the event of the Fort of the Rocks being taken by the enemy, any -disguise which might enable her to escape the danger peculiar to a -captured woman might be used. - -"If," replied Deborah, "for the safety of one woman the letter of the -law may be set aside, why not for the safety of Israel?" - -"You are right, my daughter. Should Israel need you, robe yourself as -you will, yet remember it will be as when a victim is arrayed for the -sacrifice. But with our brave men about you surely there is no need for -you to mingle in the common fray. Your womanly presence now encourages -us more than a band of swordsmen." - -"But if--if"--Deborah hesitated in speaking--"but if the Voice should -bid me?" - -"The Voice! The Voice!" - -Mattathias bowed his head upon his breast. "The Bath-kol! The daughter -of God's voice! I may not dispute that Monitor; for only those -anointed of heaven can hear it." - -"How may one know the Voice? Explain to me the sacred Bath-kol"--and -Deborah leaned forward, her hand upon the patriarch's knee and her face -upturned toward his in reverent and eager inquiry. - -Mattathias put his hand upon her forehead. "Alas!" he said, "I fear -that the Voice has not been heard by any in our generation, for the -days are too full of evil. God's voice is wordless; or rather, shall -I say, the Eternal Word is voiceless. The Divine Mind shines through -the mind of man as the lightning through the clouds. But since Malachi -fell asleep, no soul of man has been so pure that it could transmit the -heavenly glory and interpret its meaning. - -"Yet," he continued, after a pause, "it may be that the Lord still -teaches His own by indirection, by what we call the Daughter of the -Voice; the echo of the heavenly from earthly things. Some of our wisest -rabbis have held that, after one has prayed, the first words that -fall upon the ear, especially if they be sacred words from the Law, -the Prophets, or the Psalms, may be such echoes of the Divine Will. -But in these matters I am unskilled. I only know that if God may not -speak to a soul so true as thine, beaten pure by affliction, as the oil -is beaten for the lamps of the sanctuary, then, indeed, are we left -without the light." - -Such words confirmed a conviction already vaguely felt by Deborah. She -recalled her tremendous emotion that night amid the ruins of the house -of Ben Isaac. She knew nothing of those psychological laws by which -she might have accounted for her experience without attributing it to -Divine suggestion. She had often observed how the atmosphere, hot above -the fire, becomes hazy and tremulous, so that objects seen through it -are distorted; but she did not know that her overheated mind might -render it just as uncertain a medium for thoughts. - -A few days after her conversation with Mattathias, the venerable man, -shaken by age, and by the strain of duties that would have broken the -energy of the youngest and strongest, laid himself down to die. - -Earth has witnessed few scenes so humanly sublime as that in the -rock-formed chamber, where the priest and warrior committed his work to -his children, and his soul to God. - -His sons knelt around the couch. To them he gave special counsel, -correcting the weakness or encouraging the peculiar strength which -his prophetic soul saw in each. For Jonathan he invoked caution; for -Simon, courage; for all, faith in the Presence of the Lord, "who," said -he, "will surely appear for our deliverance. But by whose arm will He -smite? I know not. And yet----" - -He looked long upon Judas. He put his thin hands upon his son's head. -Then his own uplifted face became strangely luminous--doubtless as once -was that of Moses. His lips parted as if they were burdened with some -glorious prophecy; but they uttered no further word. There issued from -them only--his soul. - -They laid the body of Mattathias back upon the couch. A light seemed -for a while to glow about his head, and then to be absorbed into the -marble whiteness of his features. - -Never was funeral cortege of warrior or monarch more impressive than -that which wound among the hills far away to Modin, watched by hostile -eyes, and guarded by the sharp swords of a band of patriots who -determined that their dead chieftain should not be deprived of burial -in the sepulchre of his fathers. The mournful train was accompanied for -a short distance from the Fort of the Rocks by the entire multitude of -women and children, wailing with low outcries, rending their garments, -and flinging handfuls of dust into the air until the armed procession -was out of sight. - -The soul of Deborah had been too mightily stirred by these occurrences -to allow her to speak much with her people. A deep ravine hard by -became sacred to her as a place of meditation. There was something in -the very formation of this place that helped her thought. An enormous -rock projected many feet from a precipitous palisade, and overhung the -narrow width of the ravine. It seemed about to fall and crush her as -she sat beneath it. Yet she knew that it could not fall, for the mass -of visible stone was more than counterbalanced by a larger proportion -of the rock imbedded out of sight, in the hillside. - -"So," she said, "I am always under impending danger. A black shadow is -always on my soul. But I can trust the unknown goodness of the Lord, -which outweighs and prevents the threatening evil!" - -There, as in her sanctuary, she one day sat down to think and pray. -How wearied she was with her woman's work in the camp! Had there been -about her the duties and affections of a home, it would have been -different; for she was made to love, and love intensely. What a wealth -of devotion she poured upon her blind brother! Yet his care did not -furnish sufficient diversion for her excited brain and heart. - -The form of her father was, alas! now only a memory. It was always with -her; but it drained her soul, as the dry desert drinks up the streams -that come from the mountains, and yet remains a desert, flowerless, -fountainless. - -Her brother Benjamin? Ah, it is hard to love where we do not respect; -and while she would have given her life for his had emergency required, -the thought of him made her more lonely, since even brotherhood was -soiled with impiety and treason. - -If Dion's friendship now and then flashed a pleasing thought through -her mind, it was only like a warm glow in the dark cloud of her -prevailing mood, and as quickly gone. Yet she was startled when she -noted how frequently that brightness shot through the cloud; and -she put herself under inner penance after each recollection of the -noble-hearted Greek. Indeed, she tried to hate him for his offered -love. It seemed incongruous, hypocritical, for a Greek to be so -generous and good. A Greek! Her soul tortured itself with detestation -of that whole racial type; yet somehow the man persisted in standing -out from his race, as a vein of gold gleaming from its bed of baser -earth. By strong effort she drove his image from her imagination. It -was not probable that they would meet again; and if they did, he would -see now no helpless girl appealing to his pity, but a woman, strong -and vengeful, whose words would provoke his hatred of her as the -embodiment of her hated people. - -So, as she had said, her heart was empty--empty of all things that -ought to furnish a woman's nature. She seemed to herself an unsexed -soul, a mass of reckless, excited energy which could find repose only -in outward action. Oh, to be a man, strong of arm, as tireless as -daring! She looked with contempt upon her feminine attire, which she -thought no longer fitted her changed nature. - -If she might not march in the ranks of the soldiers, why could she -not engage in the secret service of which she had heard Jonathan, the -Crafty, speak as necessary to their defense? She might act as a spy. -The little band of patriots could not hope to hold out ultimately -against the overwhelming numbers that Antiochus would send, unless -their valor were seconded by deep plotting. - -To act the part she contemplated would require her to assume various -attire. Would not heaven grant her dispensation from the letter of the -law that made it a shame for a woman to put on a man's apparel? - -Such thoughts surged through her soul as she sat in the ravine. At -length she knelt and consecrated herself again--as she had done a -hundred times--to her people's God. With mute lips and phraseless -purpose she waited upon the Lord to know His will. Oh, for some -assurance that it was right to follow her own intent! - -The silence was for a time unbroken. At length a strange sound smote -upon the ear. It was like nothing she had ever heard--a ringing -note that seemed to come from the ground. Now another of different -tone; and another still. These sounds were repeated in an order that -suggested the notes of the music with which the players on instruments -at the Temple accompanied the chanting of the familiar hymn: - -"Awake! Awake, Deborah! Awake! Awake! utter a song!" - -Neither harp, nor lute, nor tabret, nor cymbal could have produced -these sounds. It was as if the rocks themselves had become mighty -timbrels, and were stricken by some spirit of the woods. Surely this -must be of superhuman agency: the noise was so unearthly, and the notes -so clearly belonged to the words they suggested. It was not a voice; -yet surely it was the Bath-kol, the Echo, the Daughter of the Voice, of -which the now sainted Mattathias had spoken. - -She prostrated herself among the gnarled roots of a great terebinth -that projected from the side of the ravine as if they were the horns of -an altar. So, too, her soul clung to her Lord. She prayed in words that -His will might be her will. Perhaps in thought she prayed that her will -might be His will--a distinction she was too unskilled in moral anatomy -to note. - -Again and again with ecstatic fervor she murmured her oft-repeated vow, -"Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God!" She lay some moments in almost a -trance of seraphic peace. This was changed to seraphic fury. Jehovah -had accepted her. She was to be His messenger--a messenger of fire, of -dagger, of deceit toward Israel's foes, as well as of consolation to -His people. - -She rose, and stood with hands clasped behind her, her face upturned -to the glowing line of light that spanned the ravine. She drank in the -brightness as heaven's approbation. - -How long she remained in that attitude of rhapsody she did not know. -The spell was suddenly broken. - -"There she is! Here, Caleb, is Deborah! Give me your hand, or she will -be gone ere we reach her," cried Mephibosheth to his blind friend, as, -spying Deborah at a distance, the children tried to reach her. But thus -startled, she walked too fast for the lame boy, encumbered as he was -with the care of his comrade. - -"Well, let her go. It is enough that she is safe," said Caleb. - -The boys had spent an hour in a favorite haunt in a field of great -boulders that lay just at the brink of the ravine. These stones were -of volcanic origin, and a proportion of metal had entered into their -composition. The lads soon found that when they were struck with -smaller stones they emitted semi-musical sounds, and they were not long -in playing upon them crude imitations of the tunes with which they were -familiar. Caleb would sit by one that gave a deep ring, while Meph with -a stone and his crutch could reach two others. - -"I thought when we played 'Awake, Deborah!' we would start her," said -Meph. - -"So we did," replied Caleb, and reaching his hands up to his comrade's -shoulders, with a spring and a boost, he was instantly astride them, a -saddle that the good-natured cripple had often provided for his more -unfortunate friend when the way was rough. - -In the counsel of the Fort of the Rocks Deborah that night related to -Judas, Simon and Jonathan the story of the strange sounds she had heard -in the ravine. - -Simon shook his head and remained silent, glancing solicitously at -the girl, as a physician might study one suspected of dementia. Judas -quickly avowed his belief that God was again speaking to His people as -in the ancient days of faith. The after debate between these brothers -was decided by the words of Jonathan, the Crafty. - -"If," said Jonathan, "Simon be right in ascribing this to the maiden's -madness, still it does not follow that Judas is wholly wrong. Does not -the Lord use even our dreams, when our minds are astray from their -waking wisdom? If He made the ass to correct the prophet, why should He -not use the vagary of this most pious woman? We need such service as -she proposes. My voice is that we put no restraint upon her becoming -our spy, lest peradventure we be found to fight against the will of Him -who, it may be, is impelling her to this duty." - - - - -XIV - -THE SPY - - -The vale of Shechem is the fairest in Palestine. It is a long strip of -meadow scarcely two hundred yards wide, guarded, as by two sleeping -giants, by the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim, which cut the sky between -two and three thousand feet above. For four furlongs of its length the -valley lies like an emerald, broken by silver streams and sparkling -basins of water. Beyond, for an equal distance, the bright green gives -place to the gray foliage of olive groves, until the natural glory -fades into the staring white houses of the town. In shady nooks and -sunny glades the earth bursts with flowers of every hue, as if Flora -had danced and left her fabled footprints impregnate with germs of -beauty. If one be sated with the fairness that lies at one's feet, -let the eyes rest upon the terraces of olive and grape, fig and -prickly pear which relieve the precipitous sides of Ebal, the ancient -Mountain of Cursing; or upon the swelling domes of rock which make the -impressive mass of Gerizim, the Mountain of Blessing. - -Even Apollonius, the desecrator of Jerusalem, with his eyes dimmed with -the rheum of many debauches, must have delighted in the prospect; for -midway the vale rose his gorgeous pavilion. From its door, when not -enamored of nature, he could feast his pride upon the white and blue -tents of his army, which gleamed far up the slopes of either mountain. -In reward for his service in desolating the Jewish capital, and in many -ways acting as a sort of procurer for the pride, greed, and lust of his -royal master, Epiphanes had made Apollonius Governor of Samaria, and -commander of all the king's forces in Syria. - -Into his camp at Shechem had come not only brave warriors, but many -merchants, to purchase the prospective spoil of the invaders. Women, -too, some the wives of officers, others adventuresses, flaunted their -gay attire amid the flashing helmets and spears of the soldiery. - -Before the great General's pavilion stood his steed, a gigantic -charger, with arching neck and restive eyes, now sniffing the hand of -his groom, and anon rearing as if to break from his custody. Near by -was a heavy-wheeled, but light-bodied chariot, its seat cushioned in -creamy silk. At its pole waited a span of graceful roans, glittering in -harness buckled and bossed with gold. - -At the opening of the tent sat Apollonius, in full armor, except that -his head was bared. Upon a couch just within reclined a woman. At a -glance one would have said that she was of great beauty. Her features -failed perhaps of the finest proportions that mark the classic Greek -face; the nostrils too distended; the mouth too large; forehead high, -but masked with abundant auburn locks, which were braided down almost -to the eyebrows. Chiselled in marble that face would not have been an -Aphrodite; but flushed as it was at the moment with excitement, her -eyes sparkling with latent coquetry, and her slightly parted lips -curved with a sensuous suggestion, she was sufficiently fascinating to -the degenerate taste of the Greek officers passing the tent, who stole -not unwelcome glimpses at her fairness. - -"And what, pray, my lord Apollonius, is to be my portion of the spoil -you are to take? I have no taste for the blood of the Jews, which you -say your sword will draw from these Maccabæan peasants. A draught of -wine--if only the cup were golden and I might keep it--would please me -better. But no golden cups and no goodly garments will you get from -these beggarly people. Some clouts and a few of the sickles they use -for swords will scarcely grace the victory of one whom the king has -honored for his valor." - -"I see," replied the General, "that my fair one has grown weary of her -lord, and that I need to freshly bribe her favor. Will not the gift -of yesterday suffice to keep my Helena's patience for a day or two to -come?" - -The General toyed with a silver serpent with eyes of ruby, which -encircled her arm. After a moment's pause, watching closely his -companion as if studying the effect of his words, he added: - -"If the trumpery of Jewish housewives please you not, there is better -spoil in Jerusalem." - -"Is anything left there?" languidly asked the woman, looking at her -shapely wrist and hand. - -"Much. And it is game that will give zest to the catching. Listen! -Since my fair goddess has tired of me, I propose that she shall find -another lover more to her liking." - -The woman's eyes flashed. - -Apollonius continued: "You know, that by the ruling of the King, the -rich estates of Elkiah are not to be sequestered as other property of -the rebels. His son, Glaucon, having become a Greek, is recognized -as the heir. A handsome fellow he is, with a thimbleful of brains; -conceited, a prey to clever men, an easier victim of a clever -woman--such a woman as has charmed an old soldier like me, caring as -you know but little for the sex. You need but smile at Glaucon to addle -his wits." - -"Are your wits addled?" queried the woman contemptuously. - -"Perhaps they have been, but I am in fair way to recover, as my scheme -will prove. Should you marry this Glaucon, by Greek law it is true you -would not inherit his estates; but no law prevents the fool from giving -to you whatever you ask as the price of your favor; and you come high -at times, as my thin belt can attest. But, my dear, you must appear to -him as of princely rank, for the fellow has been flattered to believe -himself courted by the very household of the King. I think I can make -my letters sufficiently ennoble you, if your beauty does not evidence -your divinity. Will not this sound well? Ahem! 'The Princess Helena, -cousin to Apollonius!' Ah, you blush at the title. Glaucon will pay -me well for persuading your Olympian wings to fold themselves on his -dungheap. It is a scheme worthy the Jew himself, is it not? This little -finger of yours will pick the lock of Glaucon's treasure-house." - -The woman laughed outright as she cried: - -"Shall I go to Jerusalem and act the prude? That is an art I have never -practised. I surely had never won your love, my venerable Apollo, if I -had posed as the chaste Artemis." - -"Perhaps not," replied the General, with a shrug of his shoulders, "but -you have acted the chaste goddess perfectly in the eyes of others. -That I will say; for I have had less than a score of opportunities for -jealousy during as many moons. And I will swear to this Glaucon that I -caught you in my arms as you once escaped the Grotto of Pan at Ephesus." - -"Grotto of Pan? Another remembrance of your nursery; and with a moral, -I doubt not, as good as one of Æsop. Let me hear the story, but leave -off the lesson," replied she, lolling languidly upon the couch. - -"Why," said Apollonius, "at Ephesus, when a woman's virtue is not -transparent, they bring her to Pan's Grotto for testing. If the god -sees no offense in her, then the doors open to heavenly music, and she -escapes. Looking one day for something in the shape of womanhood that -was immaculate, I lingered by the entrance, and you came bouncing out. -Glaucon is up in our Greek legends, and will understand me, even if you -did not." - -"But if the woman could not pass inspection?" his companion asked -nonchalantly. - -"Well, in such an unusual case for the town of Ephesus, where Artemis -has her temple, the pipes in Pan's cave screech out a wail for the -damned, and the tainted woman drops through the rock floor into the -river Styx. I will swear that I did not fish you out of the river Styx." - -"Paugh!" sneered the woman. "It is time that you sold me out to another -after that speech." - -The tears shot into her eyes, but they were quickly dried by her hot -rage; and as quickly again the livid fury gave place to a forced smile. - -"I warn you, my lord, that I myself will be the judge of my new -purchaser, as I was of you." - -This woman was well aware that anger did not become her type of -countenance; it changed her beauty into hideousness. Whatever age-marks -were latent in her face, smoothed by practised smiles, or masked -by cosmetics, were brought out by ill temper--as sunburn develops -freckles. She was as self-conscious when gazed at by others as when -she was alone before her mirror, and as ready with her arts. She, -therefore, instantly suppressed the rising displeasure. - -Indeed, the displeasure would itself have died as Apollonius further -disclosed his schemes; for any fondness she may have felt for the -present owner of her affections was less than her innate cupidity, -and less than that passion for intrigue and adventure which she had -developed by much practice on many fields. In her, deceitfulness -reached the rank which in men is called diplomacy. Though now at home -in the tent of the Syrian commander, she was not unwilling to enlarge -the sphere of her conquest in any direction. Perhaps her eagerness -for the spoil of such a house as that of Glaucon was as laudable, -certainly as natural, as Apollonius' own ambition to fame himself as -the conqueror of Palestine. - -The conversation of the General and the woman was interrupted by a -lad, whose basket of fruit, deftly balanced on his head, had gained -him admission to the camp; for while strict guard was kept against the -intrusion of peasant men and women, the children were allowed freedom -to sell their delicacies for the coins, though often they received only -the cuffs, of the soldiers. - -The boy was stretched at full length upon the ground, counting the bits -of money he had taken, and sorting the figs, dates, and grapes which -were left in his basket. His head was covered with a mass of unkempt -black hair, his body with a single garment, which might have been an -inverted corn sack, tied with a string at the waist, while his head -protruded through a hole in the bottom. His legs and feet were bare -except for the dirt which hosed them, and striped with scratches made -by bramble bushes. - -So engrossed was the boy in his business calculations that he did -not seem aware of his undue proximity to the General's tent, until a -sentinel prodded him in the calf of the leg with his spear-point, and -bade him "Begone!" - -The General, looking up at the outcry, recalled the lad and bought of -his fruit, tossing some of it into the lap of his companion. - -"Faugh! The Jew's filth soils them," cried she, as the clusters were -laid upon the rug. - -"Let them be well cleansed then," said the General; "but in this -country we must be less particular. The Jews believe that Adam, their -first father, was made out of the ground, and surely the race seems -fond of its original stock. But in one respect the Jews are cleaner -than most people; vermin cannot abide their vile blood; it poisons even -the fleas." - -"The lad is finely formed," said the woman, eyeing him as a -connoisseur. "His ankles are trim enough for a girl's, and his feet are -not flattened and ill-shapen as those of most peasants are. And what a -face! Ganymedes was not fairer. Look out, my lad, that the eagle does -not fly away with you and make you cup-bearer to the gods." - -"Why not make him your own Ganymedes, my divinity?" cried the General. -"You have no Hebe of your own begetting to be jealous of him. What say -you, my lad, would you like to be dressed in spangles and wait at the -hand of the fairest of Astartes? And perhaps, being only a child, you -might drink at her lips, since my goddess has lost her liking for an -old soldier's kisses." - -With a look of stupid inquiry the boy replied in the Samaritan patois, -"An as for a bunch; three bunches for two ases; all for an obolo. -Give me drachma and I bring you so much"--extending his arms as if to -enclose a bushel. - -The Greeks burst into laughter. - -"Your learned wit is wasted on a Samaritan, as I am afraid mine would -be on that Jerusalem Jew," said the mistress. - -"It will not be wasted there. Glaucon speaks Greek well, as do all -the better sort in the city. Besides, his head is just now as full as -a pedlar's pack of all the scraps of our philosophy, poetry, and art -that he can hear. He is specially interested in our Greek goddesses, -and in making his hair curl. With his head in your lap you can arrange -his locks and give him a lesson in the worship of Aphrodite at the same -time. Glaucon will be as good a pupil of Helena as Pericles was of -Aspasia." - -The fruit-seller, impervious to their wit at his expense, gathered -up the remnant of his wares, and started away; but quickly turning, -he threw himself down upon his belly in the shadow of the tent, and -resumed counting his coins, tallying each one with a jerk of his -heels, as those dirty but graceful appendages waved over his back. - -"The boy's legs talk as freely as the arms and face of Pharetes, the -pantomimist. He would make an actor, if trained," observed Apollonius. - -"Or a dancer," replied the woman. "Let us see if he has learned to -wiggle his calves rhythmically." - -She sang a rollicking run of notes, accompanied with snapping her -fingers and waving her arms, which tempted even Apollonius to give a -few steps in his jingling armor. The boy only stared and grinned. - -"Pshaw!" said the General, "the religion of these people is so dull -that it rusts even their sinews. A Greek child would have danced on -his hands and head at such singing. But, my dear, you should start -to-morrow for Jerusalem. I will strike the miserable spawn of that -priest Mattathias--Apollo, my namesake, being willing--within three -days. Some ten thousand of us, each as valiant as Alexander himself, -are only waiting to conquer these sand-hills in lieu of a larger -world. We will drive the Jews into their holes and drown them in their -own blood, and then move to the city. I fear that Menelaos, the High -Priest, is scraping the bottom of every strong-box the Jews left, and -if we do not hasten there will not be an obolo for us to buy grapes -with." - -His companion had become curiously interested in the lad. - -"Do the boys and girls dress alike in this country?" she asked. "That -child has the hips and shoulders of a woman." - -The boy had evidently completed his bookkeeping, and hastily -swallowing some of his wares, moved away. He sauntered awhile in the -direction of the town, trying to keep two figs at a time in the air -or to catch one in his mouth; then suddenly turned southward toward -the eastern slope of Mount Gerizim, and, depositing his basket under a -clump of bushes, ran southward as fast as his legs could carry him. - - - - -XV - -THE BATTLE OF THE WADY - - -The gray light of the following morning, breaking between the cliffs of -Moab, revealed two figures not far from the Fort of the Rocks. - -One was the stalwart form of Judas, his red hair glowing like a sunrise -on a mountain pinnacle as compared with the tiny body of his companion, -the lame Mephibosheth. The boy's strength was utterly exhausted, so -that he could scarcely stand with the aid of his crutch; but his -tongue, as usual, was "like a strong man rejoicing to run a race." - -"Up on my shoulder, Meph!" said Judas. "You can better whisper in my -ear what I judge it were not well for even the trees to hear. She was -unharmed? And you met her in the Wady? That is a good seven hours from -here, Meph. And you have trudged all night to bring me tidings? The -Lord bless you!" - -"Amen!" responded Meph. "And General Apollonius moves at once upon -us. He will attack us to-morrow or next day. Deborah bade me say that -he would surely come by the Wady. They must move up the dry water-bed -if they would reach us so soon, for it will take thrice the hours to -march over the hills; and she says that one man on the cliff above is -worth a score hemmed in by the walls of the great chasm they must pass -through." - -"God be praised! And is this all?" asked Judas. - -"Except," added Meph, "that a rich convoy has already started from -Shechem for Jerusalem by the direct road. In it are many merchants and -women of rank." - -"We want neither their pelf nor their women," said Judas. "Let them go -their way, if they only keep out of ours. But this Apollonius I would -have. He is the biggest hawk of them all. Oh, Meph! Meph! if we could -only get his claws tangled in the Wady as you get the birds fastened in -your nets!" - -"I generally have to pull the string myself," said the boy. "You must -pull just then and just so, but you get them." - -Judas laughed and assured Meph that he would make a strategist if not a -champion some day; and with gigantic strides he went over the hills. - -Within an hour the Fort of the Rocks was deserted by all save the -women, the aged, the sick, and children. In single bands the armed men -moved northward, following the depression between the hills, filing -like ants close to the clumps of rock so that no eye less sharp than -an eagle's would have detected a moving army. As night fell, the Jews, -who had been scattered during the daylight, gathered in among the rocks -bordering the great Wady. In the darkness they felt their way each to -such couch as he might find between the boulders. Soon all was silent, -except for the coming and going of Judas and his brethren, giving -encouragement or command. - -At the same time the army of Apollonius was approaching, a league to -the west. A squadron of horsemen led the van. These followed the -roadway, whose white line was extinguished by the clouds of dust raised -by thousands of hoofs. Lance-point and helmet gleamed dimly through the -darkness answering the stars, as when heavenly bodies are reflected -in rippling water. The command to move in silence did not prevent the -clicking of weapons and the low rumble of horses' feet on the beaten -road. - -Foot soldiers, armed with pikes, bows, and swords, followed the -horsemen. Then came camels and asses, laden with provisions and heavier -weapons. To the rear struggled hundreds of camp followers; merchants to -purchase the spoil; and those of baser sort to revel in the expected -rapine. The usual swarm of women were there to make their Circean camp -wherever the troops should halt. - -It was past midnight when the van of the Greeks reached the opening -of the Wady. The soldiers needed rest after their rapid march. Each -company scattered to right or left, maintaining only relative order. -Then silence fell upon the host. Ten thousand men were scarcely -distinguishable from the rocks and bushes amid which they slept. The -sharp challenge of a sentinel, the accidental clash of a weapon against -a stone, mingled with the hoot of an owl or the bark of some jackal as -he found his usual path of marauding blocked by the strange forms of -men. - -Yet other eyes than those of night-prowling birds and beasts penetrated -the darkness. Judas and his brethren had taken oversight of the Greek -host almost as comprehensive as was that of Apollonius and his staff. - -"I fear," said Judas to a comrade, "lest something untoward has -happened the maiden; for this is the spot, and the stars mark the -hour. God forbid that we have erred in sending her upon this unwomanly -venture!" - -"Yet," said Jonathan, "the information she has sent us is worth the -sacrifice of a life." - -"But not such a life, my brother. If she has been ensnared, I know not -how to rejoice in any victory so dearly bought. Meph says she was at -the very tent of Apollonius." - -"You think overmuch of the daughter of Elkiah," replied Jonathan. -"Besides, she would have her own way." - -"Aye, and has it. List!" - -The three whistling notes of a quail floated from a long distance, and -were scarcely answered by the same signal when a woman stood beside -them. - -"God be praised!" and the two Maccabees each raised in turn her hand to -his lips. - -"But why this attire, Deborah? We looked for a Greek helmet at least," -said Judas, touching her long flowing robe, which even the night showed -to be of a gaudy color. - -"The Greek women have the freedom of their camps," replied Deborah. -"No greater dangers than insulting words have threatened me there, and -words do not harm if the soul does not hear them." - -"Still, for every such word a Greek life shall pay before another night -comes," said Jonathan. - -"Not in my revenge, brave men," replied Deborah. "We must not think -of such things. What shall we care for insults when our cause is so -shamed? But to my account. Apollonius rides with the middle division. -The squadron of Syrian horse under Syron leads. Philip has sent a -detachment from Jerusalem to join in the fray. The whole army moves -into the valley at daybreak. God grant it may be to them the 'valley of -the shadow of death.' But yet, how can I wish such things? Sometimes my -woman's heart cries out against the cruelty of our most righteous war. -But I am woman no longer. My heart has bled so much that my nature has -turned to blood. Have you any order for me?" - -"None, but that you rest. Do not stay near the battle, for though we -pray for victory we are but a handful against a multitude. Our armor is -little more than our courage; theirs is brass and iron." - -"It matters not," said Deborah. "Did you hear my Caleb's dream? It was -of a little hole in the sandy beach which drank up the sea." - -"The Lord grant that this Wady be the hole," responded Judas. "If He -forsake us not, few of the Greeks will come out at the other end. But -to your rest, my daughter! You will need great strength of body and -soul to comfort those in the Fort of the Rocks, who will mourn for many -of us to-morrow. God watch between us!" - -Deborah went a little way in the direction of the Fort of the Rocks. -Jonathan accompanied her until she insisted upon lying down to rest -in a secure spot, feeling too fatigued to resume her journey before -to-morrow. - -But no sooner had Jonathan's form disappeared through the night than -she rose. - -"I cannot stay away from the battle," she said to herself. "Many of -these, my brothers, will fall. My place is among them. But this blood, -this blood! God, must it be? Yet I, a woman, have helped prepare this -slaughter." - -She fell upon her knees. "Lord, spare Thy people. If blood must flow -let it be of those only who have destroyed Thy altars, and blasphemed -Thy Holy Name. Spare Judas and Jonathan, and--all these Thy people! -Avenge Thou our cause! As the sun drinks the water from the pools, so -may Thy vengeance drink the blood of the enemy, and Thy land be purged!" - -She rose and walked rapidly, not toward the Fort of the Rocks, but in -the direction of the Greeks. - - - - -XVI - -THE BATTLEFIELD OF A HEART - - -Deborah joined a group of Greek women on the edge of the camps. These -were venting their rage upon an officer in command of a contingent sent -from Jerusalem. - -"The Captain forbids us to come among his tents; Astarte curse him! Are -his men better than other men, or better than we?" - -"They say he was born in Athens; as if Athens were better than -Antioch!" said one. - -"The statue of Athena, the prude, in the Parthenon, is so big that it -crowds out all other gods and goddesses; and so this upstart Captain -would crowd us out. And are we not goddesses? My Adonis, the one with a -brass pot for a skull, called me one." - -"Yes, they call us heavenly, and help us to Hades." - -"Captain Dion would make Aphrodite herself wear long skirts," said -another. - -"Dion!" The word rang sharp as a thunder-crash through Deborah's soul. -A glare as of the lightning's bolt seemed to illumine her. In it she -saw herself again a woman. Dion! Was she leading this man to slaughter? -But why not? He, too, was the enemy of her land, of her religion, of -her God. Had she not vowed death to Greeks of every name? Did her oath -spare even Dion? - -Yet Dion had saved her. And that, too, in spite of his soldierly duty -to his cause. - -Deborah staggered back into the darkness. Her strength until now had -been that of a man; but it was the strength which her soul, with its -tremendous resoluteness, had imparted to nerve and muscle. Now that her -soul was shaken, it sent its quiver through her physical frame, and she -was weak as a child. She sank upon the ground. - -Then one by one came memory's pictures of the terrors she had -experienced in Jerusalem. What had sustained her during those awful -days? Her pride as the daughter of the house of Elkiah? The necessity -of guarding her blind brother Caleb? Her faith? All these, doubtless; -yet she confessed to herself that but for the kind words of the Greek -Dion she might have given way. Not his proffered love. No! No! That -alone would have made her hate him; but he had been good to her. And -if--if God had used the Greek's kindness, even his love, to sustain -her, to give her strength for her holy devotion, should she despise -this Greek? Should she lead him into this ambuscade? If he should fall -on the morrow would she not be his murderess? She recoiled from herself -as from some polluted thing. - -Then, as a wave receding into the sea comes back, her feeling was -quickly reversed. Had she not taken delight in imagining herself -another Jael, who could drive the nail through the temple of a foeman -of her people, though he were sleeping in her own tent. She tried to -say, "Even Dion to his death!" but the sentence would not frame itself -in her purpose. Her brain seemed to stagnate. She could not think. She -prayed, "Lord, I am but as a mould; fill me with such purpose as Thou -wilt!" - -At length she said to herself, "I will seek out Judas, and beg him to -spare the advance of the Greek hosts, for there Dion will be, since his -camp is here foremost." - -Scarcely was this project formed when she abandoned it. The contingent -from Jerusalem to which Dion belonged was as numerous as all Judas' -band, and, if not destroyed in the first surprise of the attack, might -turn the tide of battle. Besides, what reason could she give Judas for -this request? Confess her attachment to a Greek? If womanly shame did -not forbid such an acknowledgment to another man, it surely would cost -her the confidence of the Jews. Never again would they believe in the -patriotism or honesty of one whose brother was a traitor, and whose -lover--for such they would regard Dion--was in the hostile camp. - -Following her first impulses Deborah had risen from the ground and -walked slowly toward the place where she knew Judas could be reached by -her signals. But she quickly turned back. - -"Might I not warn Dion? Not, of course, his fellow-officers. But, if -I did, would not his sense of duty lead him to divulge the plot?" She -prayed again for light, but no light came. The gloom deepened about -her. Two spirits were tearing her soul asunder in their strife for -possession. She thought of her people; of her father dashed to death by -Greek hands beside the altar; then of the brave band of patriots who, -unless they triumphed bloodily at the very dawn, must themselves be -slaughtered before the nightfall. She felt her personality dissolving -into a flame of zeal for her land and her people's God. She cried out -with uplifted arms: "O God, I am no longer a woman. I am Thine; Thy -Avenging Spirit! Use me as Thou dost use the lightning's bolt, the -flood, the plague, that I may bring destruction to all this host!" - -Then, even as she stood with outstretched arms in this awful -imprecation, there came the vision of Dion, so noble, though a Greek, -with a man's heart greater than all his racial prejudice; the friend -who had risked life and repute for her father's safety, though it -proved unavailing; the rescuer of blind Caleb; her own friend--who -loved her, she could not doubt it--whose thoughts even now, as he was -moving to his death, were possibly of her. - -"O, God!" she exclaimed. "Take away my life. Let me die rather than -make this decision." - -She waited, longing that her heart might stop beating through the -violence of its own contentions. But it beat on. She drew a dagger, and -pressed its point gently against her bosom, as she murmured: - -"Oh, if it were but right that I should lay down my life, since God -will not take it!" - -The crackling of dried leaves caught Deborah's attention. A sentinel -gave challenge. - -Deborah instantly responded with the watchword of the Greek camp, "The -sword of Apollonius," which she knew had been given for the night. - -"Another woman, by Jove! One would think he had fallen upon the Grove -of Daphne, or the streets of the Piræus, rather than a war camp," said -one walking with the sentry. - -"Come, get out of this! To the rear with you, or we will make you march -in front of the first battle." - -"I am not within the lines," replied Deborah. "The lines run from the -twisted rock to the cypress yonder. So we were told." - -"Are those the lines?" asked the officer. "Then let her stay. We -ourselves have lost our bearing, but daylight is coming up yonder in -the East, and we shall need no longer any lines here, for we move at -dawn." - -Deborah could not mistake that voice, nor the form that the dim light -outlined. She thought that she was silent, enacting a tragedy back of -her rigidly compressed lips; yet some word or outcry must have escaped -her, for the officer turned quickly. - -"Woman, did you speak?" - -Now she was indeed silent, and moveless as the great rock against which -she leaned. The man came nearer and tried to scan her features. - -"Woman, I have heard your voice before. Have you followed from -Jerusalem?" - -A moment elapsed before she replied, but that moment was like one of -those in which we dream, and live hours and days. She realized that -there had now been forced upon her a quick decision of the question -which the past hour of agonizing debate with herself had not begun -to solve. She had time in that waiting moment to pray for light. She -gathered up many scenes of those terrible days in the city, of her -flight from Dion's help, of her vow, of her life as a spy. To these she -added the imagined scenes of the coming day, the slaughter of Greeks, -perhaps the annihilation of the Jewish band, and extinction of Israel's -hopes. She saw all these things, and central of them all she saw the -form now before her falling beneath some arrow shot from the covert of -the rocks overhanging the valley he was about to enter. And then she -saw herself as the accomplisher of it all. - -"And this, this," she said to herself, "is to be a woman's return for a -man's love!" - -Deborah had often prayed that God would destroy her sense of -personality, that she might be but an unfeeling agent of His will, -as are the lightning and tempest; but He had not done so. Her human -nature asserted itself over her faith; her individuality refused to -lose itself in her nationality, or shall we say that her womanhood -was stronger than both? This man and herself were for the instant as -essential factors in her problem as were the Greek and Jewish armies. -But she saw no clearer the solution of that problem; only that it -must be solved, right or wrong, and at once. So she replied to her -questioner: - -"Yes, I came from Jerusalem." - -The officer peered closely into her face. - -"You are not Greek nor Syrian." - -"God be praised, I am not. I am a daughter of Jerusalem, an outcast -from my father's house, as you would make all the women and children of -Israel to be." - -"Deborah! Daughter of Elkiah! Do I dream? Of all the damnable things -that war has brought this is the most fiendish. You, Deborah, in a -soldier's camp! Good gods! Tell me you are not the daughter of Elkiah, -but some black soul from Erebus which has found her dead body and -entered it." - -"Dion, I did not die, but it is true that another spirit has entered -mine." - -"Better wert thou dead than live such a life as this," cried he. "Why -did you fly without my help? I had arranged for your safety. I would -have given my life for yours--but--but now----" - -He grasped her hands, then threw them from him as something that -defiled him. "There is no god of Jew or Greek, or this could not have -been. Tell me, Deborah, that what I see is not true. That you--that you -are not here." - -He covered his face with his hands as if to banish the vision of the -reality. - -"Dion, what you see is true; but what you think is false--yes, false -and mean as the gods you worship. An outcast I am, as all my people -are; but not an outcast from honour; not from my father's faith; not -from the favour of my father's God. Your soldiers have destroyed our -homes; where can we live but in the fields? How can we subsist except -as the beasts and birds do, by picking up the crumbs which the army of -Antiochus drops along its path of slaughter?" - -She laid her hands upon her gaudy garments as if to tear them from her. - -A bugle sounded. It was quickly answered from far and near. A rustle -as of a sudden storm among the rocks and bushes told that the host was -waking. Then followed the hum of voices, cut with the sharp words of -command, the click of arms, and clashing of utensils, the neighing of -horses and outcries of grooms and masters. - -Dion started a step as if to obey the call. - -"Stay, Dion!" she cried, losing for the instant her self-possession as -she realized the fate which hung above her friend. - -The Greek turned, and said in quick words: "My command awaits me, -Deborah. Tell me how I may save you." - -She let him put his hand upon her. As she felt his touch she saw this -much of her problem solved--he should not return to his command if a -woman's will or a woman's wiles could prevent it. The love he offered -her she would use not for herself, but for his own sake. Surely if it -were right to deceive an enemy for his destruction, it were doubly -right to deceive a friend in order to save him. - -She replied, "My friend, my father's friend, you can save me from that -which I dread worse than my own death." - -"How? Who threatens you? Let me but hear it, and my sword will follow -him through Jewish or Greek camp, or through hell itself." - -"Let us draw a little more aside," said Deborah. "The light is so clear -now that it shows us." - -Dion slowly followed her, pausing again and again to look toward his -camp. - -A second bugle denoted that the host was to begin its march. - -"You must go back to your duty," said she. "Go, I must save myself as I -can. The bugle calls you." - -"A more sacred duty calls me here. Deborah, tell me, what threatens -you?" - -She gently drew him to a seat beside her upon a shelving rock which -was overcapped by a juniper bush. Did she mean the tenderness her face -expressed, so near to his? She felt that her look was like that of a -serpent enchanting a bird. She despised herself and would fain have -risen and fled away from the spot. But as she noted the man's features, -expressing so well the nobility of character she knew he possessed, and -realized also the unselfishness of his devotion to her, she felt that -she was not altogether practising deceit; that her web, though spun by -her brain, was from substance drawn from her heart. - -"My dear Dion," she said, "the greatest terror that possesses me is -that you think me what my presence here might suggest. Save me first of -all from falling in your respect. Believe me, I am still as worthy of -your care as when you saw me, a mere child, in Jerusalem--though these -few months have made me a woman, I fear with a wicked heart." - -"I do believe you, Deborah," cried he, grasping both her hands. "Now -that the light shows you, I see the same pure soul I once loved, -and never for an instant have ceased to love. But, my child, you -have suffered. Pain has cut deep lines. This must cease. If there is -anything in my position, my estate, any influence with those in power, -any strength in my arm or sharpness in my sword, let me use it. Only -tell me." - -The trumpet call was repeated. Dion rose, and stood for a while looking -in the direction whence it had come. - -"I can overtake them," he said, hesitating. - -"But how explain your absence? Will not some harm come from your -failing to appear with your command? You should go." - -Yet her hands were hard holding his, and her face wore an intensity of -desire which he, not knowing its full meaning, thought to be only the -return of his love. - -"I cannot go," said he. "I will not go, my love, until you have told me -how I can save you. By all the gods I swear it." - -"Swear not at all," said Deborah, placing her fingers upon his lips, -only to receive the kiss they tempted. - -Dion's arm stole about the form of his companion. She did not resist -it. Why not? Only because thus she was detaining him. Let him interpret -it otherwise; it was for his life, and when he was saved they would -part forever. - -A distant din caught the ear. A wild scream of a bugle was answered by -the blast of scores of trumpets and the shrieks of a multitude from the -direction of the great Wady. - -"An attack!" cried Dion, leaping to his feet. - -"Then you must be gone," said Deborah, but still clinging to him as she -pointed. "But see, the Jews are thronging there. They have lined the -hills. An ambuscade for the Greeks! God be with His people! Stay, Dion, -it is useless to seek your command. Your soldiers are in the Wady, and -Judas--the sword of the Lord and of Judas is between them and us!" - -Dion's trained eye took in at once the military situation. - -Yet under the true soldier's impulse, he would have hastened with -single sword to his post of duty, could he have seen any way thither. -The hills lining the Wady were now black with the Jews; and small bands -were hastening from every direction. He could not rejoin his soldiers -if he would. - -Deborah readily drew him back to their covert. Now and again he would -start forth, but as quickly return, seeing no safe exit. Deborah -herself became changed in look and manner. Her lips opened as if giving -command to the distant soldiers, yet her hand on Dion's arm held him -captive by the spell of its touch. - -"List! The cry of the sons of Mattathias--Mi-camo-ca-ba! 'who is like -unto thee among the Gods!' Judas is conquering. See! See! Our people -are over the hilltops. They are rushing down into the Wady. God be -praised! The sword of the Lord and of Judas!" - -She seemed to forget the presence of her companion, yet at the -slightest movement on his part her hand stayed him. - -"I will hasten to the eastward. Surely our troops will cut their way -out there upon the open road," cried Dion. - -"Nay, but see! Jonathan and the men from Hebron are there." - -"Then I can follow into the ravine and die with my brave soldiers." - -"That way is also closed," said Deborah, "for Simon and the tribesmen -from the north are pressing in after the Greeks. Look!" - -"How knew you this?" cried Dion, as his trained eye saw that the woman -was correct. "Are you a spirit of battle? Do you hold the armies of -Antiochus as you have held me? Are you witch, or are you woman?" - -"I know not," she replied, "I only know that Dion dies not to-day with -the rest." - -Then the Greek broke away from his captor. It was but for a moment, for -all around were Jews, who sprang up as if from the ground. - -"Back, back, or you are slain! These peasants never miss with the arrow -or sling. Back!" - -She drew him to the covert. - -"For myself I care not, but you." - -"For my sake then, O Dion, do not leave me. They will kill me. Save me, -Dion! Back! They will see your Greek armor, and the arrows will not -leave a branch on the tree if you are detected. Back!" - -She had scarcely spoken when a missile clanged against the rock at her -side. Deborah sprang from the covert, and stood exposed in the open. -Dion heard the call of a Jew to his comrades: - -"It is only a woman; forward, men!" - -The group of patriots hurried by. - -Deborah scanned the field far and wide. Seeing that the Jews had all -entered the ravine, she turned to her companion: - -"Dion, go quickly! Once Dion was called a traitor to his people because -he saved the daughter of Elkiah; to-day Elkiah's child had almost -betrayed her people that she might save the life of the noblest of -Greeks. Hasten away." - -His arms would have retained her, but swift as a frightened fawn she -ran, and, breathless in his futile pursuit, the Greek watched her agile -form until it disappeared among the throngs which marked the edge of -the battle. Then he sought to rejoin his forces. But it was only to -be caught in a crowd of fugitives who had escaped from the Wady, and, -helmetless, were making their way to the west. - -The setting sun that day was not so red as the blood-stained rocks in -the Wady. Thousands of corpses lay amid the broken spear-shafts and -empty helmets which lined the dry bed of the brook, waiting until the -next winter's storms should flood its banks and wash away the signs of -one of the grandest victories of few over many that history has ever -recorded. - -The sublimest heroism of that heroic day was displayed by Judas -himself. Heading a band of choice spirits, he leaped from rock to -rock down the side of the narrow valley, as a wild beast descends -upon its prey. He made straight for the spot where helmets were -brightest and the banners most enriched with blazonry, denoting the -body-guard of Apollonius. His voice, like a lion, roaring the war cry -'Mi-camo-ca-ba,' scarcely revealed his presence before his sword was -crossing that of the famous General. - -The gigantic stature of Judas, together with his tremendous strength -and fury, well matched any superior skill of fence the Greek might -have had. Their swords intertwined like two writhing serpents, neither -daring to loosen its grip of the other. But steadily the Jew forced -Apollonius to give ground until he was driven back against a rock which -prevented the free use of his arm. Then the swords disentangled, and -that of Judas entered the throat of his antagonist. - -The conflict was over. Judas gathered his scattered bands. Laden with -spoil--provisions, arms, and boxes filled with coins--they emerged from -the Wady. - -Upon a knoll stood the five brethren; about them the warriors, wearied -with their work, and sickened with their deep draughts of blood. Judas -knelt, and the little host fell prostrate upon the ground in silent -prayer. Then, as they rose, a woman's voice raised the old song of -Miriam by the Red Sea, and the multitude joined as in the synagogue; -but with what new meaning in their faith! - -"I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously. Thy right -hand hath dashed in pieces the enemy." - -When the shouts and psalms had died away Judas lifted the sword which -he himself had wrested from the death-clutch of Apollonius. It was a -slender weapon; its handle of fretted gold, its blue steel blade etched -with representations of the labors of Herakles. - -"Listen, my brave men! This sword belongs to the daughter of Elkiah. -Her prowess and her prophecy have won it." - -None but he and she knew his meaning, for she had told him of the scene -in Apollonius' house in Jerusalem. - -Deborah looked upon the blade. She took it into her hand a moment. One -near enough might have heard: - -"It is the same. I thank thee, O Lord, that a more fitting hand than -mine has done this deed." - -She then bound the sword of Apollonius upon the thigh of Judas. - -"So the Lord gird thee with strength!" she said. - -As, according to Jewish tradition, David wore the sword of the fallen -Goliath through all his glorious wars, so Judas carried the sword of -Apollonius, until five years later it was buried in the grave of the -founder of the Maccabæan dynasty of Jewish patriots. - - - - -XVII - -A FAIR WASHERWOMAN - - -The victory of the Jews at the Wady winged the fame of Judas far and -wide. Among his own people the chosen war-cry "Mi-camo-ca-ba" gave -place to the contracted word "Ma-ca-ba" or "Maccabee," the Hammer, a -title significant of the swift and crushing blows with which he smote -the enemy. - -Even the tribesmen about the borders of the Holy Land, the Horites -in the caves of Petra, and the dwellers in the flint castles of the -desert, wondered if a new deliverer had risen in Israel. In black tents -on the plains and in strongholds among the cliffs were told again and -again the old stories of the Jewish judges; while the Arab sheikhs of -the Jordan valley deliberated if it were not wise to cast in their -lot with a people who, even if not favored directly of heaven, might -by such human valor as Judas and his men had displayed, beat back the -deluge of Greek power which threatened to submerge their own as well as -Israel's possessions. - -Among the Jews the enthusiasm was like a fire amid brambles, so rapidly -did it spread. Simon, the Wise, was persistent in his counsel for -patience, and for wide and cautious preparation. - -[Illustration] - -"Remember, my brethren," said he, "that we are not boiling a pot, but -are to consume the very Cedars of Lebanon--for such is this gigantic -power of the north which menaces us. The fight in the Wady was but -the beginning of battles. Antiochus has many armies. He will gather -fresh hordes from the nations which own his sway. We have only wounded -this wild beast of Antioch. He will turn again upon us with more -ravening strength." - -The news of the overwhelming defeat of Apollonius brought consternation -to the Greeks, and especially to the renegades in Jerusalem. Every -one who repeated the tidings added what he or she feared, until the -numbers of the Jewish patriots were swollen to vast multitudes in the -popular mind. The more sagacious assumed that the Jews must be in -alliance with the great nations which were contesting the dominion -of Antiochus beyond the deserts in the Euphrates valley. Some had it -that the Egyptian Ptolemy had resumed war against Syria; and even -Rome was rumored to have thrown her sword into the scale; for it was -incredible that an untrained peasant, with so small a force of herdsmen -as the Jews were reputed to have had, could outwit one of Apollonius' -astuteness, and with a single blow shatter his phalanges. - -Imagination, made sensitive by fright, pictured the valleys beyond -the hills filled with strange armies. Squads of Greek horsemen would -scurry rapidly across open fields, then halt for long observation -on the hilltops before venturing another dash. Popular superstition -transformed Judas himself into a demi-god, or one of the ancient -worthies of Israel, Samson or Gideon, returned to earth. - -"They say he is as big as Pelops, and carries a whole tree-trunk for -his mace," said a Greek soldier, looking stealthily behind him, and -watching an olive clump whose stiff branches shook in the evening -breeze. - -The gates of Jerusalem were now closed by day as well as by night. -Watchers patrolled without the walls, so that not a goat approached -without being scrutinized, "lest," said a Greek wag, "his horns should -prove to be the head-piece of another Alexander, the great Macedonian, -who wore such horns for his crest." - -The only inhabitants permitted free access and egress at the city gates -were the women who went daily to the brook Kedron, bearing loads of -clothing which they hastily washed in the running water, with faces -made white as the linen by the stories their fright invented. At any -moment this terrible Judas might leap upon them out of the hills or the -heavens. - -A group of these women were one morning at the Siloam pool. Among -them was one of well-bronzed face, and short black hair which sprayed -out beneath the close folding of her soiled kerchief. This woman was -accompanied by a child who sat upon the brink of the brook, that his -feet might feel the brush of cool water as it flowed by. She untied a -hamper of garments which she had carried upon her head, and, tying up -her skirts above her knees, waded into the stream. Like the others, she -dipped the pieces altogether into the water, pounded them one by one -with a short wooden club, then wrung each garment into a tight little -bundle, and flung it upon the bank. - -Suddenly a cry arose among the women. A cloud of dust appeared upon the -old road leading from Bethany. All gathered their laundered work, and -hastily climbed the steep ascent to the southern gate of the city. - -"Is it Judas?" asked the boy. "Can we get in before he catches us?" - -"If we hurry," replied the woman. "Come." - -"I wish it were Judas," said another, pausing in the shadow of the -tower above the gate. "Since these Greek fashions have come there is -nothing but wash, wash. The new Princess has enough white linen to -cover the peak of Hermon as the snows do, and enough coloured garments -to make her like a sunset." - -"Is she beautiful?" asked the strange washerwoman. - -"So the men say, but----" - -"But? Go on." - -"Why, you yourself, girl, would be fairer than the Princess if you had -one of her jewels in your hair. And as for her figure, no one sees her -except as she lies like a painted statue in the palanquin. She may have -a turtle's back and duck's legs, for all she arches her neck like a -swan." - -The clamour of the washerwomen sufficed without further watchword with -the sentry at the gate, who opened to them the "needle's eye" or small -door. Once within the city they could not be induced to venture out -again for the day, though assured that the imagined Judas was only a -Greek courier riding from the direction of Jericho, who brought tidings -that no enemy was to be seen for a distance of twenty stadia in any -direction. - -Passing the cellar-like tunnel beneath the city wall the laundresses -scattered, each in her own way, through the streets. - -The woman we have described, with her load upon her head like a -huge turban, and with the lad clinging to her skirts, went up the -Cheesemakers' Street to the Street of David. She paused an instant -by the little altar which stood by the street door of the house of -Glaucon, whether in detestation of this sacrilege of a home devoted to -piety or to offer a pinch of incense, an observer could not have told. -She rapped sharply at the gate. The bar was instantly dropped from -within. A short, stout man, whose long temple locks were well whitened -with years, stood in the half opening. - -"What do you want?" said he, as he saw the unexpected visitors. - -Before the woman could make response, the child had uttered a cry, -"It's Ephraim! It's Ephraim!" - -The man started back, and stared at the lad. - -"As the Lord liveth!" he exclaimed, and caught the boy to his arms. -"Surely Sheol has opened its gates. But where, woman, have you found -him?" - -"It's Deborah, too!" cried the lad. "Are you blind, Ephraim, that you -cannot see Deborah?" - -The woman passed through the door, and dropped the bundle from her head -upon the pavement of the court. - -Old Ephraim gazed stupidly at her. Then he clutched the boy closely, as -if it were necessary to re-enforce vision by feeling the living child, -ere he could credit his senses. - -"God be praised! It is she. My master's children, both!" - -Overcome as by an apparition, the old servant staggered for a moment, -then with a spasmodic burst of strength grasped the door, swung it -shut, dropped the heavy cross-bar between the lintels, and stood with -his whole weight against it. - -"Ephraim, I am not pursued; no one will harm me here," said Deborah. - -"No one dare touch you here," replied he, with a fierce look at the -closed portal, as if in challenge of men and demons without. "No one -will touch you here, but--but you shall not go away again." - -Ephraim glanced up at the sky, which dropped its light into the open -square court around which the house was built, as if he would close -that way of exit also, apparently imagining that it was only by some -such aerial flight that Deborah had formerly disappeared. - -"Is Benjamin here?" inquired Deborah. - -"Benjamin! God bless your lips for speaking that name once more. It's -many a day since we have heard anything but 'Glaucon,' 'Glaucon,' as -the son of Elkiah has gone in and out of his father's house. Aye, he -smote me in the face for repeating the name we called him when, on the -eighth day of his life, we circumcised him according to the Law--the -name recorded in the Temple when, about as big as Caleb, he was -enrolled as a Son of the Law, and the fringes put upon his coat. But -whence came you, my daughter? And why this dress of the serving women? -And your hands are hard, and your feet torn, and your beautiful hair -is cut off, and years have come into your face. When Huldah shall see -you, she will cry tears that are bitter as well as gladsome, for your -old nurse has sat in the house like 'Rachel, mourning for her children, -and refusing to be comforted, because they were not.' Poor hands!" He -raised them to his lips. - -"Your kiss, good Ephraim, has gone far to heal them," replied Deborah, -with moistened eyes. - -"And in this?" touching her garment, as if it were some unworthy thing -that defiled an altar. "In this? The daughter of my master, with robes -in her chamber fit for Sheba's queen, clad like a water carrier?" - -"Huldah's fingers and mine will soon remedy these things," replied the -girl. - -"That they shall"; and Ephraim's voice rang through the house: - -"Huldah! Huldah!" - -The old woman appeared upon the scene, with eyes flashing -contemptuously from beneath the white mantle which covered her head. - -"What now, Ephraim? Are you grown so old that you dare not push the -beggars from the door? I'll show you that a woman's strength does not -ooze out through her wrinkles." - -She made at the intruders, but her prowess vanished as quickly as the -strength goes from a broken bow. - -"My mistress! My darlings!" - -She threw herself prone upon the pavement of the court, kissed the feet -of Deborah, and fondled them. - -"Poor bruised things!" - -She could not rise, for Caleb had thrown himself into the lap of the -woman, who, when the first paroxysm of her excitement was gone, sat -crooning over the child, forgetful of the weary months during which her -arms had longed for him as if he had been her own. - -"You were always a mother to us, Huldah. The Lord bless your dear good -heart." - -"And to think that you were away from me, and wanting me!" cried the -nurse, hugging closer the blind child. - -"The Lord has been with us," replied Deborah. "Some day I will tell you -all." - -"I would have known all that happened to my master's daughter," said -Ephraim, "if I had known whither you had gone, for with you I had gone -also. Here have I stayed, not for love of Benjamin, but because I did -not know where to go to seek you." - -"The Lord reward you, Ephraim! And now let me go to my chamber." - -"That alone has been untouched," said Huldah. "You see that all else -has been changed." - -Ephraim led the way across the court, Huldah following, carrying Caleb. - -In the centre of the court played the little fountain; but it no longer -sent up its simple sheaf of spray. The water now trickled from the -hands of marble Cupids, and fell upon the nude form of Aphrodite, and -filled a shell-shaped basin at her feet. At the corners of the court -stood exquisite sculptures, evidencing the new taste of the master of -the house. - -As Deborah stepped upon the platform, or open square room which -served as the entrance hall to the living apartments, she was -confronted by a middle-aged man, in white chiton and embroidered -girdle, with close-curled locks and flat face. His lofty but otherwise -expressionless look, and the stiffness of the motion by which he -simulated dignity, indicated that he was the chief of several Greek -servants whom Glaucon had installed. - -"Not in here, woman," said he, putting his hand upon Deborah. "You -Jewish dog," he added, addressing Ephraim, "have you forgotten your -business, to bring your street herd into the house? I'll teach you." - -He raised his hand to strike him, but Deborah's arm intercepted the -blow. - -"Hold, I am mistress here," she said. - -Her shabby garb could not disguise her supreme grace of mien, nor did -her weather-bronzed skin hide the beauty of her face or lessen the tone -of refinement in her voice. The man stared in motionless amazement as -she raised the curtain and passed within, bidding Huldah to follow. - -Leaving Ephraim to tell the story of her identity, she entered the -first lower chamber, the reception-room of the mansion. She noted the -strange and foreign things which had taken the place of the familiar -furniture, much of which had been the heirloom of many generations; -then she passed to her own chamber. Here, as Huldah pointed out, -everything was as she had left it the day of her flight. - -"Now, good mother, let us be alone," said she, with a fond embrace of -the old nurse. - -"Here is the key of the chest," said Huldah, after much fumbling in her -bosom, and nearly denuding herself in the search. "The Greek slaves -that Benjamin has hired steal everything that their fingers touch. But -they have not come in here. Even Benjamin swore to kill them if they -did, though they have opened all his closets, except the hidden ones -between the walls." - -When they were alone, and Caleb, tired of seeing every familiar thing -with those eyes in his fingers, had dropped to sleep upon the couch, -Deborah knelt by the side of it--the bed which had been hers in -childhood. She would pray. But quick memories wrought a veil that shut -out the present communion. She recollected her mother that day when -they carried her out to be buried, and when, as a parting gift, she -left them little Caleb. She thought of the happy years when Benjamin -had taken her upon his big boyish shoulders, and played with her on -the roof-top, and down by the brook Kedron where she had been to-day. -She had been wont to dream of Benjamin as a prince among the people, -and wondered if the Messiah, when He should come, would be handsomer -or braver or kinder than her brother. Then she recalled the strange -sickness that had fallen upon Caleb; the days of pain which her little -mother-hands alone could exorcise from his hot temples and writhing -form; and how, when the sickness passed, his eyes grew larger, as if -seeing things far away, but saw not anything that others looked upon. -She sat again at her father's feet, and learned from his lips the -sacred precepts of the Law and the thrilling stories of her nation's -heroes, and the wonders of Jehovah's arm made bare for Israel's -deliverance. God had been to her in those childhood days a Presence of -which she seemed conscious--the clouds His robes of glory, and every -whispering breeze His assurance of love and care. - -But now--she tried to pray, but her prayer was only like the cry of a -child in fright. Her soul threw out its arms blindly grasping at she -knew not what--yet called that unknown "God's Will." - -How weak she was! And yet how strong! - -She realized that she was but as a leaf in the stream which the -current carries along, but which the current cannot sink. True, she -could not resist the terrible tide of circumstances into which her lot -was cast, but neither could these circumstances destroy her. She stood -with clenched hands, motionless, looking at nothing. - -Her lips moved, and this they said: "I cannot even pray. I was Elkiah's -daughter, but now I am not even a woman; I am a spirit, vengeful, -hating, deceiving, or I could not do this thing. Yet surely, I am -Elkiah's daughter. This is my chamber. And this, and this, and this is -mine. O, my father, forgive me! And yet thy sainted spirit called me to -come home again. O, Lord God of my father, help me to honour his name, -and to save his house!" - - - - -XVIII - -HIGH PRIEST! HIGH DEVIL! - - -Deborah threw off her coarse garment, and before the mirror of polished -brass--in which many generations of women had been made conscious of -the beauty for which their family was famous--she arranged her hair as -decorously as its brief length permitted, supplementing its lost beauty -with a band of pearls which she discovered in the great carved wooden -chest. Her arms were now as sun-stained as those of a Bedouin maiden -from the tribes beyond Jordan, and made goodly contrast with the silver -bracelets which once scarcely rivalled the whiteness of her skin. She -donned an embroidered bodice and outer robe of white linen, and put on -the sandals with the golden-threaded strings binding the ankles, such -as she had often worn. - -"Once more I am the daughter of Elkiah." - -A momentary flush of pride answered the reflection in the mirror. - -She pushed it from her, and sat with folded hands upon the couch. - -"A hypocrite! What better am I than that brazen mistress of Apollonius? -Oh, God, must I do this? A spy in the house of my father? Lord, lead -me. Save me from wrong-doing. Yet is it not Thy will?" - -"What is it, sister?" asked Caleb, who was now awakened by Deborah's -soliloquy. He stretched out his hands to her, but shrank back as he -felt the strange texture of her robe. - -"We are home again, my dear. Come, you must wear your pretty clothes." - -While dressing Caleb neither of them spoke, for their attention was -drawn to loud voices which sounded from the adjacent chamber. - -"The Lord be with thee, Glaucon!" - -"And with thee, Menelaos!" - -"Ha! ha! you haven't forgotten your old-time piety." - -"If I had, the presence of the High Priest would revive the memory. I -take it that your office has more agreeable functions, now that the -King will not allow the priests to smell so much of blood and offal as -formerly. A journey to Antioch, a chariot in the processions, and a -symposium in the King's new banqueting-hall--though the wine has too -much mastic in it--must be preferable to playing chief butcher at the -Temple. Is it not so, my lord?" - -"Hush, Glaucon! Your words have too much truth in them to be -agreeable," replied Menelaos. "But, by Jove!--it is convenient to have -an oath one can use without blasphemy--by Jove! I would rather be here -hobnobbing with an old comrade than tripping up on my official skirts -in Antioch." - -The Priest threw himself upon the wide divan, while an attendant -arranged behind him a pile of cushions. - -"Wine, Ajax!" cried Glaucon. "I am sorry we must take it no cooler than -the cellar, for these rebels have let no snow be brought from Hermon -since they sent Apollonius across the Styx." - -"The gods forbid that that ravening beast Judas cut off other -supplies," replied the Priest. "Not a partridge nor a fish has been -sold at the market for a fortnight. The Princess will have double cause -for grief over the death of her cousin, the General, if she stays in -Jerusalem. So goodly a bit of flesh should be fed better. But a fine -convoy is coming down from Antioch." - -"There is no doubt about her kinship to the General?" asked Glaucon. - -"Oh, none whatever. Apollonius' letter to me implied as much. They -say she has great riches. The tribute of a whole city in Anatolia, or -Syria, or the devil may guess where, follows her; for Apollonius was -as bold in robbing his enemies as he was in killing them; and he loved -the woman so well that he would have let her melt off his legs had they -been golden. The Princess says that a thousand shekels belonging to -her were in Apollonius' military chest and fell into the hands of the -damned Maccabaean." - -"That is the worst thing I have heard about Judas' victory," laughed -Glaucon. "But the Princess has plenty of credit, I take it, even if she -can't transport through the air the gold plates on the roofs of her -many palaces." - -"Gold plates or thatch, she's rich enough," rejoined the Priest. "And, -by Aphrodite's ankle! what a woman she is! Glaucon, if it were not that -I have already at least one wife, I would cut your throat for jealousy, -for Helena evidently takes to you. She has an eye for manly beauty. And -you, Glaucon, have a face which, but for the twist in your nose that -the alipta has not yet mollified enough to straighten out, would be the -face of a god. You are an Adonis in figure. If I had your shoulders -and calves I would forswear priest's robes. What a couple you and the -Princess would make!" - -The click of a brass mirror was heard as Glaucon replied, "'By -Aphrodite's ankle!' A good oath that. I will remember it. 'By -Aphrodite's ankle!' Ha! ha! A good saying! a good saying! The Princess -is a beauty, I swear! Her lips are always red." - -"Not from over-use either, I take it," interjected his coacher. - -"And her skin so fair!" - -"Never saw anything fairer outside the shop of Demos, the cosmetic -seller in Antioch," replied Menelaos. "And, by Jove, you are a fool, -Glaucon, if you don't get her. Listen! With all of her distant -possessions I happen to know that the loss of Apollonius' box left -her in need of ready money; ready money, you understand, for she has -plenty that isn't ready. I proposed to advance her a few shekels, but -my wife Lydia, the chaste--please tell her I called her that--objects -on the ground that as High Priest I should not lend money. But really, -my wife is as jealous of Helena as a hen is of a duck. A gift from -your strong-box, Glaucon, would not be a bad investment. 'Cast thy -bread upon the waters,' says Solomon, 'and thou shalt find it after -many days.' I commend the precept to your piety, son of Elkiah the -provident." - -"Perhaps I could spare something," said Glaucon, musingly. - -"I do not doubt it," replied the Priest, "else you have not used well -the office I have secured for you. And how goes farming the taxes?" - -"Thanks to your favouring me at Antioch, my good Menelaos, I am in -fair prospect, though we have not much gold in Jerusalem. The soldiers -have gleaned everything that glittered. But I am getting hold of some -estates, the heirs to which have either been killed or have joined the -rebels, so that their titles revert to the King. For these he gives me -fair commission. - -"But there is one matter that puzzles me, Menelaos. Do you remember -the house of Shattuck? It is now a score and a half years since that -family disappeared from the city. Hosea ben Shattuck was a merchant -in Sidon wares, his shop where the Street of David bends toward the -Tyropean, his house the great one by the Tower of David. Report has -it that he journeyed to Alexandria--took ship at Gaza--but he never -returned. As Shattuck was unmarried there seems to be no one interested -in chronicling his whereabouts. The property is now one of the largest -on the tax list. I could secure the title for the value of a pedlar's -pack. Among my father's accounts I found the evidence of Shattuck's -indebtedness to the house of Elkiah in the sum of fivescore shekels, -some little matter of business between them, such as my father would -never press against a neighbor. Though he did not ask the repayment of -it, he made record, as was his habit in all money matters. He would -not exact usury from a fellow Jew, but with the usury such as our new -customs allow it would amount to thrice as much as the original debt." - -"Claim the property, the whole of it, or you are a fool for a Jew, much -more for a Greek," said Menelaos eagerly. - -"But if any heir should return?" queried Glaucon. - -"But you said there was no heir." - -"True, but one doesn't always know about such matters." - -"Well, if there be, what then? On what ground could he make claim -for restitution? All titles of absentees now rest with the King. The -property, according to the last edict, will be confiscated. I can fix -it at Antioch that your indebtedness will be recognized. One hundred? -Make it a thousand. I myself will file claim, and vouch for it that -your credit in the matter is worth the entire estate of Shattuck." - -"You have great power with the King, my dear Menelaos." - -"Power with the King? Why, I bought him when I bought my High -Priesthood. You know that Jason, my brother, sent me to Antioch with -six hundred talents to bribe the royal pleasure for his appointment to -be High Priest. I appropriated the six hundred, added three hundred -more to it, and bought the office for myself; and so outplayed the -young trickster at his own game. Beside that, you recollect that it was -I who gave Jerusalem to the King." - -"How was that? I am not so well versed in state secrets as I should -be," replied Glaucon. - -"Why, when Jason, the Priest, came suddenly back from Egypt, hearing -the false report that Antiochus had died, he threw me into the dungeon -at Akra. To rescue me, and regain my conduct of affairs, the King sent -his army and took the city. So without me the King would not have had -it. No man, my dear friend, has had more to do with making the King's -fortune than I. And he cannot dispense with me yet. But I must have -some return for what I do for him--and for you. For my part in your -business, Glaucon, I shall have what portion of the gain?" - -"A third," said Glaucon, hesitating, and watching the face of his -comrade. - -"Make it half." - -"The old greed, Menelaos. The same that always claimed the fattest bird -we snared together when we were boys." - -"Greed! A proper taunt from the lips of the son of Elkiah, indeed. Who -secured for you your office of tax-farmer? And how many other estates -have you tapped like a wine-skin to fill your own jars, of which you -have told me nothing? Simon ben Shem wants to be tax-farmer in your -stead. He has done as much for me as you have, and will pay me a higher -rate for protection at Antioch." - -"Forgive me, Menelaos," cried Glaucon, quivering before the Priest's -gaze like a bird bewitched by the eyes of a snake. "I always bantered -you for taking the largest game; but in the end, as you know, always -let you have it. Let it be play between us." - -"Good!" replied Menelaos. "And what news of the Greek who loved you so -well that he split your skull with the discus?" - -"I fear," said Glaucon, "that we will get no news from Dion. He was in -command of a company sent from our city garrison, and not a man has -returned. Poor Dion! Next to yourself, Menelaos, I never had a truer -friend. Thorough Greek that he was, he seemed to have a love for our -people. He knew the legends of Moses as well as he knew the stories of -Homer, and I think he loved them better. The Lord rest his soul if we -see him no more!" - -"Amen!" said the Priest. "May Pluto give him a high place at his -banquets, for Dion was a good roysterer. He was as faithful to your -father as Æneas was to his. And he could not have searched the camps -for your brother and sister more thoroughly had he been her lover. -But farewell! The blessing of Jehovah, or Jove, or both, be with you, -Glaucon; and the smile of the Princess. Farewell!" - -"Jehovah, Jove, damn him," ejaculated Glaucon, as he threw himself -upon the divan the High Priest had left. "It is bad enough for one -like me to have turned against one's people, one's own house; but for -a High Priest to become a heathen--High Devil! Faugh! Wine, Ajax! My -purple himation! The large mirror! Some oil, here! Do the locks curl -at the neck? Call the litter. I'll away to the Princess, and cast my -bread--Ha! ha!" - - - - -XIX - -THE RENEGADE - - -"Stay, Benjamin!" cried Deborah, thrusting aside the curtains. She -stood a moment at the opening, scarcely recognizing her brother in the -heavy-lipped and maudlin face, the artificial curls, and the costume of -a Greek exquisite. - -Benjamin stared an instant in stupid curiosity, then took a step or two -in fright. - -"It is I! And Caleb!" cried Deborah, seizing his hands and putting them -about herself, and pressing her face to his. - -"God has been good to us, and brought us home, Benjamin," shouted -Caleb, eager for his embrace. - -"It is true. Yes, yes, it must be so," said Glaucon, at length coming -to his senses, with a flash of his old affectionate nature, like a -waning ember, lighting up his face with a suggestion of its former -beauty. - -He drew his sister and brother both to the couch, and sat between them, -staring from one to the other. - -"And you? You were not killed? What has happened? Where were you taken?" - -A few words sufficed to tell him all that she cared to have him -know--that she had fled for her life; had fallen among friends; had -not dared to return to Jerusalem before this, fearing some repetition -of the insults such as Apollonius had once offered her. But that now -the Governor was gone, she had come again to be under the care of her -natural and legal guardian, "and, God willing," she said, "that the -house of Elkiah may again be graced by the presence of woman and child." - -Glaucon's manner evidenced much restraint. He was not at ease in -expressing even the kindliness and affection he felt, for he had felt -so little of these emotions that he had no words in readiness to convey -them. There was the difference between his brotherly welcome and that -given by the old servants that there is between the shaduff, toilsomely -lifting its bucket of water at a time, and a fountain pouring out its -welcome to the upcoming flowers. Very soon the sentimental part of the -interview was past, and Glaucon proceeded to the practical. - -"If, my sister, you are to abide at home, since the King is extremely -jealous of the loyalty of the old Jewish families, it would be well to -adopt a name less clannish than your present one." - -"Call me what you will, brother. I will know myself only by the name my -mother gave me. I can, however, quickly interpret any other word into -that." - -Glaucon's mind was opaque to the fine sarcasm of his sister; he -proceeded: - -"Berenice is a beautiful name among the Greeks. You know the story of -Queen Berenice? No? Then I will tell it to you as I have heard the -Princess Helena tell it. I think the Princess has hair like Berenice's, -soft and silky as glistening light. You must come to know the Princess." - -"But the story of Berenice?" interjected Deborah, wearily. - -"It is a fair story as she told it to me," replied he. "Berenice was -the wife of King Ptolemy of Egypt; he who was called Euergetes, which -means Benefactor. Berenice was the loveliest of women. Her eyes gleamed -with starlight, and her hair flowed about her shoulders like the -mingling rays of the sun and moon. - -"Once, when the King was warring in Syrian lands, his queen made a vow -to the gods that, if they would return her lord safely to her arms, she -would cut off her hair, and consecrate it in a temple in Cyprus. The -gods were tempted by this gift, and gave Ptolemy wondrous victories and -a speedy return. Berenice fulfilled her vow. But such was the beauty -of her locks that they dazzled the eyes of the beholders who came into -the temple. Whereupon the gods hung Berenice's hair in the sky, and -there it is still. You may see it any night. It is gathered into seven -nodes which seem to be stars. All of our Greek astrologers know of the -constellation of Berenice's hair. The charming poet, Callimachus, made -a hymn in praise of this new beauty of the heavens. I will sing it to -you." - -"No, no," said Deborah, "the story is fine enough as you have told -it. Do not sing it. But my black threads do not suggest the starry -brightness of Berenice's locks. The name would better fit some -fair-haired woman. But call me what you will, my brother. And how shall -we know the child? Caleb means 'God's dog.' What will that be in Greek?" - -"The Greeks have that spirit in them that one would not be the dog of -even Diana, the goddess of the chase. Theodorus is a pretty name, and -means, 'gift of the gods.'" - -"Let him be called, then, Theodorus," said Deborah, with an acquiescing -smile. - -"But Berenice must dress more gayly than Deborah did," added her -brother. "This bodice looks like one that came out of Egypt with -Miriam, and for aught I know this linen was made by one of Pharaoh's -weavers, and was picked up on the shores of the Red Sea." - -"Our mother wore these, and she was counted the most beautiful woman -in Jewry," replied Deborah. "Besides, I have scores of changes made -of stuffs such as are rarely seen in these days. As for jewels, caps -of coin, ear-rings, necklaces, anklets and armlets, we have enough to -deck out a score of maidens, and laces which the princesses of Egypt -have worn, and robes of the most expensive Tyrian dye. The daughter of -Elkiah need not fear to appear among the gentlewomen, come they from -Antioch, or even the new capital of Rome." - -"True enough as far as value goes," replied Glaucon. "But these are not -in the fashion. When you see the Princess Helena you will envy her the -new shapes of dresses and jewelry. She is fairer than you. The sun has -tarnished your complexion, but she can teach you how to bleach it." - -"I have no doubt," interjected Deborah. - -"But," continued Glaucon, "when our Berenice is clad as well as the -Princess she need not be ashamed before even that marvellous woman." - -"Thanks, my brother." - -"I would that Dion could see you in the costume I shall have sent you -from Antioch." - -"Does Dion live?" asked Deborah. - -"Dion, I fear, is dead. A curse on those treacherous sons of -Mattathias. Sons of Belial! But," he rattled on, "it will be well to -make known to the people of the better sort in Jerusalem the return of -the mistress of the house of Glaucon. I will see to it that the wife -of Menelaos, the High Priest, and the wife of General Seron--who is to -command the new army of the King--and the Princess make their welcome -to you. Berenice, sister of Glaucon: why may she not some day be Queen -of Jerusalem? Already, my sister, with the wealth our father left me, -and much more that I have gained through my own shrewdness--for I am -the best business head in the land--I am the richest man in the city; -and with the revenues I can control in my office as tax assessor, I can -soon buy what I will from the King." - -"I fear, my dear Benjamin--my dear Glaucon," said the new Berenice, -gently touching her brother's cheeks, "that the glitter of your riches -has affected your head as the sun's rays sometimes do. As for the new -garments, I shall be glad of anything that makes me fairer in your -eyes; but I still bethink me that the apparel of Jewish women is more -elegant than that of the Greeks. Indeed, the better costumes of Athens -are borrowed from those of Syria. Of late years, since the death of -our mother, and since the sorrows of the land crushed our father, the -great oaken chests have been unopened. In them are garments laid away -in cassia dust, for which the costumers of Antioch would give more -shekels than they ask to array the chief of Antiochus' concubines. -To-morrow, if it please you, let Berenice, as the mistress of the house -of Glaucon, receive the ladies whom you desire." - -"As you will have it," said he, kissing the hand of his sister in the -latest manner of such etiquette imported from the capital. "Such spirit -as yours, Deb--Berenice, is worthy of her who is to outshine them all." - - - - -XX - -A FEMALE SYMPOSIUM - - -A double awning shielded the house-top of Glaucon from the glare of the -late afternoon sun, whose rays gathered intensity by being reflected -from a hundred white domes which, like inverted wasps' nests, rose -from the lower roofs of the city. Toward the sky the canopy was of -coarse white flaxen material; beneath it was lined with silk, blue -and white. Several movable divans, one of ivory, one of beaten brass, -the others of sycamore wood, were set next the western parapet. These -were covered with cloths of various colors upon which were wrought -conventional figures in threads of silver and gold. The couches were -so arranged that they faced a low table of ebony, heavily inlaid with -mother of pearl. On this were the remnants of a repast, consisting of -cakes, confections, fruits, and wines mixed with water. On the couches -reclined four women, richly clad according to the fashion of the day. - -Cynthia, the wife of General Seron, wore an outer robe of blue -silk. This was closely drawn about her person, so that the full -proportions of bust and limb were revealed by the very device for -their concealment. It was the boast of Seron that his spouse was the -best-formed woman among the wives of the generals. Her costume showed -that she was conscious of this pride of her husband, and inclined to -show that it was fully warranted. Her attitude as she reclined was -that of an Amazon, and would have been sufficient to warn away any -assailant, even if he were not terrified at the tiny spear of silver -which she held in her fingers, and which had fastened to her coiffure -the hat, a flat disc of ornamented straw, that now lay in her lap. - -The Princess Helena was radiant in the relics of nature's bountiful -endowment, judiciously repaired by the newest arts of feminine fashion. -If wax and rouge, pencil and pomade were her allies, they were in -slyest ambush within unsuspected wrinkles, and gave out not so much as -a stray freckle for a sign of the delusion. Her hair was thrown back -from her forehead and temples, and banded with a triple fillet which -gathered it up at the crown, whence it sprayed down in a shower of -gold upon her alabaster neck. Her outer robe of white wool had been -thrown back, and lay upon the couch, in seemingly careless, but really -artistic, contrast with her purple chiton. This under-garment was -gathered at the left shoulder within a gemmed clasp, loosely girded -beneath the breasts, and open below, displaying her limb from foot to -thigh. - -Lydia, the wife of Menelaos, the High Priest, had reason for being more -modestly covered, yet blazed in her green himation spangled with gold. - -Deborah, the hostess, rivalled these beauties in the contrast of her -purely oriental costume. Her black hair was covered with what seemed -a solid helmet of gold, so many were the coins which made her cap. -About her throat and falling low upon her bosom was a great necklace of -rarest gems, which flashed in all the hues most prized by lapidaries, -from the starry white of diamonds to the deepest blush of rubies. The -pearls pendant from her ears touched her shoulders, and glowed like -rivulets of light. Her inner garment was elaborately wrought with -needlework, and partly covered with a yellow outer robe. Altogether -the Jewess was a splendid vision of wealth and beauty, of which it is -sufficient to say that it had already passed the favourable inspection -of so great a connoisseur as her brother Glaucon. - -In their conversation the women seem to have exhausted all themes of a -purely human range--the faults of generals, from strategy to bow legs; -the King's stud of horses and his harem; the statuary of Phidias and -the flat-nosed gods of the Phœnicians; the epic of Hesiod, and the -latest songs from the streets of Antioch. Berenice had been induced -to tell her adventures, of which she gave as authentic an account as -perhaps her visitors gave of their romantic haps and doings on less -savory fields. The glory of the western sky, the palette of colors -ready to be painted together into the sunset, the grand old Temple -mount of the Jews, over which echoed now and then the bugle-calls of a -hostile race--these, together with the quickening influence of their -generous repast, now lifted their discourse to higher planes. - -"All religions are one," said Lydia, the wife of the High Priest. "The -Jews should be the first to recognize this. Since we say that there -is one only living and true God, it surely follows that Jove, and the -Phœnicians' Baal, and Ormuzd of the Persians, and Jehovah of Israel are -the same." - -"How," interposed the Princess, "how can Jehovah be Jove, the universal -god, since Jehovah never shows himself, nor is He worshipped, except in -this little land, and by the children of the one family of Abraham? He -is rather like one of our household gods, such as we teach the children -to do homage to, but ourselves use for ornaments." - -"But he has not even an image," laughed Cynthia, the wife of Seron. "I -have learned in Egypt that the gods always abide near their images." - -"That is if they are pretty images, beautifully carved and painted. For -the gods seem to be as vain as we women who love our mirrors," said -Helena. - -"But," rejoined Cynthia, "the Jews' god is such a serious being; always -telling his people to be good, and scolding them for their sins. -That story of Mount Sinai, with its dreary rocks and sands, and the -lightnings with their nest among the peaks, and caves like great mouths -roaring out thunder; oh, it must be a doleful place! I prefer Mount -Olympus, with its fair women and warriors for divinities." - -"And the worship of the Jews' God must be very tedious," added the -Princess. "On the Sabbath, no laughing, no playing." - -"Our God takes his rest on that day, like an old grandfather, and does -not want his children to disturb his nap," sneered Lydia. "But my -good Menelaos is changing such customs. On Sabbath next we have the -great games. Charicles from Sparta races with a Nubian chariot runner -and an Arab sheikh, for a stake of ten shekels which the High Priest -has offered. It will be a sight; three statues, one in marble, one in -ebony, and one in porphyry, all come to life." - -"The fault of the Jewish religion is that it makes too little of this -world," said the Princess. "It has no divine patron for the arts; no -Melpomene to inspire the song, no Terpsichore to stir the dance, no -Ares for war, and no Aphrodite to teach us how to love. I don't believe -that our fair hostess, who lies so solemnly there, has yet learned how -to commune with Aphrodite. I will pray that our happy goddess touch -her lips and make them itch for kisses, before the crow's feet make -their marks at her eyelids, as they soon will do if she insists on such -mannish escapades as she has been having. What shafts from Cupid's -quiver those black eyes could shoot, my fair Berenice! I shall warn all -my lovers to beware of you ere you learn your power." - -"I fear that just now we need to consult the war god," said Berenice. -"Think you that Ares had gone wooing the day of the battle in the Wady? -Or did it please his godship to lend his sword to the Maccabæan rebels -rather than to Apollonius?" - -"Quick! the Princess is fainting. A little wine, my dear. The death of -her kinsman went to her heart. That was a cruel thing for Berenice to -say," exclaimed Lydia, bending over her friend. - -"I am better now," responded Helena in a moment. "My dear kinsman, -Apollonius, taught me to bear misfortune. It was his motto, 'Forget -the dead, except to emulate their virtues.' As he braved death, I must -brave my bereavement. I believe with Plato--do you not? that the soul -is immortal. Then Apollonius lives. Perhaps I shall see him again." She -hid her face in the cushions. - -"Apollonius' death will be quickly avenged," cried Cynthia. "Already -my husband, Seron, has been called to lead the new army, and at one -blow he will utterly extirpate those Jewish beasts. All save Jerusalem, -from the Great Sea to Jordan, is to be swept with sword. The King has -put into my Seron's hand all the forces in Syria; and following them is -a great multitude of colonists from the north, who are to settle the -lands." - -"Where is Seron now?" asked Berenice. - -"This letter came to me but three hours since," replied Cynthia. "Let -me read: - - "'The armies from the capital, joined by many phalanges recalled from - service beyond the Lebanons, are with me. We shall rendezvous on - the plain of Sharon, and thence advance westward to the hills where - the outlaw Judas has his camp. Have no fears, my love, I am not an - Apollonius. We shall this time avoid all ravines, and march only in - the open. The number of soldiers with me needs neither secrecy nor - haste. The peltastai and cavalry alone could quickly destroy all - armed bands of Jews. We shall consume the land, walled cities, open - villages, and scattered houses, as an army of grasshoppers consumes - the harvests. Not a partridge shall escape our pots, nor a Jew's head - our spear-points. Greet Glaucon with this bit of news--his friend Dion - is with us, having alone of all his company escaped the massacre at - the Wady. The day after the full moon we begin the ascent of the hill - country. Keep thy dear heart in patience until the war god rests his - head in the lap of love, for I shall be a day with you in Jerusalem - before we press to the East and South.'" - -"The moon will be full three nights hence, will it not?" asked Berenice -nonchalantly. - -"Nay, in two," said Lydia, consulting her tablet. "It is one of the -duties of the High Priest's wife to wait upon the Night Queen, as does -the Priestess of Tanit. The second night the moon goddess will be in -full array. I must haste to tell the news of Seron's coming to my -Menelaos, that we may have a religious celebration of the triumph." - -"Then must I say farewell so soon to my new friends?" said Berenice, -rising. "Make my salutation to your good husbands, our friend Menelaos -and General Seron. And to what princely gallant will the fair Helena -convey my greeting?" - -"I must keep your greeting all for myself, my dear Berenice, until time -has allayed my grief for Apollonius' death," replied the Princess. -"Unless you bid me send it on your own account to Captain Dion," she -added. "Ah, blushes tell tales the lips do not care to utter." - -She kissed both the cheeks of Berenice, but did not note that her -breath blanched the blushes which Dion's name had started, as frost -kills roses. - -An hour later Deborah stood beneath the jewelled lantern in her -chamber, for it was now dark. In her large mirror she saw reflected -a figure far different from that which on the roof had excited the -envy of the vainest of her sex. Her cap of coins, her necklace and -ear-rings, silken robes and bejewelled sandals, were tossed together in -a heap on the floor. - -"You can arrange them, Huldah, when I am gone; and lay them back in the -chests." - -The old nurse was too much blinded by her tears, and her hands were too -trembling with excitement to have performed that duty then. She sat on -the floor rocking herself, her hands covering her face. - -"My darling came back to me with feet hard and torn, and in the clouts -of a washerwoman, and now she is going away again like a--like a----" - -"Like a woman, a woman of Israel," interjected Deborah, adjusting the -brown sheet, the common coarse outer garment of a peasant, over her -head and around her form. - -"Tell me, Huldah, do I not look like you or any other woman? If I do -I am handsome enough for the stars to gaze at. Now remember, I am -supposed to be sick and confined here in my chamber, and you are to -bring me my broth three times every day until I really come back. I -will think of your love, Huldah, and that will make me strong; and you -will think of me, and that will bring me back safely." - -She kissed the cheeks of her "good mother" as she called her, and -glided across the court to the entrance of the cellar. Caleb was -already there. They descended to the lower story. - -"What news for me to-night?" said a familiar voice, accompanied by the -click of a crutch on the stone pavement. - -"Why, Meph, you must take me along with you for your message this time." - -"Whew!" said the boy. "You're not really going yourself, Deborah?" - -"Yes; can we reach Judas before morning?" - -"If the stars don't get sleepy and go to bed before their time," -replied the lad. "It's a good six hours' stretch though." - -Deborah embraced Caleb, and disappeared with her guide. - - - - -XXI - -BATTLE OF BETHHORON - - -The sun had long risen the next day when Deborah came out of a little -hut on the brow of Bethhoron Heights, several leagues to the northwest -of Jerusalem. It was one of a score of half-burned and half-demolished -structures which marked the site of a deserted hamlet. - -A group of men, who had been lying among the rocks hard by, rose and -silently saluting her walked away; but not without backward glances -that betokened both reverence and curiosity. - -From her high outlook Deborah's eyes took in the vast plain of Sharon, -which lay at her feet. In the far distance the blue sea mingled with -the blue of the sky; a wonderful background for the nearer landscape, -which seemed like a garden. Yellow grain-laden fields, patches of -variegated poppies and lilies, vast sections of green meadow, and -groves of fig and orange diminished by distance suggested parterres -of flowers; while the white highways from Cœle-Syria and the coast -seemed but footpaths. Far to the north the sky was dotted with circling -eagles, while the dust clouds beneath suggested the fancy that these -birds were flying cinders flung upward by some conflagration. - -Deborah put her hand to her brow, and gazed long in that direction. -The dust haze began to sparkle as with fire-flies. Her trained eyes -recognized the far gleam of spear and helm. - -"They come," she ejaculated. - -She signalled to an armed peasant near her. "You are sure that Judas -got the message?" - -"I myself delivered it, my lady. Already our little army is on its -way northward. By night they will guard every road leading up from -the plain; and then, themselves kept out of sight, they will follow -southward and strike any detachment of the Greeks that ventures to -ascend the hills. But Judas must believe that they will not attempt any -ascent until they get as far down as this, for Simon and John are hard -by, and examining every slope and runway along the front of Bethhoron." - -Later in the day the astute surmise of Judas was demonstrated to -have been correct. As Deborah watched, she plainly distinguished the -detachments of the Syrian hosts succeed one another in their southerly -movement, like billows of grain under a strong breeze. When night fell -the plain of Sharon right before her gleamed with camp-fires, as the -sea with phosphorescence; while on every side she heard the rustle of -the moving bands of her countrymen, together with the subdued voices of -command. But not a light glowed on the brow of Bethhoron. - -Late in the night Judas came to her. - -"My child, you should not be here. It was enough to have sent us word." - -"I could not remain in the city," replied Deborah, "for I clearly -foresee that to-morrow we shall have a great victory, which the Lord -will give us, or else we shall be utterly destroyed." - -"But here you are in danger," responded Judas. "I beg you to return -to the city. If we succeed we shall soon join you there. If we are -destroyed the Lord will raise up others to avenge us, for His cause -rests with no single army. He is the Lord of Hosts, and will fill our -places with better men. You must live to be for them what you have been -for us. It is enough that we die." - -"Nay, Judas, entreat me not. The daughter of Elkiah will meet the fate -of the sons of Mattathias. It is my father's spirit that speaks through -my lips. I shall seek no danger, but I must cheer our brave brothers, -and staunch their wounds or close their eyes in death. Do not think me -rebellious, but to this duty I am surely called by Him who commands us -both." - -"I dare not command you, Deborah, for you are closer to God than I, and -know His will more perfectly. But this thing meets not my judgment. -Only do not follow the men over the heights. Yet I think we shall -succeed on the morrow. General Seron is making a mistake as clearly as -did Apollonius. When his host attempts to pass over Bethhoron it must -keep to the highway. With his horsemen and armament he cannot climb -the ledges, nor can his footmen march through the tangles of brush -and swamp. They must follow the zigzagging of the road, and move in -a long and twisting file like a string crumpled in one's hand. His -line may be twenty furlongs in length, but it will all be within five -furlongs' reach of us. Our men can cross these thickets and stone -fields as swallows skim the ground. Behind the rocks and brushwood one -of our archers will have a score for his target. Besides, we will have -the advantage of fighting from higher ground. I have no fear. Our -onslaught will be sudden; they have as yet no dream of opposition. One -is tempted to make a night attack upon their camp. But it is better to -wait; for, if I mistake not, to-morrow they will move up the Heights -like a line of captives to the headsman's block. Yonder is the valley -of Ajalon, above which the sun stood still until Joshua had gotten the -victory. Pray with us, Deborah, that the sun may not set to-morrow -until we too have been victorious. If the sun will not lengthen the day -for us, we will so crowd it with valorous deeds that we shall make it -like many days in one. Farewell! Do not venture beyond the Heights." - -Before noon of the following day, the advance of Seron's troops was -well up the ascent by the winding road, in exactly the order which -Judas had anticipated. For miles the army stretched away, almost to -Lydda; the glare of clustered spear-heads showing like the golden spots -on a python. In places detachments which were far removed from one -another in the marching order were brought close together by the loops -of the road, while intervening fields of boulders separated them, so -that they were not in helpful proximity. - -But no danger was visible to the Greeks. Helmets were thrown off and -piled on wagons with the baggage. There were songs in which the men -from one province tried to drown the voices of men from other parts of -the King's realm with their strange melodies. The only precaution shown -was by the very foremost of the army of invaders, who, obeying their -General's order of discipline, sent out scouts. These threaded their -way slowly between the boulders near the crest of Bethhoron; leisurely -feasting themselves upon the berries which glowed blue and red at their -fingers. - -One closely watching these scouts and pickets would have noted that -when a Greek soldier surmounted the crest he neither returned nor made -sign to those following. He simply disappeared, his comrades supposing -that he had passed in safety. But an eagle flying over the spot would -have paused to hover, with beak parted for the carrion feast that -awaited him there; for behind the ledge were masked the deadliest -shots among the Jewish bowmen, and those most expert with the short -lance, having from boyhood used it in hunting. Men who could elude the -sagacity of the fox, and pin the wary beast to the ground with a throw -of threescore paces, made quick finish of a Greek armed with a long and -heavy sarissa, which was fit only for close prodding. - -Behind the van came the staff of Seron, men bemedalled for exploits in -many battles. Then followed squadrons of horse, crowding their sweaty -flanks, and rubbing the greaves from their riders' legs in the attempt -to keep full number abreast on the narrow road. So the python's head -reached the Heights of Bethhoron. - -Suddenly the crest of the hill burst as with an earthquake. A roar -as of thunder articulated the war cry, "Mi-camo-ca-ba!" Every rock -scintillated with spear-heads. Arrows clouded the air, and fell in -deadly showers upon the unshielded Greeks, leaving scarcely a man or -a horse standing on the near roadway. Hundreds of these shafts, as if -borne by wings, so far was their flight, dropped amid Seron's suite, -and the gayest plumes first nodded beneath the deadly challenge. - -Under cover of this storm of missiles, and before the enemy could -sufficiently recover from consternation to clearly discern the meaning -of the attack, the armored Jews dashed over the crest. As when a dam -bursts, the living flood poured down the slope, carrying everything -before it. Mi-camo-ca-ba! the wild cry from a thousand throats, drowned -all shouts of command. But one sound was heard above the din. It was -the lion voice of Judas, as with the sword of Apollonius he hewed his -way through the half-formed phalanges. The first stretch of road was -not cleared of the foe before those on the second bend were hemmed in -by the patriot archers, who had gained the covert of rocks on either -side, and swept the highway with unerring aim. For the Greeks to -advance was impossible; orderly retreat equally vain. Those who stood -their ground were huddled together as for quicker slaughter. Those in -the rear turned backward in flight. The splendid squadrons, blinded by -panic, became like herds of riderless horses, spurred by the sting of -arrows. Cavalry dashed back upon the infantry following, carrying these -foot soldiers along as a freshet its débris. In less than two hours the -army of Seron was in hopeless rout over the white hills and across the -green cornfields of the plain of Sharon. - -The Maccabæans did not follow in pursuit. To have done so would have -revealed to the enemy the fewness of their assailants. Should the -Greeks regain their wits and resume the fight, Judas foresaw that his -men, away from their coverts of rocks and copses and in the open -plain, would be readily annihilated by superior numbers. He let the -panic do its work. - -"It's the angel of the Lord," he said, "though his wings are black with -God's curse." - -So Judas was content to watch the writhing of the python whose head he -had crushed. - -Seron and the survivors of his staff displayed their genius by -escaping in the opposite direction to the retreat of the mass of the -army. They turned off from the highway, and crossed the fields toward -the southeast in the direction of Jerusalem, their only covert now. -Several of the horses of his suite were abandoned, having broken their -legs as they slipped between the rocks; others refused to enter the -thickets of underbrush which had already torn their flesh, until they -were unmercifully prodded by the spurs of their riders. A handful of -officers at length struck a hoof path that with many windings debouched -into the highway near the summit of Bethhoron, whence they made their -way toward the city. - - - - -XXII - -A PRELUDE WITHOUT THE PLAY - - -The day had been one of intensest excitement in the city of Jerusalem. -From earliest morning the population had poured out of the gates, and -gathered on the high ground to the north that they might welcome Seron -and his host. - -It was remembered that on this spot years ago, according to the stories -the rabbis told, Alexander the Great had been received by the people of -the city. He, too, had ascended from Sharon by the pass of Bethhoron. -Now, in the steps of the mightiest of world-conquerors, as Cynthia -proudly noted, was to come the great Seron. - -The High Priest, Menelaos, had arranged a ceremony copied as nearly as -might be from the legends of Alexander's visit. He himself was dressed -in full pontifical robes of purple and gold, as were the ancient -priests of Israel, except that the name of Jehovah no longer shone -on the gold plate of his turban. The supreme pontiff was followed by -scores of men, most of them Greeks, dressed for the occasion as common -priests in white robes, which glistened as if the bright morning light -were itself a part of the pageant. There were musicians with trumpets -and cymbals to beat the very atmosphere into melodious salutation, -and clacquers to shout and cheer the oration which Menelaos should -pronounce as he invoked the blessings of all the gods upon the head of -the advancing chieftain. - -After this official procession came a double palanquin, bearing the -wives of Menelaos and Seron; and upon their persons, if one might judge -by the gorgeousness of the display, was much of the movable wealth of -their spouses. - -The Princess Helena, too, shone radiantly. Her complexion, the triumph -of cosmetics, rivalled the white but ruddy skin of the children who -ran beside her and gazed at her beauty. Her light hair was star lit -with jewels, and wrought into a high coiffure not unlike a miniature -sheaf of wheat with a binder of gold. She reclined upon the cushions -in graceful lassitude, and nodded her head at each stride of the -carriage-bearers with the dignity of one who felt that she had already -made her conquest of the world, and would graciously encourage the -coming warriors in making theirs. - -Yet there was on the face of the Princess a shadow of disappointment as -she gave her patronizing recognition to one and another of the élite -passing by. She was reserving her graciousness for Glaucon, one of -whose ancestral gems shone brilliantly upon her bosom. The announced -illness of Berenice left her coquetry this day an open field; for, in -spite of her flattery, she had conceived a distrust of the sister of -her paramour. There was to her mind a strangely familiar look about -Berenice's face, a flitting suggestion of something she had seen and -ought to remember, but could not. Helena believed in the transmigration -of souls, or sometimes thought she did. Was Berenice's spirit one that -had crossed her path in some previous state of existence? She could -not determine whether the shadowy reminiscences were real or fanciful; -nor, if real, whether they were pleasant or otherwise. She said to -herself, "This feeling is foolish," but Berenice's presence always -awakened the feeling. So she fell back upon a bit of philosophy she had -once heard from a noted rhetorician, "There is an instinctive hostility -between some souls, and an instinctive love between other souls, with -either of which the intelligent judgment has little to do." - -But Glaucon did not join the gay throng. Did his sister's illness so -concern him? The Princess felt a flash of jealousy mantle her face, and -knowing from the frequent lesson learned at her mirror that it did not -make her handsome, she toyed with Glaucon's gem until more pleasing -thoughts came. - -Toward midday the crowd of watchers on the hill noted a cloud of dust -rising above the road from Bethhoron. It swirled like that raised by a -whirlwind. It came rapidly nearer and larger. At length the cry broke -from the crowd: - -"The army comes! Seron! Seron!" - -Forth moved the multitude. The company of priests led, the white linen -garments of the old régime marred by garlands worn in imitation of -the revellers at the Bacchanalian rites. Men bore an altar of the war -god Ares, and a jar of wine, with a great goblet of gold from which -the oblation should be poured. Behind these marched the city guards, -in glistening helm and breastplates and greaves, the least among whom -seemed to emulate the war god himself with his pompous tread. Then -came the palanquins of the noble women, each a gorgeous display of -silken colors, suitable to set off the glory of the occupants. Behind -followed, as they could find way, the multitude, whose gay attire -rivalled in its variegation the plumage of an aviary of birds caught -among the reeds of the Red Sea shore. - -The crowd halted when they clearly detected a group of Greek horsemen -spurring hard along the road. Why were they riding so hard? As they -came near they were seen to be without helmet or spear or heavy sword; -dust-covered and bleeding; on jaded beasts whose flecks of sweaty foam -interlaced the tatters of their once gorgeous harness. On they sped in -blind flight, trampling their way through the crowd. - -"Back! Back to the city!" shouted the officers. "The Maccabæans are -close upon us!" - -"Stop, my lord! Stop, my lord Seron!" cried Cynthia, as the General was -hurrying by. - -The sight of his wife revived the remnant of this great man's wits, -which the panic had sadly dissipated. Making himself the special -attendant of her palanquin, he set an example of celerity by heading -the scurrying crowd. He commanded Dion with his handful of soldiers to -guard the rear. - -That officer quite leisurely performed his duty, lingering alone far -behind the multitude, and anon riding back as if seeking again to join -the battle. This was not because he was enamored of the fight; but as -he was climbing Bethhoron Dion had caught sight of a woman in peasant -garb bending over a wounded Jew. He had nearly ridden them down. The -woman, seeing the danger, rose and with uplifted hand warned him -away. A woman's hand only, but the steed would have refused to leap -against it had the rider plunged the spurs to their depth. There are -some gestures and attitudes that belong to the soul, and express its -dominance over all things of flesh and blood. Dion could not catch the -woman's face, but that very pose with the uplifted hand had awed him -before this. He had seen it at the gateway of the house of Elkiah, and -again amid the ruins of the house of Ben Isaac. - -But he had no time to connect his thoughts, for at the moment a sling -stone struck his helmet, and drove it down upon his neck. When he had -adjusted his headpiece his horse had carried him far beyond the spot. - -Then he said: "It was only imagination; when one's head rings as mine -did with that stone, the thoughts inside are apt to rattle too." - -Dion remembered that he had often had visions of that same woman in -some form. In all the march down the plain of Sharon he had thought -of her as somewhere among those hills. When in the battle he felt the -sharp sting of an arrow which grazed his thigh, he found himself asking -the question, "Would she care if I fell?" Now, as he looked back toward -Bethhoron, he said: "This was only a spectre of my imagination." Yet -he would risk his life to see that spectre again. But Dion obeyed his -General's orders, and plodded slowly after him. His head dropped upon -his breast, and he scarcely noticed a boy with a crutch who struck at -his horse's flank and hobbled away. - - - - -XXIII - -THE GREED OF GLAUCON - - -Glaucon had not gone out with the crowd to welcome General Seron. His -curiosity for the pageant and his fascination by the Princess were just -then secondary to his cupidity. This native trait in his character -had been excited into spasmodic activity by a certain discovery. He -had spent the day before searching the mansion of Ben Shattuck, that -grand house by the Tower of David. With the avidity of an old-clothes -dealer he had ransacked chests of the cast-off wearing apparel of dead -generations of Shattucks, now and then perforating with his fingers the -moth-eaten linings of pockets and pouches. He had tested drawers for -false bottoms, and pried into secret closets between walls which the -mortar, cracked by sinking beams, had exposed. He had been rewarded by -a handful of forgotten gems, but more by a crumpled bit of papyrus in a -leathern wallet which he found in the bosom pocket of the shirt which -Ben Shattuck must have discarded the very day of his departure from -Jerusalem, the journey from which he never returned. This was a letter -and read: - - "To HOSEA BEN SHATTUCK, greeting: - - "The business committed to my care has been, I believe, both - faithfully and wisely adjusted. It were better for the trade between - Sidon and this port if you resided either here or there. There is - another reason for your speedy visit, if not abiding sojourn, in - Alexandria. The lady to whom I hold that you were legally wedded has - given birth to a son. The little lad is sound of limb, of comely face, - and, if the midwife's experience pronounce good judgment, the child is - of soul as bright as the star that shone the night of his birth. - - "I beg that you endeavor to be in Alexandria the eighth day hence, - when the child will be circumcised according to our sacred rite. - - "I am the faithful servant of the house of Shattuck, - - "GIDEON BEN SIRACH." - -The discovery that an heir of Shattuck had been born complicated the -matter of title to his estate in Jerusalem. Was this child living? If -so, he would now be about the thirtieth year of life. Glaucon spent -the day in instructing a faithful envoy, and commissioning him to -Alexandria to ferret out the facts. - -This messenger had scarcely gained the south road leading to Gaza when -the crowds of panic-driven citizens burst through the northern and -western gates, some going to their houses, but many hastening to the -citadel, deeming the city walls too weak to withstand the Maccabæan -deluge they imagined to be pouring after them. - -The bewilderment of Seron, and his declaration that his defeat was -brought about by unearthly agencies, which neither generalship nor -numbers could resist, while designed to save his own reputation, added -to the consternation of the people. Renegade Jews began to repent of -their apostacy. They increased the alarm of the foreigners by the -sudden revival of their own faith in the marvels of Jewish history, and -their Scriptural accounts of the waves of the Red Sea, and the magic -in the hands of Aaron and Hur when they upheld the arms of Moses. -Frightened credulity saw the afternoon shadows that day grow shorter -instead of longer, as they did at the battle of Ajalon in Joshua's -time. Some averred that at nightfall the sun, as if to make up for lost -time, made a sudden plunge to his setting, splashing the waves of the -Great Sea until like billows of blood they mingled with those of fire -along the horizon. - -The disastrous issue of the battle led Glaucon to seek the secret -closets in his own house, to conceal in them his riches of coins and -jewels, and certain papers which would be more honored in Antioch than -in Jerusalem, if the Maccabæans should enter. One such hiding-place -he knew was in the cellar. He had never opened it. From a lad he had -avoided dark places. Yet he thought he knew how to distinguish the -spot. It was the fourth stone from the corner nearest the steps. He -had often heard it spoken of as the "trap." He felt his own pallor as -he descended the steps; but a chill that made his flesh sensitively -shrivel seized him when he lifted this stone, for a damp air like the -breath of ghosts issued from the opening. Summoning all his courage, -he thrust his trembling hands down, feeling for alcoves or shelves in -the hollow dark space. Suddenly his timid nerves failed him. There was -a subterranean sound; a rustling as of winding-sheets; footfalls soft -and muffled, such as ghosts might make. He would probably have fainted -had not his greed given him strength. Clutching his bags he glided away -like a frightened lizard. - -A few moments later voices came out of the hole. - -"It is strange," said Caleb, "I smelt a light." - -"I, too, thought I saw a gleam," said Deborah. "But, surely, I lowered -the stone when I came down the other day. Have you raised it since?" - -"I was down but once while you were away," replied the lad, "and I know -I closed it, for see! here I pinched my finger in setting the great -stone back." - -"It was too heavy for you, child. You should not have come down here," -replied Deborah. - -"But I could not stay in the house, and you out of it, sister; so I -went through the quarries and whistled for Meph at the wall, but he -didn't come; I played all day in the caverns." - -"What a place to play, my child." - -"Well, I couldn't see how bad it was, so I didn't care." - -Caleb led the way up from the cellar. Huldah, who had waited and -listened for signs of her coming, held Deborah in her motherly arms, -and dropped upon her face some tears well salted with memories of -by-gone years. - - - - -XXIV - -LESSONS IN DIPLOMACY - - -In the excitement of the great disaster no one had inquired for -Deborah, except Glaucon, who received from the cautious Huldah evasive -replies regarding her illness. The day following the battle her brother -insisted upon seeing her, since it might be necessary to make sudden -flight in the event of the Maccabæans attacking the city. - -Deborah came from her chamber, walking with difficulty. One would have -said that she had received a hurt or a wound from a fall. She, however, -spoke slightingly of the pain in the sinews which sometimes came to -her, an inherited disorder; at least she had heard that her mother was -at times similarly attacked; but a few days' rest always cured her. She -now listened with surprise to the story that a great battle had taken -place, and upbraided Glaucon and Huldah and Ephraim for not telling her -of it. She questioned every new-comer with the eagerness of fright. -Each fresh outcry in the street seemed to deepen the blanch of her -cheeks, so that even Glaucon, though his face was pale and his lips -trembled, rebuked her timidity, and swore great heathen oaths, such as -befitted so valiant a protector. - -"What shall we do if the rebels really take the city?" she asked. - -"We will flee to Antioch." - -"But the Jews hold all the country to the north, do they not?" - -"If the worst comes we can take ship at Gaza. I have got as much gold -as my belt will hold, and our asses are ready to start at daybreak, if -the news then warrants our flight. But who comes?" - -Through the uproar in the street were heard cries of the name of Dion. -The curtains moved, and the young Captain stood at the opening. - -Glaucon's welcome was enthusiastic. He embraced his friend, and kissed -him upon both cheeks. The Greek did not return the salutation. He -seemed dazed, and stared steadily over Glaucon's shoulder. Had he -indeed gone daft? After gazing at a sunset one is apt to see golden -spots resembling the orb wherever one looks at the sky. Had Deborah -wrought a similar illusion on his imagination? He had seen her in his -dreams, both waking and sleeping; among the women of the Greek camp -at the Wady; and only yesterday in peasant garb amid the dying on -Bethhoron--yet she was here in her home! He was beginning to question -his own mental condition. His hand came to his head as if to certify -that it was still upon his shoulders. Deborah quickly proved that -this time at least she was no sprite out of the foam of fancy. With -a suppressed cry of surprise and gladness she sprang to meet him. He -would have been less than a man if he had not extended both hands to -embrace her. To her glorious womanhood was added the frank joyousness -of a child. Her face caught the flash of her soul, and was illumined by -it. - -This was, however, but for the instant. The next moment she drew back. -Her face flushed, then became of marble pallor. Dignity, hauteur, -offence, almost scorn were written upon her brow and lips. It was as if -a bursting rose-bush were suddenly encased in wintry ice. - -Deborah realized that the surprise of Dion's coming had thrown her off -her guard. Had she not solemnly determined, that night at the Wady, -that henceforth they two could have nothing in common? This had been -a conviction of her judgment and of her sense of duty. That hour when -she had used a woman's wiles to accomplish a higher purpose she had -classed among her other practices of deceit as a spy. She had scorned -herself for it. Now that her debt for his risking life in her behalf -had been fully paid--paid off by her risking her loyalty to her country -to save him--she had accustomed herself to think of him only as an -enemy; a Greek, either hating the Jews and therefore persecuting them, -or else a mere soldier of fortune, indifferent to all right and truth, -as unfeeling as the point of his sword. In the one case he was a man -whom she, as a Jewess, must treat as a foe; in the other case, he was -a man of such character that she, as a woman, must despise him. She -had resolved that if ever they did meet--and she prayed God that they -might not--it should be with such frigid courtesy on her part that -former relations could not be resumed. She had thought, too, that she -could readily play this part. Had she not schooled herself to absolute -self-control? Who could see through any mask she pleased to wear? Not -the shrewdest of the Greek generals in whose tents she had been; not -the suspicious eyes of these women in Jerusalem. She had prided herself -that, whatever feeling might linger in her heart, her personality was -buried within her patriot purpose. - -Yet just now her impulse on seeing this man had been as uncontrolled as -that of a child. What had she done? She said: "I have betrayed myself." -Then she asked a deeper question on this line than she had ever asked -before: "How could I betray myself? Am I not my own very self? Is -there, then, some deeper self with which I am not fully acquainted? -And is it true that that deeper, stranger self, having never been -consulted, has never consented to the judgment I had formed regarding -Dion?" - -She began to feel, what the Princess believed, that there is a -mysterious sense of kinship between certain souls which asserts itself -in spite of conditions, which heeds no warning of judgment, and refuses -submission to other passions. If it were not so, why had Dion's sudden -coming made her do that which no other surprise could have led her to -do--make her forget herself? - -But in a moment more she had recovered her self-possession. She bowed -Dion to a seat as coldly as any stranger might have done, and bade him -tell the story of the battle. - -Captain Dion addressed himself solely to Glaucon, for each glance at -Deborah seemed to interrupt his memory of events. Once and again he -stopped midway a sentence as he looked at her, until Glaucon recalled -him by repeating his last words. - -At length, fixing his eyes steadily upon her face, he said: - -"We were defeated because we had on our side no--prophetess--to inspire -us to more than human valor." - -But Deborah was now on her guard. That play on Dion's part belonged to -diplomacy, not sentiment, and she rewarded his ruse by not so much as a -quivering eyelash or the shadow of a changing hue. - -"Do the armies take prophetesses to their battlefields?" she asked. - -"The Greeks do not," replied Dion. "Such holy women as we have remain -at home and consult the entrails and stars. But it was reported that -the Jews were accompanied by some of theirs. I overheard one say, 'The -prophetess, the Daughter of Jerusalem, is with us.'" - -His eyes searched hers, but could discover no sign that she understood -his deeper meaning. - -The diplomatic play between Dion and Deborah was like the sword play -of two expert fencers whose blades cling together. Glaucon unwittingly -relieved the tension by inquiring: - -"As a soldier, do you advise my leaving the city, Captain Dion?" - -"I as a soldier, or you as a soldier? Which do you mean?" laughed the -Captain. - -"I am not a soldier," said Glaucon. "My position of influence is too -great for me to take such risks." - -"If you were a soldier," said Dion, "I would advise you to make your -house a castle, and die behind your parapets. But no, I think that one -with so many other interests had better take refuge in the citadel or -at Antioch. The fact is, our forces have been utterly overthrown. The -Jews are in pursuit through the plain. Judas, I think, camped in our -camps at Lydda last night. But he will return; and if he strikes us -here we have not sufficient soldiers to guard the entire walls. We can -hold no more than the citadel." - -"Then I will gather up all I can, and to-morrow have it removed to the -Tower of David," replied the frightened man. - -"I commend your discretion," said the soldier, as Glaucon, summoning -his steward, left the apartment. - - - - -XXV - -A JEWESS TAKES NO ORDERS FROM THE ENEMY - - -"And you, Captain?" said Deborah, with as much coolness as courtesy -when they were alone. "You will pardon my seeming lack of hospitality, -for you know that you are ever welcome at the house of Elkiah; but -should you not return to your duty? The riot in the street needs a -strong control. And are you not under orders from General Seron?" - -"The General has forgotten what orders he has given," replied Dion. -"Or, if he remembers them, he will have to enforce them with a new -army from Sheol, for Seron has fled thither. It was bravely done, -but terrible. The General has already taken the only vengeance that -remained for his defeat. He has washed out his dishonor in his own -blood. We had scarcely entered the citadel when he turned to me and -said, 'Dion, this disgrace I shall never live to hear told. Do as I -do.' With that he struck his dagger to the heart of his wife, then -fell himself upon his sword point. I did not obey his order. I was too -cowardly for that." - -Dion hesitated before he continued: - -"But no, I was not cowardly. Deborah, since what has passed between -us, I owe to you the confession of my only reason for not following my -leader in his terrible deed. I thought of one very dear to me, from -whom I seemed to have been separated by long years, so slow did the -time creep in her absence--now among a people foreign to me. To this -woman I had once bound myself with a vow." - -Deborah felt the blood coming to her cheeks. - -Dion kept on: "While this woman lives, I must live, unless she bids me -die. But if she shall call me coward I will disprove her words by dying -at her feet. Does the daughter of Elkiah bid me follow my General? I -will obey. Since the turn of affairs at Bethhoron you will no longer -need one of hated race to protect you. As your Jehovah is my judge, -Deborah, I have lived for naught else since I felt the touch of your -hand at the Wady. I await your word." - -How much one can live in a moment! The two preceding years lay there -in Deborah's memory like a landscape under the lightning. She saw this -man in his sacrificial friendship. She thought that she resented his -personal affection; but, that being eliminated, he was the noblest of -souls: a Greek, yet respecting her nation's faith even by the altar in -the Temple where he raised his protest in the endeavor to protect her -dying father; defending this house because it was a home; more tender -to her Caleb than his own brother had been. She asked herself, "Could -even Judas have shown nobler manhood? Would he befriend a household of -his enemies whose only claim should be their piteous need?" - -With all hauteur gone, she extended her hand and said: - -"Forgive me, Captain Dion! I have wronged you. I have been blind! I am -blind still!" - -She thought she had looked him frankly in the face, and that she had -pronounced these words very calmly; she was unaware that she had -blushed, that tears came into her eyes, and that her hand trembled in -his. - -Dion was more astute. Like an expert soldier he detected the favorable -turn affairs had taken at this critical juncture, and sought words to -press his advantage. But before he could speak Deborah had lapsed into -reserve. Was it her woman's pride that felt somewhat of resentment? or -was it the remnant of her former resolution which came as a forlorn -hope to her rescue? She said: - -"You, sir, should be with your soldiers; and I--I have much to think -of." - -"But pledge me, Deborah, that you will not go again to the army." - -At this she stood erect and haughty, as a captive queen before her -captor might have done. She forced severity into her tone: - -"I am a Jewess, sir, and must not take orders from the enemy." - -"I do not command, I entreat," replied Dion. "By your own God, Deborah, -I swear to you that the slaughter of all the King's host is less to me -than that harm should come to a hair of your head." - -"A very pretty speech," rejoined Deborah, with simulated sarcasm, "but -it is scarcely a speech befitting a Greek soldier. Is your faith like a -helmet which can be changed at will, that you can swear by a stranger's -god?" - -"My faith! My faith!" exclaimed Dion. "We Greeks have no such faith as -yours. But a single faith have I--that all gods are one, or rather, as -your heroism has made me feel, that one God is all. The God of Israel -is the God of all nations. That you have taught me. I have found my -prophetess, if Israel has none." - -"It is the true faith," said Deborah, "but how should you know it? Is a -girl's belief more to you than all your boasted philosophy?" - -"Not a girl's belief, but a woman's life," cried the Greek -enthusiastically. "A life filled with the spirit of her God, is most -convincing. That has persuaded me. And yet, Deborah, these thoughts are -not altogether new to me. From childhood I seem to have had something -of this faith. Voices have spoken to me from an unknown world--a world -over this, as the sky domes all lands and seas. Our Greek gods are to -this God of yours as the bright things about us are to the sun. Though -the sun's face be hidden by clouds all things get their brightness from -it. And strangely, these voices I speak of seem to be recalling me to -something I had once known and forgotten, or to awaken something born -in me, but still latent and unintelligible. Your father's clear faith, -your own words, your devotion--these have been an interpreter of what I -have so vaguely felt. Believe me, Deborah, I commit no sacrilege when I -swear my devotion to the God of Israel." - -Deborah listened with a delight not concealed by her expression of -wonderment. - -"Tell me," she said eagerly, "tell me more of yourself, Captain Dion. I -pray you be seated. Did not your father have something of this faith? -Else who has taught you?" - -"My father I have hardly known," replied Dion. "He was attached to the -court of Philip of Macedonia. When I was but seven years old he was -sent on an embassage to Rome, and never returned to us. My mother had -died four years before. Of her I have but dim remembrance, or perhaps -fancied remembrance, prompted by this." - -He produced from his breast a small box enclosing a beautiful face -carved in relief upon ivory, and delicately enriched with flesh tints. - -"This was the work of an Athenian who was greatly skilled in such art. -This face has ever been in my thoughts. No other face of woman ever -displaced it from my constant dream by day and by night, until----" - -"Speak no more of that," said Deborah. "Let no stranger supplant your -mother's image in your love." - -"At my father's death," resumed Dion, "I was made a page in the -household of Perseus, who succeeded Philip, until I was strong enough -to carry a sword. Since then the camp has been my home. I fought for -my King until he was utterly overthrown by the Romans; then I became -a wanderer. Hoping that Antiochus would war against my old enemy the -Romans, I gave him my sword. I did not seek such work as we have done -here. But enough about myself. Pledge me, Deborah, that you will not go -again to the army." - -"Again to the army?" exclaimed Deborah. "Why, when you found me at the -Wady, did you not entreat me to return to my home here? And have I not -done so?" - -"And it was well," replied Dion. "But it was said that at the fight -yesterday, the daughter of Elkiah encouraged the Jews. Your name was -heard shouted like a battle cry by the Maccabæans." - -"My name!" said Deborah, in well-feigned amazement. "Captain Dion, -surely that bruise on your brow tells of some more serious blow you -must have received, to have imagined that you heard my name. And have -you not found me here?" - -"Yes, I can give the lie to the rumor about your being in the battle; -and I will swear by Jehovah and all the gods, that I know to the -contrary, if the story should ever be repeated to your injury among the -people of the city." - -"Do not swear it, Dion. If you believe in our God, keep His commandment -which says, 'Thou shalt not take the Name of God in vain,' and for a -Greek to swear as you propose to do would surely be in vain." - - - - -XXVI - -TO UNMASK THE PRINCESS - - -The panic in Jerusalem soon gave place to a sense of security. This -was due not only to the fact that the Maccabæans had not followed up -their victory and attacked the city, but also in large measure to the -quieting counsel of Captain Dion. - -"The defeat at Bethhoron," he declared, "was owing not to any superior -force of the Jews, but to the folly of General Seron in marching his -army so as to invite assault. Indeed, when the forward phalanges -recoiled upon those coming after, the Greeks defeated themselves. -That disaster might have occurred had no enemy attacked us. But the -force that Judas has, while sufficient to start a panic by its sudden -irruption under such circumstances, is too small to attempt the capture -of the city. His men are only peasants, and without armaments of siege. -Upon the walls one man could withstand many assailants; and from -within the citadel a woman might resist a company of men. Beside this, -intelligence has come that Lysias, the new Governor, has despatched our -most noted generals, Ptolemy, Nicanor, and Gorgias, with a force of -forty thousand footmen and seven thousand horse to utterly exterminate -the Maccabæans. If the rebels elude our new armies, it will be only by -leaving Judea, and taking refuge across the Jordan in the mountains -of Moab, where they will be as harmless to Jerusalem as are the beasts -which infest those wilds." - -Under such counsel the people were calmed. As the terrible Judas did -not appear at the gate of the city--nor, as some imagined, like a bat -as big as a cloud, scale the walls with armed men under his wings--life -resumed its usual course among the inhabitants. - -The reaction from fright did not even stop with a general sense of -security. The pleasure-loving people sought to recompense their days of -abstinence by extravagant indulgence. - -In this they were charmingly led by the Princess Helena, whose grief -for Apollonius had been completely healed, if rumor were correct, by -the attentions of Glaucon. The enamored man had purchased her favor -by a relinquishment to her of his interest in the estate of Shattuck. -This transaction, told by Helena in confidence to Lydia, had come to -the knowledge of her husband Menelaos, the High Priest, who, claiming -to be partner with the renegade Jew in all ventures that paid, insisted -upon Glaucon's turning over to him, as through former agreement, -one-half the estimated prospective value of the estate. An open breach -between the two men was prevented by a stroke of business shrewdness -manipulated by the two women. Glaucon was induced to repurchase the -claim by payment to the Princess of a sum of ready money; which money, -it is needless to say, was shared by that gracious lady with the High -Priest himself, who still retained his half interest in the Shattuck -property. - -Glaucon was readily reconciled to his loss through this deal, not only -by the affectionate rewards of his mistress, but by new discoveries -relative to the estate of Shattuck. Its value was greater than he had -at first surmised, embracing heavy mortgages upon adjacent property. - -All this time Glaucon's relations with the Princess were an offense to -Deborah which, with all her art, she could scarcely conceal. She must -tear the fair veil from this hideous creature. But how could she do -so without confessing her own double life, since it was in the spy's -disguise she had discovered all that she really knew of the woman? In -her remonstrances with Glaucon she dared not go beyond interrogations -and insinuations, which her brother resented with warmth. - -"If we have not known her, others have," said he. "Her coming to meet -Apollonius in Samaria was an event in the camp." - -"And excited no scandal?" - -"Scandal? Hera, the wife and sister of Jove, did not escape the taunt -of tongues. The fairer the flower the fouler the insect that stings it. -You yourself, Berenice, have had unsavory things said of you; but who -would believe them?" - -"Still," interposed Deborah, "you know for a certainty nothing about -her lineage." - -"She has told me all," replied Glaucon. "The blood of the great -Alexander is in her veins, mingled with that of the Ptolemies. But do -you not see her royalty in her very look and form and manner? The gods -do not make such caskets except for priceless gems." - -"The hetæræ of Greece are the fairest women," suggested Deborah, with a -tone of contempt. - -"But have you not seen how choice she is in the selection of her -friends?" argued he. "In Jerusalem she receives to her intimacy only -those of the most dignified position, like the house of Menelaos--and -the house of Glaucon." - -"But tell me, brother, how many talents has she picked from your purse?" - -Glaucon colored, but smiled, as he replied: "Well, is not that, too, a -princely habit?" - -He quickly diverted the conversation from the uncomfortable direction -it was taking. The Princess had humiliated him in his own eyes by -outwitting him in the Shattuck matter; and as a marred mirror avenges -itself by marring the reflection cast upon it, so the image of Helena's -virtue had now at least one fault in Glaucon's judgment. She was over -sharp for him; an offense which at brief moments fretted his love. -But he was too proud to admit that Deborah had touched a spot in him -already sensitive through irritation, and quickly resumed the praise of -the Princess. - -"How divinely she speaks! and upon what themes! Only courts have -such instructors as she has had. Alexander was not better taught by -Aristotle." - -"Perhaps she sings and dances as well. Has she exhibited these -accomplishments also?" asked Deborah. - -"How should I know of these things? My little sister, educated as -you have been in the narrowness of our former Jewish life, you -have not learned that a free-born Greek woman, much more one of -aristocratic family, is never allowed to reveal to the other sex such -accomplishments as you mention, even if she possesses them. These arts -of singing and dancing, beautiful as they are, are left to the slave -caste for performance. Athena is not Terpsichore. But, by the way, -there are some fine artists of that sort in Jerusalem. Several women -noted for their beauty of voice and limb came from Antioch with the -officers of Seron. They were nearly trodden to death in the flight. -They were found near Bethhoron, and brought to the city, where we need -entertainment. Meton, the chief of the city garrison, had them at the -castle last night; and I can get them here. Our Princess Helena and -Lydia, with Menelaos, will make a company before which they will be -proud to display their parts." - -"Not here, Benjamin, in our father's house, not here." - -"Then in the house of Menelaos." - -"Not there, I beg you; for Menelaos bears the name of High Priest. Let -us at least respect the customs of Israel, if we no longer have its -faith." - -"Let it then be in the Princess' house. She has no such silly -scruples," replied Glaucon petulantly. "It is the custom of the -aristocracy of Greece to hire their entertainers; poets to recite, -orators to declaim, pantomimists, dancers, players on instruments and -singers. Helena will arrange it all, if I ask her." - -"And if you pay for it?" suggested Deborah, as Glaucon hurried away to -carry out his new conceit. - -Deborah watched the curtain through which he had passed. Dark shadows -were flung upon her face from darker thoughts within. She paced the -floor as restively as a caged panther. The convulsive movement of her -fingers was as if they were clutching and stifling some hideous insect -which defiled them, and which she would fling away when she had killed -it. - -"How long is this to be?" she murmured. "But that by my abiding here -Jerusalem will be the sooner rid of all this abomination, I would go to -the camp--or to the desert. But here I can best serve Judas. Patience! -Patience! But this impostor, this Princess, forsooth! She must be -unmasked." - - - - -XXVII - -THE QUEEN OF THE GROVE - - -The court around which the house of Helena was built had, through -liberal draft upon the Princess' taste and Glaucon's purse, been -prepared for the entertainment. The jet of water which ordinarily -rose in the centre of the court was turned off, and the little marble -basin in which the bronze lotus leaves seemed to float was now covered -over with a platform extended and raised sufficiently to display the -performance. - -Helena's nose turned too much upward for a Greek ideal when, late in -the day, she contemplated the meagre decorations. Glaucon had hired -a number of men and boys to gather wild flowers from the fields; but -the dread of the ubiquitous Judas had kept these gleaners within a few -rods of the city gate. Lamps enclosed in bags of various-colored linen -and silk were substituted for the lanterns of brass and silver and -opalescent stones which anciently had been the common adornment of the -houses of the well-to-do people. - -But whatever was lacking in these respects was compensated by the -brilliancy of the chamber which, raised three steps above the pavement, -opened upon the court. This place was strewn with cushions and skins -of tiger and fox, so that the floor was not unlike the body of a vast -peacock lying with extended wings and tail. Amid these, and upon the -divans which ran round the three sides of the chamber, reclined fair -women; and hovering over them, like humming-birds seeking the sweet -of flowers, stood high officers from the garrison, and a few of the -richest of the Greek priests in gala dress. - -Menelaos asserted the prerogative of his rank, and reclined with the -fair sex. Glaucon, as chief patron of the show, and more than patron of -the hostess, assumed a similar privilege. - -"Is she not beautiful, my sister?" whispered the Jew as Helena, -having duly saluted her guests, with a wave of the hand indicated the -beginning of the entertainment. - -Helena evidently overheard the compliment, and rewarded Glaucon with -a smile that would have captivated any voluptuary, though he were not -already infatuated, as was her present victim. - -"She is very fair," replied Deborah. - -"A palm-tree is not more stately among juniper bushes than Helena among -women," said the enamored man. - -"Rather say as graceful as a spotted serpent coiling about a -palm-tree," interjected his sister. "What limbs for a dancer!" - -Glaucon interpreted her comment to apply to another woman, who at the -moment seemed to have materialized out of the tangled lamp rays, and -appeared upon the platform in the court. This airy being stood long -enough to assure the spectators that she was of real flesh and blood. -Then, with hands outspread, she pivoted herself upon the slender point -of her foot, and gyrated with as little apparent muscular effort as -that of the wand which a juggler twirls upon his finger. Two other -women joined her. Together they writhed in the set forms of a dance, -which was designed to show through thin drapery the fine contour of -their persons, the proportion of their limbs, and grace of motion. - -"Bravo!" cried Menelaos, tossing a handful of gold coins. As they rang -upon the pavement, the dancers, without stopping or marring their -orderly movements, picked up the gleaming spots. - -"Bravo!" echoed Glaucon. "I have never seen it better done. I remember -the same figures executed by the famous Thessalian sisters at Antioch. -You recall the dance, do you not?" - -"I am not sufficiently versed in the art to recognize the movements," -replied the Priest. - -"The wine will clear your wits," responded Glaucon, nodding to the -Princess for approval, which was so sweetly given that it proved -sufficient intoxicant to the Jew without need of any from the cup. He -clapped his hands, signalling to the servants, who filled the great -goblet. - -"This wine," said Glaucon, "I had sent from the capital as a gift to -our fair hostess. Let her first spice it with a touch of her lips." - -The Princess acknowledged the excellence of Glaucon's choice by -quaffing deeply, and then passed the golden vessel to her guests. - -The girls again appeared, one carrying a cythera, another a tambour, -the third castanets. The first sang, to the accompaniment of her -instrument, a love song. Her voice had much natural sweetness, and gave -evidence of cultivation; but the notes soon became husky and harsh, as -if age-worn, although the singer could scarcely have passed her first -score of years. It gave proof of the dissipation which soon ends the -career of women of her class, unless they are possessed of sufficient -ambition and will to practise a measure of present self-restraint for -the sake of longer future indulgence. The two other girls joined in -the chorus with tambour and castanets, and afterwards executed a dance -which was pantomimic of the song. - -Was it the gold that excited them, or is there a spirit of the dance -which resides somewhere in the air or in the light, and enters the -bodies of its votaries? These women became ecstatic; they seemed -to emerge from themselves, and to become each a living presence of -Terpsichore. They closed their eyes as if they danced in sleep. Their -lips were parted to inhale the intoxicating breath of their goddess, -who should thus supply the energy which physical motion exhausted. -The timing of their feet became as pulse-beats, rhythmic, strong, -flinging them through the forms of the dance, as a fever throb whirls -one through the maze of fantastic visions. They bent until their -dishevelled hair touched the floor, like stalks of grain beneath the -weight of golden tassels. Then, as the wind lifts the stalk and flings -high its bannered top, the women became erect. With instruments above -their heads, they swirled, each like a glistening whirlpool, until the -spectators were dizzied. - -During the performance Helena had spiced the wine more than once with -her lips as she passed the cup to Glaucon. - -"The dance is shamefully poor," said she. "How that girl mouthed her -words, and failed to give the right accent! The click of the castanets -is not timed to her motions. And the movement of her ankles--as -awkward as if her legs were flail-sticks. The girls are not artists. -Let them sing again, and I will show them how." - -She rose from the divan and, seizing the cythera from the hand of one -of the performers, rendered the song with wonderful power. Now Helena's -notes floated as buoyantly as those of a lark, and anon sank into -exquisite softness and depth, as blue wings sink into the azure. Then, -dropping from her shoulders her outer robe, with snapping fingers in -lieu of castanets, she gave the dance. - -Helena's figure had evidently once been of that perfect balance which -makes the impression of being without weight, and which, with the -aid of proper draperies, gives the illusion of floating in the air. -But her body had clearly taken on solidity, and a distribution of -substance better adapted to one who would pose in stateliness than to -one who would play the sylph. There is a grace of motion and another -grace of inertia. Very young persons ordinarily monopolize the former; -the latter is the compensation which nature gives for advancing -years. Helena did not realize the grade she had attained in beautiful -womanhood--not an uncommon inadvertence of her sex. Otherwise she -danced with faultless art--art evidently acquired only through careful -instruction and lengthened practice; the art which, according to -Glaucon, was forbidden to princely personages and free-born women among -the Greeks. Her performance ended in an attitude illustrative of the -closing lines of the song, in which the singer accepts the embrace of -her lover. Helena's face flushed with the excitement of the exercise. -Her eyes flickered unsteadily through the effect of the wine. As the -last note died upon her lips she reached out her hands to Glaucon. - -Whether the Jew was dazed by the superb acting, or by the unexpected -revelation on the part of the actress, we may not say--but dazed he -seemed, for he sat stupidly still. - -His irresponsive look startled, if it did not sober, the dancer. -She gazed about her; put her hand to her head, as if to realize her -identity; and, tripping upon the robe which she had dropped from her -hand, fell into her seat. - -"I must be ill," she said. "Give me--give me--some wine." - -One by one her guests, with such semblance of courtesy as the Princess' -condition allowed them to render, took their departure; but not until -one of the dancing women was heard to declare: - -"I will bet my garters that she is none other than the great Clarissa -herself; for I am sure that the old Queen of the Grove of Daphne could -not have done it better. Did you catch the trill?" - -"Aye, and the long step and the short one. 'Beauty's Limp' they call -it. Clarissa invented that, and all the girls in the Grove practised -it; but they say that nobody could do it perfectly except herself." - -"I think that the Princess did it splendidly, except that her flesh -wobbled; she's too fat." - -"What became of the Queen of the Grove?" - -"I have heard that she went away with General Apollonius. I will wager -my silver anklets against your bronze ones that Clarissa came down -to Jerusalem when Apollonius was killed, and that she has been taken -up by that fig-headed fellow who ordered the drink. The Princess! -Ha, ha! She's the Queen--our Queen of Daphne! If she comes out again -I will fall down at her feet, and bite off a piece of her big toe to -carry back to Antioch as a memento; that is, if we ever get out of this -Jewish hole." - -"May the gods favor us as well as they have Clarissa!" was her -companion's reply. - -"Aye, when we get so heavy in the thighs, and so stiff in the joints. -When that comes I, too, will sell what is left of me to a Jew. But -let's have a drink." - -She threw a kiss at a Greek officer leaving the court, and bent over -the wine crater, singing: - - Inside heat for outside heat, - Good for both the head and feet. - Give me love and give me wine. - Give me both, or I'm not thine. Tra-la! - - - - -XXVIII - -A PRISONER - - -Captain Dion was not at the house of Helena the night of the -entertainment. He was more seriously engaged with Meton, the Commandant -at the citadel. The two men sat on opposite sides of a narrow oaken -table. This was the only furniture of the stone-encased apartment, -except the low stools the men occupied, some changes of armor that hung -from the bronze pegs in the walls, a soldier's chest, and a tankard and -goblets which stood between the Commandant and his guest. The men were -in striking contrast. Meton was short, broad-shouldered, square-headed, -crab-eyed, with complexion which might have been due to weather -exposure or overmuch indulgence in wine--doubtless to both. - -"I appreciate your feeling in regard to so fine a woman," said the -Commandant, "and I have no doubt that she rewards your good offices -with personal favors. No offence, my friend, no offence! for were I -younger I should prize a woman's smile as highly as you do. But I tell -you, Captain, she must be seized." - -"With proper deference to your opinion," responded Dion, "I am not -prepared to admit the force of your reasons for suspecting her. Indeed, -I am quite sure that I can disprove what her enemies say of her. But, -passing that, it were impolitic to lay hands on one so close to Glaucon -and the High Priest." - -"Glaucon! He has not a shred of influence in Jerusalem except -as Menelaos allows him to pose under his shadow. And listen, -Captain,"--lowering his voice and glancing furtively about the -apartment--"Menelaos is through with Glaucon. The Jew has about wound -up his tether, and is of no more use to the Priest than a date pit is -to the pulp after it has ripened. It is the High Priest himself who has -secured evidence against the woman. I do not praise his purpose; but -Menelaos, the circumcised hypocrite, would be as false to us Greeks as -he has been to his own race, if his greed led that way. Just now he is -weighting his dice to get possession of the estate of Elkiah, which -they say includes that of Ben Shattuck. If this Berenice, or Deborah, -or whatever her name may be, can be proved to be in league with the -Maccabæans, it will be sufficient for the King, which is another name -for the High Priest, to confiscate the property; since he would not -trust Glaucon, who harbors her in his house. It was different when she -was thought to be dead." - -"But what evidence has been secured?" asked Dion with simulated -calmness, which one less stolid than his companion would have seen to -cover deep excitement. - -"Evidence? Evidence in abundance! Though I confess to you, Captain, I -don't believe a word of it any more than you do. The woman is scarcely -more than a child, and yet the Princess is ready to swear that she -was once a Jewish spy whom she herself had seen about the camp of -Apollonius before his blunder at the Wady. Faugh! It is incredible. If -fawns were used as hounds to scent out leopards, then Glaucon's sister -might be a spy." - -"Is the Princess' word all we have for the accusation?" - -"No. We have caught two men who were with Judas; they will swear for -the sake of their lives--and men will swear anything for that--that -the daughter of Elkiah was with the rebels just before the battle of -Bethhoron." - -"But I could swear that she was not, for I myself saw her in her -brother's house the very night of the battle," cried Dion, bringing -his fist down upon the table that separated them. "I will put my word -against the two traitors; and which will you take, General Meton?" - -"Quiet, Captain! quiet! or I will believe the report that her black -eyes have bewitched you. Whose word will I take--yours or the Jews'? -Why, theirs, of course, since we will not allow you to testify at all. -Captain, you and I know that this is not an affair of justice, but only -a thread in some web the High Priest and the Princess are spinning. But -what of that? Neither of us is big enough to withstand Menelaos; and I, -for one, will not attempt it. The woman must be seized." - -"But does the law of our service permit an accused woman no defendant?" - -"No defendant will be needed in this case. My orders are peremptory. -They come from General Gorgias, that she shall be arrested, and held -until his arrival in the city, when he himself will judge the case. But -there is hope for her. She is marvellously beautiful, though her eyes -have too much lightning in them for me. Gorgias is an artist in flesh; -and as the judges did in Phryne's case, he will find as many witnesses -of her innocence as she has charms. But, Captain, I can serve your -fancy. For your interest in the woman I will put her custody into your -hands until Gorgias comes. You certainly will not object to that, or -you have colder blood than I credit your years with. You may bring her -to the citadel, or you may guard her in her own house, in your arms if -you want to; but you know our laws--your life for hers if she escapes. -First, however, her accusation must be published. On this the High -Priest insists. Captain, do you accept her custody, or shall I send -another?" - -"Under such circumstances, of course I accept," replied Dion, rising. - -"Well," said Meton, laughing, "then I command you, for I see you want -to. Only don't fall in love with her overmuch, or I shall be jealous -of my appointment and revoke it. One cup more with me, Captain; and -speak a good word for me with the Princess; for when this pup of a Jew, -Glaucon, is out of the way, I may myself forget that I am not young, -and play the suitor." - -Early the following morning a tall sarissa and broad-brimmed hat -sentinelled the house of Glaucon. Another soldier was stationed just -within the doorway, while half a score lounged about the court, under -command of Captain Dion. - -The news of Deborah's arrest produced excitement and some consternation -throughout the city; for while Glaucon was hated, even as he was -envied, for his ill-gotten successes, nearly all the renegade Jews -in Jerusalem were conscious of serving the King from the same greedy -motives, and feared for themselves now that the High Priest had turned -against one of his own kind. - -"Who next?" was everywhere asked in whispers. - -Captain Dion had his headquarters in the familiar guest room of the -house of Glaucon. He made known to Deborah the accusation against her. - -"Deborah, I am here to protect as well as guard you," he protested. -"You must escape. Let me go with you, and if necessary die for you. -What is one soldier less to the armies of Antiochus? But a life poured -out in love's dear sake, ah! that would be like a goblet of wine -spilled upon an altar. Willingly would I thus serve you, and I believe -it would be a sacrifice pleasing to your God." - -Deborah was a long time silent. At length she said: - -"Dion, will you do anything, everything, for me?" - -"Anything, everything," exclaimed the eager man. "Speak the word, and -I will go with you to the camp of the Jews, or I will flee with you to -the tents beyond Jordan. Anything, everything," cried he, abandoning -himself to the sway of his passion. - -"There is nothing I can ask that you will not do? Are you sure? May I -test you again?" - -"There is nothing, nothing that I will not do for you. I swear it. Test -me. I long to prove myself." - -"Then, Dion, I command you to remain where you are. Do your duty as a -Greek soldier. Guard me if you may. Lead me forth to execution if you -must. Let General Gorgias have his will with me. I will not use your -love to swerve you a hair's breadth from your sworn duty to the service -you are engaged in." - -"But, Deborah, how could I do this? You are falsely accused. Never was -there a more damnable lie. I myself can swear that you were not with -the Jews at the battle, for here I saw you." - -Deborah turned away and paced the apartment; then quickly turned: - -"Dion, you are my custodian. More than that, I make you my judge. You -shall hear my confession. I am not falsely accused. I am a Jewish spy. -I forbid that you swear to my innocence. Others may speak untruth, but -I will confess the facts before the tribunal rather than your lips -shall utter a word that is false." - -Dion heard with amazement, not so much at her statement, for he had -more than suspected its truth, but at this new revelation of Deborah's -spirit. He exclaimed ardently: - -"Then flee with me. Come! Come! This night we may be far away, among -your own people, among the tribesmen beyond Moab; or we will go to -Egypt, or to Greece, or to Rome. My life is yours, Deborah, whenever -and for whatever you may need me. Come! We can make safe flight." - -"No, Dion. Though I may not say I love you, I esteem you too much as my -friend, as my father's friend, to let you sacrifice your good name for -me. Be true to your duty here, until God Himself give deliverance to -His people." - -"There is no deliverance for your people, Deborah," cried the Greek in -despair. "The King's armies are already gathering for another ascent -from the plain of Sharon. Within three weeks they will sweep all this -land as the tide of the Great Sea covers the sands when the north wind -blows." - -"Then, why will not you go with your men?" exclaimed Deborah, -haughtily. "It is better to fight on the high field than to be left -behind to guard a girl. Honor and fame are there--here nothing for a -great soul; nothing for one who has been trained in the court of Philip -and in the army of Perseus of Macedon." - -Her attitude and voice were so dramatic that they might have turned -even Glaucon into a hero. - -Then her tones became taunting: "Has Dion, son of General Agathocles, -no ambition? Are you like a new-born ant that has wings on its back, -but suffers them to be torn off by its sisters? Oh, Dion, if I were a -man, think you I would be content to play the cat at a mouse-hole, as -you are doing here, when the hosts are marching? Go! Let Meton send his -citadel cooks. They will be sufficient to watch me here. But not you, -Dion! Give up your custody, I beg you." - -Dion caught her martial spirit, and exclaimed: - -"Ah, if you were a man, Deborah, I would love you as your ancient -Prince Jonathan did the heroic David. Side by side we would fight even -for the Jews' cause. I swear it! But," he dropped his voice, and, -weighing every word with sincerity and decision, added, "Deborah, I -shall remain here with you, unless you will go with me." - -Deborah's manner instantly changed. Her soldierly enthusiasm became the -transport of a prophetess. - -"Dion, believe me, the host of Gorgias will never make the ascent to -Jerusalem. I know it. The sword of our God is in the hand of Judas. The -child Caleb sat yesterday looking toward the west, his eyes expanded -more largely than ever. 'What do you see?' I asked; for in such moods I -have found him to be gifted with a seer's sight. - -"'I see,' said he, 'the armies of the Gentiles. They swarm like bees -toward the towers of Jerusalem. Now they are at Emmaus. But the sword -of the Lord and of Judas gleams through the air. It severs the flying -host. See! see! The bees have lost their guidance. They scatter -everywhere. They dissolve like smoke in the air!' I know not where the -child gets such visions, but more oft than otherwise they come true." - -Dion shook his head. - -"Deborah, if your God shall again work miracles this dream may become -true; but if Judas were in league with Egypt or Rome he could not -stop the advance of Gorgias. Any one of the three Greek armies can -destroy the Maccabæans, while the others sweep the land, as freely -as the breezes blow, from Samaria to the South Desert. I thank God -that neither you nor I shall be in the coming battle. Why, Deborah, -should I fight? How can I care whether Antiochus widen his empire, and -rob more lands to spend his revenues on new favorites, such as those -about us here? But I could fight for a cause, for something I esteemed -holy, as I do yours. I believe that you could touch me and transform -me into--into a Jew. One thing I vow: If Judas escape the oncoming -armies I will believe in Caleb's vision. I will offer your great -champion my sword at the gate of Jerusalem, and confess that he is the -long-promised Deliverer whom all people as well as yours believe will -some day come to restore right boundaries and exalt good men. This I -swear, and make your sweet lips witness. Let them call me traitor if I -keep not this vow." - -"Did then," replied Deborah, "our blind seer dream again correctly? -He said that he saw Dion wearing a Jew's shirt beneath his Greek -toga. But, Dion, do not follow such impulses. Your career is that of -a soldier. In that occupation you may acquire renown, riches, power; -for I myself once heard one of your generals say that there was more -genius for command in Dion's head than in the whole war councils of the -King. Only be as just as you are brave--such men are needed everywhere. -But alas! too well I know that, unless God helps, one will find only -poverty and suffering and death among the Jews. Our reward is not here, -but in that unknown land where we believe our fathers who have fallen -asleep wake and walk. Without that sure faith, Dion, you must not -become a Jew. But we must part. Call me when the swordsman or jailer is -ready--and I will forgive you." - -She retired into her apartment. - - - - -XXIX - -A RAID - - -Between the conflict of his own thoughts and Glaucon's outbursts of -rage at the indignity cast upon his house, the day passed drearily for -Captain Dion. But the night brought new excitement. - -The narrowness of the streets made them dark almost as soon as the -glints of the setting sun had climbed above the parapets and vanished -into the upper air. No lamps were now burning, as in peaceful times, at -the doorways of the houses. Upon the city walls and at the great gates -loomed the outlines of the sentinels, the click of whose sarissas, -brought to the ground at each turn on their beats, alone broke the -stillness. The streets were deserted, except as here and there a light -blinked through the opening door of some low resort, out of which -revellers stumbled into the night; or as some thief, with bare and -noiseless feet, evaded a house guard who was sleeping before the gate -of an official or protected inhabitant. - -It was about the sixth hour when three shadows, like so many -condensations of the night itself, moved up the Street of David from -the direction of the Temple. In a moment as many more followed. Others -came stealthily out of the alleys, and appeared suddenly in the main -street, as if they were exhalations from the pools of water between the -great stones of the pavement. If one had owl's eyes one might have -detected more of these moving patches of darkness, some taking covert -behind the projecting lattice-work of the bazaar windows, or within the -screening lintels of the doorways. At first they seemed like common -night waifs seeking places to sleep; but as sticks in a whirlpool make -each its own gyrations, then float out through a common channel, so all -these men drifted toward the house of Glaucon. - -The sentinel stationed there observed one such shadow near him, and -challenged it. While engaged in attempting to unravel what he thought -were the comer's drunken accents into intelligible words, a grip from -behind was upon his throat, and before he could utter an outcry a short -sword had entered his body. - -A rap on the door brought the challenge, to which the Greek watch-word -"Avenge Bethhoron" was given. The cross-bar had scarcely lifted when -in poured a score of men. The door-keeper fell, and in a few moments -all the Greek guard were silent in their blood, except Captain Dion -who, standing at vantage upon the platform of the room leading from the -court, by splendid sword-play held off his assailants. The leader of -the attacking party, after watching for a moment the uneven fight, laid -his sword across the swords of the men. - -"Back, men! I will deal with this fellow." - -The speaker was a short but powerfully built man. His head was -protected by a helmet of thick leather, which was in keeping with the -black, coarse, chain-knit, iron corsage that covered his upper person. -His form was as compact and as lithe as that of a leopard, and his -pose that of equal alertness. Without for an instant letting his sword -drop from its position for thrust, and holding Dion at guard as the -weapon seemed to search his body for a vulnerable point, the man spoke: - -"You are in command here?" - -"When I had any one to command," replied Dion, glancing at the dead -bodies lying about the court. "But who are you?" - -"No matter who," replied the invader; "I demand the person of the -daughter of Elkiah." - -"My life is forfeit for her," replied Dion. "Come on." - -His challenge was not accepted by his antagonist, who, holding his -weapon in guard, asked, "Your name, gallant Greek?" - -"Captain Dion, at your service, sir. Come on." - -The man lowered his sword. - -"Retire, men. Captain Dion, a word with you." - -"Tell me first by whose authority you have entered here," asked Dion. - -"By the authority of the God of Israel, and Judas, son of Mattathias, -we came. And now, as you can see, since your comrades are dead, we -remain here by authority of our own swords. Twenty to one is scarcely -fair play, and we have that vantage of you. Yield!" - -Captain Dion was not more persuaded by the fighting odds against him -than he was led by certain other considerations to give up the fight. -He at once replied: - -"I yield upon one condition--that no harm shall come to the lady -Deborah." - -"Our purposes seem to be one," replied the stranger. "Is the name of -Jonathan, brother of Judas, sufficient guarantee for her safety?" - -"Jonathan!" ejaculated Dion. "And yet your entrance in spite of our -guards might have made me suspect one surnamed 'The Wily.' Have you -Maccabæans taken the city?" - -"It is enough that we have taken this house, and that you are our -prisoner. Will you deliver the woman to us, or shall we take her out -over your body? The choice is yours." - -"I am a Greek soldier," said Dion. "My life will be forfeit by our -own rules if I yield. My honor will at least be sustained if I fall -guarding my charge." - -He struck the attitude of defense. - -"I had rather fall beneath the hands of twenty foemen, than be led out -to die like a dog by my own people. Come on! You have my answer." - -Jonathan did not move. - -"Guard yourself, then!" said Dion, advancing. Jonathan made no sign of -self-defense. - -Dion lowered his sword. "I cannot kill a man who will not fight." - -"Plainly not. You are not a soldier of that sort, and thus are unlike -your fellow Greeks," said the Maccabæan. - -"Do not taunt me," was the reply. "I believe that the daughter of -Elkiah will be safer with Jonathan than with myself. For her sake I -yield." - -He presented his weapon. - -"Not so, Captain Dion," replied the Jew. "Keep your sword. You may need -it to defend yourself from others. Now lead me to the lady Deborah. I -respect her too highly to invade her privacy without heralding by her -appointed guardian. Use your sword on me, Captain Dion, if I force her -to do aught against her will. We two will go alone." - -Jonathan bade his men retire. - -The frightened servants had hidden away at the first noise of the -encounter; but as the two men approached Deborah's apartment their way -was blocked by old Huldah, who stood with arms akimbo, and behind her -Ephraim. - -"The lady Deborah is ill, and no one can see her," cried Huldah, as -valiantly as if Ephraim were a whole battalion supporting her. - -"Here is a military exigency which I fear the tactics of neither Greek -nor Jew is equal to," laughed Jonathan. "We should have brought up our -battering rams." - -It is difficult to surmise what would have been the issue of this -impending collision between a noted warrior and the puissant Huldah, -had not little Caleb appeared at the instant the battle was about to be -joined. Recognizing the voice of his friend of the Rocks, he ran to him -with a delighted cry: - -"Jonathan! Jonathan!" - -"My child!" cried the Maccabæan with equal eagerness, as he caught the -lad to his arms. "And Deborah, where is she?" - -"Why, Deborah is gone two hours since," exclaimed the child. "She is -now far away as Mizpah, or maybe Bethel. But, Jonathan, have we taken -the city yet? And was Gorgias killed as I saw in my dream?" - -"The Lord grant that your dream may be as that of Gideon's soldiers -the night before the destruction of the Philistines, when a barley cake -overturned a tent," said Jonathan, kissing the blind eyes. "Deborah -is gone? Where then, Captain Dion, is your boasted protection of this -woman, whom you say you were ordered to guard? If she could go and come -without your permission, why might not others have captured her? It is -well that I, a Jew, have been ordered to relieve guard here to-night, -since you, a Greek, have not kept it." - -"Your words are deserved," replied Dion, bewildered by Caleb's news. "I -cannot account for it. Deborah has not passed out by the court gateway -into the street, that I can swear. Nor do I think she has flown through -the air." - -"For aught you know, Sir Greek, she may have done so. Remember that you -are in the Jews' land. Here you must be prepared to believe such things -as were never dreamed of by your people. This is, as you have doubtless -heard, a land of miracles. Every hill and cave has a story, as true as -that Deborah has outwitted your senses. But pardon my mirth, Captain. I -see that your head sits lightly on your shoulders for having let your -bird break cage, and I suggest that, if you do not care to submit your -neck to the whim of your superior officer, you go with us. I doubt -not we can put you again in charge of your fair captive, or at least -where you will risk nothing if you avow that she escaped with your -connivance. I think, Captain, that you will have to go with us. Come." - -Captain Dion put forth his hands. - -"You may bind me." - -"You are too brave a man for that," replied Jonathan. "The name of -Dion is not unknown to us. You may bind yourself with your word. It -will suffice. Besides, you will need both hands in scrambling out of -this town, and maybe your sword, for----" - - - - -XXX - -FOILED - - -Jonathan's sentence was not completed. There was a sudden sound of the -quick-timed, regular tramp of many feet in the street. Meton, hearing -of the commotion in the house of Glaucon, had sent thither a detachment -from the citadel. There were a few sharp words of command outside, -followed by the crashing in of the gate. Then came a moment's silence. -This was while the Greek rescuers were forming for a dash through the -portal; for they knew that the foremost would fall beneath the unseen -swords that were ready to meet them. - -Jonathan and his men were already in the breach. Man after man dropped -in his tracks as the Greeks crossed the threshold. The assailants, -though baffled, kept the gate open by thrusting back of the hinges a -piece of timber which they had used as a sort of battering ram. The -passage was soon choked with a pile of dead bodies. The Greeks then -massed a number of spearmen who, with their bristling points thrust -far ahead of them, essayed to rush their antagonists. This ruse was -unfortunate; for no sooner were the spear-heads beyond the lintels than -they were grasped by strong hands, and thrown upward, thus leaving the -unprotected bodies of those who had used them at the mercy of the Jews' -swords. - -The Greeks had surely lost the fight had not Meton ordered another -party of his men to enter the adjacent houses, climb to the roofs, -and from them reach that of the house of Glaucon. Having gained this -advantage, they poured down in a torrent of destruction. The Greek -servants were spared. Huldah and Ephraim in some mysterious manner -disappeared. Glaucon, or what was left of the living man, since his -fright had been well-nigh as fatal to him as a stone from a catapult -would have been, was dragged from beneath a divan, but only to be -shoved back again as into a place of security, while a soldier was set -to prod him if he should attempt to come out. - -An officer finding Dion, laid his hand upon his shoulder. - -"Captain, I must put you under arrest. You will harbor me no ill will -if I obey my orders?" - -"Do your duty, Mercedes, or I myself will report you," replied Dion. - -The Captain extended his hands, which were quickly bound with his own -belt. - -The uneven fight was soon over in the court. A score of Jews were -either slain or captured, though more than twice that number of their -antagonists measured their lengths upon the pavement. One lay with his -head in the fountain basin at the feet of Aphrodite, and stared with -his dead eyes into the face of the marble beauty that gazed down into -them. - -"Who is the leader of this gang of rebels?" asked Meton. - -"The Lord of Hosts is our leader!" said one of the captives. - -"The lord of the host?" queried Meton. "Has then the great Judas fallen -into my trap? Shade of Apollonius! this is lucky for me. But where is -your lord of the host?" - -He turned over the bodies of the dead Jews to look at their faces. "He -is not here--nor here. None of these have stature enough for the giant." - -Jonathan, anxious for the fate of Caleb, had gone seeking for him in -the upper part of the house. His way was blocked by an immense Greek -who strode across a chamber carrying the blind boy beneath his arm. -No sooner had Jonathan spied him than the man's dead hands dropped -his burden. But a crowd of soldiers had followed the daring Jew, and -now seemed to have him as their captive. Thrusting Caleb behind him, -Jonathan kept his assailants at bay by the lightning movement of his -blade. - -"This way, Jonathan! this way!" cried the lad; and, so guided, Jonathan -retreated step by step, now between the opening curtains; now across -another chamber; then down a flight of stone steps. At length he was in -darkness. - -"This way, Jonathan!" sounded the thin voice of the child from the -cellar. - -The Greeks who came after stopped, being unable to see any object; but -thrust with their swords through the darkness. - -"Hold off, men, we have him trapped!" shouted one of the leaders. "Ten -men guard this stairway. The rest of you go with me to the cellarway in -the court. We will pick him out with our spear-points, or burn him out -like a fox in a hole; it matters not which way the rascal wants to die. -It is the great Judas himself in spite of his size, for there is only -one man who can handle the sword as this fellow does. But for all that -I would have had the better of him just now were it not that that blind -brat can see in the dark. Indeed, I stuck him once like a pig at the -bottom of the steps." - -"You lie," said another. "You stuck me; and but for my hand catching -your blade you would have hamstrung me with your jab--jab--jab at -everything and nothing. I tell you I had the Jew by the throat, and -would have throttled him but for you." - -"Had him by the throat?" shouted another. "You had me by the throat. I -was in front of you. I shall claim the reward when we get him. I swear -it was I that drove him down these steps. I had knocked up his sword, -and was closing on him when you put your camel's foot of a fist on my -throat." - -While some watched by the cellarways, and the leaders consulted upon -means to extricate their valiant prey without danger to themselves, -Jonathan was being piloted safely by Caleb through the subterranean -passage. For a while he followed the lad. They at length came to a -place where the path became two. Here Jonathan took the child into his -arms. - -"From this point I know the way," said he. "When we came in by the -crevice in the wall that Meph told us of, we went up that passage until -we came out in the Temple court. And there, Caleb, we swore before the -broken altar of our Lord to give our lives if need be for your and -Deborah's rescue." - -"But how did you know of our danger?" queried the lad. - -"Old Ephraim told Meph of her being under arrest in her house, and Meph -brought us word at Mizpah. But here is our change of uniform. Let me -get out of these vile Greek trappings before they give me some plague. -Alas, that our brave men could not come back with us! But we will -avenge them yet, the Lord willing." - -"Will not Greek clothes serve you better when we come into the fields?" -asked Caleb. - -"No Greek dares to walk a furlong beyond the walls in the night time," -replied Jonathan. "The whole country belongs to the jackals, the foxes, -to us, and to God." - -"Can you see God's eyes, Jonathan?" asked Caleb as they emerged from -the crevice. - -"No, not now; the stars are not out to-night; but I can see God's -smile, for the day is breaking over Moab. You are tired, little -brother. My shoulder must be as hard a saddle as a camel's hump." - -Jonathan took the blind child into his arms, and Caleb, with his hands -about the soldier's neck, and face hidden in his thick beard, after -awhile fell asleep. The child's weight did not weary the strong man, -but his spirit, so gentle, so pure, so wise, seemed to Jonathan to -mingle with his own, as the water purling from some mountain spring, -cool and clean and sweet, mingles with a muddied stream. There were -tears on the face of the man of battle, when, just as the day dawned, -he laid his sleeping burden down in a nook between the rocks. - -A Jewish soldier went by; his iron helmet was slung back. Touching his -bared head, he gave the sentinel's watchword, "As the Lord liveth," -and passed on. And such as he were walking in every by-path and ravine -and on every hill-top from Jerusalem to Samaria, watching over the land -as faithfully as the stars keep their nightly beats in the heavens. -Jonathan bent over the sleeping child, and kissed the little hand that -lay against the moss. Then, signalling to another sentry, he pointed to -the spot and walked away. - -In an hour he returned. - -When Jonathan and Caleb reached the camp at Mizpah, they were alarmed -to learn that Deborah was not there, nor had she been seen by any one. - -Many possible explanations of her absence were suggested, which varied -chiefly according to the degree in which anxiety sank toward despair. -Most believed that she had failed to pass safely through the cordon of -guards, and had been captured by the Greeks. - -Others inclined to the opinion that she had fallen into the hands of -marauding tribesmen, whose fleet steeds were often seen between the -city and the Maccabæan camps. Sometimes a horseman and tall lance -would be silhouetted against the sky from distant rising ground, then -disappear as quickly as the horned wild goats of the Lebanons at the -slightest movement to stalk them. Scouts reported that similar shapes -moved like shadows along the hillsides, pausing only in spots where the -color of the rock or of tree clumps toned with that of the horse, as -by a similar ruse certain birds and lizards escape the observation of -their sharpest-eyed enemies. - -These apparitions gave credit to rumors that the sheikhs of various -tribes were preparing to side with the Greeks. These rumors were at -first without intelligible basis, for nothing had as yet occurred to -clearly prove any breach of neighborly relations between the peasants -of Judea and the herdsmen of the Jordan and eastward. It was as when a -coming storm heralds itself to the instincts of birds and cattle, and -sets the tree-toads croaking before any shred of a cloud appears in the -sky. - -Judas sent his scouts eastward. They reported the fleecy indications -of unsettled political weather in the multitude of tents which were -gathered in hitherto unoccupied positions in the valley of the Jordan -and the mountainous regions beyond. The tribesmen were massing. For -this there could be but one purpose--to strike Judas' rear. This -discovery, which discouraged others, stimulated the champion to keener -thought and buoyancy. He had the joy of a sailor at the prospect of -high seas. - -Yet Judas had his times of moodiness. Jonathan had often remarked to -Simon that these spells were never produced by danger, but either by -something in Judas' physical condition, or some mysterious sentiment -that made him its victim. The report that Deborah had left the city, or -something which timed itself with that announcement, now plunged him -into the depths. He brooded stolidly. His alertness of faculty took on -a seeming lethargy. His brethren tried to rouse him by the news of the -movements of the new Greek armies under Gorgias and Nicanor and Lycias, -who were reported to have passed down the valley of the Litany, that -portal of Syria between the Lebanon ranges through which the invaders -of Israel had so often come. - -"We must put our men in motion," urged Jonathan. - -"Aye," was Judas' laconic response. - -"But when shall we move?" was eagerly asked. - -"When the time comes." - -"But when will the time come?" - -"When I say so." And Judas turned away. - - - - -XXXI - -THE SHEIKHS - - -Deborah's flight from the city had not been for her own personal -safety, else she would have taken Caleb with her. When she emerged -from the crevice, instead of going northward toward the fastnesses -of the Maccabæans, she turned to the east, at first keeping close to -the city wall. The night was dark except for the occasional flashes -of lightning, the couriers of a coming storm. In the momentary glare -she took in the stations of the few Greek sentinels who patrolled the -immediate fields. They were looking for no danger from the direction -of the walls, but peered outward, questioning with spear-point every -shadow which the sudden flashes projected beyond the rocks and bushes. - -It was thus not difficult for Deborah to reach without detection the -extreme northeastern angle of the city. She here sat down to watch for -opportunity to pass unobserved into the open ground beyond. She thought -of the old walls at her back, worn by the storms of centuries, and -broken by the war-shocks of many generations; the armored forms close -to her, each one like the claw of the monster power of Syria which was -crushing, tearing, devouring the nation; the great black sky overhead, -like some flying dragon, so vast as to cover and smother the land. -How little was she! Only a single fibre in the writhing flesh of the -victim! Her life was so insignificant! Doubtless before many days she -would lay it down, if she remained in the city; perhaps sooner on this -adventure. - -Her fingers felt between them a tiny berry. "I am less than this," -she thought, "for it may abide when I am gone. Yet if I press this -seed down into the dirt, it will breed life in its decay. May I not -yield something if I fall? What now if I can bring to Judas a hundred -men! That will be worth dying for! He would not allow me to make this -venture if he knew it. That is well; then that brave heart cannot bear -the blame if it miscarry. So I give my life to God and His cause." - -She pressed the berry into the ground, and smoothed the dirt above it -with her hand. - -The lightning split the heavens with terrific shock. A tower above the -eastern gate caught the bolt as a shield would ward a flaming dart. The -rain came down in torrents. The sentinels retired closer to the walls, -drawing nearer together as their line shortened. In a moment Deborah -would be discovered! But while their eyes were dazed by another crash -she pushed boldly between them and ran. - -"What was that?" said a soldier. "I must have stepped upon a jackal." - -"It was as big and black as a wolf," was his comrade's reply. "They say -the dead Jews' ghosts come back to the city in wolf shapes." - -"I heard one the other night. He seemed, from the noise he made, to be -walking on two legs with a crutch; but when I came to him he darted in -among the bushes, and back to Hades; for there wasn't a sign of him -above ground." - -Deborah sped down the long slope from the city wall to the Kedron, and -across it, and up the side of Olivet. She did not see her way, yet kept -it, following every turn of the footpath; for she dared not venture -upon the high-road, knowing this to be sentinelled. When she heard any -sound on the beaten track she crossed the fields, over ditches, around -boulders, past garden walls of dried clay. She did not stumble, though -she gave no heed to where she stepped. Were her senses and muscles -preterhumanly alert, as those of a swallow skimming the ground and -striking nothing? Did instinct assert itself over the slower-paced -judgment, as in the case of frightened deer and homing pigeons? Did the -angels bear her up in their hands according to the promise? She asked -not, nor did she even wonder. The inner light of her purpose was so -strong that her soul dominated all physical limitation--for a while. At -length on Olivet, midway the ascent, she fell utterly exhausted. Then -she first realized the weakness of the flesh, and rebelled against it. -How long it took to steady the panting breath! and for the heart to -stop its violent beating! - -After a few moments' rest she rose. Her feet were stones in weight. -Would that they had been as hard! for a sharp pain drew her attention -to the fact that one foot had broken its sandal, and was bruised and -bleeding. She could not run; she trudged on. - -She came out upon the broad road, and passed through Bethany. No one -accosted her, for the once happy village was now deserted. Even the -dogs had followed the people when they fled from the invaders. - -The day broke. The road grew white with its dust, then ruddy with -the coming light. Her faintness told her that she hungered, and she -remembered that she had made provision for this. She drew from her -bosom a handful of bread and dates, and ate. At a spring, where once -had stood a khan, she drank amid a circle of bewildered sheep, which -bleated and stared at this intruder of what for many months had been -their solitude. - -She must rest; yet what if she should be too late? Already the -tribesmen about Jericho might have begun to fulfil their threat, and -move against Judas. These men had been the enemies of her people -for ages. Not since Joshua crossed their plain had they been at -peace, except at times when the degenerate Jews mingled their blood -in marriage with that of these heathen. Toward the Chasidim, those -extremists who would purge the land of all but the pure stock of -Israel, these tribes had sworn special hatred. Now that the Maccabæans -were facing new armies of Syria, the rumor of the fields became the -open boast in Jerusalem, that the whole population of the Jordan valley -was about to assail Judas' rear; for Antiochus' gold had corrupted -every Sheikh from the Sea of Galilee to the Sea of Salt. - -And who was she, a girl, to turn these fierce fighters from their -remorseless purpose? A straw to change the course of the Jordan! A -child's hand to divert from its path an avalanche on the slope of -Hermon. Yet a child's hand can give direction to an avalanche, by -breaking the frozen front in this or yonder ravine. Doubtless the child -would be swept away by the descending mass; but what mattered that? - -Though her limbs scarcely obeyed her will to rise, Deborah could -not rest. She might be too late. This fear suddenly became almost a -terrible conviction. There were clattering hoof-beats on the hard -roadway. She concealed herself behind the ruined wall of the khan. Two -horsemen rode slowly up, pausing upon an adjacent knoll, and inspecting -the country far and wide. Their horses were almost hidden beneath their -housings of network and tassels. This, however, did not conceal the -long and slender limbs and narrow flanks of the beasts, their broad, -deep breasts and thick necks, which showed that they were of that -thorough breed for the rearing of which the Arabs had already become -famous. - -The two riders were swarthy, almost black. One was young, his sparse -beard fringing and breaking the perfect oval of his face. The other -was old, unless the deep lines across his brow, like the valleys and -gorges about him, had been made by sudden convulsions, the sharp crises -of his life. The youth's eyes were like the fountain beside which they -stopped--sparkling, yet calm and fully exposed. The old man's eyes -were like the pools which one, standing on the cliffs, sees gleaming -far down in the deep gorge of the Kedron, as that stream cuts its way -through the mountains of rocks which would bar its progress to the Sea -of Salt. - -In dismounting the elder man seemed the younger, so quick was his -motion in taking the long lance from its rest, and planting it in the -ground as the tether post for his steed. - -"Neither Jews nor Greeks are concerning themselves with us to-day. That -is clear, father," said the younger man. - -"It is true, then," said the veteran, "that they are both looking for -a battle to the west. Judas' men were only yesterday scouring this -part of the country, but they are now withdrawn. That means that the -Maccabæan expects another fight with the Greeks speedily, for Judas -never calls in his men until he wants them to strike. They are like the -fingers on his hand; they turn into a fist only for the blow. We will -ride back, Nadan, and advise the camps to move against the Maccabæan -to-morrow." - -Deborah heard this with consternation. The man was surely Sheikh Yusef, -the Arab, the fiercest of the tribesmen of the valley. She must act -instantly. - -A slight groan attracted the attention of the men. Turning the corner -of the ruined wall they detected her crouching form. - -"Who is here? By my beard, a woman!" - -Deborah rose, and with clasped hands, exclaimed: - -"Your pity! Do not harm me!" - -"Who are you?" said Yusef. "And what brought you to such a place?" - -"I am fleeing from Jerusalem. I am the daughter of Elkiah." - -"Elkiah's daughter a fugitive, and in such a plight? Has your brother -turned you out? We had heard that he was in high feather with his new -friends." - -"Alas!" said Deborah, "my brother is himself endangered. All are in -danger there. Have you not heard?" - -"We have heard nothing. Tell us." - -"Not heard!" said Deborah, in feigned surprise. "The Romans, the strong -people from the west, from over the Great Sea, from beyond Cyprus, -beyond Greece, are coming. It is reported that their fleets are seen -from the shore; that they have overcome the Syrian ships; that they -have made alliance with Egypt; that vast armies, the armies that -destroyed Perseus, are about to march through the desert, and come upon -Syria by way of the valley. The Greeks in Jerusalem distrust the Jews -who have submitted. They believe that my people have played them false, -and will turn to the Romans. Meton is slaughtering us." - -The two Arabs looked at each other with faces that showed perplexity. -They withdrew to a little distance. Deborah could not catch all their -words, but enough to know that her ruse was not altogether futile. -However well bribed with Greek gold, the tribesmen would not risk the -alliance of Antiochus if this new power of Rome were to come upon the -scene. The Republic of the West was regarded as invincible along the -Great Sea, but had not yet essayed to strike Asia. If the crash of -empires were to take place it were wise for the nomadic peoples to -throw themselves with neither Greek nor Roman until there were some -signs as to which power would prove the stronger. - -The older man remounted. - -"But, father, we cannot leave the daughter of Elkiah here," said the -younger. "She must go with us." - -Deborah had risen to her feet. The hood dropped from her head. Was it -her grateful look, or only her surpassing beauty, that held the young -Arab? - -"You will go with us? You can ride?" said he. - -"Nay, I must go to my kinsman, Ben Aaron of Masada. To seek refuge -there I have fled. Tell me the shortest way, I beg of you." - -"To Masada? That is a long journey, and rough, and full of dangers. You -cannot go there alone." - -Nadan held rapid speech with old Yusef, the conclusion of which was -this, on his part: - -"It is true we must not leave her here, nor can we delay. Take you the -woman, Nadan. Cross the gorge of Kedron. By the night you can be at -Masada, and by the morning back with us. Nadan, the woman is comely. -Were I not needed with the people, she should share my saddle, not -yours. No loitering, my son. My salutation to Ben Aaron, the damned -Jew!--but it is unwise to damn him in the present emergency. His castle -on Masada will be the strongest in the wilderness--when we get it. -Speak him fair, and let the gift of his kinswoman be a pledge of peace -between us--until we see fit to break it. That woman's breath on your -cheek ought to give you soft words for Ben Aaron." - -He placed his long lance in its resting strap, bowed his head to the -neck of his steed--both a salaam to the woman and a signal of haste to -the beast--and disappeared over the hill like an autumn leaf whirled -away by the wind. - - - - -XXXII - -THE CASTLE OF MASADA - - -Nadan would have been no true son of Yusef if the commission to escort -the fair Jewess had not been a pleasing one; for the old Sheikh was -known as the "Solomon of the Tents," and many a Shulamite maiden had -looked upon him as "black but comely." - -The paternal badinage with his son about the girl's breath upon his -cheek was undoubtedly as unwise as it was unnecessary. But Deborah -herself saved the young man from all temptation. - -When Nadan returned to her she was standing with face uplifted, as when -one is looking at some far-distant object in the lower sky. Her eyes -did not rest on the summit of Nebo or Pisgah, whose grayish-blue peaks -rose like gigantic towers on the agate wall of the mountains of Moab. -Beyond them, beyond all the earth, her soul seemed to be drinking from -fountains in the sky. - -Nadan's approach did not at once divert her rapt attention. The youth -felt something like resentment at her indifference to his presence. Did -not the maidens of the valley sing and dream the praise of Nadan? And -if his comeliness had been less, was he not the richest of the young -lords of the tribes, and their most daring rider? - -Just now, as he stood beside his splendid steed, one hand upon the -lustrous mane, the other grasping the tall spear to draw it from its -socket in the ground, his attitude was such as to fascinate any lover -of a manly form. He was fully conscious of this, and kept his pose at -first in the hope that the woman would notice him. Then he remained -motionless because the spell which held Deborah looking heavenward also -held him staring at her. His feeling of slighted dignity passed away -almost as quickly as the shadow of a flying bird. Deborah seemed more -than a woman, some priestess illumined with the light of her shrine, -which was invisible to all eyes but her own. The Arab felt himself -drawn to a kindred worship; at least, he worshipped the worshipper. - -Slowly the rhapsody faded from her face. When she turned toward -her companion she was simply a woman, with a girlish sweetness and -timidity. Nadan had seen a flower which, when the sunlight fell upon -it, burst at once from bud to glorious fulness, and when darkness came -closed its petals again. Were human beings sometimes gifted with such -powers? All his Arab superstitions about genii and other wonderful -creatures who live on the borderland between the visible and invisible -world were beginning to perplex and awe him, when Deborah's simple and -confiding manner reassured him that he had only a human being to deal -with, though an exceedingly fascinating one. - -"I shall conduct you to Masada," said he, making deep obeisance. - -"It need not be," replied Deborah. - -"It must be," said the youth, with a tone of authority which, however, -indicated that he was commanding himself rather than her. "The way is -full of dangers. Few ever cross the great gorge of the lower Kedron; -and none but those who know the path. All the wild beasts, driven from -the open, find lair in its caves and thickets." - -"Then I will follow the highway to Jericho, and there take the road by -the sea," said Deborah. - -"Men might be more cruel than the beasts," was the Arab's reply. "You -cannot go alone. If I may not accompany you, I must follow; for my -father's bidding I would not dare to disobey. He will require of me an -accounting of my safe conduct of you to the fortress of your kinsman." - -"Not if I myself release you from the duty." - -"You cannot. Yusef is lord of these hills. Besides you are his guest -until the shadow of Masada itself protects you. It shall never be said -that ill has befallen the daughter of Elkiah anywhere within the echo -of Yusef's or Nadan's bugle." - -Deborah replied with look and tone that completely won her companion: - -"Sheikh Yusef is very gracious. The house of Elkiah will ever remember -his kindness this day, and that of his son." - -Nadan fell upon one knee, and kissed the hem of her garment. - -"I beg you then to lead the way at once," said Deborah, "for we must -hasten." - -The Arab readjusted the saddle. - -"I shall walk," said Deborah. - -"That cannot be," replied the young man, catching a glimpse of her -broken sandal. "And see, even Emir forbids it." - -The horse had thrust his long nose into her hands. - -"Emir--the Prince--and does he not deserve the name?" said Nadan, who -evidently shared his personal conceit with his pride in his beast. -"Emir's stock is as old and pure as the fountain of Dûk by the city of -Jericho, whose waters they say your prophet Elisha healed--Emir will -have no other rider to-day than yourself. See, he himself says so," for -the horse was rubbing his head against her shoulder. - -Nadan made his hand the stirrup, and lifted Deborah to the saddle. - -"Were the daughter of Elkiah as ignorant of horses as they say all -Jerusalem women are, Emir would carry you as safely as if he had arms, -and you lay within them. But you are no stranger to the saddle. Come, -Emir, we must be to-night at Masada." - -He patted the head of the horse. - -"You remember, my Emir, the tournament you had with Ben Aaron's Nagid, -which means the same as Emir? It was Prince against Prince indeed. Our -lady should have seen us that day. Eh, Emir?" - -The horse shook his long mane, pawed the ground, and whinnied his -challenge, as if his master's words were the promise of another contest. - -Nadan took the single rein and led the way. Neither spoke for a long -while. At length Deborah gave a cry. Emir raised his head, and neighed -like the blast of a trumpet. - -They had climbed to the summit of a high hill. Before them stretched -the plain of the Jordan. To the north a silver thread ran through a -vast tapestry of green. To the south was the Sea of Salt, like a shield -of bronze inlaid with variegated precious stones, so many were the hues -which the soft and cloud-flecked light painted upon its surface. The -plain of Jordan lay thousands of feet beneath them, a picture bordered -on the east by the cliffs of Moab, whose many-colored rocks gleamed -like piled fragments of a rainbow, and to the north by the white -shoulders of Hermon, like those of a maiden who has not yet learned to -shun the eyes of men. - -Midway the scene were the gray walls and flattened white domes of -Jericho. Scattered here and there, as far as the eye could reach, were -clusters of tents. In one group were hundreds of awning-like structures -made of black camel's hair. In another group were pyramidal tents, -some white, some striped with orange or blue. In the distance these -flaxen towns, with green fig orchards or dusky forests of olive for the -background, gleamed like dewdrops on outspread leaves. - -Deborah's cry had been evoked partly by the magnificent vision. Had -Emir's big eyes detected the tents of his master in the distance? - -Nadan pointed out to Deborah the various camps. The Jordan valley had -become the rendezvous of the warriors of many tribes, waiting the -decision of the Council of the Sheikhs for their contemplated raid upon -the Maccabæans. - -"The camps will not break up to-morrow, as had been planned, of that -I am sure," said the guide. "There has been much division of opinion -among the Sheikhs. Some distrust the Greeks more than they hate the -Jews; and the news from Jerusalem that the Greeks have broken faith -with those who, like yourself, have gone over to them, will destroy all -zeal for helping the foreigners, as the dead water of the Sea of Salt -yonder kills the bushes on the shore. I would rather make alliance -with Judas, for every Bedouin loves a hero." - -Nadan instantly repented this last sentence of his speech, for he knew -that the Hellenizing sect of the Jews, to which he assumed that his -companion belonged, hated the Maccabæans. He glanced at her face to -meet her displeasure with apology. But no frown was there. She even put -her hand on Nadan's shoulder as he stood by her saddle. He thought he -detected in her look a tender passion astir for himself; for was he not -a hero too? - -"It is true that Judas is a wonderful warrior," said she. "And some -claim more for him than skill and bravery. His people deem him -inspired. Even in Jerusalem are those who avow that his victories -at the Wady and Bethhoron were given him by Heaven. But what think -you, Nadan? Is not all genius to plan great deeds, and all heroism to -execute them, the gift of Heaven? I sometimes fear lest, except among -those Maccabæans, and your own tribesmen, the world has forgotten -how to be great. Oh, to be a man, Nadan, and to wear armor, and to -ride a steed like Emir! It seems to me that I would fight always in -company with the bravest and best, and call them the favored of Heaven, -whatever creed or kingdom they belonged to. But it must be wrong to -talk so." - -The young man was intoxicated with his companion's spirit. He cried -enthusiastically: - -"Wert thou a man! Ah, there were a chieftain I would follow!" - -Then catching his reward from her smile, his gallantry became two-fold, -as he added, "And I could swear allegiance to the daughter of Elkiah, -even if she were not a man." - -"You are my protector," said Deborah, with dignified rebuke in her -tones. "Let us hasten on, I beg you." - -Nadan led the way. It was exceedingly rough. They soon looked down -into the awful gorge of the lower Kedron, a gash hundreds of feet in -depth, as if some Titanic foe had endeavored to strike the world to -the heart. The eye could not detect room for the path of a goat along -its precipitous sides. One might have said that an eagle would grow -dizzy in flying across the mighty chasm. But Nadan led the way rapidly, -followed by the sure feet of Emir. The beast, as if mindful of the -need of his burden, picked his steps not only in the safest but the -easiest places. Down, down they went, from ledge to ledge, through -narrow crevices, now knee-deep in the sandy débris lodged in seams of -rock, and now with sliding hoofs over brief declivities. At the very -bottom of the chasm they crossed the fretting waters of the brook; then -climbed the steep wall of rock beyond. - -When they reached the top another magnificent view burst upon them. -They were just above the Sea of Salt, its blue surface gleaming amid -the white saline shores like a turquoise set in a circlet of silver. -Down, down again they went, until, two hours later, they struck the -level roadway along the very edge of this vast bituminous pool. The -sun was past meridian, and soon the bold headlands of the mountains of -Engedi to the west would shut out the light. On Deborah's insistence -Nadan mounted behind her; and giving Emir the rein they sped rapidly -southward. The glowing Sea of Death on the one hand, and the terrible -cliffs on the other, would have suppressed desire of conversation even -if Deborah had not been preoccupied with her own thoughts. - -Dusk had already thickened the air about them, leaving only the bright -glow of fading daylight to banner the mighty parapets of Moab across -the sea, when there arose by their side the tall pinnacle of Masada--a -single monolith penetrating the sky hundreds of cubits above them. Its -base was an immense scarp ascended only by a narrow foot-path. Here -Emir was tethered, and sent his whinnying salutation echoing among the -rocks. Deborah needed the strong hand of Nadan as they threaded their -way upward. - -Near the summit the whole peak seemed cut off from access. A fringe -of jagged peaks stood about the central cone, like the tents of a -body-guard protecting the pavilion of a militant monarch. Within these -natural towers the ground fell into a deep moat. This was crossed by a -narrow neck of higher ground, an artificial viaduct admitting passage -only in single file, and flanked by deep and perilous declivities. - -The travellers were fairly upon this natural bridge when a score of -forms rose behind them to dispute their return, and as many more -challenged their advance. Ben Aaron lived in troublous times, and, as -a Jew among Moabite and Arabian tribes, held his stronghold like an -eagle's eyrie amid hostile beaks. - -To the challenge the young Arab answered with his name. A moment later -appeared a tall man, slightly bent with years. His restless gray -eyes suggested one who succeeded rather by caution than by courage. -He passed through the guard on the castle side of the causeway, and, -making deep salaam, kissed the Arab upon both cheeks. - -"The Lord be with thee, Nadan, son of Yusef! What good intent has led -you to climb so high? There are no eggs in this nest for you to rob; -and if Ben Aaron had a brood of his own begetting they would cackle -their welcome to the boldest rider and handsomest Sheikh of the plain. -That Nadan knows full well. Peace be with thee! But who have you here? -Some distressed soul of my people, I see from her face. Yusef has a -hard hand, but it is soft and tender betimes. That I have often proved." - -"I have brought to your protection this kinswoman, the daughter of -Elkiah of Jerusalem. My father bids me deliver her to your hands, in -token of the peace that shall ever be between us," replied the young -Sheikh. - -"Elkiah's daughter? Deborah? Child of Miriam who was the child of Leah, -our mother's sister?" - -"I am Miriam's child," said the fugitive. - -"I see it. I see it," replied Ben Aaron, pressing the black locks back -from her face. "And but that Elkiah was richer than I, thou mightest -have been my daughter; and such thou shalt be now, for I see there is -need. Come, Nadan, you must break bread with me." - -"My father's command is that I do not loiter," replied the Arab. "Night -is shutting in the way, and I must be upon the high-road quickly, or -even my Emir's eyes will not find it." - -"Then the Lord go with thee! And Jotham and Joshua shall see you safely -down to the seashore." - -"It is not necessary." - -"True, not for thee, but for Ben Aaron's hospitality. My love to the -noble Yusef! and my thanks for this new mark of his goodness in giving -me my kinswoman." - -The two men salaamed to the ground. Nadan lifted the hand of Deborah to -his lips. He looked into her face as if he would have its fair features -stamped upon his soul, as a seal makes its impression on wax. - -Her returning glance, and the warmth of her gratitude, though expressed -in briefest sentence, "I thank you, good Nadan," sent him away with -something else than a warrior's pride in his heart. - - - - -XXXIII - -WITH BEN AARON - - -As the form of Nadan was lost behind the battlement of rocks, Ben Aaron -turned to Deborah. - -"My child, why this coarse and torn garb? I did not ask in the presence -of the Arab, lest the story might shame the good name of the house of -Elkiah. But come within, and tell me in the confidence of our kinship; -and as the Lord liveth, if man hath harmed thee, I will plant my spear -before his tent ere the sun set again, though he were Sheikh Yusef -himself. But you are faint, my daughter. You must rest; and, when -refreshed with the warm goat's milk and the meat, I must have the tale -of the happenings, even as if my ears were those of Elkiah himself--the -Lord rest his spirit!" - -"Adah! Zillah!" - -He clapped his hands, and serving-women came from the low doorway of -what was called the Castle of Masada, but seemed to Deborah more like a -covert for cattle, so rude was the structure. - -"Adah will bring water; and Zillah fetch you the garments of wool; aye, -and the leben will bring warmth to your cheek." - -Deborah evinced a moment's indecision. Her wearied flesh clamored for -the offered cheer, yet her strong purpose prevailed. - -"My thanks, Ben Aaron, but I have come upon a mission that may not be -delayed even by your hospitality. As the good servant of our father -Abraham at the house of Laban, so I must say to you, my father's -kinsman, 'I will not eat until I have told mine errand.' And this -raiment and these bleeding feet are fitting to my story. If I find not -favor for my cause, then let me depart. You know that my father's house -has sided with the Greeks." - -"And well; for why should they perish?" interrupted her host. - -"Say not so. The Greeks have turned to be enemies of our people. I -myself was a prisoner in my father's house, doomed to death. I fled to -the wilderness, to the Arabs, until these, our ancient enemies, less -cruel than the Greeks, have brought me here to you. There is no hope -for our people in this alliance with those who destroy our altars. God -has brought to confusion and shame and destruction those of us who have -consented to worship their false gods. He saves only His true people. -Our hope is in the sons of Mattathias." - -Ben Aaron raised his hand in protest. - -"Nay," continued the eager woman, "hear me. The sons of Mattathias are -the arrows of our God. Already He has sped them with His strength. If -the arch of the sky were His bow and the lightning His arrows, the -Greeks had not been smitten more disastrously. Without human aid Judas -has already overthrown two armies of the heathen. I know that he will -soon meet a third. If then Judas be beaten, the Greeks swear by their -gods that no Jew, whatever may have been his alliance with Antiochus, -shall live in the land. This fortress, as you know, is not safe even -from the arrows and swords of the valley Sheikhs; how can it withstand -the engines of war with which the Greeks batter down walls and towers? -But if Judas be again victorious, then the Romans will send armies to -his assistance. Of this he already has assurance. The blood of Aaron -and Elkiah is that of the sons of Mattathias." - -"This is strange tidings," said Ben Aaron. "Come within the lamp-light -that I may see if fright has not robbed you of your wits, my daughter." - -Deborah stood beneath the rays under the rude portal. Ben Aaron caught -the vision of her superb face, as she said: - -"Think you that fright drove me through the wilderness of the Kedron -and Engedi, when I might have fled to the camp of Judas? I have come, -my kinsman, because our faith, our blood, is one. My father, Elkiah, -said that Ben Aaron would protect his children." - -"And so he will! And so he will!" cried Ben Aaron vehemently. - -"It is impossible that I abide here," continued Deborah. "This -stronghold is itself doomed. The Arabs of the valley are already -gathering like eagles waiting for a carcass. I myself heard Yusef -mutter curses on the name of Ben Aaron, and that, too, in the ears of -his son Nadan. Did not Nadan but now refuse to break bread with you? -Why should he break bread with you when to-morrow his tribe may feast -here at will, and no Ben Aaron be living to bid them either welcome or -begone? What means the gathering of all the tribes in the great plain? -Their tents gleam from Jericho to Galilee almost as continuously as the -sacred river itself. Will Ben Aaron submit?" - -The man stood rigid, his hands clenched, his eyes drinking her spirit -as he watched her and heard her heroic appeal. - -"I have ten score men," said he, as if speaking to himself. "Bethuel, -too, has bidden me beware the tribesmen. Bethuel is my Captain; a -braver or wiser man never threw spear. I would have speech with him. -You will tell me more, my daughter, as we are at meat." - -"But tell me first," she insisted, "has my errand found favor with you? -If not, I will go alone to the Maccabæans." - -"I cannot answer you nay, my daughter. But you shall tell it all to -Bethuel. Is it not enough for the moment that Deborah has found favor -with her kinsman, and that his life shall be for hers whether she go or -stay? Aye, you have Miriam's face. Know you, my child, that when you -were born your father pledged me that you should become the bride of my -Josiah, whom the Lord so soon after took from me. Since the same plague -struck down the lad and his mother, Ben Aaron has lived a lonely life, -overlooking this Sea of Death, for so it seemed fitting for one with a -desolate heart, and no wife nor child to cheer it. The Lord has sent -you to me, my child. No other angel have I seen on this barren peak. -Let Bethuel say why I should not go with you." - -If care and kindly purpose could have recuperated the strength of the -traveller, the hands of Adah and Zillah would have taken away all -aches. But ablution in the water cooled by filtering through the coarse -clay jars, and the savory supper, only allayed her excitement. As she -began to rest she for the first time began to realize how utterly -wearied she was. She begged Ben Aaron that she might sleep until the -morning; in the meantime he and Bethuel should consider the answer he -was to give. - -The news Deborah had brought spread like fire in the brambles -throughout the little colony, for such it was rather than a single -household. Scores of herdsmen that night gathered in the great central -chamber. This was built of unhewn and unmortared stones, the débris of -the storm-shattered crags about the summit of Masada. - -It was the supper hour. Great pots steamed with the parched corn -boiling in milk. Two whole goats, only the entrails having been -removed, were being roasted on great wooden spits over the fire in the -centre of the room. The savor of their flesh, mingled with the smoke, -poured through the opening in the roof. This was an incense pleasing, -if not to the gods, surely to the thousands of rooks collected upon the -dried mud interlaced with sticks which made the roof. - -Around the great chamber were sheds, from which came the lowing of -cattle and the cries of the milkers. Without could be heard the -clattering of wooden shoes on the rocks as the herdsmen clambered up -from a lower plateau where the sheep were folded for the night. - -Bethuel was closeted with his master in an adjacent room. The noise of -the feasters ceased until each one threw himself down in his blanket -upon the earthen floor. Then the voices of Ben Aaron and his chief -broke the stillness. The debate had evidently been serious, for Bethuel -exclaimed: - -"It is the hour I have warned my lord must come. Our flocks are -constantly stolen. Our herders are assaulted except as they go in -bands. The tribesmen no longer keep faith with us. The Greeks--have I -not often said it?--could not protect us if they would. The daughter of -Elkiah has come to us as the angel to the threshing-floor of Gideon. We -need no miracle of the dew on the fleece, and no fire to burst from the -rock, to tell us the will of the Lord. Our God is with Judas and his -brethren. The maiden's voice is His call from afar." - -"Bethuel was always over-ready to fight," replied Ben Aaron. - -"And," retorted Bethuel, "Ben Aaron has too long been, as the Arabs are -everywhere saying, like a sick eagle on his nest. What is all the gold -my lord has stored between these walls? My master's wealth and fame are -like yonder nail that has rusted in the wall, and will scarcely hold -the weight of his armor." - -"It is true. It is true. Bethuel, my grief has aged me. I am but a -rusted nail. But the words of Bethuel and my kinswoman have touched me -with youth again. Bethuel, we will fight. Do you remember, my son, how -we used to fight? How we won these heights for our castle? How many -years have gone? Summon my people, Bethuel. It were better to fall in -war than to die here. Summon the people, Bethuel!" - - - - -XXXIV - -QUICK LOVE: QUICK HATE! - - -It was the fifth day since Deborah's disappearance. No tidings had come -to make even a rift in the cloud on Judas' brow. Toward noon scouts, -who had been sent to the Jordan to discover any possible trace of -kidnapping by the tribesmen, returned with the reports that the camps, -which had rapidly formed in the valley, had as suddenly broken up, the -Sheikhs retiring east or north to their separate pasture lands. - -"The Lord be praised!" said Judas. "It can only have been by the -interposition of an angel; for Yusef the Arabian, I know, had sworn to -assail us, and for this and this only the tribes were gathered. Let us -hope for the maiden." - -"How does this portend her safety?" asked Simon. "If the tribesmen have -gone, may they not have taken her with them or slain her?" - -"True," replied Judas, "but if the Lord will that we shall be delivered -from their menace, then He has not deserted our cause, as I confess my -sins made me fear; and why should He spare us, and allow harm to come -to the maiden?" - -Simon mused anxiously a moment before he answered: - -"Does Judas love the daughter of Elkiah? Has the sentiment of swains -turned her skirts into those of an angel? Beware, my brother. Every man -has his vulnerable spot. It is not timely for our Samson to be shorn -of his locks." - -Judas' face blazed with rage. His lips were clenched as if their -resolute keeper could with difficulty bar the egress of lawless words. -But slowly the color faded from his countenance. He turned away, -addressing only himself: - -"She will come yet!" - -Scarcely had he spoken when, over the shoulder of the hill of Gibeah, -appeared the familiar outline of the Bedouin steed and the thread-like -lance. But from the uplifted point floated the pennant denoting the -peaceful intent of the comer, who rode leisurely on. Judas himself went -to meet him. - -"Peace be to you!" - -"Peace!" - -The rider dismounted, and, planting his lance, bowed low to the ground. - -"I am Nadan, son of Yusef. My father bids me say, 'Let there be peace -between him and the son of Mattathias." - -"Let there be peace!" responded Judas. - -He picked from the ground a round stone, broke it in twain upon a rock, -and gave the half to Nadan. - -"Nay, let me give better pledge of our covenant," said the young man. -"The highway from Jericho is this hour filled with the herds of Ben -Aaron of Masada, and ten score men are coming to you." - -"The road is dangerous for so few," interjected Judas. - -"Not so," replied Nadan, "since this----" - -He held in his hand a piece of stone not dissimilar to that Judas had -given him. - -"Ben Aaron holds the other half. Is it enough?" - -Judas' face revealed an instant of incredulity; but the eager frankness -of the young man dispelled it. - -"It is enough," he replied. "When Masada falls of its own weight into -the sea then the covenant of the son of Yusef may be broken." - -"My thanks," said Nadan, "and since I have found some favor, I would -ask for more." - -"You have but to speak it." - -"Son of Mattathias, the house of Elkiah in Jerusalem is in alliance -with the Greeks." - -"It is true." - -"That may be broken." - -"How?" - -"Elkiah's daughter is fair, and she pleases me," said Nadan, a blush -blending finely with his proud mien. - -"You have seen her?" - -"She has been in my power." - -"Where is she?" - -Had not Nadan's eyes been upon the ground he would have detected -something in Judas which would have halted his proposal; but he -continued: - -"She has been in my power. I could have carried her to my tent, yet I -delivered her to her kinsman. She comes with his men." - -A sunburst could not have changed Judas' aspect more than did the -glad news. Nadan quite naturally misinterpreted it as an evidence -of the favor with which the Maccabæan received his proposal, and he -enthusiastically pursued his scheme. - -"I could have taken her to my tent, for she was mine. But, son of -Mattathias, I have wider thoughts for us both. With the tribesmen as -your allies you can hold this land. Quickly the city will fall. Two -thousand spears will follow the call of Yusef or his son. These you may -have if you give me the daughter of Elkiah to wife, and assure me of -the property of that house as her dowry." - -"The woman is not mine to give," said Judas. - -"Then the easier it is to give her," was the Arab's response. "When she -was in my power I could have made the alliance of the tribesmen with -the Greek on the same condition, for they have offered us ten times -the amount of Elkiah's estate for our aid against you. Why did we not -accept it? Because, son of Mattathias, the tribesmen prefer to live in -fellowship with the Jews, for a thousand years our neighbors in the -land, bound to us by the ties of intermarriage since the Moabite Ruth -wedded the ancestor of your great King David. The Greeks are foreign -to us. To make my marriage with this fair woman the seal of perpetual -peace with the Jews by helping them reconquer this land, for this I -gave up the daughter of Elkiah as my spoil that I might have her as a -gift from your hands. I have already the consent of her kinsman, Ben -Aaron, waiting only upon that of the son of Mattathias." - -Nadan awaited Judas' answer with bowed head, an attitude of obsequious -courtesy, which, however, did not conceal the hauteur of the man, or -his reserved purpose of swift and vengeful retaliation if his scheme -were not acceded to. - -Judas pondered, and after some moments replied slowly: - -"Son of Yusef, the tribesmen have been of old both the foes and friends -of my people. I would make them only friends, that in peace we might -both continue to possess these lands our God gave to our fathers. You -have my pledge--if--if the woman shall consent." - -"Of that I have no fear," replied the young man, grasping Judas' hand. -"Within a week I will return, a hundred of my young men with me, to -escort the fairest of women to the wedding tent by the bank of the -Jordan. And then, son of Mattathias, I will come again with thousands -of our bravest; aye, all the Moab and the north men from as far as -Bosrah and Bashan will come at the call of Yusef and Nadan." - -The rhapsodic speech of the young Sheikh was broken by the clatter of a -crutch and an outcry: - -"They're coming! The men of Masada, and Deborah--Deborah's with them!" - -Over the hill appeared the head of an advancing company of men. - -The Jews ran in crowds to meet them. - -Ben Aaron was received with wild ovation. Every man in his following -was greeted with huzza and embrace. - -For Deborah the reception was as reverent as it was joyous. The little -mule upon which she was seated could hardly keep his feet as the -multitude thronged about her, seeking her hand, patting the beast, and -gazing with tearful eyes upon the woman whom they had learned almost to -worship as an impersonation of their nation's cause. - -Nadan stood far aside, perplexed by this scene. "This woman," he said -to himself, "cannot be the person she claimed to be. No Elkiah's -daughter, no fugitive from Jerusalem is she. A spy of the Maccabæans! I -see it all." - -When Deborah recognized him, her manner was so warmly and frankly -grateful to her protector that the Arab became bewildered, and reversed -his thoughts. He deemed it impossible that one so fair, with those eyes -lustrous with sincerity, could be aught else than what she said. Who? -What was she? - -Nadan's indecision was ended quickly when Judas saluted her. While the -champion observed due formality, he was also as familiar as her father -or a lover might have been in the presence of others. Nadan's own sense -of enchantment by her beauty made him keen to detect what he thought to -be the same feeling in Judas. - -"Well did the wily Jew leave the choice to the woman herself, for he -knew her decision," Nadan thought almost aloud. "Why did I not test -the success of my errand by casting some gift into the spring of Dûk? -The sacred dragon of the waters would have drifted it away, and thus I -should have known of the deceit." - -The Arab leaped upon his horse. With almost the celerity of a whirling -simitar he turned Emir about in a circle. Rising in his stirrups, he -twirled the spear around his head, and hurled it. - -"Death to the Maccabæan!" - -The weapon sped like a gleam of light to the spot where Deborah and -Judas stood together. Before the crowd were fully aware of his movement -the Arab had dashed through them, and was in flight. A single arrow -close to his head sang its reply to his taunt. - -Judas had seen the launching of Nadan's spear, and thrust Deborah -behind him. He fended the missile by instantly bending, and with his -arm diverted its direction. The spear glanced upward from his cuirass, -and, curving like a swallow in the air, fell with broken shaft amid the -rocks a hundred cubits beyond. - - - - -XXXV - -WORSHIP BEFORE BATTLE - - -Deborah's story of her adventure, of the diversion of the tribesmen -from their purpose of attacking Judas, and the strengthening of the -Maccabæans by the addition of the men of Masada, would have filled the -remainder of the day and night with interest, without the other and -more startling news that was brought them. Scouts came in with the -report that General Gorgias had made forced marches through Galilee, -and was already upon the plain of Esdraelon, so often the battle-field -in the history of Israel's resistance to northern nations. A day's -march would bring the Greek armies as far south as Emmaus, nearly west -of the Maccabæan encampment. - -The imminence of another battle now filled Judas with a strange -gladness. He was possessed by a presentiment of victory. Others could -not understand the change that had taken place in him, but all caught -his spirit. He was called the "Heart of Israel," and as the quickness -or sluggishness of the natural heart is registered in every nerve, even -to the extremities of the body, so the great leader seemed to impart -his own personality to every soldier. - -To those immediately about him he thus accounted for his confidence: - -"God is surely with us. Nothing less than a miracle could have -preserved the life of the maiden and scattered the tribesmen; for well -I knew the preparations they had made to strike us." - -"But will they not reassemble at Nadan's call?" asked Jonathan. - -"Not in time to harm us in the coming battle. See how the Lord will -turn the skill of man to his discomfiture. General Gorgias is a fast -fighter. He is famed for the rapidity with which he hurls his armies. -He will not loiter in the plain. If I mistake not his tactics, he will -essay to strike our camps even before he has made his own. If he were -an Apollonius or a Seron it might be days before he would hazard a -battle, in which event the tribesmen could have time to gather. But -Gorgias will be too quick for them to help him. But here is the maiden." - -"Have you heard from Micah of Hebron?" asked Deborah. "I brake -bread with him some weeks ago, when I was supposed to be nursing my -convenient malady under the care of Huldah." - -"Yes," replied Judas, "four score of his men reached us yester -nightfall. They are the best archers in the south country." - -"And the men from Kirjath-jearim?" - -"They, too, have joined us. They will fight on familiar ground, for -Gorgias will certainly take the broad ascent from the plain, and not -repeat Seron's mistake on the high-road." - -"The physician Samuel," added Deborah, "has also done us some service. -His fame called him as far north as the Waters of Meron, and he saw -most of the herdsmen between here and there." - -"And some of them have joined us," replied Judas, "but I do not trust -them as I do those of the southern country. They have not felt the -King's cruelty as others have. They are, however, of splendid spirit. -I have assigned them some desperate work, for in a man naturally brave -nothing breeds loyalty like danger." - -At that moment one came hastily reporting that a change was being made -in the disposition of the Greek forces. Judas held a brief conversation -with the scout. Turning, he said: - -"Gorgias will undoubtedly climb the ascent to-night. I must away. One -thing I ask of you, Deborah." - -"Your wish is your command to me, Judas." - -"You must not linger near this battle." - -"I am not afraid." - -"Would God that you were afraid, Deborah; that in this one respect you -were like other women." - -"Would you esteem me more, Judas, if I were like other women?" - -"Deborah, if you were like other women, like any other woman in the -world, the world would be less to me. No, be your own self; only do not -remain here. If harm should come to you, I should lose heart. You cheer -me. You inspire me. Take no risk." - -"But have I not cared for myself at other times?" - -"True: yet the battle to-morrow will not be as the others. Gorgias is -experienced, the most tactful, the most desperate of all the Greek -generals. He will not stand on the defensive, but make his own battle. -If in the night he should get his forces to the ridge, the fight will -be here, or between this and Jerusalem. If he should be worsted, he -will be succored by two other armies as great as his own. Promise me -that you will not even see this battle, for I know too well that if you -so much as look you will be drawn into some danger." - -"For your sake, Judas, I will be as other women. The Lord gird you with -His strength for the morrow!" - -"Your prayer is a prophecy. It gives me strength already. Farewell!" - -Deborah sat with little Caleb's hand in hers. The sun was going down. -The red orb hung over the Great Sea, transforming the watery horizon -into a glorious carpet fitting the feet of the King of Day, and making -the sky his canopy of gold. - -"Where are we now, sister?" asked the lad. "I hear a rustling as if the -trees were moving together." - -"Not trees, brother, but men are gathering. By the side of us is -Mizpah, where, in the time of the prophet Samuel, the whole nation came -together. I would that your eyes were open to see." - -"But your eyes are mine, sister. What shall I look at?" - -"Well, stand so. Now we see toward the sunrise the far-away mountains -of Gilead and Moab. How beautiful! The great wall of rock rises into -the sky. It flashes with color, almost like the floor of heaven which -Moses and the seventy elders saw. Now turn--you are facing the north." - -"Aye, I see old Hermon with his helmet of snow, and the cloud plumes -floating from the top of it," cried the lad, as if his eyes had really -opened. - -"Now turn again--you are looking south. Here, almost at our feet, lies -Jerusalem. Yet it was a long way to come, wasn't it?" - -"Not when Jonathan carried me, and I was asleep," laughed Caleb. - -"Yes," replied Deborah, "the white roads and the black stones in the -fields, the gray of olive and the green of fig-trees between here and -the city walls, look like a dream floating between two waking moments. -And beyond the city is Bethlehem. And now turn this way--the way the -sun is going. Down there we can see Lydda, as a pearl on a gray robe; -and way off is Joppa, a dot on the shore of the Great Sea which looks -like a blazing serpent with his back in the sky. Here is the plain of -Sharon filled again with soldiers under the great generals Gorgias and -Ptolemy and Nicanor. We can see the smoke, for they are making their -camps. And we are on the side of Mount Mizpah, where once the Holy -Tabernacle stood before Solomon built the Temple. And look, child; -everywhere the brave men of Israel are coming--for Judas has bidden the -people with him to spend the rest of the day in prayer. Listen! Quite -near us is a company of soldiers. They have laid down their spears -and bows and swords, and have covered their heads with dust. They are -repeating together the Psalms of Penitence, and praying God not to -visit the sins of Israel upon the land. Let us go nearer. They are now -spreading on the ground the copy of the Books of the Law, that which -Dion brought me one day, and which he found in the High Priest's house; -the one in letters of silver and gold once encased in the beautiful -ark with clasps of precious stone, but now with its holiest words cut -out, and the margins covered over with pictures of heathen gods. Now -the men are praying that the land may be restored to Israel; and they -vow--every man--to keep all the precepts of the Law as our fathers did. - -"Now what are they doing? They are holding up toward heaven some -garments which belonged to the priests whom the Greeks have murdered." - -"I can hear their words!" said the boy. "It is 'Lord, so perish the -priests of the heathen!' How wild their cry is! Is any one coming to -attack them?" - -"No, my child. Their voices are harsh, being tuned for battle-cries on -the morrow." - -"But, listen, sister, some one is reading in a mocking voice." - -"That," replied Deborah, "is a proclamation of the King which is posted -on the gates of Antioch, a copy of which has found its way into our -camp." - -A soldier read: - - "SCHEDULE FOR SALE OF CAPTIVES. - - One able-bodied Jew 2 shekels. - One male child (sound) 3 " - One woman (married) 2 " - One woman (virgin) 4 " - - "Purchasers guaranteed protection while returning to Antioch, Tyre, - Sidon, Berytus, Damascus, and to the mines within the King's domain. - - "By order of the King. - - "GORGIAS, Commandant." - -"But now they have changed," said Caleb. "Now they are wailing." - -"Yes, Simon, son of Mattathias, has piled together all the tithes of -fruits, which the men have brought, and they are begging the Lord with -tears to accept them, though they have no altar on which to put the -offering." - -"I hear the words they are saying," said Caleb. "'Lord, Lord, what -shall we do with these things since the heathen have broken down thine -altars?' Shall we go and pray with them, sister?" - -"Let us pray here," said Deborah. - -Long time they bowed to the earth, the lad kneeling by her side, his -arm thrown about her, and the blind eyes flashing with his imagination -of armies and victories. - -"Come, let us go!" said Deborah, rising. - -"Where shall we go?" - -"To Jerusalem." - -"Why, sister! Not again to the city. Dion is gone, and our brother -Benjamin too, and only Greek soldiers are waiting to kill you." - -"Yes, child, to the city, to our father's house. I believe--Lord help -my faith!--that on the morrow Israel will triumph, and we will welcome -Judas the Deliverer, perhaps as the Messiah--for such he seems to me. -But if we triumph not, there will be no need to flee elsewhere. The -sons of Mattathias will first perish in the battle, and all the hosts -of Israel with them; and we will perish too. But let it be in our -father's house. Yet whether we live or die I owe it to our friend, the -good Dion, to go back to Jerusalem. He is in peril for our sakes. The -Greeks may slay him for letting me go. But if I show them that I have -not escaped, Dion may be saved." - -"Then let us go to Jerusalem," said Caleb, grasping his sister's hand. -"Let us go." - -They went a little way in silence except for the murmur of the -multitude at worship, which at length died away in the distance. They -sat down to rest amid the gray stones of the hillside. - -"Hark!" said the lad, "that's Meph!" - -"I hear nothing," replied Deborah. Caleb put his fingers to his mouth, -and imitated the three notes of the quail. - -"He hears. He is answering. There he has stumbled and dropped his -crutch. He's up again now." - -"I hear nothing," repeated Deborah; but in another moment a sun-faded -mat of hair was projected from over an adjacent rock. - -"I thought that would bring you," shouted the lame boy, "that is, if -you were anywhere on the outside of your stone cage--that's what I call -Jerusalem. I have been whistling for an hour, like a bird left behind -when the flock has flown southward, and I couldn't call up a mate. But -my! it's good to see you, Caleb, and to-morrow Judas is going to whack -the Greeks again. He knows how to fight. Did you ever see--of course -you didn't, but I did--a little red ant fight a big black ant? Before -black ant can turn, red ant rushes at him and bites him in two in the -middle where his back is as thin as his legs; then he falls to and eats -up the pieces. That's the way Judas fights. You'll see to-morrow or -next day; for the Greeks are coming, sure; and Judas is lying for them, -just as he did at Bethhoron." - -So Meph's tongue and his crutch rattled on for an hour. - -Nearing the city, Deborah and Caleb concealed themselves behind the -rocks, or wandered, as the women and children do picking dried brambles -for kindling. Meph in the meanwhile acted as a scout, and gave warning -of every moving shadow in the distance. Only once did he sound any -real alarm. It was when several horsemen dashed from the direction -of Emmaus, and made for the west gate of the city. After a while our -wayfarers cautiously approached the northwest corner of the wall, and -disappeared in the crevice. Meph came out alone, and after beating -the bushes wildly with his crutch hobbled off, muttering all sorts of -imprecations on game that will not stand to be caught. - - - - -XXXVI - -THE TEMPTRESS - - -The house of Elkiah had been measurably cleansed when Deborah emerged -from the cellar and passed unobserved through the concealed stairway to -her own chamber. Next day she came down into the court. A fawn could -not have been more timid amid its captors than Deborah seemed as, with -apparent surprise and startled look, she emerged amid a group of Greek -soldiers whom Meton had left to guard the property. Equally amazed were -the soldiers. - -"Do not harm me. I will go back," cried Deborah, with tremulous voice. - -"We'll not harm you," said an awkward man who was in command of the -squad. He attempted a courtesy, which was half a military salute and -half an act of gallantry such as in his peasant days he had practised -upon country maidens. In executing these difficult tactics he let fall -his sarissa, the iron head of which came in such perilous proximity to -Deborah that it seemed to belie his words. - -"We'll not harm you, lady. We have no orders about you, seeing that the -General didn't know you were here." - -"You will be kind to me, truly?" she begged. - -"By all the gods, yes! Stand back, men!" - -"I was afraid to come out of the place Captain Dion hid me in when the -Jews took the house. I heard the men shouting, and thought they were -searching for me." She trembled like a child. - -"No, lady, we were not looking for you, for we supposed you had got -away," replied the good-natured pikeman. "We have taken out the dead -soldiers which were piled pretty thick hereabouts, and some of them -stuffed into corners where they have died like rats in their holes. But -it's all cleaned up now, except the smell--blood smell always lasts -until the moon changes. The cracks between the pavement stones are red, -but we'll have them scraped too. But it was a pity to have knocked -the arm off Aphrodite. The man that did that will never win himself a -wife--or the goddess has no more blood in her than her statue has. It -might have been your arm, lady, if Captain Dion hadn't hid you. I'll -off to the citadel and tell the General that the Captain didn't let -you escape. I knew he wouldn't. Captain Dion is the bravest of the -whole garrison, and Meton ought never to have ordered a better man than -himself under arrest. When Governor Lysias hears of it he ought to give -Dion the castle, and send Meton to command the camels and ass drivers." - -Deborah went to Glaucon's apartment. As she approached she heard -voices. A glance between the curtains gave a picture of the pale -face of her brother, and close to it that of the Princess. She was -beautiful; yes, Deborah thought, as the head of a serpent on its -arching neck, with its rainbow eyes charming its victim. The Princess' -right arm was about the Jew's shoulder; her left hand on his, which -gripped tightly a silken bag. This Deborah recognized as that in which -the jewels of the house of Elkiah were always kept. - -"There is no other way, my dearest Glaucon, than that I propose," said -Helena, half embracing him. "Menelaos is determined to have all you -possess. Give me these--no, I will not ask that--but let me care for -them. I can conceal them on my person. We will leave Jerusalem. In -Antioch we can live together. The races, the dances, the wines, and all -the pleasures of the world are there. If we tire of these things as -they are in Syria, we may go to Rome, where half of what we have here -will suffice for a lifetime. In Rome princes and princesses are known -by their jewels and equipages, and no one searches for ancestry any -more than for the pedigree of a beautiful horse." - -Glaucon clutched the bag. At length he opened it. - -"You may have some of them," he said. "This brooch of pearls was -once worn by Arsinoë, sister of the great Ptolemy Philadelphus, -King of Egypt. It came to my grandfather, who had made many loans -of convenience to the house of Ptolemy, which were never paid. This -cluster of diamonds belonged to the great Joseph, the tax-gatherer, -whose palace of white marble is beyond Jordan. He needed a vast sum -of ready money in order to buy the office of farmer of the revenues -of Syria when our land was under Egypt. He outwitted a whole company -of merchants from Tyre by offering single-handed more than they all -together. It was my grandfather who advanced to Joseph the needed -gold--which, of course, never was returned, as our possession of his -jewels shows. Joseph had nothing finer than these in all his marble -castle." - -One by one the gems slipped from Glaucon's fingers into those of the -Princess. - -"And that! Oh, how magnificent!" cried she, as he drew a necklace of -scores of precious stones, and spread it into shape upon the ebony -table. - -"That I must never part with. It was my mother's, and now is -Debor--Berenice's," said Glaucon, gripping the necklace with hesitating -fingers. - -"But she can never claim it, now that she has gone over to the -traitors, and is herself outlawed," argued the temptress. - -"Yet it is hers," replied Glaucon, his voice softening as if a tear was -diffused through it. "I cannot part with it." - -"Glaucon, my love!" cried the Princess, taking his face between her -hands, and kissing him upon the lips. - -Deborah threw aside the curtain, and stood before the frightened couple. - -"You monster!" cried she. - -Both started from the seat. Deborah grasped the jewels which had fallen -from the fingers of the startled Princess. The woman quickly recovered -her self-possession. - -"The traitress! The traitress! Ho, guards!" - -"The strumpet of Antioch, how dare she come into the house of Elkiah?" -retorted Deborah. - -"By better right, I take it, than the Jewish spy," replied Helena. - -"Glaucon, command her to leave this house," cried Deborah. - -The coward imitated the chameleon, which changes its color according to -the object that reflects the light upon it; for, as he looked from one -to the other of these women, he became for the moment the victim of -each, and dared to decide for neither. - -"If Glaucon will not purge his house of this refuse of the camp of -Apollonius, then will I, that our mother's memory be not polluted. -Begone!" She raised the curtain and pointed to the exit. - -The Princess' dignity gave way before the indignant gaze of Deborah, as -weak plants wither in the scorching rays of the sun. Still she moved -not. - -"Must I compel you?" Deborah exclaimed. She dexterously drew from -Glaucon's side his sword, ere he could interpose, and poised it at the -throat of her enemy. - -"Your paramour Apollonius once quailed before the sword of the daughter -of Elkiah. How shall I spare this miserable remnant of----" - -The terrified woman did not wait for the completion of either the -sentence or the threatened action. She ran shrieking from the chamber, -and fell into the arms of--Dion. - -For a moment the Captain held her; his surprise and the dimness of -the passageway not being favorable to the clear vision of one who had -emerged from the brilliant light of the open court. The Captain was the -soul of gallantry to all of the fair sex, but the Princess and Deborah -were in such utter contrast in his mind that the discovery of the -unexpected personality in his arms wrought a spasmodic revulsion in his -feeling. He loosened her embrace and flung her from him. This time she -found a more solid anchorage for her fright--in the arms of Thersites, -a Greek common soldier, who held also a mop with which he had been -cleansing the statue of Aphrodite. - -Thersites, being just then of less perturbable temper than Dion, or -perhaps being more experienced in catching fleeing women, retained his -captive long enough to grunt his gratitude with a kiss upon her cheek, -entirely oblivious to the fact that such privileges the fair Helena had -often sold as high as three shekels apiece in the market of Antioch. - - - - -XXXVII - -"IF I WERE A JEW" - - -The mutual welcome of Deborah and Dion was in briefest words, for each -knew more of its occasion than either cared to express; therefore -the appearance of the Princess upon the scene served as a convenient -diversion for both. Deborah told of the woman's attempt to beguile her -brother, without intimating how she herself had come just in time to -save this human moth from shrivelling his wings in the flame. - -"How could she have thought to deceive you, Glaucon," said Dion, "after -she had so completely unmasked her character at the dance? None but a -stupid fool, or one as wicked as herself, would be tempted by her wiles -after that." - -The speaker did not notice that the Jew winced under his words. - -"You may mistake her," replied Glaucon, as soon as he had ceased to -shrink into himself, and recovered enough outward wit to say anything. -"That she danced is no more against the dignity of a Princess, than it -is for Antiochus to play the buffoon along the streets of Antioch, as -we both saw him do in the great procession." - -"Whatever she may be, she goes out of the city very soon," replied -Dion. "The kinsfolk of Apollonius have heard of her claim, and have -denounced her to the Governor Lycias." - -Glaucon, having gathered up the scattered jewels, wrapped them each -in its linen covering, and put them into the bag; then withdrew with -mutterings, which it is uncertain if they were against his mistress or -her exposers. - -The shell fringes of the curtain had not ceased their jangling as -Glaucon passed through them before Dion cast himself at Deborah's feet. - -"Tell me, Deborah, are you human, or a divinity? You are risking your -life to save me from harm. Is this from a woman's misjudgment, or from -a motive which only the gods can understand and give?" - -"Dion," replied she, with offended mien, "rise. You shall not assume -such an attitude before a girl of the Jews--a mere child, whose -gratefulness you have chanced to win by your kindness." - -"But why, Deborah, why this awful sacrifice you are venturing? Soon -General Gorgias will be here. He is as cruel as an avalanche when his -purpose moves, and he has sworn to leave not so much as a bone of a -Jewish child outside the valley of Hinnom. That you are the daughter -of Elkiah, chief of the Sanhedrin, is sufficient to excite his -vengeance, even without the stories of your escapades as a spy, with -which Menelaos' party are filling all ears. There is no hope for you -here. Vanish again, I beseech you, as mysteriously as you will, for I -cannot endure that you should become a sacrifice for me. I entreat it, -Deborah. Go away again!" - -"Why," replied she, "that would make the matter worse, my good friend. -It is known, or soon will be, that I am now here; but if I disappear -again it will bring new accusation against you for being in some -collusion with me." - -"I care nothing for such accusation. I would willingly die in the tower -with the sweet thought that you were safe from insult and danger," -cried the soldier passionately. - -"But, my dear Dion, I think there is need of neither of us playing -tragedy. Maybe, as you say, I can vanish at will. If so, I shall always -be safe, and then, when you are in danger, I can reappear, and they -will say, 'Dion has guarded his prisoner faithfully!'" - -Deborah became quite merry with her pleasant conceit. - -Dion could not help catching some of the lighter manner of his -companion. He took both her hands. - -"I pray you, do not vanish quite yet. Tell me what motive led you to do -this desperate deed in my behalf? You will not love me?" - -He paused, gazing quizzically at her, but drew from her face not a -flicker of such sentiment as certain past experience had led him to -hope for. - -"Then, since you do not love me, your action was prompted only by -humane motives, to save a wretched Greek from some inconvenience; and -for this you risk your life? I cannot understand you." - -"Dion," replied Deborah, all mirth now gone from her manner, "Dion, -I am a Jewess. Think not that our people's vows are only to save our -land and nation. We serve these because these stand for Jehovah's law -of righteousness and justice. Would it be right for me to leave you -to suffer unjustly for my sake? I would be unfaithful to Jewry to so -treat even a Greek. Your philosophy may teach you how to evade such -questions, but our Jewish law is simple and plain. It commands us to -'do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.' We need -speak of no other sentiment." - -Her eyelashes did quiver a little as she said this. - -Then, looking him fairly in the face and returning the strong grasp -of his hands, she added: "If my sense of duty were not sufficiently -strong, my gratitude to my noble friend and protector would prompt me -so to act, and so to speak. - -"Dion, we have been, though of hostile blood, too much to each other -during these terrible days to doubt that we are led by the same hand of -Providence. I cannot see His will. I must not prejudge it. I can only -act upon each duty that I see, and as I see it. But this much is plain -to me--and you will not mistake my meaning, good friend--I can have no -such interests as other women may feel while my people are enslaved. To -this I have vowed before my nation's God. The redemption of Israel from -the hand of him whom you by your soldier's oath have vowed to serve, -that fills my heart. That is my only sentiment; my only passion; but it -is a passion of fire. All else must burn away before it." - -"But," replied Dion, speaking very slowly, as if to hear the echo of -each word from the depth of her heart before venturing another, and -watching her eyes for indication, as boys watch the ripples their -pebbles make when dropped into a well, "if--I--were--a--Jew it might -be otherwise? You could love me if I were only a Jew? Deborah, I am a -Jew in my faith--since you have taught me that faith. I am a soldier -of fortune, and have sold my sword to the lord of Antioch, but I -would willingly give it to your people, were it not that I foresee -the hopelessness of your cause. But with your love I could die for -Judaism." - -"Noble Dion, these words are ill-considered. The leopard cannot change -his spots, as says our Scripture; nor can a Greek become a Jew. And -surely not so light a thing as a passing fancy for a Jewish girl should -lead you to think to attain the impossible." - -"But if--I--were a Jew?" queried he. "If you will tell me that if Dion -were a Jew you could love him, that will be my happiness even as we -part." - -"If Dion were a Jew," replied Deborah, "he were worthy of being brother -to the sons of Mattathias, and worthy the love of any woman." With -which words she ran from the room. - -Captain Dion stood looking at--nothing, while the sand ran half out of -the glass. - -"Am I a Jew or a Greek? I am surely a Jew inwardly, and," glancing into -a polished steel mirror, "my nose is not, as I have often heard it -said, as a good Greek's should be, perfectly straight with my forehead. -By Jove! I could wish that a sabre cut might bend it more. But, Greek -though I am, my sword and my wit are my own, and shall have but one -duty when Gorgias takes the city--to guard this house and the woman -who--would--love--me--if--I--were--a--Jew. So much is clear, clear as -the Jew's law. Let me see if I can be a Jew. First 'to do justly.' Yes, -it will be only downright justice to give my life for hers, since she -has offered hers for mine more than once. Secondly, 'to love mercy.' -Of course I do--in this case. Thirdly, 'to walk humbly with my God.' -Well, if I knew who God is, I would. God of Jew or Greek teach me that! -Amen!" - - - - -XXXVIII - -THE POISONER - - -Deborah retired to the roof of the house. She gazed long to the west. - -"Caleb, do you hear any sounds far away?" - -"None, but there is a great mist rolling up from the Great Sea over -Sharon, and up the mountains toward our city. Now a wind from the east -rushes against the mist. I think it is a wind. Can you see a wind, -sister?" - -"One can see the dust it drives." - -"That's it; a little cloud of dusty wind. And it drives away the mist. -The mist rolls down the long hills and away--away. Now it is lost in -the Sea. The dusty wind is Judas, I know." - -A servant brought to Deborah a basket of fruit. Ripened pomegranates -glowed ruddy beside tawny oranges in a bed of white blossoms which -loaded the air with delicious spicery. Cakes of figs compressed with -almonds were scattered through the tempting heap. - -Caleb caught the odor; his face became a resistless appeal, which his -sister answered by putting into his hand the largest of the luscious -fruits. - -Deborah recalled the servant to ask the donor of the fruit. Ephraim -could not say, as it was brought to him by one of the Greek guards in -the court who had taken it in at the gate. Deborah examined the basket, -and recognized the pattern of its inwoven withes as one that the -Princess had taught Lydia, the wife of Menelaos, and herself to make. -She quickly turned to Caleb. - -"Do not eat, my child." - -But the child had eaten. Almost immediately he fell sick. His face -became ashen pale. - -Deborah carried the lad to his bed, and laid him there. The physician -Samuel was sent for in eager haste; but that worthy man was beyond the -city, in the labor which absorbed him day and night, as the case of no -single patient could have done--the critical condition of his nation. -To whom could she turn? - -"Call Captain Dion," she bade Huldah. - -A long time Dion watched the face and felt the hands of the child. - -"I know well these signs," he said. "And good reason have I to remember -them. When a lad I fell sick very much as Caleb has done. The physician -of King Philip of Macedonia, at whose court I served as page, declared -my illness to be due to a peculiar poison concocted by Alexandrian -alchemists. For weeks I lay, while the Fates' scissors fretted my life -thread. Again, when I was just a man, a similar disorder came upon me. -This time I was a soldier in King Perseus' guard. But for the skill -of a certain physician, Theron, an adept in the arts of the poisoner, -and on that account retained in the King's household, I had certainly -perished. This second secret attempt upon my life led Theron to counsel -me to forsake Macedonia. This I could not do. I loved my King Perseus, -and stood with him, until some four years ago he was overthrown by the -Romans in that terrible fight at Pydna. But even in this remote region -I seem to be pursued by the poisoner, for I doubt not that this which -Caleb has taken was intended for myself, since it is known that I am -here." - -"But," said Deborah, "this basket is like the handiwork of the -Princess." - -"Of the Princess!" cried Dion, examining the basket. "You are right; -this is such work as one finds in the bazaars at Antioch. Deborah, this -was intended for neither Caleb nor me, but for yourself." - -He noted more closely the fruit. "These fruits are not all such as grow -in these lands. The figs and almonds thus pressed together I have seen -only in the capital, and one place else--in the house of Menelaos. It -is a favorite with the Priest. Deborah, I see through the damnable -plot. Menelaos, to accomplish his purpose on the property of Elkiah, -must leave no scion of the house alive. I swear that this is that -villainous Priest's design, executed too, by a practised poisoner, -and she--Heaven forbid that I make a false charge!--she is none other -than the Princess. Before the sun sets I will probe the secret with my -knife, though it lies at the bottom of this Priest's black heart." - -"Give the child tepid water," he added. "Watch him that he does not -sleep; but that I think will not be possible for some hours yet. The -poison rather stimulates wakefulness until the life is burned out with -its fires. I have at the Citadel some of the medicine Theron bade me -always keep with me." - -As Dion left the apartment a great uproar rose in the streets. Cries -filled the air. - -"The Jews have fled before Gorgias. They are being driven into the -city." - -"The Jews are not fleeing, sister," said Caleb. "They have been -pursuing. I see a mighty eagle. He has swirled above a flock of doves, -but, quick as the lightning flashes, a little bird has darted upon him. -He has mounted upon the eagle's back. His beak is sharper than a sword, -and cuts the eagle through. The great bird falls. Surely the little -bird is Judas." - -Whether Caleb's vision was the vagary of his fever-heated brain, or -a true prognostication from inner sight granted him in compensation -for his outer blindness, one may not say, since we have not ourselves -passed through the borderland of the world of sense. - - - - -XXXIX - -BATTLE OF EMMAUS - - -Meph's simile of the stratagem of the little red ant which bites his -antagonist into two will give our club-footed friend a place among the -wisest critics of military affairs; for this was the plan of the battle -of Emmaus as executed by Judas. - -The Greek armies gathered near Emmaus numbered about fifty thousand -men, under leaders who were rendered expert by wars in many lands. The -Maccabæans had not more than one-tenth that number. This little army -was further reduced by Judas' command dismissing all newly married men, -and all whose ripening crops might divide their attention between peace -and war, and all whose lack of zeal made them hesitate or question the -wisdom of the call to battle. Not more than three thousand bowed in -prayer and consecration as the sun went down on Mizpah. - -When the night fell General Gorgias executed a movement which would -have increased his already great fame as a strategist, had it not been -countered by an exploit of deeper subtlety and boldness on the part of -his antagonist. - -The Greek General did not await the arrival of his full army at Emmaus, -but, making there a formidable camp, well guarded by thousands of -heavy-armed troops, he pushed on with five thousand horsemen and -light-armed foot-soldiers to take the Jews unawares in their camp at -Mizpah. Under the darkness of the night this advanced guard stealthily -and swiftly climbed the heights. Not a solitary spot of the long crest -was found sentinelled. Surely the wily Maccabæan was caught sleeping. -Under order of perfect silence the Greeks glided on toward Mizpah. So -rapidly did the army pass that even wild beasts were caught between the -companies, and prodded to death amid the feet of the soldiers. On the -assailants sped, that they might come within striking distance of the -Jewish camp before daylight should reveal their approach. Thus with -one swoop in the first light of morning, Gorgias, who was known as the -"Hawk of Syria," would annihilate the whole brood of rebels. - -At length dawn poured its ruddy lustre upon the high hill of Mizpah. -Rocks and thorny shrubs, here a stunted juniper and there a pile of -stone which had been a camp kitchen, stood clear in the light,--but not -a Jewish tent or soldier was to be seen. - -With rage and shame the outwitted Greek gave orders for retreat to -his own camp twenty miles away. The chagrin of the leader became the -disgust of the soldiers as they retraced their steps along the dusty -road. Some, who would be wiser than others, told of the probable flight -of Judas over the hills and beyond Jordan, scared by the very number -of so many valiant feet which would have trampled his little host into -the earth had he awaited their coming. Gorgias professed his conviction -that the war was over, and that the Maccabæans had disbanded. He talked -aloud of turning southward and resting his soldiers within the walls -of Jerusalem. But, mindful that he was dealing with the strange man who -had outgeneraled both Apollonius and Seron, he deemed it more prudent -first to rejoin the armies of Ptolemy and Nicanor, which he assumed -were gathering about his camp at Emmaus. - -The day was well spent when, looking down from the great ridge that -might be called the Parapet of Palestine, the Greek General saw in the -distance the smoke of his own burning camp; while far away toward the -fortress of Gezer in the northwest two moving dust clouds indicated the -position of the Greeks pursued and of the Jews in hot chase. - -Judas had discovered Gorgias' movement toward his camp at Mizpah as -soon as it was begun. - -With greater celerity than that of the Greek, he abandoned his own -stronghold, pushed his band westward, slipped by his antagonist on a -more southerly road, and, in a line as straight as that of a swarm -of bees, and with as little sound in the going, made for the camp of -Gorgias at Emmaus. Here was the slender waist of Meph's big ant, with -Gorgias' advance for its head, and the detachments of Ptolemy and -Nicanor for its legs. - -The early dawn which had revealed to the Greek the unoccupied Jewish -camp at Mizpah, showed to Judas a splendid canvas city near Emmaus; -the open plain bossed with tents of various colors, gleaming with the -polished paraphernalia of horses and the burnished armor of still -sleeping men. Here were gathered, not only the stores of Gorgias' army -and those awaiting the great hosts of Ptolemy and Nicanor, still in -the rear, but bales of woollen and silken wares, boxes of jewels and -bags of silver coin; for in sure expectancy of victory the Greeks had -allowed to come with them a great number of merchants who were to make -Jerusalem a second Damascus of trade, when it should be delivered from -the menace of the Jewish insurgents. - -The first intimation the Greeks in this splendid camp had of danger was -the sound of the silver trumpets of the Jews, which from the ancient -days of Israel had rung out the battle-call. The notes floated through -the chill morning air with little more speed than Judas' men skimmed -the ground in their agile assault. The Greeks fell on every hand, some -with casque half on, and most having scarcely grasped sword. The mass -of them precipitately fled. Judas had his men so well in hand, and -such was their zeal of patriotic devotion, that no man thought of the -wondrous opportunity for his own enriching, but obeyed the command, "Be -not greedy of spoil, for there may still be battle betwixt us and the -night." The Jews pursued the fleeing Greeks, until news that Gorgias -was returning recalled them. - -Judas then so quickly and skilfully placed his men about the unguarded -camp at Emmaus that Gorgias, deeming such an accomplishment the work -of an army many-fold that of the Jews, dared not make attack. His men -became panic-stricken, and scattered in every direction, to gather -only far away to the west within the lines of Ptolemy and Nicanor, and -there to spread consternation by the marvellous stories with which they -accounted for their defeat. - -Judas assembled his fellow-religionists amid the heaps of spoil. Before -they laid hand to the reward of their valor, they acknowledged the -favor of Jehovah. Then rang out the words of the old psalm, "Oh, give -thanks unto the Lord, for He is good. His mercy endureth forever." - -Laden with the fruits of victory, the patriot army moved over the hills -to their sacred city, and without challenge from the foe, gathered -before the western gate. - -As the soldiers deposited their burdens of spoil they took their places -in groups of tens and hundreds according to the ancient arrangement -of the army of Israel--the order in which they had already gone into -the battle. The instant the morning rays touched the Temple walls, the -silver trumpets, which yesterday had sounded the onset, gave out the -time notes of the antiphonal chant of Israel, the Te Deum of victory -during many ages of faith: - -"Lift up your heads, ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting -doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? - -"The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory." - -As the chant died away the great gate by the tower of David was swung -open. In the shadow of the portal stood Deborah. She had arrayed -herself in richest apparel. Her chiton was of glistening white silk and -dropped to her feet. It was girdled high beneath the breasts; opening -deep above, exposing a neck that needed no circlet to adorn it. From -her shoulders fell a purple robe. This was matched by a purple cap that -rose high from her forehead and was banded with pearls. Strings of -these gems were pendent against her black hair, which, unclasped, fell -about her shoulders. - -This contrast with the remembrance of her in the cheap attire of the -Fort of the Rocks, and as with bleeding feet she flitted over the stony -fields on her many secret missions, wrought the patriot soldiers to the -highest pitch of enthusiasm. - -"The Daughter of Jerusalem! the Daughter of Jerusalem!" The shout was -taken up by one company after another. It echoed from the walls and -floated over the hills. - -By Deborah's side was a Greek. He was in full uniform of a Captain -in the King's service. Judas quickly confronted him. The contrast -between the two men was extreme. The Greek was the model for an Apollo, -such was his grace of pose and motion. His muscles were full, yet -long, exquisitely moulded by the practice of the gymnasium and by the -fencer's art. The Jew was a Hercules of gigantic stature; "badly put -together," would have been the comment of a gymnasiarch; long arms, -legs short, muscles knotted. The Greek was clean-shaven, his locks -oiled; the Jew's head covered with reddish hair bleached by exposure. -The Greek was handsome, a woman's ideal. The Jew's face, overhung by -heavy brows, based in a broad, square chin, and covered with short, -untrimmed beard, might have been an unpleasant one, but for the kindly -brightness of his eyes, which would have won the confidence of a child. - -The Greek made obeisance to the conqueror. - -"Judas, son of Mattathias, I, though esteemed a heathen, have made a -vow before your God, that, if Jehovah granted you victory in this -battle, I would serve Him and you." - -"I am not commissioned to receive the service of any but the men of -Israel," replied Judas firmly, but with a courtesy that could awaken no -resentment. - -"Then know that Dion, son of General Agathocles of Macedon, forswears -the service of Antioch, and vows loyalty only to the cause of the -Jewish people." - -Judas glanced at Deborah. "Is this the friend of the house of Elkiah? -For thy sweet sake, daughter, it shall be as he wills." - -He grasped the hand of Dion. - -While this scene was transpiring at the western gate a very different -one might have been witnessed at the south gate. The street within was -packed with a motley multitude impeding one another's way in their -eagerness to escape from the city. Men and women, rich and poor, young -and old; some bruising the backs of their neighbors with the chests -they carried upon their shoulders; others with their palanquins forcing -the crowd asunder, commanding, entreating, shouting imprecations, and -crying with hurts, choked the gateway. - -"Way! way for the High Priest!" sounded above the din. - -A giant Nubian with his gnarled arms threw the people to right and -left and opened a passage for Menelaos and Lydia, whose blanched faces -peered out from the purple curtains of their vehicle. - -Amid this scurrying crowd, amid tattered wealth and paupers bedizened -with their stolen finery, went an exquisite carriage, in which, covered -with the robes at the feet of Clarissa, the harlot dancer and poisoner -of Antioch, crouched the form of Glaucon, son of Elkiah. - -Jonathan begged permission to dash upon the fugitives and make an end -of them, even as his father had slain the renegade Jew at the gate of -Modin. - -But Judas refused. "Let them depart. Let the wound of Israel slough off -its foulness; it will the sooner heal." - - - - -XL - -"A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM" - - -When the overthrow of Gorgias became known in the city, many of the -soldiers of Antiochus fled even more precipitately than did the -traitorous Jews. The grim towers beat upon the fugitives with shadows -like the wings of an avenging spirit, which, indeed, some declared -they saw descend from the sky. A few companies under Meton's closer -discipline kept within the Citadel. Even that Commandant's courage had -been well shaken by the previous disaster to Seron, and his nerves -permanently disordered by the tragedy of the General's suicide in his -presence. The new discomfiture of the more famous Gorgias--a defeat -so thorough that even that great soldier's genius seemed utterly -paralyzed, so that he did not attempt a retaliatory blow--completed the -demoralization of Meton, so that he gave no orders for the defence of -the city at large, being fully content to keep his own skin unpunctured -within the walls of his castle. Judas, having no artillery for -assailing the fortifications which had withstood every assault since -the days of Nebuchadnezzar, was equally content to let Meton be his own -jailer. - -The house of Elkiah became the resting-place of the Jewish hero on -the few and brief occasions when he rested anywhere. He was incessant -in his watch. For days he would be absent with his brothers scouting -the country to the eastward. He commissioned the brightest men as -messengers to the tribes not yet allied with him, offering them -either peace or war as their Sheikhs might elect. Envoys were sent -to the Romans, to the Egyptians. He laid out extensive plans for the -restoration and fortification of the city walls. In this he was aided -by Dion, who had already attained a certain celebrity as an engineer -among the Greeks. - -For such projects there was urgent call, and for all the resources of -Judas' fertile brain. Lycias, the new Governor of Syria, was collecting -the remnants of Gorgias' army, compacting them with those of Nicanor -and Ptolemy, and enlarging them by daily arriving contingents sent from -all parts of Antiochus' kingdom. The Governor quickly marshalled a -force of sixty thousand, ready to renew the war. - -Even these public and threatening affairs did not entirely absorb the -attention of Judas. When in Jerusalem he came daily and watched the -failing life of the blind child. As the lad's body grew emaciate the -blind eyes gained in lustre, the light of his soul flooding them from -within, like stars bursting through a fleecy cloud. Judas would sit by -the bedside of the sufferer, gazing upon the thinning and whitening -face, while his own thoughts were far away among the problems of -statecraft and strategy. - -"Yes," he one day said to Dion, "Caleb's eyes are my oracles, as my -father used to say Deborah's were to him. They are to me what I imagine -the water of the deep springs is to your Greek priests. In them I -sometimes seem to see the lines of coming battle, and the shadows of -great events that heaven is preparing to bring to pass." - -At times Judas would throw himself upon the bed beside his little -friend, whose restlessness was calmed when he could pass his tiny, -shrunken fingers over the face of the champion. Suddenly the soldier -would kiss the child's hot lips, and, without a word, hasten away to -the towers or the fields, as if prompted by some inspiration. - -One day the lad said to Judas: - -"Big brother, carry me as you used to do in the Fort of the Rocks." - -"Where shall I take you, little brother?" - -"Take me to the roof, that I may see the clouds with your eyes--God's -banners, father used to call the clouds with their white and gold. And -I would see, too, the mountains full of the chariots and horses of God; -and hear the winds talk, and tell their strange stories of what is -happening everywhere they go. Take me, big brother." - -The lad lay in Judas' arms behind the parapet, his fingers feebly -twining in the thick beard of his giant playmate. The wind came softly -from the south. - -"What was the wind saying to you, little brother?" - -"It comes from Bethlehem, that I know; and it talks about Bethlehem." - -"And what does it say about Bethlehem?" - -"It says that you, Judas, were born in Bethlehem." - -"How so?" - -"Why, it repeated the words of the prophet, 'And thou, Bethlehem in the -land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of -thee shall come a Governor that shall rule my people Israel.'" - -"Say not such things, my child," said Judas, "I was born here in -Jerusalem." - -"Do you remember it?" said Caleb. - -"No." - -"Then I think you are mistaken." - -For a while they were both silent. Suddenly Caleb cried: - -"Look! Look, Judas! A star!" - -"There are no stars now, little brother; it is daytime." - -"A star! A star! There it floats over Moab. Now it passes over Jordan. -There! There! A star out of Jacob, which Balaam saw." - -The thin hands were stretched out, the eyes fixed, the whole frame of -the child shook with convulsion. - -Judas gazed into Caleb's eyes--his fountain of divination--but the -depths were covered, as when a spring is frozen over. Tears from -his own eyes dropped upon the face of the child, which gave back no -response. He pressed his lips against those of the lad. Was it to -breathe into them his own abundant life? or to take from them the -sweetness of the life that was failing? Judas had been called to ponder -great problems, questions involving the fate of a nation, the solution -of which he believed to be the fulfilment of prophecy and the turning -of the highways of history. But here was a deeper study than statecraft -or war--that of the issue of a child's life. Whither was it going? On -what wings would the spirit rise as now it was disentangling itself -from the frail flesh which had held it down for a little while? "What," -he thought, "is love--the love by which this little one has held my -soul close to his, calming my turbid nature, taming my ferocity, and -making me think of and feel the nearness of God himself!" - -A slight tremor ran through the tiny frame. Judas carried Caleb within -the upper chamber, and laid him upon the couch. Then, burying his face -in the pillow, this strongest of men wept with a breaking heart over a -dead child. - -Deborah quickly came, and Dion too; for the tidings sped. As they gazed -upon the beautiful face, which seemed but the shadow of the soul that -still hovered over it, Judas repeated Caleb's last words, about the -star. - -"It is prophecy," said Deborah. "What saith the Scripture of these -words of Balaam? 'He hath said which heard the word of God, and knew -the knowledge of the Most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, -falling into a trance, but having his eyes open,' even as Caleb did, -'I shall see Him soon, but not now. I shall behold Him, but not nigh. -There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of -Israel.' Of whom are these things said, son of Mattathias?" - -"I know not, Deborah." For a long time Judas sat with his head bowed -upon his hands. Neither spoke, but worshipped silently by the altar -of their grief. At length Judas said: "But I know that He shall come. -I too 'shall see Him, but not now. I shall behold Him, but not nigh.' -Of whom the words are spoken God knows. It is enough for us that we be -found faithful." - -Dion stood by. He looked from the champion to the heroine as they spoke -thus together. Then he, too, kissed the dead child, and without a word -went away. - -That day, as the sun was going down, a long procession wound its way -through the streets, and out of the north gate to the rock-hewn tomb -where lay many generations of the house of Elkiah. There they placed -the body of the "little Prophet of Israel," as the people fondly called -him. As they rolled the stone back in its groove, and thus covered the -mouth of the sepulchre, the multitude gazed upon the giant form of -their chieftain. But Judas turned away, and laying his hand upon the -shoulder of Dion, as they walked together back to the city, said: - -"Captain Dion, have you anything in your Greek books so beautiful as -this from our prophet Esaias? He is speaking of the days of Messiah, -days to come, when such peace shall fall upon the earth that the 'wolf -also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the -kid--and a little child shall lead them.'" - -"In Messiah's days?" responded Dion. "It is already fulfilled, for this -little child has led us both; both you and me." - - - - -XLI - -A STRANGE VISITOR - - -There were strange visitors in Jerusalem during these days--Sheikhs -from beyond the Dead Sea, with turbans as big as cartwheels, which -might furnish linen, if not enough for a tent to live in, at least for -one's winding-sheet when dead; chiefs from beyond the Lebanons, with -silken head-housing of flaming colors, bound about the temples with -ropes of wool inwoven with silver and gold threads; men wearing helms -of leather, which capped closely their thick, short hair, and having -short tunics bound about their loins with belts of hide from which hung -heavy half swords--these last from the west, where Rome was challenging -both Alexandria and Antioch for the mastery of the world. Such persons -were drawn to Jerusalem by the fame of Judas; for men wondered if a new -star had appeared which would change the shape of the constellation of -the nations. - -Very different in bearing from these warlike and courtly visitors were -two persons who one day accompanied Judas on the street, going toward -the house of Elkiah--a lame lad clattering on his crutch and an old man -tottering on his staff. - -"I found him a day's journey--for a fox--to the north--nigh on to -Bethel," said Meph, his sentences broken by the slipping of his crutch -from projecting stones into mud-holes, of which things in about equal -proportion the pavement of the streets of Jerusalem then consisted. "I -treed him----" - -"Treed him? Our friend doesn't look like a climbing animal," replied -Judas, laughing. - -"Yes, I treed him; that is, I got him under a tree. I knew that a man -like him--would rest more than he would walk--and--I believe--I got -my eyes on every tree big enough to cast shadow over a cony--between -here and Bethel before I spied him. I thought he was dead--for he -didn't hear me come, and I make as much noise--Jonathan says--as a -broken-wheeled chariot. And he would have died--sure--but for some of -this stuff"--producing from his jacket next the skin some fragments -of black bread. "But even then he couldn't talk until I had given -him--but, Judas, you won't put me under arrest if I show you something?" - -"No, Meph; you are not enrolled as a soldier, so have a right to -whatever you find." - -"Then look at this!" said he, jerking from somewhere under his shirt -a flask of bluish bronze inlaid with patterns of mother of pearl. "I -found this on the crest above Emmaus. Phew! Isn't it fine? I'll wager -you that General Gorgias himself dropped that. Well, I knew there -was something good in it--so I just put it to the old man's mouth. -My! it oiled up his tongue so that he talked faster than I can--on -these stones. And he told me of sailing on the sea--and riding camels -on the desert--and of beasts bigger than houses--with tails on both -ends--which trampled to death whole companies of soldiers with a single -step on them." - -"Elephants," interjected Judas. "The old man has travelled far if he -has seen these monsters. They say the King has sent some of them to -Governor Lycias for his next fight with us." - -"Whew!" whistled the boy. "Can I go and see them?" - -"Maybe----" - -"Well," resumed Meph, "when the liquor had dried out of his throat--the -old man stopped--and I couldn't get another word out of him except -'Dion! Captain Dion!' I told him I knew a Captain Dion. Then he got up -and went with me--for about a furlong when--he fell down--and so up and -down--up and down--we went all day--and all night, too--for he wouldn't -stop until he got here." - -The old man was stumbling on with Judas' strong arm beneath his -shoulder, now and then putting his hand to his ear, trying to catch -what Meph was saying. - -A few moments later they were within the house. The stranger was -utterly exhausted, but, though unable to rise from the couch upon -which they had laid him, his eyes were alert to everything. He studied -the furniture as if it had memories stored in its carvings. The faces -about him seemed to disappoint him, but each swing of the curtain of -the chamber riveted his attention. He ate and drank a little of what -Deborah brought him; then fell asleep, muttering in his dream: - -"It's Dion I want. Don't take it, my child. Wait--wait; I will find -you. The sea is not wide enough nor the mountains high enough--for -Gideon ben Sirach is strong yet." - -Though broken, his sleep was long. The sun went down, the night passed, -and still he slept. - -"I fear he will not awake again," said Samuel, the physician. "The -breathing is heavy, and grows shorter. His secret is his and God's." - -"So let it be!" said Dion. "I don't know how it can concern me. I do -not care to know any mystery that may have been over my past life, -since now I have come into a clearer light. I could well wish that all -the past were forgotten, and that life could begin to-day." - -"So it may, friend Dion," replied the physician. "If God can forget -anything, will not that make it as if it had never been? Read our -Scriptures. How often the Lord says, 'I will not remember.' Where go -the clouds when the north wind blows upon them? But saith the Lord, 'I -will blot out as a thick cloud thy transgression.'" - -"It is a good word," said Dion. "I would trust it. But see, our pilgrim -stirs." - -A slight tremor ran through the old man's frame. - -"This is death!" whispered Samuel. - -The physician's look, which had hitherto denoted only anxiety for his -patient's recovery, quickly changed. It was now not less eager, but one -merely of curiosity. He held the patient's wrists, and brought his face -close for a study of death. - -Though Samuel knew that the flight of a soul cannot be followed, -he gazed intently as if to detect its direction in starting, or at -least to note which fibres of flesh longest retained their grasp of a -departing spirit. - -But he was baffled. The sleeper suddenly threw his arms above his head, -hard knit his hands, then drew in a deep breath and expelled it with a -groan. - -"No! He lives! The sleep has only refreshed him!" cried Samuel. - -"Has Gideon ben Sirach rested well?" he asked, bending over him. - -The man gazed stupidly at the physician, then with a yawn fell asleep -again. - -"Well, let him rest, and when he wakes we will have his story, if it -takes some of the medicine from Gorgias' flask to start it." - -"Doubtless," said Dion, "his story will prove only a dream that has -oozed out from some crack in his brain. We shall need one of your -Josephs or Daniels to interpret it." - -"If it is so obscure as that we will summon Meph," replied the -physician. "That boy seems able to solve riddles with a punch of his -crutch." - - - - -XLII - -A CLOSE CALL FOR DION - - -"If the Lord give me strength to end it," said Gideon ben Sirach the -day following, as he sat up on the edge of the couch, and rested his -hands on the top of his staff. "If the Lord give me strength, I will -tell the tale--if such you may call it--which has never yet passed my -lips." - -His black eyes, far sunken beneath his long and bristling brows, -gleamed sharply with the effort to penetrate their partial blindness, -and scan the faces of his auditors. - -"As the Lord liveth! I may trust my words in your ears, Judas, son of -Mattathias, whose father has a score of times taken from my hands the -Passover Lamb, and slain it for the feast in my master's house. And in -whom can I confide if not in the daughter of Elkiah, the just man, Nasi -of our Sanhedrin in days when not even the gold of Egypt or Syria could -bribe it to wrong judgment? And if this man be not Dion, page of King -Philip of Macedon, and Captain in the army of his son Perseus, may my -words be deafness evermore in his ears if he listens to them." - -"Amen!" responded Dion. "I am your man so far." - -"Aye, and let thy Amen be the anathema of an old man whose eyes in -Sheol may soon look upon the face of my master, to whom and to God I -go to render my account. My son, put thy hand beneath my thigh, and -swear that thou art he." - -Dion obeyed. As he did so Gideon put his hand upon the young man's -brow, and pushed back the thick curling locks. He felt with his long -thin fingers beneath the hair; then suddenly cried, with excitement -that barely allowed distinct utterance: - -"Thou art Dion, but not the Greek." - -"I am Greek for as many generations as thou art Jew," replied Dion, -laughing. "I swear, old man, that I am a Greek." - -"The Lord forgive your oath!" replied Sirach. "But what was I saying? -Had I told my tale?" - -"No, good man, you had not yet begun it. We are waiting to hear it and -to believe it, if it be not too incredible, for your memory seems as -tangled as your tongue." - -"Aye, and believe it you shall. There was once in Alexandria, in the -days of Ptolemy called Euergetes--that damnable king who bade them -gather all the Jews in the hippodrome that they might be trampled to -death by the feet of his elephants--there was among these sons of -Abraham one named Nahum, son of Nahum of Jerusalem. By a miracle from -the hand of the Lord the infuriated beasts were tamed and harmed not -one of our people, even as the lions in the presence of Daniel." - -"We have heard the story," said Dion, impatient at the old man's -prolixity. - -"Nahum escaped death; but, having been a leader of our people against -the tyrant, Ptolemy followed him and his children with persecution. He -seized the estates, and sought to kill all his lineage. Nahum fled. - -"Sara, daughter of Nahum, was befriended by a noble Greek of Macedon, -who took her as a child to his own house. She grew fairer than the -flower of the lotus, her mind brilliant as the diamond, her virtue -white as the pearl. By most she came to be esteemed a Greek, for her -father's friend bestowed upon her all the culture of his people. But -the God of Isaac and Rebecca, of Jacob and Rachel, was with her. There -came to Alexandria a son of the faith, as Isaac the patriarch came -to Padan Aram. My master, Shattuck, espoused this woman, Sara. She -bore him a son. But upon the child's face the father never looked. -Journeying to Alexandria Shattuck was lost, whether by the hand of the -robbers of the desert, or through the jealousy of others, I may not -say--for I am too old a man to speak the thoughts which it were well to -bury with my body. The child's life was sought, I know not by whom; but -this," Gideon bared his arm, across which was the scar of a wound that -had well-nigh severed it near the shoulder, "this arm took part of the -stroke which, but for it, would have exterminated my master's house." - -Dion had been listening not only with incredulity, but with some -disposition to make sport of Sirach's story. He now took the hand -of the old man, and gazed upon the scar as if it were an object of -religious reverence. He then pushed his fingers through his own hair in -a manner that was not his habit even when deeply thinking. - -"Old man," said he, "if I were the baby for whom you took that slash, -I would build you a tomb as big as Absalom's down there in Siloa. That -cut would have taken the top off a man's head." - -Sirach continued: "These arms carried the boy to the house of the -noble Greek, always the friend of Nahum's daughter. This man suddenly -disappeared from Alexandria, taking with him Sara and her child. I -learned that they went into Macedonia; and that he might shield the -repute of Sara he claimed her as his wife and the lad as his own son. -Meanwhile I was in charge of the wealth of Shattuck my master. - -"The property of my master in Alexandria was of great value. For many -years--God is my witness--Gideon ben Sirach has guarded it. Not a -shekel of it all has passed to others. Faithful men of our race have -stood with me against those, high in the King's favor, who would have -taken it. So long as the death of the child cannot be proved the -estate remains. His death established, all will be alienated to the -state, which in Alexandria means to those whose favor the King buys by -granting them the liberty to rob whom they will. - -"The child of Sara I have searched for far and wide. While the Greek -lived he could not be induced to confess that he was not the lad's -father. His pride and contumely for our race--no, I will not say such -words--his love for the boy forbade it. - -"When the noble Greek died a few years later, the child disappeared. -I traced him to the court of Philip, where he was in waiting, and -afterward, as he grew to be a man, to the camps of Perseus, and at last -into the service of Antiochus. Wherever the armies of Syria have gone -Gideon ben Sirach has followed, but with too slow a foot. When this -new Antiochus--the Lord rot his bones!--poured his legions into our -Holy Land, I pursued. But, as a Jew, I have been expelled from his -camps--until now--the Lord's name be praised! My eyes behold the son of -Shattuck." - -Sirach reached his hands toward Dion to embrace him. The young man -recoiled as if from defilement. - -"Sirach is demented! Ha! ha! Dion a Jew! Dion ben Shattuck! Oho! But -take no offence, friend, at my words. I have no doubt that Shattuck was -more worthy of my paternity than I am of inheriting his shekels. But -the whole thing is a dream of Sirach. His memory is as confused as his -tracks have been while searching for his Dion. That I may have been -taken for such a waif is quite possible, since I have been a homeless -fellow--just the one to gather myths, as the crooked oak on Olivet -draws flocks of wild pigeons to its dead boughs. But there is nothing -in it. I am not your Dion, my good man, for all I like your story." - -"Thou art not Dion? True, true," said Sirach, "thou art not Dion, -because thou art Gershom; for so Sara, thy mother, called thee; for she -said, 'He is a stranger amid a strange people,' as thy name Gershom -signifies." - -"Is there such a name among the Jews?" asked Dion. "I have never heard -it. But what sign, Sirach, have you? I surely was never circumcised." -He burst into laughter. - -"Sign? Sign?" cried Sirach. "By the scar on thy forehead which my -fingers felt when thou knelt, I know thee." - -Dion was for the instant startled, and felt again amid his curled -locks. At length he burst again into loud laughter. - -"I have now the clew of Sirach's credulity. As a child I was known -for my crown jewel, as my playmates called the scar on my head. As a -page they dubbed me 'Prince' because of it, and now my cock's comb of -a scar has been good Sirach's decoy. Ha! ha! I bethink me there was a -fellow in Philippi, a Jew adopted by a Greek, who wore a split scalp. -I got my decoration in this way. As a child I played with my father's -great sword. One day it fell on me, and but for the hand of some god as -helpful as the arm of Sirach to his little Gershom, I had never lived -to become the hero of such a pretty tale as our friend has told. But -now, Sirach, I will give you a challenge in turn--tell me the name of -the good Greek who so befriended your little Gershom's grandfather, -Nahum, in the hippodrome." - -Sirach sat staring at Dion, as if his words had stunned him. - -"Tell us the noble Greek's name, Sirach--the Greek who was Sara's -father's friend." - -"Yes, yes," said the old man, "Nahum's friend was Ctesiphon, -Ctesiphon----" - -"But I--I am the son of Agathocles," fairly shouted Dion. "I am not son -of any Ctesiphon." - -The old man rose. He attempted to speak, but his throat gave no -utterance. His face twitched as if pulled by strings. He sank back upon -the couch. His eyes followed Dion; otherwise he was motionless. - -"He would tell us more," said the Greek, and bent above him, held by -a strange fascination. But the lips did not move again. An intense -longing came into his eyes, as if the soul would speak without need of -voice. - -"It is a stroke of God," said Samuel. "He will tell us no more. I -surely thought he had you, Dion, for as good a Jew as the rest of us." - -"But for my father, Agathocles', memory I had not cared," replied Dion. -"If my sword be Jew, why not the hand that holds it?" - -"I will send my servants," said the physician, "and have Gideon -removed. He is taken in dumb palsy, a disorder I would study. In my -house he shall have comfort while life abides in his frame, which will -not be long; although I have known such to live for many moons." - -"He shall remain here," commanded Deborah. "He is a true Jew, servant -to my father's friend." - - - - -XLIII - -BATTLE OF BETHZUR - - -Little thought was given to Sirach or his story during the next few -weeks. The nation was summoned to a sudden life-and-death-struggle with -the Syrian Empire. Lycias, the Governor, menaced the Sacred City with -sixty thousand men. Profiting by the failure of his predecessors in -the three "Battles of the Passes"--the Wady on the north, the Heights -of Bethhoron, and the slopes of Emmaus on the west--this cautious -General passed to the south, and then swung his armies eastward to the -neighborhood of Hebron. It was a masterful stroke, since from that -region there were many roads which converged to a point not far from -the city. Upon any one of these open ways the invaders might mass, -or with their greater numbers they might advance in force by all of -them. The choice of approach being with the invaders, the defender was -forced to abide an attack very near the city walls, unless by strategic -insight he could divine his antagonist's plan almost before he began -to execute it. Judas was therefore compelled to sentinel every spot -of ground from Bethshemesh on the west to Hebron on the south. His -sharp-eyed peasant soldiers signalled by flying arrows in the day and -fire-flashes at night the slightest change in the disposition of the -Greek forces. The instant Lycias' advance turned into the open valley -of Elah, and began its wary movement northward, the Jewish leader saw -that the enemy would essay the narrow pass between the rocky slope of -Bethzur and the cliff of Halhul, some twelve miles from the city. He -therefore gathered his men secretly a little north of that gateway of -the hills and waited. Judas was mindful that these slopes and wadies -through which the Greek legions would have to approach were memorials -of the valor of David, the shepherd king of Judah, in his wars against -the Philistines. He bade his men bow for worship, and himself led the -prayer: - -"Blessed art Thou, O Saviour of Israel, who didst break the violence -of the mighty by the hand of Thy servant David, and didst deliver up -the camp of the stranger into the hands of Prince Jonathan. Shut up now -this army of the invaders in the hands of this Thy people Israel, and -let them be confounded in all their host." - -Scarcely had the muttered "Amens" ceased when the clatter of horsemen -was heard beyond the pass. - -The Greeks were not aware of the presence of the Jews, since the latest -of their scout reports placed the patriots in unsuspicious ease behind -their city walls. They, therefore, moved incautiously into the narrow -valley of Bethzur. - -Judas silently watched until their masses and armaments were at the -point where the hills gave them least freedom of movement, then his -signal poured suddenly the entire patriot army upon the advancing foe. -They struck the Greek column in front. When Lycias had succeeded in -deploying to meet the attack from that direction, his agile assailants -slipped to either side, and, scaling the hills, descended upon him as -a flood makes every depression its channel. Everywhere the Jews had -advantage of higher ground, each cubit of which was familiar to them. -They knew the outlet of every pathway, as deer know their runways to -water. Their captains had marked the rocks which companies of tens -or threes could use as breastworks. They had gauged the distance for -arrow or spear or slingstone between these natural forts and the -open spaces the foe must cross, so that their aim was unerring. The -Greeks, attempting to turn from the threatened impact in front, were -met at disadvantage by half-concealed Maccabæans, whose deadly shots -slaughtered them before they could locate the source of attack. Upon -the hastily formed roofs of linked shields, the noted phalanx of the -Greek, the Jews hurled great boulders, crashing through brass and bone. -The air was darkened with flying missiles, which dropped like a storm -of hail upon those in that open valley. - -The cry "Mi-camo-ca-ba" echoed seemingly from the very sky. In their -blind rage to open ways of reaching the enemy or of flight, the Greeks -assailed one another, as the scorpion stings itself to death. Before -nightfall the army of Lycias was shattered beneath the strokes of the -Hammer of Israel. - -Just previous to the battle Dion had asked permission to join in the -fray. Judas replied: - -"I have no orders except for my own and kindred people. The victory -will be of the Lord, and that He will give only to the children of the -faith." He put his hand familiarly upon Dion's arm, as he added: "Had -old Gideon ben Sirach's tale ended differently, as I had hoped, I would -have given you command of a thousand men." - -To this Dion responded with somewhat of resentment: "Is not your faith, -Maccabæan, mine? Do you distrust my word of honor, which I gave you at -the gate? I beg that you let me prove my sincerity in the sight of our -two nations." - -"I may give you no charge," replied Judas, "but I take it that before -another sunset one who would fight for Jewry will find his own -opportunity. And I pledge you, Dion, not to forget your service, though -I may not direct it." - -"It is enough," rejoined the Captain, as he hastened toward the battle, -divining at a glance where it would be thickest. - -No spot in all the bloody field was more hotly contested than a little -green glade about a spring. Jew and Greek fought desperately for -possession of its cooling waters. The holders of the ground at one -moment were slaughtered at the next by new assailants. More than a -score of times the spring alternated its owners. Its veins seemed to -spurt out blood, so thickened had the water become. - -At this spot toward the close of the day two men glared at each other -over their sword points. One was Dion; the other wore the badge of high -honor among Lycias' officers. He was faint from long exertion; but even -Dion, master of sword-play though he was, could not find a spot in his -antagonist's body unguarded by his quick ward. It was evident, however, -that Dion would soon get from his foe's exhaustion what he could not -wrest by his skill. - -"Yield!" he cried. - -The man slightly lowered his sword. - -"That voice is not a Jew's," came from the Greek helmet. - -"The sword is," was Dion's reply. - -"Yet played as never was a Jew's," came the response between wards and -panting breaths. "If I am to fall, thank the gods it is by a Greek's -hand, though he be a traitor to his blood!" - -"Traitor!" - -The taunt fired all the fiend in Dion's soul. With one stroke he sent -his opponent's sword ringing among the stones, and his body backward -to the ground, while a tremendous blow on his head completed his -discomfiture. - -The displaced helmet revealed white hair and beard. Dion did not strike -again. - -"I will not take the life of one of your years. So valiant an arm must -have done better service than this in which it is now engaged. Rise! -You are my prisoner." - -"I will not be prisoner to a Jew," said the prostrate man. "But I swear -by all the gods, that stroke was of no Jew's arm." - -"Taunt me not again," shouted the victor, "or, by Jove! the sword, be -it Jew or Greek, will find your heart." - -"'By Jove!' Why, man, you have not been Jew long enough to learn new -oaths. Now strike if you will. My life is yours, but first"--the man -assumed an utter indifference of tone and manner--"first I would have a -drink of the spring. It is hard to let out one's last breath through a -throat so parched." - -"That boon is well earned," said Dion, his rage tempered instantly by -the man's grim humor. - -He helped unclasp his antagonist's helmet, and gave his hand as he -tottered over the dead bodies which lay in heaps about the spring, and -through the mud made by the many feet that all day had trampled the -ground soaked with water and blood. - -"Faugh!" said the man. "I cannot drink this stuff. It is not wise to -mix wines, and mixed bloods are worse. Cut my veins, my friend, and let -me drink something at least clean and pure. A draught of life--good -Greek life--to die by--ha! ha! Help me, ghost of Socrates!" - -Dion cleared the surface of the fountain on the side where it came -trickling up from the earth and mingled its white beads with the red -foulness. Using his helmet for a vessel, he dipped a quantity. - -"I have seen a fairer goblet at a feast," said he, offering it with a -courtesy that was real for all its seeming mockery. - -"Which again proves that you are a Greek," was the stranger's response. - -"Why repeat that?" said Dion. - -"Because," said the old man, "it is true. Would you know how I detected -it?" - -The two became interested in each other's faces. - -"Go on," said Dion. - -"Why, as I said, I knew you by your sword play. And not only are you -a Greek, but I swear you are a Greek of Macedonia. Do I not know it? -Never before was my sword tricked out of my hand either in play or -fight. No man could have done that, had he the strength of Heracles, -but in one way--and that way you learned in the school of Philippi." - -"The Jews travel far. They learn what pleases them," said Dion, with -suppressed amazement. - -"But no Jew ever learned that guard and thrust in one movement." The -stranger imitated the motion with his hand. "It was my own invention." - -"You!" gasped Dion in amazement. "You! If you take that man's name -falsely, you die like a dog! Who are you?" - -The officer sprang to his feet. He put his hands upon the young man's -shoulder. - -"Gods! Can this be?" - -A swirl in the battle-tide brought others to the spring. Dion and the -stranger moved away. They were closely watched by a party of Jews, some -of whom were ordered to keep them under constant surveillance. - -"It is that Greek," said their officer. "See, he is in communion with -the enemy. Take them alive, but if they try to escape kill them both." - -The two turned from the open glade to a covert among the rocks. -Scarcely had they begun to converse when they were seized by -overpowering numbers, who could not have more stealthily performed the -exploit if they had been leaves of the overhanging trees which turned -into men as they fell. The arms of the captives were quickly pinioned -behind their backs, and under guard they were marched to the city. - - - - -XLIV - -A WIFE? - - -The following day the excitement in Jerusalem was intense and -clamorous. As band after band of the Jewish heroes returned from -the pursuit of the Greeks they were met at the city walls with such -cheers that the Kedron valley echoed as if the generations of the dead -entombed along its rocky sides had awakened to greet the valor of the -living. Companies vied with one another in relating the marvels of -prowess they had performed; but through all the boasting ran a vein of -reverent recognition of the heavenly leading of affairs, and almost as -worshipful praise of the strange man by whose hand Jehovah had wrought -this new deliverance. - -Those who had captured Dion at the spring of Bethzur gave full credit -to their own shrewdness and courage in that exploit. - -"All Greeks are treacherous," was one comment. "Judas is so true -himself that he suspects no one else; but he ought not to have allowed -the Macedonian to remain in the city after the rest of his kind had -been chased out by their own heels." - -"Think of his impudence! He even asked for a command. To command -us--us! Jonathan was for trusting him; but Simon, the Wise, advised -caution. No doubt this Greek traitor had planned an ambush for us. The -other Greek is of high rank; his face would show that without the gold -in his sword-hilt." - -"But Captain Dion fought splendidly," interjected another. "I myself -saw him make five Greeks bite the dust." - -"That is true," observed one, "and but for his advice at one time it -might have gone hard with my company. We were wedged in between the -hills, and the Greeks were about to link shields--and when they do -that they will move through the gate of hell--but Captain Dion gave me -the hint, and himself posted us so that we took them on the flank, and -buried them under their own metal. But, as I have thought of it since, -I remember that I didn't move our men exactly as Dion advised me, or we -might have come out right in front of the phalanx and been trampled to -pieces. It must have been a trick on the part of the traitor." - -"No doubt," was the response. "The Greek has been playing us false -throughout; but his toes are in the trap now." - -This popular estimate of Dion was repeated in higher places. - -Judas took no part, except as a listener, in the council of his -brethren as they debated the matter. - -Simon repeated his former warnings, which now seemed justified. Eliezar -recalled several other instances in which Dion's actions might have -had a sinister intent. John attributed to him some secret advice which -he must have sent to Lycias, and which led the Greek General to make -the assault upon Jerusalem from the south, the only direction in which -Judas had looked with any fear. That plan was shrewdly laid, and but -for the swiftness with which Judas made his counter plan, and the -rapid succession of his blows upon the enemy before they got through -the hills of Bethzur, the Greeks had surely taken the city. - -These insinuations brought to the face of Judas no sign of his being -influenced by them; but a certain word that fell from Jonathan was met -by a quick flash in the champion's eyes. - -"If Captain Dion proved treacherous, perhaps the daughter of Elkiah can -explain it. She could have made the Greek a Jew with a breath." - -Jonathan touched Simon's hand as he said this. Judas mused a moment, -his face reddening as it did only under deep emotion, generally of some -resentment. His response was laconic: - -"The Greek shall have justice." - -"Justice should not go with lagging feet," said Simon. - -"Nor leap," replied the chieftain. "Only God can give judgment with -lightning." - -"True, but men should be quick to see a storm coming, my brother," said -Simon. "Let the men be summoned at once. There may be other treasons -for aught we know. We have caught but two serpents in the nest. If -others are there we will start them to squirming. I will have the -prisoners brought." - -"Let them wait," was Judas' decision. - -"Wherefore wait, my brother? We can discover who and what these men are -very quickly." - -"Perhaps," said Judas; "but it may take time to know ourselves." - -"Going into one of his moods again," remarked Eliezar, and the brethren -went away. - -The two prisoners were generally forgotten in the popular excitement -of a few days immediately following the victory of Bethzur. Mountains -of spoil had been brought into the city and distributed--for Judas -insisted that his men should share equally the fruits of their bravery. -Bethzur was fortified against the possible return of Lycias, who raged -in his disgrace like a wounded tiger. Even if he should not repeat -his venture, the nomadic people to the south were making hostile -demonstration; indeed, all the tribesmen, south, east, and north were -in commotion. Yusef, the Arab, had stirred up all tentdom to avenge the -insult which Nadan had reported, and even the defeat of Lycias did not -altogether discourage the purpose which the coming of that General had -led them to make. - -Said Yusef one day, watching a fight of insects: - -"Let the Greeks bite the Maccabæans; we will come later and be the -sting." - -The black tents of the Bedouins were again seen on all sides, like -mildew on a fair fabric. Couriers with long lances and head cloths -streaming in the wind circled about Jerusalem at a safe distance, as -Meph sagely remarked, "Like a lot of spiders webbing in a big bug they -dare not yet attack." - -These things would have sufficiently engaged the time of the Maccabæan -leaders had not very different matters also claimed their attention. -The far-flashing fame of Judas startled the nations. Envoys from -various kingdoms came to Jerusalem to study the meaning of the new -power, which seemed to rise as mysteriously as the armed men who -sprang from the ground sown with the fabled dragon's teeth. The -Governor of Phœnicia and Cœle-Syria proposed terms of alliance with -Judas. Demetrius, a nephew of King Antiochus, an aspirant for the -succession to the Syrian throne, now a hostage in Rome, sent secret -emissaries pledging the independence of Palestine as the price of -Judas' assistance in accomplishing his ambition. From Athens, on the -other hand, came those who would bribe this new sword for the help of -Greece against the Romans. These, again, were met on their way by the -agents of Rome, who were also coming to offer rank and power to the new -kingdom of Israel as a province of the great republic of the West. - -Judas and his counsellors had thus to consider many wider problems than -that of manœuvring an army. It was clear that Jerusalem was to become -again a capital, and the scattered people a nation. - -"Judas must be our King," said Jonathan. - -To this all agreed, with a solitary exception. Judas indignantly -replied: - -"I am but as the hand of a Gideon; would you have me play the part of -Abimelech? A bramble king, indeed, would you find me. I am fit only -to be a scourge to the enemies of the Lord. Let me be but as a soul -within a sword until the Lord sheathes me, as I know He soon will. Are -we not near the time of the coming of Him who is promised as the Prince -of Peace? Search the records, Simon; the books of the prophets, and -the genealogies of families of Judah, for Messiah is to be a branch of -David--that surely is not of the house of Mattathias." - -Jonathan replied: - -"The words of the Prophets are hard to interpret, my brother, while the -events of Providence lie open, like these hills in the sunshine. Only -the blind fail to see the signs of the times. Woe to the man among us -who cannot recognize the trumpet call of the Lord, when every blast of -it has already destroyed an army of the enemy, as the rams' horns made -the walls of Jericho fall down. Least of all should Judas shut his eyes -to the light because it happens to fall in front of his own feet." - -When Judas was not present his brethren spoke together freely, assuming -the kingship to be inevitable. They concerned themselves only with -schemes for founding and strengthening the new monarchy. - -"Judas must marry," said Simon. "The nation can be built upon no one -man." - -"Surely not upon a single man like Judas," replied Jonathan, "whose -life must be in perpetual hazard of battle; for well I see that war -will be our condition for many years to come. The little land of Judea -is not wide enough for a kingdom. We must conquer all the ancient lands -of our fathers." - -"And Syria, Phœnicia, Cœle-Syria also," rejoined Simon, "until -Solomon's empire, 'from the river to the end of the earth,' from the -Euphrates to the Great Sea, shall have been restored. Judas must found -a family to whom this work shall be committed." - -"It will be possible to make alliance by marriage with one of the great -powers," suggested Jonathan. "I would not despair of a princess of -Egypt even." - -"It were a sin to think of such a thing," replied Simon, indignantly. -"Did not the Lord rebuke Solomon for his foreign wives? The men who sit -upon the Maccabæan throne must be of blood as pure as that of Judas -himself, untainted, as we know, in a thousand years. There is but one -woman for Queen of Jerusalem, the daughter of Elkiah. The glory of the -High Priests' house has departed. What house comes next? Is it not that -of the last Nasi, Elkiah the martyr? Besides, Judas has already set his -heart upon the maiden." - -"She will never be the wife of Judas," said Jonathan. - -"Deborah not the wife of Judas? What woman in Jewry would refuse such -honor?" - -"One woman." - -"To utter such suspicion is treason," cried Simon, in a towering rage. - -"Not to speak as one sees would be treason far worse." - -"And you have seen--what?" cried both Simon and Eliezar. - -"I have seen--well, I have seen a cat play with a dog, and both forget -that they were made to tear each other." - -"This is no matter for mirth, nor for silly parables, in which Jonathan -is given to hiding his thoughts. What have you seen?" - -"Well, then, I have seen a Jewess and a Greek. Ask me no more," and -Jonathan turned away. - -For a while neither of the remaining men spoke. At length Simon said: - -"Do you believe this?" - -"I have heard it on the street," replied Eliezar. "And it is said that, -since the taking of that Dion in the very act of treachery, Deborah has -not been beyond her house. She certainly has had no part in any public -rejoicing over our great victory. Not a scrap of color has been hung -from her parapet." - -"Does Judas suspect such a thing?" - -"He has not been within the house of Elkiah since the battle. And that -is strange. He was always there." - -"It is well," added Simon, "that the Greek must die. Whatever favor -the daughter of Elkiah has shown him, the clear evidence we have of -his villainy will open her eyes. But Jonathan's thought is beyond -credulity. It is a trick of him they well call the Wily. Jonathan is -bent upon our making alliance with the heathen, and would divert us -from the course which patriotism and religion demand; aye, and that -which Judas' own inclination would favor. Did you not notice his manner -when Jonathan mentioned the name of the Greek in connection with -Deborah? I tell you, Judas will make a quick end of this proselyte -when he learns what men are saying of the traitor's friendship for the -maiden." - -"And I shall see to it that he hears it," replied Eliezar. - - - - -XLV - -THE TRIAL - - -The morning after this conversation the two prisoners were summoned. -The court was held in the open portico of the gymnasium on Ophel. -Captain Dion and his companion were brought there, their arms still -bound. Judas had been pacing the portico, absorbed with his own -thoughts. - -"The prisoners, sir," said their custodian. - -Judas sat down upon a fallen statue of Hermes, near it a rusted discus. -Slowly he raised his head, as if loath to so much as look upon one -taken in such shame as that of Captain Dion. He glanced first into the -face of the older prisoner. In spite of his unkempt condition this man -was imposing. His erect attitude belied his wrinkles as a token of age. -The blood from an undressed wound still clotted his brow, but this -could not hide the rare nobility of his features. - -Judas studied the man a long time in silence. He seemed fascinated -by the stranger's appearance. If what the Greek orators had on this -very spot declaimed were true, that a goodly physical endowment is the -outweaving of goodness of soul, Judas' decision had been an instant -discharge of the prisoner. - -He turned to Dion. Before his eyes rested upon the Captain, Judas -forced a look of severity, knitting his features into hardness. As -when a soldier puts a chain corselet over his breast, so Judas had -evidently determined to guard his sense of strict and merciless justice -against any temptation that might come from his former liking for the -culprit. The muscles of his face were set like linked steel. - -Captain Dion returned his judge's gaze with perfect self-possession. -There was neither blush nor pallor, nor flicker of fear, nor sign of -resentment. - -"Take off those ropes," commanded Judas. Then, turning to a soldier: - -"Your report, Captain Jacob!" - -Captain Jacob related the events attending the capture, as he himself, -in charge of the company that made the arrest, had witnessed them. He -stated that Dion and his accomplice were caught in apparent hiding, -engaged in conversation which betokened familiarity and mutual -understanding. Several others confirmed Captain Jacob's evidence, and -added details which deepened the color in the picture of the plotters, -and, at the same time, brought out the shrewdness and courage of their -captors. - -The clouds massed more heavily on Judas' brow as he listened. There -were moments with this strange man when, without uttering a word, his -aspect became almost as terrible as when shouting his battle-cry, -"Mi-camo-ca-ba!" At such times his friends would turn away, dreading -the outburst when the hot lava of his soul should reach his lips. - -When the testimony against the prisoner was ended, Judas remained for a -long time silent. At length he spoke. The words came slowly, as if each -were compelled to halt and answer the challenge of a sentinel placed -before the door of his lips. - -"Has Captain Dion any explanation of what is charged against him?" - -Dion's coolness matched that of his interrogator. There was neither -stoical bravado nor shame in his confession: - -"Maccabæus, every word these men have spoken is true." - -A murmur of rage at the prisoner's audacity ran through the crowd, as -they pressed close about him. - -"Is not this enough?" cried Simon, putting his hand to his sword as if -he himself would serve as executioner on the spot. - -Judas raised his hand. The angry multitude moved back, yet every man -stood ready to be the minister of Judas' vengeance the moment the -signal should be given. - -"Captain Dion," said the judge, "I did not ask you to either confirm or -deny what these true men of Israel have said. Your confirmation would -not add a feather's weight to their veracity, nor would the denial -of ten thousand Greeks shake our confidence in them. I ask not your -testimony, but your explanation." - -"We need no explanation," muttered Eliezar. - -"Let him explain when his dead lips can talk; they can't lie. But the -Greek who is to be believed does not live," said another. - -"Silence!" cried Judas, and his men slunk away under his indignant -look, as hounds when whipped back from the prey they have caught and -are waiting to tear. - -Judas again addressed the prisoner: - -"Captain Dion, by the gateway after Emmaus you gave me your hand in -voluntary alliance. No one compelled that act. I then believed yours to -be an honest hand. I will not now fling it from me unless you yourself -shall show that it is unworthy another honest man's touch. Explain your -conduct at Bethzur." - -Dion advanced a step. He bowed very low. - -"My thanks, Maccabæus! An honest man can ask no more than you have -granted me." - -He then put his arm about the shoulder of his fellow-prisoner. - -"This man, Maccabæus, is my father, General Agathocles, the commander -of the last phalanx of your foes to fly from the field of Bethzur. Do -with us what you will." - -The crowd surged in again, and stared at the noted captive. A huzza -broke forth. Was it in self-gratulation that so important a foeman had -fallen into their hands? Or was it elicited by the dramatic nature of -the scene, as father and son thus stood defenceless except for their -mutual embrace? Judas rose from his seat. - -"God forbid that even in war there should be such miscarriage as that a -son's hand should be raised against him who begat him." - -Simon interposed, "If they be father and son, it does not disprove -their treason." - -"Perhaps accounts for it," said Eliezar, with a shrug. - -"Silence, my brothers!" commanded Judas. - -Turning to the elder prisoner, he asked: - -"Are you General Agathocles? Does Dion speak truth?" - -The venerable Greek stood erect, yet trembled with rage, as he replied: - -"Maccabæus, never before has man questioned the truthfulness of either -Agathocles or his son without biting the dust. Give me my sword, and -let the gods decide betwixt us." - -"Your pardon," instantly replied Judas. "God forbid that I should wrong -one in bonds!" - -The Greek as quickly rejoined, and with equal courtesy: - -"Your pardon, Maccabæus! I forget that I am your prisoner, and that the -question is right. Let me speak further. There has been no treason to -either Jew or Greek. I was fairly taken in fight. Dion's sword, wielded -in your service, conquered mine. This wound"--pointing to the bruise -upon his forehead--"is the witness. But one sword, Maccabæus, could -have accomplished this--not your own, though so famed for its skill and -weight. Only the arm that Agathocles has trained could get the better -of Agathocles himself--if it be not bombast for an old man to say such -things. I was first my own Dion's captive before I became yours. Treat -me as any other whom your men have taken. War asks no mercy. Do with me -as you will. And for Dion, I ask only your justice, Maccabæan." - -"Both shall have justice," replied Judas. "But what is justice? God is -just, and we--we are only men." - -He sat down again upon the broken statue of Hermes, and with his -sword-point drew lines upon the ground. - -"In one of his moods again," whispered Simon. - -But the spell was quickly off. He stood up. His sword trembled in his -hand from the nervous tension with which he grasped it. - -"General Agathocles, you are my prisoner. I must maintain discipline." - -"That is just and wise, if an old man of many wars may counsel a -younger one. Maintain discipline, or abandon the art of war. Do with me -according to your custom." - -"We have no custom in this regard," replied Judas. "It is not our wont -to take prisoners. But I will imitate a custom of your own service, -hard and cruel though it often is. With the Greeks the captive is the -spoil of his captor, to kill, sell, or keep as his slave. Is it not so?" - -"It is so," replied Agathocles. - -"Then," said Judas, "Captain Dion, do with this man what you will. He -is your prisoner." - -There was a murmur of dissent from the crowd. Judas walked away. He -picked up the rusted discus, and flung it ringing along the pavement -until it turned upon its edge and rolled out of sight down the slope of -Ophel. - -"Humph!" ejaculated Jonathan, as he watched him. "He has been fighting -with himself to-day, Simon, and as usual he got the worst of it. Well, -Judas is the only man that can conquer Judas, thank the Lord!" - -"But why," said Simon, "should Judas be an enemy to himself? There -are surely enough other foes for him, without his throwing away his -own interests. He has put a scorpion into his sandal in sparing these -Greeks. If your surmise about Deborah and Dion be correct, he would -better have made way with them both." - -"If my surmise be correct," replied Jonathan, "making way with Dion -would not make way for Judas with a woman like the daughter of Elkiah." - -Judas on leaving Ophel strode through the Cheesemakers' Street, turned -into the Street of David, and went to the house of Elkiah. - -Deborah was pale as one worn with some great care or long watching. -Judas scarcely noted this. Indeed, he forgot the usual formality of -salutation as he was admitted into her presence, but burst through the -curtained doorway, his big voice ringing out the news like a trumpet -announcing victory. - -"Dion is not a traitor! He is exonerated!" - -He grasped both her hands in the eagerness with which he told the turn -of affairs. Her beaming gratification led him to more enthusiasm. - -"Agathocles is like Dion. Though in a Greek, good blood will tell. It -is like a spring in a muddy lake." - -"But tell me more of the evidence in his favor," she asked. "The -circumstances surely seemed against Dion. Everybody condemned him. Tell -me everything. How was it proved that there was no collusion between -the father and son? Who testified for them?" - -"Why, nobody testified on their side," said Judas, as if the need of -such testimony had occurred to him for the first time. "My brothers -were for condemning them both." - -"And you had secret knowledge of their innocence?" - -"None--and yet, Deborah, there were two things which persuaded me. -The one was the bearing of the men. I cannot weigh arguments, but I -know men. Goodness, honesty, honor--I feel these things in men. I have -never been betrayed where I have given my confidence. Sincerity is like -sunshine; it is its own evidence." - -"True; and the other thing which persuaded you to Dion's innocence?" -she asked. - -Judas mused for a while; then he said: - -"Dion had an advocate." - -"Who?" exclaimed she. "I thought all were against him." - -"Not all, Deborah. As I sat there to judge, you yourself seemed to -stand before me. You said, 'I have trusted this man; and will trust -him. One who has done such things for my father's house cannot be -untrue to any one or to any cause.' And, Deborah, you won your case--as -you always do with me." - -"Judas," replied she, "God is in this matter. I was with you, though -I knew it not. I was in prayer. I used the very words you have just -spoken. I said, 'O Lord, I have trusted this man. One who has done such -things for my father's house cannot be untrue.' I prayed that Heaven -would send his vindication." - -"Deborah," replied Judas, "are we two so near to each other that soul -speaks to soul without words?" - -"God is near to us both, Judas. This I know. He leads me, and He leads -you, as He leads all men by you. And what think you, my brother--for -such, and father, too, you are to me--is not God near to some -Gentiles--to Dion? He has given this man our faith, our spirit of -sacrifice, though he is separated from us in blood." - -The conversation was broken into by a loud outcry in the court, which -rang through the house and seemed to fall back again in shatters out of -the sky. - -"Dion's free! Dion's free!" - -It was Meph. The only check to the lad's joy was the fact that he was -not the first to bring the tidings, as he supposed he was--and rightly, -from the way he had exercised his crutch in getting over from Ophel. -His disappointment was only partially mitigated by the fact that he had -been outstripped as a herald by no one except the great Judas himself. - - - - -XLVI - -DISENTANGLED THREADS - - -As Dion and Agathocles went their way from the trial scene on Ophel, -they narrated to each other the events of the score of years of their -separation. - -During Dion's childhood the war between Macedonia and Rome was in -progress. General Agathocles had been commissioned by King Philip to -proceed to Italy, and there, if possible, negotiate terms of peace. -During his journey he was set upon by bandits, his credentials from the -King stolen with his baggage. Entering Roman territory he was seized -by the military authorities, who had been warned of his coming as a -Macedonian spy; and, having no documents to disprove the charge, he -was sentenced to the life of a quarry slave in one of the many isles -which the blustering Republic was constantly adding to its domains. -Here he remained for a score of years, until the overthrow of Philip's -ill-fated son, Perseus, at the battle of Pydna, made Macedonia no -longer a menace to Roman dictation over the entire country between the -Adriatic and Ægean. Since the veteran warrior was supposed to have no -longer cause in which to draw his sword, it was restored to his hand. - -But the years of his degradation and cruel maltreatment had grown in -the gallant man such hatred of Rome that he quickly sought an occasion -in which to display it. - -At his liberation Greece was helpless at the Roman's feet, but the -kindred Greek monarchy of Syria presented itself as an obstacle to -further conquest of the republic in the east. Agathocles therefore -hastened to offer his service to Antiochus. - -Had not this political motive actuated the old warrior, a more tender -incentive would have been sufficient for his joining the Syrians. -In Macedonia he learned that Dion was still living, and that he had -joined the army of Antiochus. Agathocles soon traced his son to the -forces operating against Palestine; and, after campaigning for awhile -in Persia and Cœle-Syria, he secured his own transference to the army -under Lycias. This Governor hailed the old soldier, whose reputation -had survived the years of his supposed death, and gave him command of a -Macedonian contingent. - -"But how came you, Dion, to join with these Jews?" - -"My father, I have never forgotten the words you spoke to me when a -child--though your face and form had faded from my memory. You taught -me always to hate a tyrant. Then Rome was the taskmaster of Macedonia. -In hatred of Rome I gave my sword to Antiochus just as you did. In my -ignorance I imagined that he might some day come to be the avenger of -our country's disgrace. But Antiochus is himself a monster, such as -even Italy cannot breed. In his army here I found myself a tool of an -atrocious despot. Father, it was because I am son of an Agathocles that -I gave myself to these poor people who are defending their land, their -homes, their altars, from this ravening beast." - -"Had you no other thought, my son?" - -"Not at first," said Dion, "but I have since learned to believe in -the religion of these people. They worship with sincerity. We are -hypocrites. What Greek would shed a tear if his carved god were -taken away? But these Jews bleed at the heart for the sacrilege -Antiochus offers in Jerusalem. I have seen old men drop dead beside -their desecrated altars--dead from the shock of their grief at the -dishonoring of their God. I have seen others die with such tranquillity -of mind amid outward torture that I could not but believe that their -souls were drawn from their bodies by the kiss of the divinity they -prayed to. Father, I have seen peasants who had never practised foil or -been in a battle, suddenly gifted with skill to overthrow the armies -of Apollonius and Seron and Gorgias and Lycias. What is the meaning of -such things as you and I saw at Bethzur, but that this Judas hurls the -very bolts of Jove or of his Jehovah of Hosts, as the people call their -God? I have seen a woman of the Jews, a mere girl in years, do deeds -such as are scarcely invented in our stories. She is possessed of more -wisdom in council than a tentful of our Generals. She believes that her -God helps her--and so do I." - -"Is she a beautiful woman?" queried Agathocles, with a knowing glance -at his companion. - -"Aye, the fairest of women, father. Pygmalion would have thrown away -his chisel if he had seen the daughter of Elkiah." - -"I do not doubt it, since my Dion has evidently thrown away his Greek -sword for her sake." - -"Not for her sake, father; but for the sake of a cause which produces -such a woman and such men, such faith and such heroism." - -"And such beauty. Eh, my boy? Have I not been young? Dion, you are -in love with this woman, up to your eyebrows, and therefore can see -nothing except through her shape. The mists on the shore make pebbles -look like castles, so the witchery of this beauty magnifies everything -Jewish. Hush, boy! I know it. I have been as young as you." - -Both lapsed into silence, except for an occasional ejaculation from -Agathocles: "A Jewess! Well, why not? One must love something." - -Was the old soldier merely tantalizing the young man, or was he -voyaging over the seas of memory? At length he put his hand upon Dion's -shoulder. - -"This Jewess, my boy; is she very fair? Is she like the picture of your -mother?" - -"No, father; she is very different. Yet in soul they must be like; -for surely the gods--surely the Lord could not make two so faultless -without repeating the model." - -"And she a Jewess! Well! well!" - - - - -XLVII - -A QUEEN OF ISRAEL? - - -The victory at Bethzur betokened a lengthened peace, for campaigns in -other parts of his wide empire were absorbing the mind and resources of -Antiochus. Judas took the opportunity to renovate Jerusalem as befitted -the capital of the new nation. The immense spoils of recent victories -went far toward providing means for refurnishing the Temple and palace; -while the repute of Judas brought him such offered alliances as assured -the safety and growing importance of his rule. - -Some would have installed the hero in the office of High Priest, and -thus combined all civil and religious authority in the one person. To -this he would give no ear. The multitude hailed him with the title -of King. This also he repudiated, saying, "I am not of the house of -David, and none but the predicted One shall come to His throne." But -no disclaimer on his part could prevent the enthusiastic huzzas when -he passed along the streets or visited the camps on the hillsides. -At times the word "Messiah" was heard. It never failed to bring such -rebuke that the same lips dared not repeat the acclaim. The people -after a time acquired the habit of greeting him with silent obeisance, -for they knew that his great heart was hurt rather than elated by their -praise. - -Yet ambition was not foreign to the soul of Judas Maccabæus. If God had -given him power, was he not to use it? If Israel was again resplendent, -should not the chieftain of Israel wear the dignity? One thing he saw -with special clearness--it was that authority must be centralized and -compactly knit if it were to endure the fraying of factions; and, -further, that it must be perpetuated in orderly descent if it were to -outlive the generation which created it. - -This latter consideration, that of an hereditary leadership, was -incessantly urged by his brethren. At length Judas gave signs of -yielding to their importunities. - -"I see it," said he. "The rule of new Israel must descend from father -to son. Then let Simon be King, or Jonathan." - -"We dare not," replied Simon. "While Judas lives it were blasphemy to -speak another name. The sword of the Lord is the sword of Judas. That -Israel and its enemies know full well. King Judas!" cried he, waving -his sword. - -Every sword in the little circle was uplifted, while a reverent "Amen!" -went round. - -"I want no such thing as a crown," said Judas. - -"Nor," rejoined Jonathan, "did you want to lead us in the field. For -how many moons did you refuse to command, until it was clear that the -people would follow none other? Judas is brave; but not Judas himself -dare fight against the will of heaven." - -"Well! A King! What then?" replied he after a pause. - -"To marry. To found the Maccabæan dynasty," said Simon, glancing for -approval around the circle. - -Judas seemed staggered by the burden which was being bound upon him. - -"Let him alone awhile," suggested Simon. "He sees the necessity, and -will conquer himself in this as in other matters." - -The day following Judas went to the house of Elkiah. - -Long time he and Deborah conversed about the new hopes of Israel. Judas -told of the embassage he was sending to Rome, of the service General -Agathocles might render in Egypt, where the veteran was favorably known -and where the age-long jealousy of the Ptolemies against the Seleucidæ -was always ready to burst into hostilities. They spoke together -with pious enthusiasm of the restored glory of the Temple, and the -restitution of the ancient dignity of the priesthood. - -The clouds were for the time lifted from the brow of the champion. -Deborah noted the change. She had never thought of her friend as of -prepossessing appearance; but now his strong and rugged features grew -softer. There was a boyishness in his tone and manner which better -suited his years than they did his experiences of exploit and care. She -began to regard him as handsome. Deborah, in her modesty, as little -suspected the cause of this transformation in her guest as the sun is -conscious of his agency in brightening the objects he shines upon. - -"The Lord has blessed me in two respects especially," said Judas, -giving free rein to speech and feeling. "The spirit of our father, -Mattathias, has been given to my brethren, any one of the four being -fitted to take up the leadership if I should lay it down. With Simon -to counsel, and Jonathan to plan, and Eliezar and John to strike, I -am like one with four right arms. And, Deborah, God has given me your -companionship. Without that I should have lost heart." - -"Your words give me great joy," replied she, "for during these terrible -years I have had one prayer deeper than all others--it has been for -you; and that I might, however humbly, cheer and sustain you as became -a daughter of Israel." - -"And you will continue your sweet and helpful ministry, will you not?" -he asked eagerly. "In this day of our prosperity I shall need you even -more than in the past. I am accustomed to war; I have become, perhaps, -too self-reliant there. But I know not how to organize peace. My hands -are too hard for anything but swinging the sword. Alas! as Solomon said -on coming to his throne, 'I am as a little child, and know not how to -go out or come in.' Deborah, promise me that you will still----" - -She interrupted him with eager, almost passionate, remonstrance: -"Promise you? Judas, do I need to promise you anything? Do you not know -that your own heart is not truer to our cause than mine is to you? If -Judas should doubt me, it would kill me. Tell me some desperate venture -by which I can prove my loyalty. Test me, I beg you." - -"Some desperate venture? I know of one that will test us both. It is -so desperate that I hesitate to speak it to the bravest woman of all -Jewry." - -What sublime audacity there was in her tone as she replied: "If the -champion of Israel is afraid, let him not speak it. But know that the -daughter of Elkiah dares to hear and to do whatever Judas may think." - -"Such words would make any coward brave," replied he. "Deborah, the -Jews would make me King." - -"A King! Why not? You are already the King, by right of sword, by right -of your people's love, and, if Heaven's will ever had reflection from -earth, by the will of our God." - -"You believe in me overmuch, Deborah." - -"No! no!" she responded eagerly, "but Judas has this one great -weakness, that he will not believe in himself. Can you not see that -Israel must have a King, and that there is but one head on which the -people will allow a crown to rest?" - -"But, Deborah, I could not endure such an honor and such -responsibility--alone. Will you share the venture with me? Will the -Daughter of Jerusalem be its Queen?" - -Deborah started as if he had struck her. The flush on her face became -deathly pallor. She trembled as the most timid girl might have done -before her captor in war. - -"Forgive me, Deborah. I was too rude in testing your loyalty." - -The blood came back to her cheeks. "Loyalty! Say not that word. Let -Maccabæus as King command me, and I will die at his feet. But----" - -She sat upon the couch and burst into tears. - -"Forgive me! Forgive me!" he cried. "What have I said? I was blind and -stupid. Loyalty? Loyalty I know is not love." - -After a moment's silence she said: "Judas, we are both speaking we -know not what. I, too, am but a child, and know not the way of my own -thoughts. Do not take offence, my dear friend; but I would be alone. -Pray for me. And I will pray for you, as I have always prayed--one -prayer for us both. God will give us light." - -"Your will shall be mine," he responded, but his manner betokened a -struggle for submission such as no one had ever before seen in this -strongest of men. He stood with bowed head. "We are but two children -lost in the woods. God forbid that we must now find our way by -different paths." - -He went away. - -Deborah remained for a long time in the spot where Judas left her. - -"A Queen! A Queen of Israel! The Queen of the most kingly of men, -though he were uncrowned!" What problems of political import were thus -thrust upon her! What tides of ambition swept over her! The highest, -deepest, purest ambition. She grew dizzy with the confusion of her -thoughts. Their very weight seemed to paralyze her brain. She ceased to -think, and sat down like one distraught. - -At length her mind, rested by its brief vacuity, began again its -working. - -"A Queen!" - -She dismissed this consideration; for, momentous as was the destiny -it involved, there was something else that appealed more urgently -for decision. She was a woman. To her a throne seemed but a passing -circumstance. There was a deeper issue. - -"Love is the abiding thing. Can I be--the wife of Judas? Could this -man, noble as he is, possess my life, my soul? Is admiration, or even -reverence and self-sacrificing devotion--is this love? Or does the soul -have depths as well as heights; and does worshipful regard dwell on the -heights, and love in the depths, so that they may be utterly remote -from each other, indeed, antagonistic? Dion is not comparable with -Judas. Judas is on the heights; nothing higher, save God Himself. But -Dion--he has his place, too; but where?" - -She now remembered that the beginning of Gideon ben Sirach's story, -which had so nearly made a Jew of the Greek, started in her a glow -of happiness, and that she had felt a strange disappointment at its -conclusion, which still left him a Greek. What did this experience -mean? Did she really love this alien? As one of foreign blood he -could never come into her life. The laws of her people, especially -as interpreted by the Jewish purists, would forbid such a thing as -marriage with him. She had been taught this doctrine by her father. It -was one of the underlying occasions of the war. The Maccabæans regarded -pure blood as next to the purity of worship. - -So she said, "Dion cannot come into my life." - -Then, having settled the matter so far, she thought of Judas: - -"What other woman of Israel would presume to decline such a proposal? -And who am I to set an example of conceit? - -"The Queen of Israel!" - -Deborah felt the flush of womanly pride mantle her face. It was a -moment when almost any other woman would have turned first to her -mirror, and then dropped upon her knees to thank God. - -But even as she framed the image of the popular hero within the thought -of her personal possession of him, the figure of the Greek intruded -itself into the picture. His image was in the background, it is true; -but there it was, nevertheless. She could not help following him with -the eyes of her fancy. Was not Dion's soul as fine-fibred as that of -Judas? - -Judas had sublime faith; but this he had inherited from his fathers. -It was wrought through and through his nature by training in the Law -since childhood. But Dion now had the same faith. And this he had -himself acquired, without gift of birth, education, or circumstance. -Is it not even nobler to force one's mind through a thousand errors to -the truth than to have the truth born in one, to discover one's pearl -after delving the seas for it, than to find it in one's ancestral -treasure-box? - -Judas had risked his life for the cause of Israel. But had not Dion -done as much in abandoning what seemed to him all the good of life in -order to cast in his lot with the people of God? - -Perhaps Deborah did not deliberately and of intent carry on this -comparison. The thought of the Greek came into her mind of itself. -She drove it out as she would have frightened a sparrow away from the -lattice. - -She then indulged the reminiscence of the various ways in which, since -she had dedicated her life to her country, she had been useful to -Judas. She did not doubt, even in her humility, that he spoke honestly -when he said that he needed her. But the sparrow came back to the -lattice. Had not God also led her to help this Greek to his better -faith? And did not he need her? - -She drove the sparrow away. She said that it should never come again. -But, even as she said so, the sparrow twittered at the lattice. - -She became puzzled with her question, "Why can I only by positive -effort exclude this man from my mind? Why are his face, and form, and -accents, and traits, and offered love always with me? Why does he press -upon me as the daylight against the window, to be excluded only by -drawing close the curtain?" - -She had often observed a spring in the meadow, which the herdsmen tried -to fill up and destroy; yet it broke out again, because its veins were -deep and full beneath the earth. Was there such a spring of love for -the Greek in her heart? - -Then her problem became one of casuistry. Would it be right for her to -give herself to Judas when she could not exclude another man from her -thoughts, though he could not come into her life? Would not that be -essential meretriciousness? - -She had schooled herself to the habit of quick decision. So now she -would pronounce judgment. Judges on the bench sometimes grow pale when -they realize the immense consequences of their renderings; so Deborah, -rapidly as her mind worked, passed an hour in a tragedy. She rose from -the controversy strangely unnerved, until she steadied herself with -her indomitable will. She stood out in the light that came through the -latticed window, streaming in the last ray of the sunset. She hesitated -to say the fateful words, which she knew must not be recalled, for she -could not endure a repetition of the debate. Her face was uplifted to -the sun-gleam; her hands tightly clenched behind her back--just her -attitude, she remembered, when she made up her mind to become a spy -three years ago, there in the ravine by the Fort of the Rocks. Her lips -moved. Her words came heavy and cold, as if she had been changed from -a living woman into a speaking statue: - -"The Greek cannot come into my life. -Nor--can--my--life--enter--into--that--of--Judas. God help me!" - -She threw herself upon the divan, and the sun went down. - - - - -XLVIII - -A BROKEN SENTENCE FINISHED - - -General Agathocles recognized the magnanimity of Judas in granting him -the alternative of remaining in Jerusalem under the honorable guard of -Dion, or of joining his own people. He chose the latter course. Yet -from day to day he postponed his departure. It was whispered that his -fatherly affection and authority would ultimately win back his son from -his Jewish allegiance; but a few, among them Jonathan, shook their -heads at this. - -At length the General must take up his journey. - -"My son, it may be--but the gods forbid it--that we shall not meet -again. I would always keep you in my mind as in a mirror. It will not -be enough that I learn of your welfare, and your doings; I would make -your very thoughts my own, and so live within your life, be it glad or -sorrowful. You have revealed to me that much of your thought will be -given to this woman you have learned to love. May she prove all that -your partiality has dreamed her to be! But beware! We do not love our -ideal, so much as we idealize what we love. I would see this woman, so -that I may know more of yourself, since it is evident that her image -moulds itself in you as a seal in wax. If I can see her, I will more -plainly see you." - -Together they sought the house of Elkiah. The outer door being ajar -they entered the court without announcement, and without being observed -by the actors in a scene at the moment transpiring. Dion would have -advanced, but Agathocles laid his hand upon his arm and detained him. - -The fountain statue of Aphrodite had been removed. The water shot up as -of old in a thin shaft, and fell in spray upon the surface of the broad -lower basin, glistening like the dust of gold in the morning sunshine. -Beside the fountain in a great chair sat Gideon ben Sirach. Deborah -was with him. The old man's eyes seemed enchanted by the play of the -sparkling water. He extended his hands and clutched as if to hold the -warmth of the sun that fell upon them. His features were drawn out of -shape by the palsy. Dion thought of a house from which the occupant -is about to remove, its furniture displaced, much of it already gone; -for Sirach's face was empty of the old expression of his soul. It was -evident that much of the meaning of his life, the furniture of his -mind, had been removed even from his memory. Deborah sat upon a little -bench, where Sirach's feet also rested. She took his withered hands, -and rubbed them as if to impart to them some of her own vitality. - -"You can hear to-day, Gideon?" - -His eyes turned toward her, but his features were as immobile as a -death-mask. - -"You have no pain, Gideon? And God's own peace is with you? Yes, I -can read it in your eyes. Judas is now lord of Jerusalem; do you -understand? He bids me say that your master's property shall be -sacredly kept until its rightful owner comes home. He and I will seek -him. You hear, and understand? Gideon, you are an old man, and near to -the life of the blessed. Let me put your hands upon my head, that the -daughter of Elkiah may have the blessing of her father's friend. Here, -by this very fountain, my father and your master have often sat in the -years that are gone." - -She bowed her head, and lifted Sirach's thin white fingers to her -black hair. So white were they that they seemed like points of light, -radiating the blessing they would impart. - -Agathocles whispered to Dion: "Come away! This is no place for a -stranger." - -They walked far down the street before either of them spoke. At length -Dion awoke his father from his reverie. - -"You have seen her, father." - -"There was never but one fairer woman," replied Agathocles. "Dion, with -such a woman to love you, I could leave you willingly in Jerusalem or -in the desert. Does she give you her favor? If so, here abide. If she -will not love you, Dion, flee; flee with me--to the wars, over the -seas, anywhere; and pray that the gods give you every day a drink from -Lethe's waters of forgetfulness. That woman, my boy, will fill a man's -heart or break it. Does she love you?" - -"I would that I knew, father." - -"Then find out, and at once. If so, stay here. Become a Jew, an Arab, -or what she bids you. Her answer will make Jerusalem either Elysium or -Tartarus for you." - -"But," replied Dion, "I would that you knew her. I may not tell her -that my father left the city without caring to speak a word with her. -Though she love me not, I have been too intimate in the house of -Elkiah for so unkindly a departure." - -"It shall be as you say," replied the General. "What women these Jews -have! Dion--but no--I will not say it; for what slips down from the -lips never climbs back again. Let us go again to the house of Elkiah. -An old Greek never loses his gallantry. If your heart fails you, Dion, -I will pay my own homage at her feet. Does that prick you? Come." - -When they re-entered the court, Deborah had risen. She stood by the -chair, holding Sirach's hands and gazing closely into his eyes. Hearing -footsteps, and supposing them to be those of the servants, she did not -turn to look, but cried: - -"Quick! Help! Sirach is stricken. See! His eyes do not follow one. I -fear he is dead. Sirach! Gideon! Alas, he does not hear." - -The two men drew near. Deborah, absorbed with the face that was growing -rigid, and with the hands that were becoming as lead in her grasp, did -not recognize the visitors. Agathocles startled her. Forgetting that he -was a stranger, and caught by sudden emotion, he exclaimed: - -"By all the gods! It is Sirach, servant of Shattuck! How came this man -here? Dion, tell me, knew you this man?" - -Then, the first surprise past, the General made his obeisance to -Deborah, as Dion announced his name: - -"My father, General Agathocles, begs to salute the daughter of Elkiah -before he leaves the city." - -Deborah rose. The gracefulness of her courtesy as she recognized her -visitors matched her beauty. The Greek afterward said it was as -fitting as the light is to the flame which emits it. - -"You are welcome to our home, sir, both for your own sake and the sake -of Dion. But do you know this good man whom God has just taken from us?" - -"I knew him," replied the Greek, bowing beside the stiffening form. "I -knew Gideon ben Sirach. And aye for a good man too." - -He raised the deformed arm of the dead man, and pressed it to his lips. -He drew up Sirach's loose sleeve, and looked long upon a terrible scar -that lay among the shrivelled muscles. Then, speaking to himself, -seemingly unaware that he was uttering his thoughts aloud: - -"To this poor hand, good Gideon, do I not owe more than to any other, -living or dead? These arms brought me my greatest treasure--the only -treasure I would live for, or die for." - -Then, raising his face as if to discern the spirit of Sirach hovering -above his body, as it was believed by many in that age that newly -departed spirits were loath to venture suddenly out upon the great -unknown journey, and remained for a while near to their former house of -clay--he said: - -"Gideon, let me speak the gratitude that I have longed these years to -tell into your living ears. Sirach! Alas, I have found him too late. My -thanks, good lady, to all in this house that such a man came to no want -in his last days." - -Agathocles noted the surprise upon his son's face, and, looking -anxiously from one to another, asked: - -"Did Sirach ever tell his story in this house?" - -"We know his story," replied Deborah. "Never was man more faithful to -man than this man has been." - -Agathocles took from her words more than she had meant. - -"O Gideon! Gideon! why were not your lips stricken dumb before they had -uttered it?" - -He shook the dead body in anger. "Gideon, you gave me my boy. Why did -you steal him away from me?" - -He turned back and paced the court in his excitement. Suddenly he -stopped before Dion. - -"Now I know why you would be a Jew. It was because you knew that you -are one. But I swear by all the gods! I swear by the memory of my sweet -Agnes! Dion, you are mine. Sirach lied to you. Believe him not. Dion, -you are my boy." - -He held the young man fast as he would some captive seeking to escape. - -"And ever shall be yours, my father," replied Dion. - -"Father? Say it again, Dion. That is a sweet word from your lips--sweet -as were the kisses of your mother. Swear to me, Dion, that not even -Gideon's story shall separate us." - -"I swear it by Sirach's corpse that you are my father, and ever shall -be." - -"Well, then"--taking Dion's cheeks between his hands--"then believe -Sirach. He has spoken the truth." - -"But this is strange," replied the young man. "Gideon mentioned not -your name, father. He told us a story of Ctesiphon, the friend of one -Nahum." - -"He spake not my name at all? He told you not that Agathocles was not -your father? Then, Gideon, you were faithful to me. But why, now, did -not those still lips open and check mine before they had uttered the -fatal words? But let it be so, since Dion is still my own." - -"But who, then, was Ctesiphon, father?" - -Agathocles stood a moment in thought. He then took Dion's arm and led -him away. - -"Come, my boy; this is no place for us. Pardon me, my lady; let us not -intrude these matters of our privacy. We will come again, and take part -in honoring Sirach in his burial." - -But what change had come over the fair woman? As the Greek had seen her -sitting by the side of the dead man, he noted how pale she was within -the hood of her raven hair; how Niobe-like was her attitude. Now she -was transformed, radiant; the blood tingeing her cheeks like sunshine -on snow. Her lips seemed to be about to utter some passionate cry. Her -hand clasped that of Dion. - - * * * * * - -There was another who saw this tableau and knew its meaning. Judas -Maccabæus had entered the court at the moment, and, as his custom was, -without heralding. He paused by the entrance. He took in at a glance -all the scene,--and saw also some things which were not outwardly -acted. Noting that he had been unobserved, he went silently out, -and with bowed head tramped along the Street of David, through the -Cheesemakers' Street, and out to the Hill of Ophel, where he sat long -upon a ruined coping of the Gymnasium, and gazed down the Valley of -Kedron, and over the slopes of the mountains of the Wilderness. But, as -Meph, who had followed him, said to a comrade, "Judas looked, but he -saw nothing." - - * * * * * - -Deborah had led her visitors into a room adjacent to the court. Here -Agathocles narrated that part of Sirach's story which the old servant's -sudden infirmity, many days before, had cut short. - -"Ctesiphon! Well did Sirach give him praise. It was Ctesiphon who dared -to plead for the Jews before the raging Ptolemy. It was he who, when -the elephants were about to trample the Jews in the arena, went in -among them, and dragged Nahum away. - -"Nahum's daughter, Sara, was at the time concealed at my house. I had -loved my neighbor's child alway, though we were of different races. -After King Ptolemy's rage had abated--thanks chiefly to Ctesiphon's -influence with the King--the Jews often came to my house when they -visited their kinsman Nahum. Thus I often saw your father, Shattuck. -He was a princely fellow; of wondrous gentility; and withal as much -shrewdness as any of his race. My money I left with him, sure of -its proper usury. He soon won the affection of Sara, and they were -betrothed and wedded according to their nation's custom. The coming -of Sara's child, and the death of Shattuck, her husband, were near -together. The attempt upon little Gershom's life led me to take Sara -and her babe to my home. To better protect her from unknown enemies I -brought her to Macedonia. There she became my wife. She took the name -of Agnes for better concealment of her identity. Her child Gershom she -consented to call Dion. But this is no place to open the memories of a -broken heart." - -He rose to go away. Deborah besought him to remain. - -"No, no!" he replied, and he passed into the street, leaving Dion to -piece together the story as he might; or, if he cared, to begin his own -life-story anew. - -An hour later a horn sounded from the parapet of the house of Elkiah; -for such was the custom of the Jews, that the passers-by might know -that death was within the walls. They washed the body of Sirach, -trimmed the hair and nails, and wrapped him in new white linen. They -laid the form upon a bier. A rabbi came, and spoke words of eulogy over -a faithful servant. Women entered the court, with dishevelled hair, -and, to the accompaniment of flutes, chanted a weird mourning dirge, -and cast dust of ashes toward the body. - -About sunset a little procession emerged from the house. Ephraim would -have taken the position of chief mourner, as befitted his condition at -a fellow-servant's burial; but Agathocles displaced him, and walked -nearest to the bier. Dion went by his side. - -Thus they buried Gideon ben Sirach on the slope of the vale of -Jehoshaphat, in the family tomb of the house of Shattuck--for so Dion, -now Gershom ben Shattuck, ordered it to be. - - - - -XLIX - -THE HIDDEN HAND - - -From the burial of Gideon ben Sirach, Dion and Agathocles walked -leisurely back toward the city. They had much to talk about, both of -the past and future, and took a path less frequented than the common -road. - -Not far from the city gate stood a beggar. His filthy hair matted -itself about his head, and fell upon his bare and begrimed shoulders. -His chief garment might have been the remnant of a wine-skin, which was -tied with strings about the upper part of his body. His legs and feet -were bare--an advantage to such creatures, for his lower limbs at least -would get a bath of air and sunshine, and that of an occasional shower. -About his neck hung a basket which made its mute solicitation for alms. - -"These fellows are as proud as priests," said Dion. "They will ask -nothing of us, and will thank us for nothing we give." - -"He poses like the statue of a god I once saw in Cyprus," commented -Agathocles. "They had just dug it up out of the mud, and hadn't scraped -it." - -"Don't go near him," replied Dion. "His filth doubtless has wings. Yet -it is well to give him a stater. He is supposed to mumble a blessing, -and I need one." - -Dion advanced toward the man, and put his hand into his bosom to draw -his purse. The beggar sprang upon him with a cry of fury. - -"At last I have you, you damned whelp of Shattuck!" - -He drew a knife from beneath his dirty sheep-skin, and aimed a blow at -the breast of Dion. The thrust had surely done its intended work, but -for the quick evasion of the practised soldier. Before the wretch could -repeat the blow Dion had closed with him, grasped the uplifted arm with -his left hand, and with a dexterous wrench bent his assailant until his -head and heels nearly touched; then laid him on the ground. - -Agathocles started to help. He was instantly confronted by another -person who darted from behind a great olive-tree. But the General had -drawn his sword. The villain, though armed with a dagger, dared not -venture the encounter. He turned to flee; but the weapon of Agathocles -was through his body. - -Dion stood a moment over the beggar he had felled. - -"What madness is this?" he asked. - -"Kill the wretch," cried Agathocles. - -"Nay, father, my sword would not drink such foul blood." - -They tied the wrists of the living man with the stout cords of his -beggar's basket. - -"Why this assault?" asked Dion. "Were you mad with hunger?" - -"Aye, hunger for you," replied the man. - -"Who are you?" asked Dion. - -"The scar on your forehead knows me, if you do not. But for the man you -have just buried, you had never had tongue to ask who I am." - -"I ought to know this man's face," said Agathocles, studying him -closely. "For years I have seen these eyes, like those of a panther as -it slinks away from one it dares not attack. In Alexandria, in Macedon, -in Rome, I have seen these same eyes spying on me. Let me squeeze his -secret out of him." - -The General's hands were upon the man's throat. - -"I am Cleon. Do you know me now?" gasped the wretch. - -"Cleon? There was a Cleon in Alexandria, a vile procurer for the -beastly Ptolemy. Yes, those eyes are Cleon's, as sure as ever snake -owned his. But I never harmed you, Cleon. Why do you pursue me?" - -"You lie!" wheezed the man. "You were always in my way. You call me a -snake. Well! have you not both writhed when I bit you? You, Dion, have -drunk my poison; and the great Agathocles was in the mines in Sicily, -where I--I--Cleon sent him. I have had my vengeance. Now take yours." - -"I see it all," said the General. "This Cleon, panderer to the vilest -folk of Alexandria, was the agent of those who would have stolen the -estate of Shattuck, but for the influence of Ctesiphon and myself, and -the help of Gideon. It was Cleon's hand that struck you, Dion, when -a babe; the mark of which blow Gideon carried to his grave. It was -the same hand that mixed the poison for us both in Macedonia. It was -this man's tongue, black with perjury, that gave the lying information -against me to the Romans." - -"Well, now you know me," said the man with assumed indifference, "you -can only kill me." - -"Let us take him into the city," said Agathocles. "This man is so -false that I can hardly believe his damning confession against himself -without better evidence." - -"Not into the city! Not into the city!" cried the captive. "Not into -the city! For God's sake, kill me here." - -He writhed, not seemingly to break his cord, but rather to wrest his -soul from the grip of his own body, and thus escape from life ere some -deeper curse should befall him. - -"Not into the Holy City! Not near to the Temple! O God of Abraham! -Mercy! Mercy! Not into the city!" - -He raised his head, and, before his captors were aware of his purpose, -he dashed it against a stone, as if to make an exit for the spirit that -felt itself being consigned to perdition. - -"Ah, Cleon," said Dion, "there is a worse poison than you have mixed -for us; poison that no medicine will purge from the blood. You have -swallowed your own memories, and they grip hard, do they? But why -should you pray to the God of the Jews? Such a scoundrel as you cannot -be Jew." - -The man's response was a compound of the most dreadful oaths and vilest -expletives known to the tongues of Jew or Greek. - -"You tempt me to kill you," said Agathocles; "but that might end your -misery. We will let you live. If you dread the Temple, then to the -Temple you shall go." - -The commotion had drawn a crowd. Among them was Ephraim, the old -servant of Elkiah. He at once identified Cleon as a Jew who in -his youth had been driven from Jerusalem by the libertine set of -young men, as one infected with vices which were too fetid for even -their debauched tastes. One of his unconscionable pranks had been -the defiling of some of the sacred vessels of the Temple--which -doubtless accounted for his dread of dying near the holy precincts. In -Alexandria--so Ephraim had heard--he had been refused admission to the -Synagogue, and had openly apostatized, assuming the Greek name of Cleon -instead of his own, Naaman. - -The dead accomplice of the false beggar could not be identified. He was -clearly not a Jew. On his body were found several letters written in -Aramaic, the common language of Syria and adjacent countries. One of -these read as follows: - - "More money? Not an obole until your job is finished. We cannot depend - upon the fool Cleon. Go with him. Stick to his heels. He cannot - be trusted by himself. Ben Shattuck is in Jerusalem. He is called - Dion,--a captain once in the Greek guard. But he has scented out his - own Jewish blood, and will go back to it, like a dog to his vomit. - Send proof that you have executed your business with him, or, by the - tail of Satan, I will have you accused of the crimes you have already - committed." - -This letter was unsigned. - -"I should know that writing," said Dion. "It is none other than that of -Menelaos." - -"The same, no doubt," said Ephraim, studying it carefully. "I could -tell you more of that Priest than has yet been published. But bring not -this reprobate into the city. Maccabæus is cleansing the place, and -would not abide such foulness. My counsel is that you deal with him -here." - -"Leave him to us," shouted the crowd. - -In spite of Dion's remonstrance they tied the living man to the body -of his dead confederate, and carried them both down to the Valley of -Hinnom. - -What things were there done may not be written. - - - - -L - -THE VENGEANCE OF JUDAS - - -It required no especial acuteness on the part of Judas to discern the -meaning of that tableau he had witnessed in the court of Elkiah's -house, when Deborah stood hand in hand with Dion. It was clearly as -significant to him as the fabled scene in which Eros awakens Psyche -with a kiss would have been to Agathocles. He had also overheard enough -of the General's story to discover that, if Dion were his rival for the -affection of Deborah, he himself, though of the blood of Mattathias, -which had been kept pure from foreign taint through all generations, -had in this respect no advantage over his competitor. As Gershom ben -Shattuck, Dion could satisfy the strictest interpreter of the Law. The -Prophet Nehemiah himself could have found no flaw in Shattuck's line, -with all that Reformer's zealotry against mixed marriages. - -Strong man that Judas was, the keen eyes of Meph, who had watched him -as he came out of Elkiah's doorway that day, noted that the giant -staggered a little, just for an instant. Others remarked that the great -man seemed unusually absorbed with his own thoughts, and did not return -their salutation as was his custom. - -"A big raid, doubtless, to clean out the tribesmen from around Hebron; -or a campaign in the direction of Antioch itself," a captain of the -guard was overheard to say. - -"Or something as momentous," was the reply of a comrade, "for it takes -a heavy project to press Judas' head that far down upon his shoulders." - -Judas shut himself up in his private chamber. - -The building and the great court before the old palace on Sion were -thronged with people. Many of these had been especially summoned by the -Messiah Malhamah, the "Anointed for War," as the nation were content to -call their leader until such time as he was disposed to take the crown. -Here thronged priests, some greatly renowned for wisdom and piety, -but who had been long in hiding. They came wearing the rich robes of -their office which they had treasured with their lives; though some -of these were in ragged semblance of their former estate, having lost -everything while they were enrolled in the patriot army. There were -also in the crowd learned rabbis, who had been summoned to give their -counsel regarding the reorganization of the state, restoring the Temple -and reordering the grades of priests according to the ancient ritual. -The bravest of the captains were there, for Judas had announced his -intention of widening the scope of army operations, since he foresaw -that the defence of Judea depended upon the possession of far larger -areas of territory on every side. - -Hours passed, and Judas did not appear, to meet those whom he had -summoned. - -Simon and Jonathan at length ventured into his presence. The champion -sat by his table--an affair of ebony and gold, once the writing-desk -of the Syrian commandant, now but a fragment of its former elegance. -Its dilapidation was not out of keeping with the aspect of the man -who leaned upon it. The powerful frame of Judas was bent as if he had -lost some thought and was seeking to rediscover it somewhere amid the -scratches on the ebony polish. He gave his guests no greeting. One -might have imagined him a dead man but for the intent look upon his -face, and that his clenched hand now and then beat upon the table. - -The coming even of his brethren was an evident intrusion, and they -withdrew. - -"What now?" said Jonathan. "I have not seen our brother so distraught -in his moodiness since the old days in the Fort of the Rocks. There was -need of his brooding then, but not now when all things are coming our -way, as when the quails were blown by the east wind and covered the -land to feed our fathers in the desert." - -"But have you not noted?" asked Simon, "how Judas comes out of his -black clouds? He is always brighter afterward, and shows us something -that none but he could have thought of. He will accept the kingship." - -"Brother Simon," replied Jonathan, "I like not the look of Judas' face. -He is not meditating as is his wont. He is struggling with some rage. I -once before saw that same look on him. It was when he crushed the skull -of a Greek spy who had got within our lines at Mizpah. A word in your -ear, Simon." - -"It will be as safe as under an altar." - -"A man has crossed his path." - -"Who?" - -"Dion." - -"Faugh! A feather crossing the rush of a torrent! A partridge flitting -through the lair of a lion! What cares Judas for the Greek?" - -Jonathan took playfully the beard of Simon. "You are called the Wise; -and yet methinks you are dull-witted. We have insisted that Judas -should be King. That is well. But you have blocked the way of the -project by insisting that he should marry the daughter of Elkiah. This, -have I not said, he will never do." - -"And you believe, Jonathan, that that Greek stands in his way?" replied -Simon. "This I would not credit unless you should tell me that you -yourself had caught them in dalliance." - -Jonathan shrugged his shoulders. "Listen!" said he, "ears open and -teeth tight, for I have never breathed this to living man before. The -night before the battle in the Wady I followed her, for I feared that -her daring would bring her to harm. I tracked her into the very camp -of Apollonius. May the rising moon there shatter my wits forever if I -speak not the truth! I saw this Dion come to her. I would have slain -him and her. But when I drew to strike I overheard their words. I saw -that she was stealing this man out of the fight, lest in the vengeance -we were about to take on Apollonius he, too, should fall. She risked -her life to give us the victory--that we know; and I know that she -risked her life for this man at the same time. If ever woman loved a -man, she loves him. I saw that she accepted his love from the touch of -his lips." - -Simon turned fiercely upon the speaker. "Jonathan, dare you impugn the -loyalty of the daughter of Elkiah? She is not a Glaucon, though she has -his blood." - -"Her loyalty?" replied Jonathan. "I laud it. This woman is so true to -us and our people that not even her love for this man made her swerve. -And why should she not love the Greek? He is as good a fellow as any -since the day when Father Abraham was himself a heathen in the land of -the Chaldees. I have mingled much with the Greeks in Jerusalem without -giving them a chance to cut my throat. I have been more than once, as -you know, in this palace when Apollonius was its master. I have learned -much of Dion from the lips of his fellows in camp and field. He was the -pride of the Greek service; could have had high rank, but he risked -it all for the safety of Deborah. He won her gratitude by saving her -from foul dealing. I say, Jew that I am, Deborah ought to love Dion. -And, further, I will say that Deborah ought not, and will not, marry -Judas. It was not alone for the benefit of foreign alliance that I -spoke of our brother seeking a wife from the courts of other nations; -I foresaw that he could not marry within Judaism, since he would marry -none save Deborah; and she is an impossibility, unless I know nothing -of the soul of this woman. Now mark me further, my over-wise Simon. Did -you not note that when Judas was brooding over the kingship he went to -the house of Elkiah? And since his return he has been behind what you -call his thunder-cloud. I tell you that when Judas' lightning flashes, -it will not be with the light of statecraft, but against Dion. Judas, -generous, self-yielding, patriotic, is one man; Judas in love is a -different man. I would that the Greek were far away from Jerusalem." - -Judas still sat by his table. The light faded in the high window -beneath the cedar rafters of the great chamber. A star gleamed through -the aperture, then floated on to look into a million other chambers -where men and women sat with bowed heads or lay upon restless couches. -The moon looked in, and hung her white veil on this wall of the -chamber, and then on that, but evoked no response from Judas, except an -occasional smile that relieved the harshness of his features. - -By and by the sun rose. Jonathan came and saw him fast asleep with his -head resting on his clasped hands. When his brother woke him, his face -showed the marks of suffering. Years seemed to have put wrinkles about -his eyes and mouth, as time cracks timber and lime walls and almost -everything else. Why not a man's face? - -Judas ate a little of the meal which the servants brought, responding -only in briefest words to their questions. Then, as if a spring had -uncoiled somewhere within his body, he suddenly rose. - -"Brother Jonathan, bring the Captains here at the sixth hour--and the -Priests at the ninth; for we have pressing business to-day." - -Without another word he passed through the great doorway into the -palace plaza, and thence into the street. - -"What news?" asked a guard. "Maccabæus is as wrathful this morning as a -starved lion. Are the Syrians marching again upon the city?" - -"If not, then the devil has broken loose, and challenged our Goliath to -fight. The Lord have mercy on the man he runs against this time! Look -at him! The very stones shake under his feet." - -Judas turned into a by-street. He stopped before a small building. He -did not wait to have his heavy rap on the door answered from within, -but entered, and went straight to a side chamber. - -"Captain Dion!" he thundered out. - -He was confronted by both Agathocles and Dion. The presence of the -Greek General seemed to remind him of his forgotten courtesy. - -"Your pardon, sirs! But I would talk to this man alone." - -Agathocles withdrew, but not without a wondering glance at their -unceremonious visitor and a look of inquiry at Dion, who, however, was -as amazed as his companion. - -When they were alone, and the door closed, Judas said: - -"Dion, I once took your oath of allegiance at the gate." - -"True. And the oath has not been broken," replied the young man, with -some resentment in his tone excited by the apparent suspicion in Judas' -abrupt manner. - -In loud voice Judas exclaimed: "As Dion the Greek you have kept your -oath; but that is no longer binding; for you are not Dion, but Gershom -ben Shattuck. As a Jew you have sworn no allegiance." - -"Do the Jews swear allegiance to their commander?" replied he. "Are we -like the Romans? Is it not enough that our allegiance is to the Lord, -who is over us all? Did Judas ever before ask an oath of any Jew to -serve him?" - -"From no other man," said Judas; "but from the son of Shattuck I would -require it. The Jews would make me King of Jerusalem." - -"And rightly," responded the other. "And to King Maccabæus I will swear -to be loyal in everything that man should do for man." - -Judas repeated his words, "'Everything that man should do for man.' -A wise and well-turned oath. I like it. Shattuck, they would make -Elkiah's daughter the Queen of Jerusalem." - -Dion staggered as if the Maccabæan had smitten him. But he quickly -recovered his self-possession. He spoke slowly: - -"Maccabæus, I will swear loyalty to Elkiah's daughter as Queen,--when -she shall ask it of me. But until she herself speaks that word no man, -though he be Maccabæus, shall exact it from me. At her feet I will take -the vow, but not under any man's hand. You have my answer." - -Shattuck's form seemed swollen with his wrath until it matched that -of the giant who confronted him. Judas looked at his challenger as a -lion-tamer might have returned the wild glare of his beast which he -knows must succumb to his own dominant will. Yet there was in his eyes -the flicker as of a light that came from some deeper recess of his -soul than that of his present passion. A smile quickly overspread his -features. He laid his great hand on the shoulder of his competitor. - -"Dion--Ben Shattuck--though I be King, as man to man, we stand on equal -footing. Your challenge proves it. But, if you had sworn allegiance to -me in putting the crown upon the head of Elkiah's daughter without her -command, I would have felled you in your tracks. Here we stand--man -and man; and that woman is the queen of us both. You have been her -protector. I know all the story of these years. Protect her still from -Greek and from Jew. I swear with you, Shattuck, that no will but her -own shall be over her. Come with me to her." - -The two men went together into the Street of David, and entered the -house of Elkiah. As Deborah glanced from one to the other, Judas seized -her hand and placed it in Dion's, - -"The God of Israel bless you both!" he said. - -Before they could find voice to reply Judas was gone. - -As he came out into the street Meph met him with the great news. - -"Dion is a Jew! Dion is a Jew! My old Sirach was right. Deborah herself -told me. And, Judas, she was as glad as I was to find it out, almost." - - - - -LI - -A KING, INDEED - - -When Judas returned to his palace he found his brethren in waiting. -Their manner told the anxiety with which they anticipated his decision -of the momentous question of the kingship. Judas relieved them of the -necessity of putting their thoughts into words. - -"Do you still believe that I should be King?" - -"It is the will of the nation," said Simon. - -"And yours?" - -"And ours," said all, making low obeisance. - -"You swear me absolute obedience?" - -"Obedience absolute. There can be no other sort of kingship." - -One by one his brethren took his hand; then ranged in a circle about -him. There was no need of a crown to give majesty to this man: his form -towering; his face imperious; and around him the very atmosphere almost -visibly radiant with the prestige of victories such as Heaven had never -before given to man. Nor did his brethren need princely robing to make -them feel due pride in this hour of the founding of the new Dynasty. - -"I thank you, my brothers, worthy all of the blood of our father -Mattathias. Hear, then, my command. I exact no vow, but trust your love -to guard your loyalty." - -"Our brother's word is our law," said Simon. - -"His word our law," went round the little circle. - -"Gather close about me," said Judas. - -Then lowering his voice: "This is my will. Let the word King never -again be heard in our council. Nor let the daughter of Elkiah be spoken -of except as the wife of Gershom ben Shattuck." - -"Ben Shattuck!" - -The exclamation burst vehemently from all lips. - -Judas had no need to explain his words; for at the moment Meph's voice -rang across the plaza: - -"Dion is a Jew! Dion is a Jew! The son of Agathocles is the son of -Shattuck." - - * * * * * - -Judas left little time for any to dispute his decision. His tremendous -energy was imparted to every man about him. Priests were loaded with -questions regarding their ancient customs, which absorbed their study -day and night, for Judas would immediately reorganize their order -according to the Aaronic ideal. Such artisans as were still to be found -among the people, builders in stone, carvers of wood, and women skilled -in needlework, were given their part in the problem of the renovation -of the Temple. The city walls were to be strengthened, new citadels -built in the surrounding villages, cordons of forts placed around the -entire land, the army to be reorganized for more systematic defence, -and new campaigns planned to effectually awe the surrounding tribesmen. - -Every day saw the mark of the master-hand of their leader. The rubbish -heaps outside the gates were ornamented with the shattered pieces of -pagan statuary. The sacred courts on Mount Moriah were purged of every -stain of the heathen Abomination. A new altar rose on the site of the -ancient one. Its stones were untouched by chisel, only laid together -symmetrically, as befitted a memorial to Him who created all things -without the help of human hands. The stones of the ancient altar, which -had been desecrated by the foul offerings of the Greeks, were laid away -until the great Messiah should come. - -The crowning act of Greek pollution had taken place three years before, -on the twenty-fifth day of the month Chisleu, which corresponds with -the Roman month of December. Judas appointed the same date for the -Feast of Dedication, which has been annually repeated ever since -throughout the Jewish world. - -For eight days the streets of the city and all the highways leading to -its gates from valley and hill were thronged with processions bearing -palm branches, and shouting the old Hallel psalms. In many groups -were those who had not touched hands for years; men who had come -out of hiding-places where they had taken covert from the incessant -persecution. Some came laden with their goods, making willing offerings -of coins and jewels to swell the fund for the glorious work. - -At each nightfall every house gleamed like a constellation with crowded -lights in doorway and window, and on parapet and dome. The Temple plaza -blazed with great fires which sent beams of hope far over the Judean -hills, and by the glare in the sky proclaimed the triumph of Israel to -the camps of the enemy beyond the borders. - -One house outshone all other private dwellings on the third night of -the Feast of Dedication. It stood near to the western gate, close by -the Tower of David, with the city's breadth separating it from the -Temple. The fires on the roof of this house saluted as with waving -hands of flame the blazing glory of the Temple Mount. This was the old -mansion of Shattuck, for years deserted, but now reoccupied by its -new-found inheritor. - -Between this house and that of Elkiah the streets were densely crowded -on that third night. At the middle hour a cry rent the air: - -"She comes! She comes!" - -Close back against the houses the people were massed. There was no need -of official command, for the populace was moved by a common gladness -and reverence. - -There was but one instance of what would have seemed to a stranger a -breach of decorum. Down the street came Meph waving his crutch like the -baton of a marshal, and shouting: - -"Make way! Make way for the Daughter of Jerusalem! Way for the bride of -Ben Shattuck!" - -No one rebuked the lad, for the story of his part in bringing about the -regeneration of the popular Greek into a Jew was well known. "Bless the -boy!" was the only comment heard as his heels conducted both himself -and the pageant that followed. - -The procession was more artistically heralded by bands of players -on flute and tabor, succeeded by those leading the multitude in the -ancient marriage song of the people. - -Amid a hundred torches was seen the gigantic form of Judas together -with his brethren. For this hour at least all traces of solemnity -and care were banished from his face, as he led the "friends of -the bridegroom," who, according to the time-honored custom, were -conducting the bride to the house of her husband. - -As Deborah appeared surrounded by her maidens the cries, "Long live -Judas Maccabæus!" were quickly changed. - -"Joy! joy to the daughter of Elkiah! Long live Deborah, the Daughter of -Jerusalem!" rang from a thousand lips. - -The happy crowd hurried along as if impelled by their own huzzas, until -the bride disappeared within the portal of the house of Shattuck. - - * * * * * - -An hour later Judas sat alone in his chamber in the palace on Sion. -The stars as they floated by looked through the high window, but did -not disturb the soul which at that hour was moving through depths as -profound as theirs. The gray dawn alone aroused him--in which there -was a poetic propriety; for since the day-spring summons all nature to -activity, why should it not awaken the tremendous forces of this great -heart for its work in resurrecting a nation? - -Judas reached out his hand and struck the bronze gong--the same that -Apollonius had rung three years before when he was vanquished by the -spirit of Deborah in this same hall. - -"Call the Captains!" - -His chief officers came with evidence of hasty toilet--for celerity -never waited upon formality in the councils of Judas. His sentences, as -he addressed them, were laconic, as if he assumed that his hearers had -listened at his brain and already knew his thoughts. - -"Friends, I learn that the men of Edom are moving from their camps -on the south. The tribesmen of the Jordan and beyond are preparing to -strike us. Tyre and Sidon are enrolling their trained bands. Every man, -then, in readiness by the turn of the moon!" - -With a wave of his hand he dismissed them. - -The result of this order belongs to history, which tells how the -invincible men of Judas, beginning on the south, swung to east, then -from east to north, then from north to west, and then from west to -south again--the swing of the mighty Hammer of Israel--crushing a -hostile tribe at every stroke, until Judah lay quiet within all its -desolate borders. - -No sword gleamed brighter in those days than that of Gershom ben -Shattuck, and no foeman gave more desperate battle than Nadan, son of -Yusef, Sheikh of Jericho. - - -_Printed in the United States of America_ - - NOTE.--Judas fell in battle three years later. The still sceptreless - rule was then taken by Jonathan, who, with the title of High Priest, - consolidated the religious and secular orders, and laid wide and - deep the foundation of the Asmonean power--a title taken from the - family name of Mattathias, the father of the Maccabees. On the death - of Jonathan, Simon the Wise accomplished his purpose of kingship for - Israel, and crowned himself. In the seed of Simon the dynasty endured - until the last diluted drops of Maccabæan blood drained from the veins - of the Herods, and the eyes of the world were turned to one whom they - called, not Messiah Malhamah, "The Anointed for War," but Christ, "The - Prince of Peace." - - For the descriptions of the battles of Judas mentioned in this book - the writer has been compelled to supplement with his own imagination - very meagre historic materials. The place of the fight with Apollonius - (The Wady) is unidentified by chroniclers. The affair at Bethhoron - follows only the general topography of the region. The stratagem - of Judas at Emmaus is, however, well known, and was imitated by - Bonaparte. The method of "The Hammer" at Bethzur cannot have differed - greatly from that described. The result of all these battles is as - historic as it was marvellous. - - If injustice has been done to any of the real characters involved, - Antiochus Epiphanes, Mattathias and his five sons, the priest - Menelaos, or the various generals commanding the hosts overthrown - by the heroic patriots, the writer is prepared to make the personal - _amende honorable_ if he should ever meet them in the shades. - - For the other characters, Deborah and Dion, Caleb and Meph, it is - sufficient to say that they are the children of his own fancy, over - whom he exercises the ancient paternal right of absolute disposal. Of - Glaucon and Clarissa, the report that Agathocles, on his return to - Antioch, met them as the keepers of a wine shop near the bridge over - the Orontes, is as true as were all the other declarations of that - veracious Greek. - - The student of the Maccabæan period may profitably consult the Books - of the Maccabees in the Apocryphal Bible (for traditional accounts); - "The Histories of Polybius" (for contemporaneous history of other - nations); Prideaux's "Connections of Old and New Testaments" (for - relation of Jews and Gentiles); Stanley's "Jewish Church," volume - iii. (for summary of men and events); Conder's "Judas Maccabæus" (for - topography); Church's "The Hammer" (for local color, customs, etc.); - Riggs' "Jewish People." - - - - -IN OTHER LANDS - - -_PROF. EDWARD A. 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Illustrated. - - $1.50 - - "It is a story for boys, old and young, a really delightful - animal story without the faults that some of them - have--pleasing--well-written--entertaining throughout." - - _Syracuse Sunday Herald._ - - - - -BIOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL - - - _F. A. McKENZIE_ - - _Author of "Korea's Fight - for Freedom"_ - -"Pussyfoot" Johnson - - CRUSADER--REFORMER--A MAN AMONG MEN - -With Introduction by Dr. Wilfred T. Grenfell. - -Illustrated, 12mo, net $1.50. - - "'Let Johnson alone--more power to his elbow,' No doubt Roosevelt - when he said this appreciated Johnson's manliness, his fearlessness, - his loyalty to high ideals and that good nature which is a pledge - of fairness. Lovers of adventure will enjoy this book."--_Boston - Transcript._ - -[Illustration] - - - _DANIEL BLISS_ - - _First President of the Syrian - Protestant College, Syria_ - -Reminiscences of Daniel Bliss - -Missionary and Educator. Edited and Supplemented by His Eldest Son. -Illustrated, net $2.25. - - The story of his early days; his term of service, as missionary of the - American Board, in the Lebanon; his share in the formation of plans - which led to the creation of the Syrian Protestant College; his work - of collecting funds for its endowment and equipment, and his more than - sixty years of association with the famous Beirut institution, as - President and President-Emeritus. - - -_MARGARET McGILVARY_ - -The Dawn of a New Era in Syria - -Illustrated, 12mo, net $2.50. - - A deeply interesting account of what happened in Syria during the past - five years. Not a mass of hearsay evidence, but authentic data vouched - for by reliable and credible witnesses, and, in the main, within the - personal knowledge of the author. This book possesses historical, - missionary and political significance of more than ordinary value. - - - _MRS. 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Sun_ says: "Miss Laughlin has let - nothing escape her that will throw light on the development of his - character. A revelation of the man who at sixty-seven put the crowning - touch to the complete defeat of Germany's military pretensions." - - -_FREPERICK LYNCH, D.D._ - -The One Great Society - -A Book of Recollections. 12mo, cloth, net - - Records or some personal reminiscences and recollections of the - author, who, as preacher, editor and prominent member of one or two - international organizations, has met many of the world's prominent men - in the fields of divinity, philanthropy, literature and reform. - - - - -_NEW EDITIONS_ - - -_JOSEPH HOCKING_ - -The Passion for Life - -"Shall a Man Live Again?" _Third Edition. 25th Thousand._ - - $1.75 - - "One of the finest, most significant and most absorbing stories of - to-day."--_Pittsburgh Chronicle-Telegraph._ - - -_CLARICE E. 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BABSON_ - - _President Babson's - Statistical Organization_ - -Fundamentals of Prosperity - -What They Are and Where They Come From. - - $1.00 - - "Just the right tonic for a sick world, without any doubt."--_George - W. Coleman_, Advertising Expert. - - - * * * * * - -Transcriber's Notes: - -Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - -Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as -possible, including obsolete and variant spellings, non-standard -punctuation, inconsistently hyphenated words, and other inconsistencies. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Deborah, by James M. 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