"But He rose again from the dead," he persisted, "and left the earth
to its own devices hereafter. And so behold Jerusalem!
"And there was one woman," he added, "who had been a scarlet woman.
She had anointed His feet with precious oil and wiped them with her
hair. And I saw her also--I sought them all out, because they could do
miracles and foretell events. Thousands upon thousands believe in
them."
"Crucified!" she whispered.
"They say," he went on, "that He pronounced judgment on Jerusalem and
that it now cometh to pass!"
The accumulated effect of the calamitous recital was to stun her. She
gazed at him with unintelligent eyes, and her lips moved without
speaking. For one reared in constant contemplation of God's nearness
to His children, acquainted with divine politics, divine literature
and divine law, cut off from the world and devoted wholly to religion,
the story of a divine tragedy carried with it the full force of its
fearful import. Philadelphus' narrative meant to her the crumbling of
earth and the effacement of Heaven. She cried wildly her unbelief when
words returned to her. But under the fury of her denunciation,
unconsciously directed against the conviction that the story was true,
she felt her hope of a restored Kingdom of David wavering toward a
fall.
While she stood thus, Amaryllis, languid and pre-occupied, entered the
room with John of Gischala at her side. The Greek noted Philadelphus
with a quick accession of interest. John's attention had been
instantly arrested by the presence of the other man. Philadelphus
turned with fine ease to meet the man whom he must regard as his enemy
and Laodice shrank back in an attempt to get out of sight of the trio.
"Welcome!" said Amaryllis to Philadelphus. "A fortunate visit that
makes possible an amnesty for two of my friends at once. This, John,
is Philadelphus of Ephesus, a seeker of diversion out of mine own
country come to see the end of this great struggle thou wagest against
Rome. And thou, Philadelphus, seest before thee, John of Gischala, the
arbiter of Judea's future. Be friends."
With a comprehensive sweeping glance John inspected the man before
him.
"John of Gischala," he repeated in his feline voice, "the oppressor
John. Art thou not afraid of me, sir?"
"Dost thou meditate harm for me, sir?" Philadelphus smiled.
"Art thou, in that case, against me, sir?" John parried.
"On that hingeth his answer," Amaryllis said, glancing at Laodice.
"And here is this same pretty stranger who bewitched thee yesterday.
Know her as Laodice. Let that be parentage, history, ambition and
religion for her. She, too, seeks diversion in Jerusalem, and is my
guest for a while."
The Gischalan took Laodice's hand and held it.
"Welcome, thou," he said. "I will tolerate another man under thy roof
if thou wilt but make this pretty bird of passage a permanency," he
said to the Greek, after a silent study of Laodice's beauty.