Part 5 (1/2)

”That he walks on the sea--”

”Nonsense!”

”That he turns water into wine, feeds the mult.i.tude, raises the dead--”

”Raises the dead!” And the tetrarch added in the _sotto voce_ of thought, ”So did Elijah.”

”That he had been in the desert--”

”With Aretas?”

”No; I questioned him on that point. He had never heard of Aretas, but he said that in the desert this Satan had come and offered him-what do you suppose? _The empire of the earth!_”

Antipas shook with fright. ”It must have been Aretas.”

”But that he had refused.”

”Then it is John.”

”There, you see.” And Pahul dandled himself with the air of one who is master of logic. ”That's what I said myself. I said this: 'If he can raise the dead, he can raise himself.' ”

”It _is_ John,” the tetrarch repeated.

”I am sure of it,” the butler continued. ”But he did not say so. Judas didn't either. On the contrary, he declared he was not. He said John was not good enough to carry his shoes. I saw through that, though,” and Pahul leered; ”he knew whom I was, and he lied to protect his friend. I of course pretended to believe him.”

”Quite right,” said the tetrarch.

”Yes, I played the fool. H'm, where was I? Oh, I asked Judas who then his friend was, but he went over to where a woman stood; he spoke to her; she moved away. Some of the others seemed to reprove him. I would have followed, but at that moment his friend stood up; a khazzan offered him a scroll, but he waved it aside; then some one asked him a question which I did not catch; another spoke to him; a third interrupted; he seemed to be arguing with them. I was too far away to hear well, and I got nearer; then I heard him say, 'I am the bread of life.' Now, what did he mean by that?”

Antipas had no explanation to offer.

”Then,” Pahul continued, ”he said he had come down from heaven. A man near me exclaimed, 'He is the Messiah;' but others--”

”The Messiah!” echoed the tetrarch. For a moment his thoughts stammered, then at once he was back in the citadel. On one side was the procurator, on the other the emir of Tadmor. In front of him was a drunken rabble, wrangling Pharisees, and one man dominating the din with an announcement of the Messiah's approach. The murmur of lutes threaded through it all; and now, as his thoughts deviated, he wondered could that announcement have been the truth.

”But others,” Pahul continued, ”objected loudly. For a little I could not catch a word. At last they became quieter, and I heard him repeat that he was the bread of life, adding, 'Your fathers ate manna and are dead, but this bread a man may eat of and never die.' At this there was new contention. A woman fainted-the one to whom Judas had spoken. They carried her out. As she pa.s.sed I could see her face. It was Mary of Magdala. Judas held her by the waist, another her feet.”

Antipas drew a hand across his face. ”It is impossible,” he muttered.

”Not impossible at all. I saw her as plainly as I see you. The man next to me said that the Rabbi had cast from her seven devils. Moreover, Johanna was there-yes, yes, the wife of Khuza, your steward; it was she, I remember now, who had her by the feet. And there were others that I recognized, and others that the man next to me pointed out: Zabdia, a well-to-do fisherman whom I have seen time and again, and with him his sons James and John, and Salome his wife. Then, too, there were Simon Barjona and Andrew his brother. Simon had his wife with him, his children, and his mother-in-law. The man next to me said that the Rabbi called James and John the Sons of Thunder, and Simon a stone. There was Mathias the tax-gatherer, Philip of Bethsada, Joseph Barsaba, Mary Clopas, Susannah, Nathaniel of Cana, Thomas, Thaddeus, Aristian the custom-house officer, Ruth the tax-gatherer's wife, mechanics from Scythopolis, and Scribes from Jerusalem.”

The fingers of Antipas' hand glittered with jewels. He played with them nervously. The sky seemed immeasurably distant. For some little time it had been hesitating between different shades of blue, but now it chose a fathomless indigo; Night unloosed her draperies, and, with the prodigality of a queen who reigns only when she falls, flung out upon them uncounted stars.

Pahul continued: ”And many of them seemed to be at odds with each other.

They wrangled so that often I could not distinguish a word. Some of them left the synagogue. The Rabbi himself must have been vexed, for in a lull I heard him say to those who were nearest, 'Will you also go away?' Judas came in at that moment, and he turned to him: 'Have I not chosen twelve, and is not one of you a devil?' Judas came forward at once and protested.

I could see he was in earnest, and meant what he said. The man next told me that he was devoted to the Rabbi. Then Simon Barjona, in answer to his question, called out, 'To whom should we go? Thou art Christ, the Son of G.o.d.' ”