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 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
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 ON THE SBA. 
 
 . Page 28.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE: 
 
 A TALE OF THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 BY G. A. HENTY, 
 
 Author of "The Young Carthaginian," "With Clive in India,'- 
 
 "The Lion of the North," " With Wolfe in Canada," 
 
 "Bonnie Prince Charlie," etc., etc. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 A. L. BURT COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 52-58 DUANE STEEET, NEW YOEK.
 
 College 
 Library 
 
 PR 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 MY DEA.R LADS: 
 
 In all histor}' there is no drama of more terrible 
 interest than that which terminated with the total 
 destruction of Jerusalem. Had the whole Jewish 
 nation joined in the desperate resistance made by a 
 section of it to the overwhelming strength of Home, 
 the world would have had no record of truer 
 patriotism than that displayed by this small people 
 in their resistance to the forces of the mistress of 
 the world. Unhappily the reverse of this was the 
 case. Except in the defense of Jotapata and 
 Gamala, it can scarcely be said that the Jewish 
 people as a body offered any serious resistance to 
 the arms of Rome. The defenders of Jerusalem 
 were a mere fraction of its population, a fraction 
 composed almost entirely of turbulent characters 
 and robber bands, who fought with the fury of 
 desperation, after having placed themselves beyond 
 the pale of forgiveness or mercy by the deeds of 
 unutterable cruelty with which they had desolated 
 the city before its siege by the Romans. They 
 fought, it is true, with unflinching courage, a 
 courage never surpassed in history, but it was the 
 courage of despair, and its result was to bring
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 destruction upon the whole population as well as 
 upon themselves. Fortunately the narrative of 
 Josephus, an eye-witness of the events which he 
 describes, has come down to us; and it is the store- 
 house from which all subsequent histories of the 
 events have been drawn. It is no doubt tinged 
 throughout by his desire to stand well with his 
 patrons Vespasian and Titus, but there is no reason 
 to doubt the accuracy of his descriptions. I have 
 endeavored to present you with as vivid a picture 
 as possible of the events of the war without en- 
 cumbering the story with details, and except as 
 regards the exploits of John of Gamala, of whom 
 Josephus says nothing, have strictly followed in 
 every particular the narrative of the historian. 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 G. A. HENTY.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAB 
 
 The Lake of Tiberias 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 A Storm on Galilee.... 24 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Revolt Against Rome 48 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The Lull Before the Storm 71 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 The Siege of Jotapata 92 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Fall of the City 115 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 The Massacre on the Lake 143 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Among the Mountains 163 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 The Storming of Gamala 186 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Captives 209
 
 yi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XL PASS 
 
 A Tale of Civil Strife 247 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Desultory Fighting 267 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 The Test of Devotion 293 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Jerusalem 317 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 The Siege is Begun 340 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 The Subterranean Passage 863 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. ' 
 The Capture of the Temple 386 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Slaves. . . , . 410 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 At Rome.. ,. 437
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE : 
 
 A TALE OF THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 THE LAKE OF TIBEKIA8. 
 
 " DREAMING, John, as usual ? I never saw such a 
 boy. You are always in extremes, either tiring 
 yourself out or lying half-asleep." 
 
 " I was not half-asleep, mother ; I was looking 
 at the lake." 
 
 " I cannot see much to look at, John ; it's just as 
 it has been ever since you were born or since I was 
 born." 
 
 " No, I suppose there's no change, mother, but I 
 am never tired of looking at the sun shining on the 
 ripples, and the fishermen's boats, and the birds 
 standing in the shallows or flying off in a desperate 
 hurry without any reason that I can make out. Be- 
 sides, mother, when one is looking at the lake one 
 is thinking of other things." 
 
 " And very often thinking of nothing at all, my 
 son."
 
 2 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " Perhaps so, mother ; but there's plenty to think 
 of in these times." 
 
 " Plenty, John ; there are baskets and baskets of 
 figs to be stripped from the trees and hung up to 
 dry for the winter, and next week we are going to 
 begin the grape harvest. But the figs are the prin- 
 cipal matter at present, and I think that it would 
 be far more useful for you to go and help old Isaac 
 and his son in getting them in than in lying there 
 watching the lake." 
 
 tk I suppose it would, mother," the lad said, rising 
 briskly, for his fits of indolence were by no means 
 common, and as a rule he was ready to assist at 
 any work which might be going on. 
 
 " I do not wonder at John loving the lake," his 
 mother said to herself when the lad had hurried 
 away. " It is a fair scene, and it may be, as Simon 
 thinks, that a change may come over it before long, 
 and that ruin and desolation may fall upon us all." 
 
 There were, indeed, few scenes which could sur- 
 pass in tranquil beauty that which Martha, the wife 
 of Simon, was looking upon, the sheet of sparkling 
 water with its low shores dotted with towns and 
 villages. Down the lake, on the opposite shore, 
 rose the walls and citadel of Tiberias, with many 
 stately buildings, for although Tiberias was not 
 now the chief town of Galilee, for Sepphoris had 
 usurped its place, it had been the seat of the Roman 
 authority, and the kings who ruled the country for 
 Rome generally dwelt there. Half a mile from the 
 spot where Martha was standing rose the newly 
 erected walls of Hippos.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 3 
 
 Where the towns and villages did not engross the 
 shore the rich orchards and vineyards extended 
 down to the very edge of the water. The plain of 
 Galilee was a veritable garden ; here flourished in 
 the greatest abundance the vine and the fig ; while 
 the low hills were covered with olive groves, and 
 the corn waved thickly on the rich, fat land. Ko 
 region on the earth's face possessed a fairer climate. 
 The heat was never extreme ; the winds blowing 
 from the Great Sea brought the needed moisture 
 for the vegetation, and so soft and equable was the 
 air that for ten months in the year grapes and figs 
 could be gathered. The population, supported by 
 the abundant fruits of the earth, was very large. 
 Tillages which would elsewhere be called towns, 
 for those containing but a few thousand inhabitants 
 were regarded as small indeed, were scattered 
 thickly over the plain, and few areas of equal 
 dimensions could show a population approaching 
 that which inhabited the plains and slopes between 
 the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean. None 
 could then have dreamed of the dangers that were 
 to come, or believe that this rich cultivation and 
 teeming population would disappear, and that in 
 time a few flocks of wandering sheep would scarce 
 be able to find herbage growing on the wastes of 
 land \vhich would take the place of this fertile soil. 
 Certainly no such thought as this occurred to Martha 
 as she reentered the house, though she did fear 
 that trouble and ruin might be approaching. 
 
 John was soon at work among the fig-trees, aid-
 
 4 FOB THE TEMPLE. 
 
 ing Isaac and his son Eeuben, a lad of some fifteen 
 years, to pick the soft, luscious fruit, and carry it to 
 the little court-yard shaded from the rays of the sun 
 by an overhead trellis-work covered with vines and 
 almost bending beneath the purple bunches of 
 grapes. Miriam, the old nurse, and four or five 
 maid-servants, under the eye of Martha, tied them 
 in rows on strings and fastened them to pegs driven 
 into that side of the house upon which the sun beat 
 down most hotly. It was only the best fruit that 
 was so served, for that which had been damaged in 
 the picking and all of smaller size were laid on 
 trays in the sun. The girls chatted merrily as they 
 worked, for Martha, although a good housewife, 
 was a gentle mistress, and so long l as fingers were 
 busy heeded not if the tongue ran on. 
 
 " Let the damsels be happy while they maj 7 ," she 
 would say if Miriam scolded a little when the laugh- 
 ter rose louder than usual. " Let them be happy 
 while they can ; who knows what lies in the future?" 
 
 But at present the future cast no shade upon the 
 group, nor upon a girl of about fourteen years old 
 who danced in and out of the court-yard in the 
 highest spirits, now stopping a few minutes to 
 string the figs, then scampering away with an 
 empty basket, which, when she reached the gather- 
 ers, she placed on her head and supported demurely 
 for a little while at the foot of the ladder upon 
 which John was perched, so that he could lay the 
 figs in it without bruising them ; but long ere the 
 basket was filled she would tire of the work, and 
 setting it on the ground run back into the house.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 5 
 
 " And so you think you are helping, Mary," John 
 said, laughing, when the girl returned for the fourth 
 time with an empty basket. 
 
 " Helping, John ! of course I am, ever so much ; 
 helping you and helping them at the house, and 
 carrying empty baskets. I consider myself the 
 most active of the party." 
 
 "Active, certainly, Mary ! but if you do not help 
 them in stringing and hanging the h'gs more than 
 you help me, 1 think you might as well leave it 
 alone." 
 
 " Fie, John ! that is most ungrateful, after ray 
 standing here like a statue with the basket on my 
 head ready f< r you to lay the figs in." 
 
 " That is aui very fine !" John laughed ; " but be- 
 fore the basket is half-full away you go, and I have 
 to get down the ladder and bring up the basket and 
 fix it firmly, and that without skaking the figs, 
 whereas had you left it alone altogether I could 
 have brought up the empty basket and fixed it 
 close by my hand without any trouble at all." 
 
 " You are an ungrateful boy, and you know how 
 bad it is to be ungrateful ! and after my making 
 myself so hot, too !" Miriam said. " My face is as 
 red as fire, and that is all the thanks I get. Very 
 well, then, I shall go into the house and leave you 
 to vour own bad reflections." 
 
 ff 
 
 " You need not do that, Mary ; you can sit down, 
 in the shade there and watch us at work, and eat 
 figs, and get yourself cool, all at the same time. 
 The sun will be down in another half hour and 
 then I shall be free to amuse you."
 
 6 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " Amuse me, indeed !" the girl said indignantly 
 as she sat down on the bank to which John had 
 pointed. " You mean that I shall amuse you ; that 
 is what it generally comes to. If it wasn't for me 
 I am sure very often there would not be a word 
 said when we ar"e out together." 
 
 " Perhaps that is true," John agreed ; " but you 
 see there is so much to think about." 
 
 " And so you choose the time when you are with 
 me to think ! Thank you, John ! You had better 
 think at present ;" and rising from the seat she had 
 just taken she walked back to the house again, re- 
 gardless of John's explanations and shouts. 
 
 Old Isaac chuckled on his tree close by. 
 
 " They are ever too sharp for us in words, John. 
 The damsel is } T ounger than you by full two years, 
 and yet she can always put you in the wrong with 
 her tongue." 
 
 " She puts meanings to my words which I never 
 thought of," John said, " and is angered, or pretends 
 to be, for I never know which it is, at things which 
 she has coined out of her own mind, for they had 
 no place in mine." 
 
 " Boys' wits are always slower than girls'," the 
 old man said ; " a girl has more fancy in her little 
 finger than a boy in his whole body. Your cousin 
 laughs at you because she sees that you take it all 
 seriously, and wonders in her mind how it is her 
 thoughts run ahead of yours. But I love the dam- 
 sel, and so do all in the house, for if she be a little 
 wayward at times, she is bright and loving, and has
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 7 
 
 cheered the house since she came here. Your father 
 is not a man of many words, and Martha, as be- 
 comes her age, is staid and quiet, though she is no 
 enemy of mirth and cheerfulness ; but the loss of all 
 her children save you has saddened her, and I think 
 she must often have pined that she had not a girl, 
 and she has brightened much since the damsel came 
 here three years ago. But the sun is sinking and 
 my basket is full ; there will be enough for the 
 maids to go on with in the morning until we can 
 supply them with more." 
 
 John's basket was not full, but he was well con- 
 tent to stop, and descending their ladders the three 
 returned to the house. 
 
 Simon of Gadez, for that was the name of his 
 farm and the little fishing village close by on the 
 shore, was a prosperous and well-to-do man. His 
 land, like that of all around him, had come down 
 from father to son through long generations, for 
 the law by which all mortgages were cleared off 
 every seven years prevented those who might be 
 disposed to idleness and extravagance from ruining 
 themselves and their children. Every man dwelt 
 upon the land which, as eldest son, he had inher- 
 ited, while the younger sons, taking their smaller 
 share, would settle in the towns or villages and be- 
 come traders or fishermen according to their bent 
 and means. 
 
 There were poor in Palestine, for there will be 
 poor everywhere so long as human nature remains 
 as it is, and some men are idle and self-indulgent,
 
 8 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 while others are industrious and thrifty ; but tak- 
 ing it as a whole there were, thanks to the wise 
 provisions of their laws, no people on the face of 
 the earth so generally comfortable and well-to-do. 
 They grumbled, of course, over the exactions of the 
 tax-collectors exactions due not to the contribu- 
 tion which was paid by the province to imperial 
 Home, but to the luxury and extravagance of their 
 kings and to the greed and corruption of the offi- 
 cials. But in spite of this the people of rich and 
 prosperous Galilee could have lived in contentment 
 and happiness had it not been for the factions in 
 their midst. 
 
 On reaching the house John found that his father 
 had just returned from Hippos, whither he had gone 
 on business. He nodded when the lad entered with 
 his basket^ 
 
 " I have hired eight men in the market to-day to 
 come out to-morrow to aid in gathering in the figs," 
 he said, " and your mother has just sent down to 
 get some of the fishermen's maidens to come in to 
 help her ; it is time that we had done with them, 
 and we will then set about the vintage. Let us reap 
 while we can ; there is no saying what the morrow 
 will bring forth. Wife, add something to the even- 
 ing meal, for the Rabbi Solomon Ben Manasseh will 
 sup with us and sleep here to-night." 
 
 John saw that his father looked graver than 
 usual ; but he knew his duty as a son too well to 
 think of asking any questions, and he busied himself 
 for a time in laying out the figs on trays, knowing
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 9 
 
 that otherwise their own weight would crush the 
 soft fruit before the morning, and bruise the tender 
 skins. 
 
 A quarter of an hour later the quick footsteps of 
 a donkey were heard approaching. John ran out, 
 and having saluted the rabbi, held the animal while 
 his father assisted him to alight, and welcoming him 
 to his house, led him within. The meal was soon 
 served. It consisted of fish from the lake, kid's 
 flesh seethed in milk, and fruit. Only the men sat 
 down ; the rabbi sitting upon Simon's right hand, 
 John on his left, and Isaac and his son at the other 
 end of the table. Martha's maids waited upon them, 
 for it was not the custom for the women to sit down 
 with the men ; and although in the country this 
 usage was not strictly observed, and Martha and 
 little Mary generally took their meals with Simon 
 and John, they did not do so if any guest was 
 present. 
 
 In honor of the visitor a white cloth had been laid 
 on the table. All ate with their fingers, two dishes 
 of each kind being placed on the table one at each 
 end. But few words were said during the meal. 
 After it was concluded Isaac and his son withdrew, 
 and presently Martha and Mary, having taken their 
 meal in the women's apartments, came into the 
 room. Mary made a little face at John to signify 
 her disapproval of the visitor, whose coming would 
 compel her to keep silent all the evening. But 
 though John smiled, he made no sign of sympathy, 
 for indeed he was anxious to hear the news from
 
 10 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 without, and doubted not that he should learn much 
 from the rabbi. 
 
 Solomon Ben Manasseh was a man of considera- 
 ble influence in Galilee. He was a tall, stern-look- 
 ing old man, with bushy black eyebrows, deep-set 
 eyes, and a long beard of black hair streaked with 
 gray. He was said to have acquired much of the 
 learning of the Gentiles, among whom at Antioch he 
 had dwelt for some years ; but it was to his powers 
 as a speaker that he owed his influence. It was the 
 tongue in those days that ruled men, and there were 
 few who could lash a crowd to fury, or still their 
 wrath when excited, better than Solomon Ben Ma- 
 nasseh. For some time they talked upon different 
 subjects on the corn-harvest and vintage, the prob- 
 able amount of taxation, the marriage feast which 
 was to take place in the following week at the house 
 of one of the principal citizens of Hippos, and other 
 matters. But at last Simon broached the subject 
 which was uppermost in all their thoughts. 
 
 " And the news from Tiberias, you sa\ r , is bad, 
 rabbi 3" 
 
 " The news from Tiberias is always bad, friend 
 Simon ; in all the land there is not a city which 
 will compare with it in the wrong-headedness of its 
 people and the violence of its seditions, and little 
 can be hoped, as far as I can see, so long as our 
 good governor, Joseph us, continues to treat the 
 malefactors so leniently. A score of times they 
 have conspired against his life, and as often has he 
 eluded them, for the Lord has been ever with him.
 
 FOR THE TKMPLE. 11 
 
 But each time, instead of punishing- those who have 
 brought about these disorders, he lets them go free, 
 trusting always that they will repent them of their 
 ways, although he sees that his kindness is thrown 
 away and that they grow even bolder and more 
 bitter against him after each failure. 
 
 " All Galilee is with him. Whenever he gives 
 the word every man takes up his arms and follows 
 him ; and did he but give the order they would 
 level those proud towns Tiberias and Sepphoris 
 to the ground, and tear down stone by stone the 
 stronghold of John of Gischala. But he will suffer 
 them to do nothing not a hair of the c e traitors' 
 heads is to be touched, nor their property to the 
 value of a penny be interfered with. I call such 
 lenity culpable. The law ordains punishment for 
 those who disturb the people. We know what 
 befell those who rebelled against Moses. Josephus 
 has the valor and the wisdom of King David, but it 
 were well if he had, like our great king, a Joab by 
 his side, who would smite down traitors and spare 
 not." 
 
 " It is his only fault," Simon said. " What a 
 change has taken place since he was sent hither 
 from Jerusalem to take up our government! All 
 abuses have been repressed, extortion .has been put 
 down, taxes have been lightened. We eat our bread 
 in peace and comfort and each man's property is 
 his own. Never was there such a change as he has 
 wrought, and were it not for John of Gischala, 
 Justus the son of Piscus, and Jesus the son of
 
 12 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 Sapphias all would go quietly and well ; but these 
 men are continually stirring up the people, who in 
 their folly listen to them, and conspiring to murder 
 Josephus and seize upen his government." 
 
 " Already he has had more than once to reduce 
 to submission Tiberias and Sepphoris, happily with- 
 out bloodshed. For when the people of these cities 
 saw that all Galilee was with Josephus, they opened 
 their gates and submitted themselves to his mercy. 
 Truly in Leviticus it is said : ' Thou shalt not avenge 
 nor bear any grudge against the children of thy 
 people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' 
 But Josephus carries this beyond reason.^ Seeing 
 that his adversaries by no means observe this law, 
 he should remember that it is als'o said that 'He 
 that taketh the sword shall fall by the sword,' and 
 that the law lays down punishments for the trans- 
 gressors. Our judges and kings slew those who 
 troubled the land and destroyed them utterly, 
 and Josephus does wrong to depart from their 
 teaching." 
 
 " I know not where he could have learned such 
 notions of mercy to his enemies and to the enemies 
 of the land," Simon said. " He has been to Rome, 
 but it is not among the Romans that he will have 
 found that it is right to forgive those who rise up 
 in rebellion." 
 
 " Yes, he was in Rome when he was twenty-six 
 years old," Solomon said. "He went thither to 
 plead the cause of certain priests who had been 
 thrown into bonds by Felix and sent to Rome. It
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 13 
 
 was a perilous voyage, for his ship was wrecked in 
 the Adriatic, and of six hundred men who were on 
 board only eighty were picked up, after floating 
 and swimming all night, by a ship of Gyrene, He 
 was not long in Rome, for being introduced to 
 PoppaBa, the wife of Caesar, he used his interest 
 with her and obtained the release of those for whose 
 sake he went there. No, if he gained these ideas 
 from any one, he learned them from one Banus, an 
 Ascetic, of the sect of the Essenes, who lived in the 
 desert with no other clothing than the bark and 
 leaves of trees, and no other food save that which 
 grew wild. 
 
 " Josephus lived with him in like fashion for three 
 years, and doubtless learned all that was in his 
 heart. Banus was a follower, they say, of that 
 John whom Herod put to death, and, for aught I 
 know, of that Jesus who was crucified two years 
 afterward at Jerusalem, and in whom many people 
 believed, and who has many followers to this day. 
 I have conversed with some of them, and from 
 what they tell me this Jesus taught doctrines 
 similar to those which Josephus practices, and 
 which he may have learned from Banus, without 
 accepting the doctrines which the members of this 
 sect hold as to their founder being the promised 
 Messiah who was to restore Israel." 
 
 " I too have talked with many of the sect," Simon 
 said, "and have argued with them on the folly of 
 their belief, seeing that their founder by no means 
 saved Israel, but was himself put to death. From
 
 14 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 what I could see there was much that was good in 
 the doctrines they hold ; but they have exaggerated 
 ideas, and are opposed to all wars, even to fighting 
 for their country. I hear that since there has been 
 trouble with Rome most of them have departed 
 altogether out of the land so as to avoid the neces- 
 sity of fighting." 
 
 " They are poor creatures," Solomon Ben Manas- 
 seh said scornfully ; " but we need not talk of them 
 now, for they affect us in no way, save that it may 
 be that Josephus has learned somewhat of their 
 doctrines from Banus, and that he is thus unduly, 
 and, as I think, most unfortunately for the country, 
 inclined too much to mercy, instead of punishing 
 the evil-doers as they deserve." > 
 
 "But, nevertheless, rabbi, it seems to me that 
 there has been good policy as well in the mercy 
 which Josephus has shown his foes. You know 
 that John has many friends in Jerusalem, and that 
 if he could accuse Josephus of slaughtering any, he 
 would be able to make so strong a party there that 
 he could obtain the recall of Josephus." 
 
 " We would not let him go," Solomon said hotly. 
 "Since the Romans have gone we submit to the 
 supremacy of the council at Jerusalem, but it is 
 only on sufferance. For long ages we have had 
 nothing to do. with Judah, and we are not disposed 
 to put our necks under their yoke now. We submit 
 to unit} 7 because in the Romans we have a common 
 foe, but we are not going to be tyrannized. Jose- 
 phus has shown himself a wise ruler. We are
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 15 
 
 happier under him than we have been for genera- 
 tions under the men who call themselves kings, but 
 who are nothing but Roman satraps, and we are 
 not going to suffer him to be taken from us. Only 
 let the people of Jerusalem try that, and they will 
 have to deal with all the men of Galilee." 
 
 " I am past the age at which men are bound to 
 take up the sword, and John has not yet attained 
 it, but if there were need we would both go out and 
 fight. What could they do ? for the population of 
 Galilee is greater than that of Judah. And while 
 we would fight every man to the death, the Jews 
 would few of them care to hazard their lives only 
 to take from us the man we desire to rule over us. 
 Still Josephus does wisely perhaps to give no 
 occasion for accusation by his enemies. There is no 
 talk, is there, rabbi, of any movement on the part 
 of the Romans to come against us in force ?" 
 
 " None so far as I have heard," the rabbi replied. 
 " King Agrippa remains in his country to the east, 
 but he has no Roman force with him sufficient to 
 attempt any great enterprise, and so long as they 
 .leave us alone we are content." 
 
 " They will come sooner or later," Simon said, 
 shaking his head. " They are busy elsewhere. 
 When they have settled with their other enemies 
 they will come here to avenge the defeat of Cestius, 
 to restore Florus, and to reconquer the land. 
 Where Rome has once laid her paw she never lets 
 slip her prey." 
 
 '" Well, we can light," Solomon Ben Manasseh
 
 16 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 said sternly. " Our forefathers won the land with 
 the sword, and we can hold it by the sword." 
 
 " Yes," Martha said quietly, joining in the con- 
 versation for the first time, " if God fights for us 
 as he fought for our. forefathers." 
 
 " Why should he not ?" the rabbi asked sternly. 
 " We are still his people. We are faithful to his 
 law." 
 
 " But God has many times in the past suffered us 
 to fall into the hands of our enemies as a punish- 
 ment for our sins," Martha said quietly. "The 
 tribes were carried away into captivity, and are 
 scattered we know not where. The temple was 
 destroyed, and the people of Judah dwelt long as 
 captives in Babylon. He suffered us to fall under 
 the yoke of the Eomans. In his right time he will 
 fight for us again, but can we say that that time 
 has come, rabbi, and that he will smite the Romans 
 as he smote the host of Sennacherib ?" 
 
 " That no man can say," the rabbi answered 
 gloomily ; " time only will show ; but whether or 
 no, the people will fight valiantly." 
 
 " I doubt not that they will fight," Simon said ; 
 " but many other nations, to whom we are but as a 
 handful, have fought bravely, but have succumbed 
 to the might of Rome. It is said that Josephus 
 and many of the wisest in Jerusalem were heartily 
 opposed "to the tumults against the Romans, and 
 that they only went with the people because they 
 were in fear of their lives ; and even at Tiberias 
 many men of worth and gravity, such as Julius
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 17 
 
 Capellus, Herod the son of Miarus, Herod the son 
 of Gamalus, Compsus, and others, are all strongly 
 opposed to hostility against the Romans. And it is 
 the same elsewhere. Those who know best what is 
 the might and power of Rome would fain remain 
 friendly with her. It is the ignorant and violent 
 classes have led us into this strait, from which, as I 
 fear, naught but ruin can arise." 
 
 " I thought better things of you, Simon," the 
 rabbi said angrily. 
 
 " But }'ou yourself have told me," Simon urged, 
 " that you thought it a mad undertaking to provoke 
 the vengeance of Rome." 
 
 ' 1 thought so at first," Solomon admitted, " but 
 now our hand is placed on the plow we must not 
 draw back ; and I believe that the God of our 
 fathers will show his might before the heathen." 
 
 " I trust that it may be so," Simon said gravely. 
 " In his hand is all power. Whether he will see 
 fit to put it forth now in our behalf remains to be 
 seen. However, for the present we need not con- 
 cern ourselves greatly with the Romans. It may 
 be long before they bring an army against us, while 
 these seditions here are at our very door and ever 
 threaten to involve us in civil war." 
 
 "We need fear no civil war," the rabbi said. 
 " The people of all Galilee, save the violent and ill- 
 disposed in a few of the towns, are all for Josephus. 
 If it comes to force, John and his party know that 
 they will be swept away like a straw before the 
 isyind. The fear is that they may succeed in mur-
 
 18 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 dering Josephus, either by the knife of an assassin 
 or in one of these tumults. They would rather the 
 latter, because they would then say that the people 
 had torn him to pieces in their fury at his mis- 
 doings. However, we watch over him as much as 
 we can, and his friends have warned him, that he 
 must be careful, not only for his own sake but for 
 that of all the people, and he has promised that as 
 far as he can he will be on his guard against these 
 traitors." 
 
 " The governor should have a strong body-guard," 
 John exclaimed impetuously, " as the Roman gov- 
 ernors had. In another year I shall be of age to 
 have my name inscribed in the list of fighting men, 
 and I would gladly be one of his guard." 
 
 " You are neither old enough to fight nor to ex- 
 press an opinion unasked," Simon said, " in the 
 presence of your elders." 
 
 " Do not check the boy," the rabbi said ; " he has 
 fire and spirit, and the days are coming when we 
 shall not ask how old or how young are those who 
 would fight, so that they can but hold arms, 
 Josepbus is wise not to have a military guard, 
 John, because the people love not such appearance 
 of state. His enemies would use this as an argu- 
 ment that he was setting himself up above them. It 
 is partly because he behaves himself discreetly and 
 goes about among them like a private person of no 
 more account than themselves that they love him. 
 None can say he is a tyrant, because he has no 
 means of tyrannizing. His enemies cannot urge it
 
 FOR THE TEMPLK 19 
 
 against him at Jerusalem, as they would doubtless. 
 do if they could, that he is seeking to lead Galilee 
 away from the rule of Jerusalem, and to set him- 
 self up as its master ; for to do this he would require 
 to gather an army, and Josephus has not a single 
 armed man at his service, save and except that 
 when he appears to be in danger many out of love 
 of him assemble and provide him escort. No, 
 Josephus is wise in that he affects neither pomp 
 nor state, that he keeps no armed men around him, 
 but trusts to the love of the people. He would be 
 wiser, however, did he seize one of the occasions 
 when the people have taken up arms for him, to 
 destroy all those who make sedition, and to free 
 the country once and for all from the trouble. 
 
 " Sedition should be always nipped in the bud. 
 Lenity in such a case is the most cruel course, for 
 it encourages men to think that those in authority 
 fear them, and that they can conspire without dan- 
 ger ; and whereas at first the blood of ten men will 
 put an end to sedition, it needs at last the blood of 
 as many thousands to restore peace and order. It 
 is good for a man to be merciful, but not for a ruler, 
 for the good of the whole people is placed in his 
 hands. The sword of justice is given to him, and 
 he is most merciful who uses it the most promptly 
 against those who work sedition. The wise ruler 
 will listen to the prayers of his people, and will 
 grant their petitions when they show that their case 
 is hard; but he will grant nothing to him who 
 asketh with his sword in his hand, for he knows
 
 20 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 full well that when he yields once he must yield 
 always, until the time comes, as come it surely will, 
 when he must resist with the sword. Then the 
 land will be filled with blood, whereas in the begin- 
 ning he c5nld have avoided all trouble by refusing 
 so much as to listen to those who spoke with 
 threats. Josephus is a good man, and the Lord has 
 given him great gifts. He has done great things 
 for the land, but you will see that many woes will 
 come and much blood will be shed from this lenity 
 of his toward those who stir up tumults among 
 the people." 
 
 A few minutes later the family retired to bed, the 
 hour being a late one for Simon's household, which 
 generally retired to rest a short time after the even- 
 ing meal. '< 
 
 The next day the work of gathering in the figs 
 was carried on earnestly and steadily, with the aid 
 of the workers whom Simon had hired in the town, 
 and in two days the trees were all stripped, and 
 strings of figs hung to dry from the boughs of all 
 the trees round the house. Then the gathering of 
 the grapes began. All the inhabitants of the little 
 fishing village lent their aid men as well as women 
 and children, for the vintage was looked upon as a 
 holiday, and Simon was regarded as a good friend 
 by his neighbors, being ever ready to aid them when 
 there was need, judging any disputes which arose 
 between them, and lending them money without in- 
 terest if misfortune came upon their boats or nets, 
 or if illness befell them ; while the women in times
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 21 
 
 of sickness or trouble went naturally to Martha 
 with their griefs, and were assured of sympathy, 
 good advice, and any drugs or dainty food suited to 
 the case. The women and girls picked the grapes 
 and laid them in baskets ; these were carried by 
 men and emptied into the vat, where other men 
 trod them down and pressed out the juice. Martha 
 and her maids saw to the cooking and laying out on 
 the great tables in the court-yard of the meals, to 
 which all sat down together. Simon superintended 
 the crushing of the grapes, and John worked now 
 at one task and now at another. It was a pretty 
 scene, and rendered more gay by the songs of the 
 women and girls as they worked, and the burst of 
 merry laughter which at times arose. 
 
 It lasted four days, by which time the last bunch, 
 save those on a few vines preserved for eating, was 
 picked and crushed, and the vats in the cellar, sunk 
 underground for coolness, were full to the brim. 
 Simon was much pleased with the result, and de- 
 clared that never in his memory had the vine and 
 fig harvest turned out more abundant. The corn 
 had long before been gathered, and there remained 
 now only the olives, but it would be some little 
 time yet before these were fit to be gathered and 
 their oil extracted, for they were allowed to hang 
 on the trees until ready to drop. The last basket 
 of grapes was brought in with much ceremony, the 
 gatherers forming a little procession and singing a 
 thanksgiving hymn as they walked ; the evening 
 meal was more bounteous even than usual, and all
 
 22 FOR THE TEMPLE, 
 
 who helped carried away with them substantial 
 proofs of Simon's thankfulness and satisfaction. 
 
 For the next few days Simon and his men and 
 Martha's maid's lent their assistance in getting in 
 the vintage of their neighbors, for each family had 
 its patch of ground and grew sufficient grapes and 
 fruits for its own needs. Those in the village 
 brought their grapes to a vat which they had in 
 common, the measures of the grapes being counted 
 as they were put in, and the wine afterward 
 divided in like proportion; for wine to be good 
 must be made in considerable quantities. 
 
 And now there was for a time little to do on the 
 farm. Simon superintended the men who were 
 plowing up the corn stubbles ready for the sowing 
 in the spring, sometimes putting 'his hand to the 
 plow and driving the oxen. Isaac and his son 
 worked in the vineyard and garden near the house, 
 aided to some extent by John, who, however, was 
 not yet called upon to take a man's share in the 
 work of the farm, he having but lately finished his 
 learning with the rabbi at the school in Hippos. 
 Still he worked steadily every morning, and in the 
 afternoon generally went out on the lake with the 
 fishermen, with whom he was a great favorite. 
 This was not to last long, for at seventeen he was 
 to join his father regularly in the management of 
 the farm, and indeed the Rabbi Solomon, who was a 
 frequent guest, was of opinion that Simon gave the 
 boy too much license, and that he ought already to 
 be doing man's work; but Simon when urged by 
 him said :
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 23 
 
 "I know that at his age I was working hard, 
 rabbi, but the lad has studied diligently and I have 
 a good report of him, and I think it well that at his 
 age the bow should be unbent somewhat; besides, 
 who knows what is before us ! I will let the lad 
 have as much pleasure from his life as he can. The 
 storm is approaching ; let him play while the sun 
 shines."
 
 2* FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A STOKM ON GALILEE. 
 
 ONE day after the mid-day meal John said i 
 ""' Mary, Raphael and his brother ha\ 7 e taken the big 
 boat and gone off with fish to Tiberias, and have 
 told me that I can take the small boat if I will. 
 Ask my mother to let you off your task and come 
 out with me. It is a fortnight since we had a row 
 on the lake together." 
 
 " I was beginning to think that you were never 
 going to ask me again, John ; and, only I should 
 punish myself, I. would say you nay. There have 
 you been going out fishing every afternoon, and 
 leaving me at home to spin ; and it is all the worse 
 because your mother has said that the time is fast 
 coming when I must give up wandering about like 
 a child, and must behave myself like a woman. 
 Oh, dear, how tiresome it will be when there will 
 be nothing to do but to sit and spin, and to look 
 after the house, and to walk instead of running 
 when I am out, and to behave like a grown-up 
 person altogether !" 
 
 " You are almost grown-up," John said ; "you are 
 taller now than any of the maids except Zillah ;
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 25 
 
 but I shall be sorry to see you growing staid and 
 solemn. And it was selfish of me not to ask you to 
 go out before, but I really did not think of it. The 
 fishermen have been working hard to make up for 
 the time lost during the harvest, and I have really 
 been useful helping them with their nets, and this 
 is the last year I shall have my liberty. But come, 
 don't let's be wasting time in talking ; run in and 
 get my mother's permission, and then join me on 
 the shore. I will take some grapes down for you 
 to eat, for the sun is hot to-day and there is scarce 
 a breath of wind on the water." 
 
 A few minutes later the young pair stood together 
 by the side of the boat. 
 
 "Your mother made all sorts of objections," 
 Mary said, laughing ; " and I do think she won't let 
 me come again. I don't think she would have done 
 it to-day if Miriam had not stood up for me and 
 said that I was but a child though I was so tall, and 
 that, as you were very soon going to work with 
 your father, she thought that it was no use in mak- 
 ing the change before that." 
 
 " What nonsense it all is !" John said. " Besides, 
 you know it is arranged that in a few months we 
 are to be betrothed according to the wishes of your 
 parents and mine. It would have been done long 
 ago only my father and mother do not approve of 
 young betrothals, and think it better to wait to 
 see if the young ones like each other ; and I think 
 that is quite right, too, in most cases only, of course, 
 living here as you have done for the last three
 
 26 FOR THE TLMPLE. 
 
 years, since your father and mother died, there was 
 no fear of our not liking each other." 
 
 " Well, you see," Mary said as she sat in the stern 
 of the boat while John rowed it quietly along, " it 
 might have been just the other way : when people 
 don't see anything of each other till they are be- 
 trothed by their parents, they can't dislike each 
 other very much ; whereas when they get to know 
 each other, if they are disagreeable they might get 
 to almost hate each other." 
 
 " Yes, there is something in that," John agreed. 
 " Of course, in our case it is all right, because we do 
 like each other we couldn't have liked each other 
 more, I think, if we had been brother and sister ; 
 but it seems to me that sometimes it must be horrid 
 when a boy is told by his parents that he is to be 
 betrothed to a girl he has never seen. You see, it 
 isn't as if it were for a short time, but for all one's 
 life. It must be awful !" 
 
 " Awful !" Mary agreed heartily ; " but of course 
 it would have to be done." 
 
 " Of course," John said, the possibility of a lad 
 refusing to obey his parents' commands not even 
 occurring to him. " Still, it doesn't seem to me 
 quite right that one should have no choice in so im- 
 portant a matter. Of course when one's got a father 
 and mother like mine, who would be sure to think 
 only of making me happy, and not of the amount 
 of dowry or anything of that sort, it would be all 
 right ; but with some parents it would be dreadful." 
 
 For some time not a word was spoken, both of
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 27 
 
 them meditating over the unpleasantness of being 
 forced to marry some one they disliked. Then, 
 finding the subject too difficult for them, they began 
 to talk about other things, stopping sometimes to 
 see the fishermen haul up their nets, for there were 
 a number of boats out on the lake. They rowed 
 down as far as Tiberias, and there John ceased row- 
 ing, and they sat chatting over the wealth and 
 beauty of that city, which John had often visited 
 with his father, but which Mary had never entered. 
 Then John turned the head of the boat up the 
 lake and again began to row, but scarcely had he 
 dipped his oar into the water when he exclaimed : 
 
 " Look at that black cloud rising at the other end 
 of the lake ! Why did you not tell me, Mary ?" 
 
 " How stupid of me," she exclaimed, " not to have 
 kept my eyes open !" 
 
 He bent to his oars and made the boat move 
 through the water at a very different rate to that 
 at which she had before traveled. 
 
 "Most of the boats have gone," Mary said pres- 
 ently, " and the rest are all rowing to the shore, 
 and the clouds are coming up very fast," she added, 
 looking round. 
 
 " We are going to have a storm," John said ; " it 
 will be upon us long before we get back. I shall 
 make for the shore, Mary. We must leave the boat 
 there and take shelter for awhile, and then walk 
 home. It will not be more than four miles to 
 walk." 
 
 But though he spoke cheerfully, John knew enough
 
 28 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 of the sudden storms that burst upon the Sea of 
 Galilee to be aware that long before he could cross 
 the mile and a half of water which separated them 
 from the eastern shore the storm would be upon 
 them ; and indeed they were not more than half- 
 way when it burst. 
 
 The sky was already covered with black clouds ; a 
 great darkness gathered round them ; then came a 
 heavy downpour of rain ; and then with a sudden 
 burst the wind smote them. It was useless now to 
 try to row, for the oars would have been twisted 
 from his hands in a moment ; and John took the 
 helm, and told Mary to lie down in the bottom of 
 the boat. He had already turned the boat's head 
 up the lake, the direction in which the storm was 
 traveling. 
 
 The boat sprang forward as if it had received a 
 blow when the gale struck it. John had more than 
 once been out on the lake with the fishermen when 
 sudden storms had come up, and knew what was 
 best to be done. When he had laid in his oars he 
 had put them so that the blades stood partly up 
 above the bow and caught the wind somewhat, and 
 he himself crouched down in the bottom, with his 
 head below the gunwale and his hand on the tiller ; 
 so that the tendency of the boat was to drive 
 straight before the wind. With a strong crew he 
 knew that he could have rowed obliquely toward 
 the shore, but alone his strength could have done 
 nothing to keep the heavy boat off her course. 
 
 The sea rose as if by magic, and the spray was
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 39 
 
 soon dashing over them ; each wave, as it followed 
 the boat, rising higher and higher. The shores 
 were no longer visible, and the crests of the waves 
 seemed to gleam with a pallid light in the darkness 
 which surrounded them. John sat quietly in the 
 bottom of the boat, with one hand on the tiller and 
 the other arm round Mary, who was crouched up 
 against him. She had made no cry or exclamation 
 from the moment the gale struck them. 
 
 " Are we getting near shore ?" she asked at last. 
 
 " No, Mary ; we are running straight before the 
 wind, which is blowing right up the lake. There is 
 nothing to be done but to keep straight before it." 
 
 Mary had seen many storms on the lake, and 
 knew into what a fury its waters were lashed in a 
 tempest such as was now upon them. 
 
 " We are in God's hands, John," she said with the 
 quiet resignation of her race. " He can save us if 
 he will ; let us pray to him." 
 
 John nodded, and for a few minutes no word was 
 spoken. 
 
 " Can I do anything ?" Mary asked presently as a 
 wave struck the stern and threw a mass of water 
 into the boat. 
 
 " Yes," John replied ; " take that earthen pot and 
 bail out the water." 
 
 John had no great hope that they would live 
 through the gale, but he thought it better for the 
 girl to be kept busily employed. She bailed stead- 
 ily ; but fast as she worked the water came in faster, 
 for each wave, as it swept past them, broke on
 
 30 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 board. So rapidly were they traveling that John 
 had the greatest difficulty in keeping the boat from 
 broaching to, in which case the following wave 
 would have filled or overturned her. 
 
 " I don't think it's any use, John," Mary said 
 quietly as a great wave broke on board, pouring in 
 as much water in a second as she could have bailed 
 out in ten minutes. 
 
 " No use, dear. Sit quietly by me ; but first pull 
 those oars aft ; now tie them together with that 
 piece of rope. Now when the boat goes down keep 
 tight hold of them. Cut off another piece of rope 
 and give it me. When we are in the water I will 
 fasten you to the oars. They will keep you afloat 
 easily enough. I will keep close to you. You 
 know I am a good swimmer; and Vhenever I feel 
 tired I can rest my hands on the oars too. Keep up 
 your courage and keep as quiet as you can. These 
 sudden storms seldom last long, and my father will 
 be sure to get the boats out as soon as he can to 
 look for us." 
 
 John spoke cheerfully, but he had no great hopes 
 of their being able to live in so rough a sea. Mary 
 had still less, but she quietly carried out John's 
 instructions. The boat was half-full of water now, 
 and rose but heavily upon the waves. John raised 
 himself and looked round, in hopes that the wind 
 might unnoticed have shifted a little and blown 
 them toward the shore. As he glanced around him 
 he gave a shout. Following almost in their track, 
 and some fifty yards away, was a large galley run-
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 31 
 
 ning before the wind, with a rag of sail set on its 
 mast. 
 
 " We are saved, Mary !" he exclaimed. " Here is 
 a galley close to us." 
 
 He shouted loudly, though he knew that his voice 
 could not be heard many yards away in the teeth 
 of the gale ; but almost directly he saw two or three 
 men stand up in the bow of the galley. One was 
 pointing toward them, and he saw that they were 
 seen. In another minute the galley came sweeping 
 along close to the boat. A dozen figures appeared 
 over her side, and two or three ropes were thrown. 
 John caught one, twisted it rapidly round Mary's 
 body and his own, knotted it, and, taking her in his 
 arms, jumped overboard. Another minute they 
 were drawn alongside the galley and pulled on 
 board. As soon as the ropes were unfastened John 
 rose to his feet, but Mary lay insensible on the deck. 
 
 " Carry the damsel into the cabin," a man who 
 was evidently in authority said. " She has fainted, 
 but will soon come round. I will see to her myself." 
 
 The suddenness of the rescue, the plunge in. the 
 water, and the sudden revulsion of his feelings, af- 
 fected John so much that it was two or three min- 
 utes before he could speak. 
 
 " Come along with me, lad," one of the sailors 
 said, laying his hand on his shoulder. " Some dry 
 clothes and a draught of wine will set you all right 
 again ; but you have had a narrow escape of it. 
 That boat of yours was pretty nearly water-logged, 
 and in another five minutes we should have been 
 too late."
 
 32 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 John hastily changed his clothes in the forecastle, 
 took a draught of wine, and then hurried back again 
 toward the aft cabin. Just as he reached it the 
 man who had ordered Mary to be carried in came 
 out. 
 
 " The damsel has opened her eyes," he said, "and 
 you need not be uneasy about her. I have given 
 her some woolen cloths, and bade her take off her 
 wet garments and wrap herself in them. Why did 
 you not make for the shore before the tempest 
 broke ? It was foolish of you indeed to be out on 
 the lake when any one could see that this gale was 
 coming." 
 
 " I was rowing down and did not notice it until I 
 turned," John replied. " I was making for the shore 
 when the gale struck her." 
 
 " It was well for you that I noticed you. I was 
 myself thinking of making for the shore, although 
 in so large and well-manned a craft as this there is 
 little fear upon the lake. It is not like the Great 
 Sea, where I myself have seen a large ship as help- 
 less before the waves as that small boat we picked 
 you from. I had just set out from Tiberias when I 
 marked the storm coming up ; but my business was 
 urgent, and. moreover, I marked your little boat 
 and saw that you were not likely to gain the shore, 
 so I bade the helmsman keep his eye on you until 
 the darkness fell upon us, and then to follow straight 
 in your wake, for you could but run before the 
 wind ; and well he did it, for when we first caught 
 sight of you you were right ahead of us."
 
 FOR THE TKMPLE. 33 
 
 The speaker was a man of about thirty years of 
 age, tall, and with a certain air of command. 
 
 " I thank you, indeed, sir," John said, " for saving 
 my life and that of my Cousin Mary, the daughter 
 of my father's brother. Truly my father and 
 mother will be grateful to you for having saved us, 
 for I am their only son. "Whom are they to thank 
 for our rescue ?" 
 
 " I am Joseph, the son of Matthias, to whom the 
 Jews have intrusted the governorship of this prov- 
 ince." 
 
 " Josephus !" John exclaimed in a tone of surprise 
 and reverence. 
 
 " So men call me," Josephus replied with a smile. 
 
 It was indeed the governor. Flavius Josephus, 
 as the Komans afterward called him, came of a 
 noble Jewish family, his father, Matthias, belonging 
 to the highest of the twenty-four classes into which 
 the sacerdotal families were divided. Matthias was 
 eminent for his attainments and piety, and had been 
 one of the leading men in Jerusalem. From his 
 youth Josephus had carefully prepared himself for 
 public life, mastering the doctrines of the three 
 leading sects among the Jews the Pharisees, Sad- 
 ducees, and Essenes and having spent three years 
 in the desert with Banus the Ascetic. The fact 
 that at only twenty-six years of age he had gone 
 as the leader of a deputation to Rome on behalf of 
 some priests sent there by Felix shows that he was 
 early looked upon as a conspicuous person among 
 the Jews, and he was but thirty when he was in-
 
 34 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 trusted with the important position of Governor of 
 Galilee. 
 
 Contrary to the custom of the times, he had 
 sought to make no gain from his position. He 
 accepted neither presents nor bribes, but devoted 
 himself entirely to ameliorating the condition of 
 the people, and in repressing the turbulence of the 
 lower classes of the great towns, and of the robber 
 chieftains who, like John of Gischala, took advan- 
 tage of the relaxation of authority caused by the 
 successful rising against the Romans to plunder and 
 tyrannize over the people. 
 
 The expression of the face of Josephus was lofty 
 and at the same time gentle. His temper was 
 singularly equable, and whatever v the circumstances 
 he never gave way to anger, but kept his passions 
 well under control. His address was soft and win- 
 ning, and he had the art of attracting respect and 
 friendship from all who came in contact with him. 
 Poppasa, the wife of Nero, had received him with 
 much favor; 'and bravely as he fought against 
 them, Yespasian and Titus were afterward as much 
 attached to him as were the Jews of Galilee. There 
 can be no doubt that had he been otherwise placed 
 than as one of a people on the verge of destruction, 
 Josephus would have been one of the great figures 
 of history. 
 
 John had been accustomed to hear his father and 
 his friends speak in tones of such admiration for 
 Josephus as the man who was regarded not only as 
 the benefactor of the Jews of Galilee, but as the
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 35 
 
 leader and mainstay of the nation, that he had long 
 ardently desired to see him ; and to find that he had 
 now been rescued from death by him, and that he 
 was now talking to him face to face, filled him with 
 confusion. 
 
 " You are a brave lad," Josephus said, " for you 
 kept your head well in a time when older men 
 might have lost their presence of mind. You must 
 have kept your boat dead before the wind, and you 
 were quick and ready in seizing the rope and knot- 
 ting it round yourself and the maid with you. I, 
 feared you might try and fasten it to the boat. If 
 you had, full of water as she was, and fast as we 
 were sailing before the wind, the rope would barely 
 have stood the strain." 
 
 "The clouds are breaking," the captain of the 
 boat said, coming up to Josephus, " and I think that 
 we are past the worst of the gale. And well it is so, 
 for even in so stanch a craft there is much peril in 
 such a sea as this." 
 
 The vessel, although one of the largest on the 
 lake, was indeed pitching and rolling very heavily, 
 but she was light and buoyant, and each time that 
 she plunged bows under, as the following waves 
 lifted her stern high in the air, she rose lightly 
 again, and scarce a drop fell into her deep waist, 
 the lofty erections fore and aft throwing off the 
 water. 
 
 " Where do you belong, my lad ?" Josephus asked. 
 " I fear that it is impossible for us to put you 
 ashore until we reach Capernaum; but once there,
 
 36 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 I will see that you are provided with means to take 
 you home." 
 
 " Our farm lies three miles above Hippos." 
 
 " That is unfortunate," Josephus said, " since it 
 lies on the opposite side of the lake to Capernaum. 
 However, we shall see. If the storm, goes down 
 rapidly I may be able to get a fishing-boat to take 
 you across this evening, for your parents will be in 
 sore trouble. If not, you must wait till early 
 morning." 
 
 In another hour they reached Capernaum. The 
 wind had by this time greatly abated, although the 
 sea still ran high. The ship was soon alongside a 
 landing-jetty which ran out a considerable distance, 
 and formed a breakwater protecting the shipping 
 from the heavy sea which broke there when the 
 wind was, as at present, from the south. Mary 
 came out from the cabin, as the vessel entered the 
 harbor, wrapped up from head to foot in the woolen 
 cloths with which she had been furnished. John 
 sprang to her side. 
 
 " Are you quite well, Mary ?" 
 
 " Quite well," she said, " only very ashamed of 
 having fainted, and very uncomfortable in these 
 wrappings. But, oh ! John, how thankful we ought 
 to be to God for having sent this ship to our aid 
 just when all seemed lost !" 
 
 " We ought indeed, Mary. I have been thanking 
 him as I have been standing here watching the 
 waves, and I am sure you have been doing the same 
 in the cabin."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 37 
 
 " Yes, indeed, John. But what am I to do now? 
 I do not like going on shore like this, and the offi- 
 cer told me I was on no account to put on my wet 
 clothes." 
 
 " Do you know, it is Josephus himself, Mary think 
 of that the great Josephus, who has saved us ! He 
 marked our boat before the storm broke, and seeing 
 that we could not reach the shore, had his vessel 
 steered so as to overtake us." 
 
 Mary was too surprised to utter more than an ex- 
 clamation. The thought that the man who had 
 been talking so kindly and pleasantly to her was 
 the great leader of whom she had heard so much 
 quite took away her breath. 
 
 At that moment Josephus himself came up. 
 
 " I am glad to see you have got your color again, 
 maiden," he said. " I am just going to land. Do 
 you with your cousin remain on board here. I will 
 send a woman down with some attire for you. She 
 will conduct you both to the house where I shall be 
 staying. The sea is going down, and the captain 
 tells me that he thinks in another three or four 
 hours I shall be able to get a boat to send you 
 across to your home. It will be late, but you will 
 not mind that, for they are sure not to retire 
 to rest at home, but to be up all night searching for 
 you." 
 
 A crowd had assembled on the jetty, for Josephus 
 was expected, and the violent storm had excited the 
 fears of all for his safety, and the leading inhabit- 
 antshad all flocked down to welcome him when 
 his vessel was seen approaching.
 
 38 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " Isn't he kind and good ?" Mary said enthusias- 
 tically as she watched the greeting which he 
 received as he landed. " He talked to me just as if 
 he had been of my own family." 
 
 " He is grand !" John agreed with equal enthusi- 
 asm. " He is just what I pictured to myself that a 
 great leader would be, such as Joshua, or Gideon, 
 or the Prince of the Maccabees." 
 
 " Yes ; but more gentle, John." 
 
 " Brave men should always be gentle," John said 
 positively. 
 
 " They ought to be, perhaps," Mary agreed, " but 
 I don't think they are." 
 
 They chatted then about the storm and the 
 anxiety which they would be feeling at home until 
 an officer, accompanied by a woman carrying attire 
 for Mary, came on board. 
 
 Mary soon came out of the cabin dressed, and the 
 officer conducted them to the house which had been 
 placed at the disposal of Josephus. The woman 
 led them up to a room where a meal had been 
 prepared for them. 
 
 "Josephus is in council with the elders," she said ; 
 " he bade me see that you had all that you required. 
 He has arranged that a bark shall start with you 
 as soon as the sea goes down, but if by eight o'clock 
 it is still too rough, I shall take the maiden home to 
 my house to sleep, and they will arouse you as soon 
 as it is safe to put out, whatever the hour may be, 
 as your friends will be in great anxiety concerning 
 you."
 
 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 39 
 
 The sun had already set, and just as they finished 
 their meal the man belonging to the boat came to 
 say that it would be midnight before he could put 
 out. 
 
 Mary then went over with the woman, and John 
 lay down on some mats to sleep until it was time to 
 start. He slept soundly until he was aroused by the 
 entry of some one with lights. He started to his 
 feet, and found that it was Josephus himself with 
 an attendant. 
 
 " I had not forgotten you," he said ; " but I have 
 been until now in council. It is close upon mid- 
 night, and the boat is in readiness. I have sent to 
 fetch the damsel, and have bidden them take plenty 
 of warm wraps, so that the night air may do her 
 no harm." 
 
 Mary soon arrived, and Josephus himself went 
 down with them to the shore and saw them on 
 board the boat, which was a large one with eight 
 rowers. The wind had died away to a gentle 
 breeze, and the sea had gone down greatly. The 
 moon was up and the stars shining brightly. Jose- 
 phus chatted kindly to John as they made their 
 way down to the shore. 
 
 " Tell your father," he said, " that I hope he will 
 come over to see me ere long, and that I shall bear 
 you in mind. The time is coming when every Jew 
 who can bear arms will be needed in the service of 
 his country, and if your father consents I will place 
 you near my person, for I have seen that you are 
 brave and cool in danger, and you will have plenty 
 of opportunities of winning advancement."
 
 40 FOR THE TEMPLK. 
 
 With many thanks for his kindness John and 
 Mary took their places in the stern of the boat. 
 Mary enveloped herself in the wraps that had been 
 prepared for her, for the nights were chilly. Then 
 the sail was hoisted, and the boat sailed away from, 
 the land. The wind had shifted round somewhat 
 to the west, and they were able to lay their course 
 across toward Hippos, but their progress was slow, 
 and the master bade the crew get out their oars and 
 aid the sail. 
 
 In three hours they neared the land, John point- 
 ing out the exact position of the village, which was 
 plainly enough marked out by a great fire blazing 
 on the shore. As they approached it they could 
 see several figures, and presently there came a 
 shout which John recognized as that of Isaac. 
 
 " Any news ?" 
 
 " Here we are, Isaac, safe and well." 
 
 There was a confused sound of shouts and cries 
 of pleasure. In a few minutes the boat grated on 
 the shallow shore. The moment she did so John 
 leaped out over the bow and waded ashore, and was 
 at once clasped in his mother's arms, while one of 
 the fishermen carried Mary to the land. She re- 
 ceived from Martha a full share of her caresses, 
 for she loved the girl almost as dearly as she did 
 her son. Then Miriam and the maids embraced 
 and kissed her, while Isaac folded John in his 
 arms. 
 
 " The God of Israel be thanked and praised, my 
 children !" Martha exclaimed. " He has brought
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 41 
 
 you back to us as from the dead, for we never 
 thought to see you again. Some of the fishermen 
 returned and told us that they saw j'our boat far on 
 the lake before the storm burst, and none held out 
 hope that you could have weathered such a storm." 
 
 " Where is father ?" John asked. 
 
 " He is out on the lake, as are all the fishermen of 
 the village, searching for you. That reminds me, 
 Isaac ; set fire to the other piles of wood that we 
 have prepared. If one of the boats returned with 
 any sure news of you we were to light them to call 
 the others back one fire if the news was bad, two 
 if it was good ; but we hardly even dared to hope 
 that the second would be required." 
 
 A brand from the fire was soon applied to the 
 other piles, and the three fires shone out across the 
 lake with the good news. In a quarter of an hour 
 a boat was seen approaching, and soon came a 
 shout : 
 
 "Is all well?" 
 
 " All is well." John shouted in reply, and soon he 
 was clasped in his father's arms. 
 
 The other boats came in one by one, the last to 
 arrive towing in the boat, which had been found 
 bottom upward far up the lake, its discovery de- 
 stroying the last hope of its late occupants being 
 found alive. As soon as Simon landed the party 
 returned to the house. Miriam and the maids hur- 
 ried to prepare a meal, of which all were sorely in 
 need, for no food had been eaten since the gale 
 burst on the lake, while their three hours in the
 
 42 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 boat had again sharpened the appetite of John and 
 Mary. A quantity of food was cooked and a skin 
 of old wine brought up from the cellar, and Isaac 
 remained down on the shore to bid all who had 
 been engaged in the search come up and feast as 
 soon as they landed. 
 
 John related to his parents the adventure which 
 had befallen them, and they wondered greatly at 
 the narrowness of their deliverance. When the 
 feasting was over, Simon called all together, and 
 solemnly returned thanks to God for the mercies 
 which he had given them. It was broad daylight 
 before all sought their beds for a few hours before 
 beginning the work of the day. 
 
 A week later Joseph us himself came to Hippos, 
 bringing with him two nobles who had fled from 
 King Agrippa and sought refuge with him ; he had 
 received them hospitably, and had allotted a home 
 to them at Tarichea, where he principally dwelt. 
 He had just before had another narrow escape, for 
 six hundred armed men robbers and others had 
 assembled round his house, charging him with 
 keeping some spoils which had been taken by a 
 party of men of that town from the wife of Ptolemy, 
 King Agrippa's procurator, instead of dividing 
 them among the people. 
 
 For a time he pacified them by telling them that 
 this money was destined for strengthening the 
 walls of their town and for walling other towns at 
 present undefended, but the leaders of the evil- 
 doers were determined to set his house on fire and
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 43 
 
 slay him. He had but twenty armed men with 
 him. Closing the doors he went to an upper room 
 and told the robbers to send in one of their number 
 to receive the money. Directly he entered the door 
 was closed. One of his hands was cut off and hung 
 round his neck, and he was then turned out again. 
 Believing that Josephus would not have ventured 
 to act so boldly had he not had a large body of 
 armed men with him, the crowd were seized with 
 panic and fled to their homes. 
 
 After this the enemies of Josephus persuaded the 
 people that the nobles he had sheltered were wiz- 
 ards, and demanded that they should be given up 
 to be slain, unless they would change their religion 
 to that of the Jews. Josephus tried to argue them 
 out of their belief, saying that there were no such 
 things as wizards, and if the Romans had wizards 
 who could work them wrong they would not need 
 to send an army to fight against them ; but as the 
 people still clamored he got the men privately on 
 board a ship, and sailed across the lake with them 
 to Hippos, where he dismissed them with many 
 presents. 
 
 As soon as the news came that Josephus had 
 come to Hippos, Simon set out with Martha, John, 
 and Mary to see him. Josephus received them 
 kindly, and would permit no thanks for what he 
 had done. 
 
 " Your son is a brave youth," he said to Simon, 
 "and I would gladly have him near me if you 
 would like to have it so. This is a time when there
 
 44 F&R THE TEMPLE. 
 
 are greater things than planting vineyards and 
 gathering in harvests to be done, and there is a 
 need for brave and faithful men. If, then, you and 
 your wife will give the lad to me I will see to him 
 and keep him near me. I have need of faithful 
 men with me, for my enemies are ever trying to 
 slay me. If all goes well with the land he will have 
 a good opportunity of rising to honor. What say 
 you ? Do not give an answer hastily, but think it 
 over among yourselves, and if you agree to my pro- 
 posal send him across the lake to me." 
 
 " It needs no thought, sir," Simon said. " I know 
 well that there are more urgent things now than 
 sowing and reaping, and that much trouble and 
 peril threaten the land. Right v glad am I that my 
 son should serve one who is the hope of Israel, and 
 his mother will not grudge him for such service. 
 As to advancement, I wish nothing better than that 
 he should till the land of his fathers ; but none can 
 say what the Lord has in store for us, or whether 
 strangers may not reap what I have sown. Thus, 
 then, the wisdom which he will gain in being with 
 you is likely to be a far better inheritance than any 
 I can give him. What say you, Martha 2" 
 
 " I say as you do, Simon. It will grieve me to 
 part with him, but I know that such an offer as 
 that which my lord Joseph us makes is greatly for 
 his good. Moreover, the manner in which he was 
 saved from death seems to show that the Lord has 
 something for his hand to do, and that his path is 
 specially marked out for him. To refuse to let him
 
 FOR THIS TEMPLE. 45 
 
 go would be to commit the sin of withstanding 
 God ; therefore, my lord, I willingly give up my 
 son to follow you." 
 
 " I think that you have decided wisely," Josephus 
 said. " I tarry here for to-night, and to-morrow 
 cross to Tiberias, therefore let him be here by 
 noon." 
 
 Mary was the most silent of the party on the way 
 home. Simon and his wife felt convinced the 
 decision they had made was a wise one, and al- 
 though they were not ambitious, they yet felt that 
 the offer of Josephus was a most advantageous one, 
 and opened a career of honor to their son. 
 
 John himself was in a state of the highest delight. 
 To be about the person of Josephus seemed to him 
 the greatest honor and happiness. It opened the 
 way to the performance of great actions which 
 would bring honor to his father's name; and al- 
 though he had been hitherto prepared to settle 
 down to the life of a cultivator of the soil, he had 
 had his yearnings for one of more excitement and 
 adventure, and these were now likely to be gratified 
 to the fullest. Mary, however, felt the approaching 
 loss of her friend and playmate greatly, though 
 even she was not insensible to the honor which the 
 offer of Josephus conferred upon him. 
 
 "You don't seem glad of my good fortune, 
 Mary," John said as, after they returned home, 
 they strolled together as usual down to the edge of 
 the lake. 
 
 " It may be your good fortune, but it's not mine,"
 
 46 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 the girl said pettishly. " It will be very dull here 
 without you. I know what it will be. Your mother 
 will always be full of anxiety, and will be fretting 
 whenever we get news of any disturbances, and that 
 is often enough, for there seem to be disturbances 
 continually. Your father will go about silently, 
 Miriam will be sharper than usual with the maids, 
 and everything will go wrong. I can't see why you 
 couldn't have said that in a year or two you would 
 go with the governor, but that at present you 
 thought you had better stop with your own peo- 
 ple." 
 
 " A nice milksop he would have thought me !" 
 John laughed. "No. If he thought I was man 
 enough to do him service it would have been a nice 
 thing for me to say that I thought I was too young. 
 Besides, Mary, after all it is your good fortune as 
 well as mine, for is it not settled that you are to 
 share it ? Josephus is all-powerful, and if I please 
 him and do my duty he can, in time, raise me to a 
 position of great honor. I may even come to be 
 the governor of a town, or a captain over troops, or 
 a councilor." 
 
 " No, no !" Mary laughed ; " not a councilor, 
 John a governor perhaps, and a captain perhaps, 
 but never, I should say, a councilor." John laughed 
 good-teraperedly. 
 
 " Well, Mary, then you shall look forward to be 
 the wife of a governor or captain, but you see I 
 might even fill the place of a councilor with credit, 
 because I could always come to you for advice be-
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 47 
 
 fore I give an opinion, then I should be sure to be 
 right. But, seriously, Mary, I do think it great 
 honor to have had such an offer made me by the 
 governor." 
 
 " Seriously, so do I, John, though I wish in my 
 heart he had not made it. I had looked forward to 
 living here all my life, just as your mother has 
 done, and now there will be nothing fixed to look 
 forward to. Besides, where there is honor there is 
 danger. There seem to be always tumults, always 
 conspiracies, and then, as your father says, above 
 all, there are the Romans to be reckoned with ; and, 
 of course, if you are near Josephus you run a risk, 
 going wherever he does." 
 
 "I shall never be in greater risk, Mary, than we 
 were together on the lake the other day. God 
 helped us then and brought us through it, and I 
 have faith that he will do so again. It may be 
 that I am meant to do something useful before I 
 die. At any rate, when the Romans come every one 
 will have to fight, so I shall be in no greater danger 
 than any one else." 
 
 " I know, John ; and I am not speaking quite in 
 earnest. I am sorry you are going, that is only 
 natural ; but I am proud that you are to be near 
 our great leader, and I believe that our God will be 
 your shield and protector. And now we had better 
 go in. Your father will doubtless have much to say 
 to you this evening, and your mother will grudge 
 every minute you are out of her sight."
 
 48 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE REVOLT AGAINST ROME. 
 
 THAT evening the Rabbi Solomon Ben Manasseh 
 came in, and was informed of the offer which Jose- 
 phus had made. 
 
 " You were present, rabbi," Simon said, " at the 
 events which took place in Jerusalem, and at the de- 
 feat of Cestius. John has been asking me to tell 
 him more about these matters ; for now that he is 
 to be with the governor it is well that he should be 
 well acquainted with public affairs." 
 
 " I will willingly tell him the history, for, as you 
 say, it is right that the young man should be well 
 acquainted with the public events and the state of 
 parties, and though the story must be somewhat 
 long, I will try and not make it tedious. The first 
 tumult broke out in Caasarea, and began by frays 
 between our people and the Syrian Greeks. Felix, 
 the governor, took the part of the Greeks, and many 
 of our people were killed and more plundered. 
 When Felix was recalled to Rome we sent a depu- 
 tation there with charges against him ; but the 
 Greeks, by means of bribery, obtained a decree 
 against us, depriving the Jews of Caesarea of rights 
 of equal citizenship. From this constant troubles
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 49 
 
 arose ; but outside Caesarea Festus kept all quiet, 
 putting down robbers as well as impostors who led 
 the people astray. 
 
 "Then there came trouble in Jerusalem. King 
 Agrippa's palace stood on Mount Zion, looking 
 toward the Temple, and he built a lofty story 
 from whose platform he could command a view of 
 the courts of the Temple, and watch the sacrifices. 
 Our people resented this impious intrusion, and built 
 a high wall to cut off the view. Agrippa de- 
 manded its destruction on the ground that it inter- 
 cepted the view of the Koman guard. We appealed 
 to Xero, and sent to him a deputation headed by 
 Ismael, the high-priest, and Hilldah, the treasurer. 
 They obtained an order for the wall to be allowed 
 to stand ; but Ismael and Hilkiah were detained 
 at Rome. Agrippa thereupon appointed another 
 high-priest, Joseph, but soon afterward nominated 
 Annas in his place. 
 
 " When Festus, the Roman governor, was awa} r 
 Annas put to death many of the sect called Chris- 
 tians to gratify the Sadducees. The people \vere 
 indignant, for these men had done no harm, and 
 Agrippa deprived him of the priesthood and ap- 
 pointed Jesus, son of Damnai. Then, unhappily, 
 Festus, who was a just and good governor, died, and 
 Albinus succeeded him. He was a man greedy of 
 money, and ready to do anything for gain ; he took 
 bribes from robbers and encouraged rather than re- 
 pressed evil-doers. There was open war in the 
 streets between the followers of various chief rob-
 
 50 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 bers. Albinus opened the prisons and filled the city 
 with malefactors, and at the completion of the 
 works at the Temple eighteen thousand workmen 
 were discharged, and thus the city was filled with 
 men ready to sell their services to the highest 
 bidders. 
 
 " Albinus was succeeded by Gessius Floras, who 
 was even worse than Albinus. This man was a 
 great friend of Cestius Gallus, who commanded the 
 Roman troops in Syria, and who therefore scoffed 
 at the complaints of the people against Florus. At 
 this time strange prodigies appeared in Rome. A 
 sword of fire hung above the city for a whole year. 
 The inner gate of the Temple, which required 
 twenty men to move it, opened by itself, chariots 
 and armed squadrons were seen in the heavens, and, 
 worse than all, the priests in the Temple heard a 
 great movement and a sound of many voices, which 
 said, ' Let us depart hence !' 
 
 " So things went on in Jerusalem until the old 
 feud at Caesarea broke out afresh. The trouble 
 this time began about one of our synagogues. The 
 land around it belonged to a Greek, and for this 
 our people offered a high price. The heathen who 
 owned it refused, and to annoy us raised mean 
 houses round the synagogue. The Jewish youths 
 interrupted the workmen, and the wealthier of the 
 community, headed by John, a publican, subscribed 
 eight talents and sent them to Florus as a bribe, 
 that he might order the building to be stopped. 
 
 " Florus took the money and made many prom-
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 51 
 
 ises ; but the evil man desired that a revolt should 
 take place in order that he might gain great plun 
 der. So he went away from Cassarea and did noth- 
 ing, and a great tumult arose between the heathen 
 and our people. In this we were worsted and went 
 away from the city, while John, with twelve of the 
 highest rank, went to Samaria to lay the matter 
 before Florus, who threw them into prison, doubt- 
 less the more to excite the people, and at the same 
 time sent to Jerusalem and demanded seventeen 
 talents from the treasury of the Temple. 
 
 " The people burst into loud outcries, and Florus 
 advanced upon the city with all his force. But we 
 knew that we could not oppose the Eomans, and so 
 received Florus on his arrival with acclamations. 
 But this did not suit the tyrant. The next morn- 
 ing he ordered his troops to plunder the upper 
 market and to put to death all they met. The sol- 
 diers obeyed, and slew thirty-six hundred men, 
 women, and children. 
 
 " You may imagine, John, the feelings of grief 
 and rage which filled every heart. The next day 
 the multitude assembled in the market-place, wail- 
 ing for the dead and cursing Florus. But the prin- 
 cipal men of the city, with the priests, tore their 
 robes, and went among them praying them to dis- 
 perse and not to provoke the anger of the gov- 
 ernor. The people obeyed their voices and went 
 quietly home. 
 
 " But Florus was not content that matters should 
 end so. He sent for the priests and leaders and
 
 52 FOB THE TEMPLE. 
 
 commanded them to go forth and receive with ac- 
 clamations of welcome two cohorts of troops who 
 were advancing from Caesarea. The priests called 
 the people together in the Temple, and with diffi- 
 culty persuaded them to obey the order. The 
 troops, having orders from Floras, fell upon the 
 people and trampled them down, and driving the 
 multitude before them entered the city, and at the 
 same time Florus sallied out from his palace with 
 his troops, and both parties pressed forward to gain 
 the castle of Antonia, whose possession would lay 
 the Temple open to them, and enable Florus to gain 
 the sacred treasures deposited there. But as soon 
 as the people perceived their object they ran to- 
 gether in such vast crowds that the Eoman soldiers 
 could not cut their way through the mass which 
 blocked up the streets, while the more active men, 
 going up on to the roofs, hurled down stones and 
 missiles upon the troops. 
 
 " "What a scene was that, John ! I was on the 
 portico near Antonia and saw it all. It was terrible 
 to hear the shouts of the soldiers as they strove to 
 hew their way through the defenseless people, the 
 war-cries of our own youths, the shrieks and wail- 
 ings of the women. While the Romans were still 
 striving our people broke down the galleries con- 
 necting Antonia with the Temple, and Florus, see- 
 ing that he could not carry out his object, ordered 
 his troops to retire to their quarters, and calling the 
 chief priests and the rulers proposed to leave the 
 city, leaving behind him one cohort to preserve the 
 peace.
 
 FOH THIS TEMPLE. 53 
 
 " As soon as he had done so he sent to Cestius 
 Gallus lying accounts of the tumults, laying all the 
 blame upon us, while we and Bernice, the sister of 
 King Agrippa, who had tried in vain to obtain 
 mercy for the people from Florus, sent complaints 
 against him. Cestius was moving to Jerusalem, to 
 inquire into the matter, as he said, but really to re- 
 store Florus, when fortunately King Agrippa ar- 
 rived from Egypt. 
 
 " While he was yet seven miles from the city a 
 procession of the people met him, headed by the 
 women whose husbands had been slain ; these, with 
 cries and wailings, called on Agrippa for protec- 
 tion, and related to a centurion, whom Cestius had 
 sent forward and who met Agrippa on the way, the 
 cruelty of Florus. When the king and the cen- 
 turion arrived in the city they were taken to the 
 market-place and shown the houses where the in- 
 habitants had been massacred. 
 
 " Agrippa called the people together, and taking 
 his seat on a lofty dais, with Bernice by his side, 
 harangued them. He assured them that when the 
 emperor heard what had been done he would send 
 a better governor to them in the place of Florus. 
 He told them that it was vain to hope for independ- 
 ence, for that the Romans had conquered all the 
 nations in the world, and that the Jews could not 
 contend against them, and that war would bring 
 about the destruction of the city and the Temple. 
 
 " The people exclaimed they had taken up arms, 
 not against the Romans, but against Florus.
 
 54 FOE THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Agrippa urged us to pay our tribute and repair the 
 galleries. This was willingly done. We sent out 
 leading men to collect the arrears of tribute, and 
 these soon brought in forty talents. All was going 
 on well until Agrippa tried to persuade us to re- 
 ceive Florus till the emperor should send another 
 governor. At the thought of the return of Florus a 
 mad rage seized the people. They poured abuse 
 upon Agrippa, threw stones at him, and ordered 
 him to leave the city. This he did, and retired to 
 his own kingdom. 
 
 " The upper class, and all those who possessed 
 wisdom enough to know how great was the power 
 of Rome, still strove for peace. But the people 
 were beyond control. They seized the fortress of 
 Masada, a very strong place near the Dead Sea, and 
 put the Roman garrison to the sword. But what 
 was even worse, Eleazar, son of Ananias, the chief 
 priest, persuaded the priests to reject the offerings 
 regularly made in the name of the emperor to the 
 God of the Hebrews, and to make a regulation that 
 from that time no foreigner should be allowed to 
 sacrifice in the Temple. The chief priests, with the 
 heads of the Pharisees, addressed the people in the 
 quadrangle of the Temple before the eastern gate. 
 I myself was one of those who spoke. We told 
 them that the Temple had long benefited by the 
 splendid gifts of strangers, and that it was not only 
 inhospitable, but impious to preclude them from 
 offering victims and worshiping God there. 
 
 " We, who were learned in the law, showed them
 
 FOM THE TEMPLB. 55 
 
 that it was an ancient and immemorial usage to re- 
 ceive the offerings of strangers, and that this refusal 
 to accept the Roman gifts was nothing short of a 
 declaration of war. But all we could do or say 
 availed nothing. The influence of Eleazar was too 
 great. A madness had seized the people, and they 
 rejected all our words ; but the party of peace made 
 one more effort. They sent a deputation, headed 
 by Simon, son of Ananias, to Florus, and another to 
 Agrippa, praying them to march upon Jerusalem 
 and reassert their authority before it was too late. 
 Florus made no reply, for things were going just-as 
 he wished ; but Agrippa, anxious to preserve the 
 city, sent three thousand horsemen, commanded by 
 Darius and Philip. When these troops arrived the 
 party of peace took possession of the upper city, 
 while Eleazar and the war party held the Temple. 
 
 " For a week fighting went on between the two 
 parties. Then at the festival of the Wood Carrying 
 great numbers of the poorer people were allowed 
 by the party of the chief priest to pass through their 
 lines and go as usual to the Temple. When there 
 these joined the party of Eleazar, and a great attack 
 was made on the upper city. The troops of Darius 
 and Philip gave way. The house of Ananias, the 
 high-priest, and the palaces of Agrippa .and Bernice 
 were burned, and also the public archives. Here 
 all the bonds of the debtors were registered, and 
 thus at one blow the power of the rich over the 
 poor was destroyed. Ananias himself and a few 
 others escaped into the upper towers of the palace, 
 which they held.
 
 56 &0& THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " The next day Eleazar's party attacked the fort- 
 ress of Antonia, which was feebly garrisi tied, and 
 after two days' fighting captured it and slew the 
 garrison. Manahem, the son of Judas thu Zealot, 
 arrived two days later, while the people were be- 
 sieging the palace. He was accepted as general by 
 them, and took charge of the siege. Having mined 
 under one of the towers they brought it to the 
 ground, and the garrison asked for terms. Free 
 passage was granted to the troops of Agrippa and 
 the Jews, but none was granted to the Roman sol- 
 diers, who were few in number and retreated to the 
 three great towers, Hippicus, Phasaelus, and Mari- 
 amne. 
 
 " The palace was entered and Ananias and Heze- 
 kiah, his brother, were found in hiding and put to 
 death. Manahem now assumed the state of a king ; 
 but Eleazar, unwilling that, after having led the 
 enterprise, the fruits should be gathered by another 
 stirred up the people against him, and he was slain 
 The three towers were now besieged, and Metilius, 
 the Roman commander, finding he could no longer 
 hold out, agreed to surrender, on the condition that 
 his men should deliver up their arms and be allowed 
 to march away unharmed. 
 
 " The terms were accepted and ratified, but as soon 
 as the Roman soldiers marched out and laid down 
 their arms Eleazar and his followers fell upon them 
 and slew them, Metilius himself being alone spared. 
 
 " After this terrible massacre a sadness fell on the 
 city ; all felt that there was no longer any hope of
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 57 
 
 making conditions with Home. We had placed 
 ourselves beyond the pale of forgiveness. It was 
 war to the death with Rome. Up to this time, as I 
 have told you, I was one of those who had labored 
 to maintain peace. I had fought in the palace by 
 the side of Ananias, and had left it only when the 
 troops, and we of their party, were permitted to 
 march out when it surrendered ; but from this time 
 I took another part. All hope of peace, of conces- 
 sions, or of conditions was at an end. There re- 
 mained nothing now but to tight ; and as the 
 vengeance of Rome would fall on the whole Jewish 
 people, it was for the whole Jewish people to unite 
 in. the struggle for existence. 
 
 " On the very day and hour in which the Romans 
 were put to death retribution began to fall upon the 
 nation, for the Greeks of Cassarea rose suddenly 
 and massacred the Jews. Twenty thousand were 
 slain in a single day. The news of these two mas- 
 sacres drove the whole people to madness. They 
 rose throughout the land, laid waste the country 
 all round the cities of Syria Philadelphia, Sebo- 
 nitis, Gerasa, Pella, and Scythopolis and burned 
 and destroyed many places. 
 
 " The Syrians in turn fell upon the Jewish inhab- 
 itants of all their towns, and a frightful carnage 
 everywhere took place. Then our people made an 
 inroad into the domains of Scythopolis, but though 
 the Jewish inhabitants there joined the Syrians in 
 defending their territory, the Syrians doubted their 
 fidelity, and falling upon them in the night, slew
 
 58 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 them all and seized their property. Thirteen thou- 
 sand perished here. In many other cities the 
 same things were done; in Ascalon twenty-five 
 hundred were put to the sword ; in Ptolemais two 
 thousand were killed. The land was deluged with 
 blood, and despair fell upon all. 
 
 " Even in Alexandria our countrymen suffered. 
 Breaking out into a quarrel with the Greeks, a 
 tumult arose, and Tiberias Alexander, the governor, 
 by faith a Jew, tried to pacify matters, but the 
 madness which had seized the people here had fallen 
 also upon the Jews of Alexandria. They heaped 
 abuse upon Alexander, who was forced to send the 
 troops against them. The Jews fought, but vainly, 
 and fifty thousand men, women, and children fell. 
 
 " While blood was flowing over the land, Cestius 
 Gallus the prefect was preparing for invasion. He 
 had with him the Twelfth Legion, forty-two hun- 
 dred strong ; two thousand picked men taken from 
 the other legions ; six cohorts of foot, about twenty- 
 five hundred ; and four troops of horse, twelve 
 hundred. Of allies he had from Antiochus two 
 thousand horse and three thousand foot; from 
 Agrippa, one thousand horse and three thousand 
 foot ; Sohemus joined him with four thousand men, 
 a third of whom were horse, the rest archers. Thus 
 he had ten thousand Roman troops and thirteen 
 thousand allies, besides many volunteers who joined 
 him from the Syrian cities. After burning and 
 pillaging Zebulon, and wasting the district, Cestius 
 returned to Ptolemais, and then advanced to 
 Csesarea.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 59 
 
 " He sent forward a part of his army to Joppa. 
 The city was open and no resistance was offered ; 
 nevertheless the Romans slew all to the number 
 of eighty-five hundred. The cities of Galilee 
 opened their gates without resistance, and Cestius 
 advanced against Jerusalem. When he arrived 
 within six miles of the town the Jews poured out 
 and fell upon them with such fury that if the horse 
 and light troops had not made a circuit and fallen 
 upon us in the rear, I believe we should have de- 
 stroyed the whole army. But we were forced to 
 fall back, having killed over five hundred. 
 
 " As the Romans moved forward, Simon, son of 
 Gioras, with a band pressed them closely in rear, 
 and slew many and carried off numbers of their 
 beasts of burden. Agrippa now tried once more to 
 make peace, and sent a deputation to persuade us to 
 surrender, offering in the name of Cestius pardon 
 for all that had passed ; but Eleazar's party, fearing 
 the people might listen to him, fell upon the depu- 
 tation, slew some and drove the others back. 
 
 " Cestius advanced within a mile of Jerusalem, 
 and after waiting three days in hopes that the 
 Jews would surrender, and knowing that many 
 of the chief persons were friendly to him, he ad- 
 vanced to the attack, took the suburb of Bezetha, 
 and encamped opposite the palace in the upper city. 
 The people discovered that Ananias and his friends 
 had agreed to open the gates, and so slew them and 
 threw the bodies over the wall. The Romans for 
 five days attacked, and on the sixth Cestius with
 
 60 FOR THE TEMPLE 
 
 the flower of his army made an assault, but the 
 people fought bravely, and disregarding the flights 
 of arrows which the archers shot against them, held 
 the walls and poured missiles of all kinds upon the 
 enemy, until at last, just as it seemed to all that the 
 Romans would succeed in mining the walls and 
 firing the gates, Cestius called off his troops. 
 
 " Had he not clone so he would speedily have 
 taken the city, for the peace party were on the 
 point of seizing one of the gates and opening it. I 
 no longer belonged to this party, for it seemed to 
 me that it was altogether too late now to make 
 terms, nor could we expect that the Romans would 
 keep to their conditions after we had set them the 
 example of breaking faith. Qestius fell back to his 
 camp, a mile distant, but he had no rest there. 
 Exultant at seeing a retreat from their walls, all 
 the people poured out and fell upon the Romans 
 with fury. 
 
 " The next morning Cestius began to retreat, but 
 we swarmed around him, pressing upon his rear 
 and dashing down from the hills upon his flanks, 
 giving him no rest. The heavy-armed Romans 
 could do nothing against us, but marched steadily 
 on, leaving numbers of dead behind them, till they 
 reached their former camp at Gabao, six miles 
 away. 
 
 " Here Cestius waited two days, but seeing- how 
 the hills around him swarmed with our people, who 
 flocked in from all quarters, he gave the word for a 
 further retreat, killing all the beasts of burden and
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 61 
 
 leaving all the baggage behind, and taking on only 
 those animals which bore the arrows and engines of 
 war. Then he marched down the valley toward 
 Bethoron. The multitude felt now that their enemy 
 was delivered into their hands. Was it not in 
 Bethoron that Joshua had defeated the Canaanites 
 while the sun stayed his course ? Was it not here 
 that Judas the Maccabean had routed the host of 
 Nicanor ? As soon as the Romans entered the de- 
 file the Jews rushed down upon them, sure of their 
 prey. 
 
 " The Roman horse were powerless to act ; the 
 men of the legions could not climb the rocky sides, 
 and from every point javelins, stones, and arrows 
 were poured down upon them, and all would have 
 been slain had not night come on and hidden them 
 from us, and enabled them to reach Bethoron. 
 What rejoicings were there not on the hills that 
 night as we looked down on their camp there, and 
 thought that in the morning they would be ours ! 
 Fires burned on every crest ; hymns of praise and 
 exulting cries arose everywhere in the darkness, but 
 the watch was not kept strictly enough. Cestius 
 left four hundred of his bravest men to mount 
 guard and keep the fires alight, so that we might 
 think that all his army was there, and then with 
 the rest he stole away. 
 
 " In the morning we saw that the camp was well- 
 nigh deserted ; and furious at the escape of our 
 foes, rushed down, slew the four hundred whom 
 Cestius had left behind, and then set out in pursuit.
 
 62 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 But Cestius had many hours' start, and though we 
 followed as far as Antipatris we could not overtake 
 him, and so returned with much rich spoil and all 
 the Roman engines of war to Jerusalem, having, 
 with scarcely any loss, defeated a great Roman 
 army and slain fifty -three hundred foot and three 
 hundred and eighty horse. 
 
 " Such is the history of events which have brought 
 about the present state of things. As you see, 
 there is no hope of pardon or mercy from Rome. 
 We have offended beyond forgiveness. But the 
 madness against which I fought so hard at first is 
 still upon the people. They provoked the power 
 of Rome, and then by breaking the terms and mas- 
 sacring the Roman garrison, they went far beyond 
 the first offense of insurrection. By the destruc- 
 tion of the army of Cestius they struck a heavy 
 blow against the pride of the Romans. For genera- 
 tions no such misfortune had fallen upon their 
 arms. 
 
 "What, then, would a sane people have done 
 since? Surely they would have spent every mo- 
 ment in preparing themselves for the struggle. 
 Every man should have been called to arms ; the 
 passes should have been all fortified, for it is among 
 the hills that we can best cope with the heavy 
 Roman troops ; the cities best calculated for defense 
 should have been strongly walled ; preparations 
 made for places of refuge among the mountains for 
 the women and children ; large depots of provisions 
 gathered up ID readiness for the strife.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 63 
 
 "That we could ever in the long run hope to 
 resist successfully the might of Rome was out of the 
 question ; but we might so sternly and valiantly 
 have resisted as to be able to obtain fair terms on 
 our submission. Instead of this men go on as if 
 Rome had no existence, and we only show an 
 energy in quarreling among ourselves. At bottom 
 it would seem that the people rely upon our God 
 doing great things for us, as he did when he smote 
 the Assyrian army of Sennacherib ; and such is my 
 hope also, seeing that so far a -wonderful success has 
 attended us. And yet how can one expect the 
 divine assistance in a war so begun and so con- 
 ducted ; for a people who turn their swords against 
 each other, who spend their strength in civil feuds, 
 who neither humble themselves nor repent of the 
 wickedness of their ways ? 
 
 " Alas ! my son, though I speak brave words to the 
 people, my heart is very sad, and I fear that troubles 
 like those which fell upon us when we were carried 
 captive into Babylon await us now !" 
 
 There was silence as the rabbi finished. John 
 had of course heard something of the events which 
 had been taking place, but as he now heard them 
 in sequence, the gravity and danger of the situation 
 came freshly upon him. 
 
 "What can be done?" he asked after a long 
 pause. 
 
 " Nothing save to pray to the Lord," the rabbi 
 said sorrowfully. " Josephus is doing what he can 
 toward building walls to the towns, but it is not
 
 64 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 walls, but soldiers that are wanted ; and so long as 
 the people remain blind and indifferent to the 
 danger, thinking of naught save tilling their ground 
 and laying up money, nothing can be done." 
 
 "Then will destruction come upon all?" John 
 asked, looking round in a bewildered and hopeless 
 way. 
 
 " We may hope not," the rabbi said. " Here in 
 Galilee we have had no share in the events in 
 Jerusalem, and many towns even now are faithful 
 to the Romans ; therefore it may be that in this 
 province all will not be involved in the lot of 
 Jerusalem. There can be, unless a mighty change 
 takes place, no general resistance to the Romans, 
 and it may be, therefore, that no general destruc- 
 tion will fall upon the people. As to this none caa 
 say. 
 
 "Vespasian, the Roman general who has been 
 charged by Nero with the command of the army 
 which is gathering against us, is said to be a merci- 
 ful man as well as a great commander. The 
 Roman mercies are not tender, but it may be that 
 the very worst may not fall upon this province. 
 The men of spirit and courage will doubtless proceed 
 to Jerusalem to share in the defense of the Holy 
 City. If we cannot fight with success here it is far 
 better that the men should fight at Jerusalem, 
 leaving their wives and families here, and doing 
 naught to call down the vengeance of the Romans 
 upon this province. 
 
 " In Galilee there have, as elsewhere, been risings
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 5 
 
 against the Romans, but these will count for little 
 in their eyes in comparison to the terrible deeds at 
 Jerusalem ; and I pray, for the sake of all my 
 friends here, that the Komans may march through 
 the land on their way to Jerusalem without burn- 
 ing and wasting the country. Here on the eastern 
 shore of Galilee there is much more hope of escape 
 than there is across the lake. 
 
 " Not only are we out of the line of the march of 
 the army, but there are few important cities on this 
 side, and the disposition of the people has not been 
 so hostile to the Romans. My own opinion is that 
 when the Romans advance it will be the duty of 
 every Jew who can bear arms to go down to the 
 defense of the Holy City. Its position is one of 
 vast strength. We shall have numbers and cour- 
 age, though neither order nor discipline ; and it may 
 be that at the last the Lord will defend his sanctu- 
 ary and save it from destruction at the hands of the 
 heathen. Should it not be so we can but die, and 
 how could a Jew better die than in defense of 
 God's Temple 2" 
 
 " It would have been better," Simon said, " had 
 we not by our evil doings have brought God's Tem- 
 ple into danger/' 
 
 " He has suffered it," the rabbi said, " and his 
 ways are not the ways of man. It may be that he 
 has suffered such madness to fall upon us in order 
 that his name may at last be glorified." 
 
 " May it be so !" Simon said piously ; " and now 
 let us to bed, for the hour is growing late."
 
 66 FOB THE TEMPLE. 
 
 The following morning Simon, his wife, and the 
 whole household accompanied John to the shore, as 
 Simon had arranged with one of the boatmen to 
 take the lad to Hippos. The distance was but 
 short, but Simon, when his wife had expressed sur- 
 prise at his sending John in a boat, said : 
 
 " It is not the distance, Martha. A half-hour's 
 walk is naught to the lad ; but I had reasons alto- 
 gether apart from the question of distance. John 
 is going out to play a man's part. He is young, 
 but since my lord Josephus has chosen to place him 
 among those who form his body-guard, he has a 
 right to claim to be regarded as a man. That being 
 so, I would not accompany him to Hippos, for it 
 would seem like one leading a i child, and it were 
 best to let him go by himself. Again, it were 
 better to have but one parting. Here he will 
 receive my blessing, and say good- by to us all. 
 Doubtless he will often be with us, for Tiberias lies 
 within sight, and so long as Josephus remains in 
 Galilee he will never be more than a long day's 
 journey from home. The lad loves us, and will 
 come as often as he can ; but surrounded as Jose- 
 phus is by dangers, the boy will not be able to get 
 away on his own business. He must take the duties 
 as well as the honor of the office, and we must not 
 blind ourselves to the fact that in one of these 
 popular tumults great danger and even death may 
 come upon him. 
 
 " This seems to you terrible," he went on in an- 
 swer to an exclamation of alarm from Martha ;
 
 FOB THE TEMPLE. 67 
 
 " but it does not seem so terrible to me. We go on 
 planting and gathering in as if no danger threat- 
 ened us and the evil day were far off, but it is not 
 so ; the Roman hosts are gathering, and we are 
 wasting our strength in party strife and are doing 
 naught to prepare against the storm. We have 
 gone to war without counting the cost; we have 
 affronted and put to shame Rome, before whom all 
 nations bow ; and assuredly she will take a terrible 
 vengeance. Another year, and who can say who 
 will be alive and who dead who will be wander- 
 ing over the wasted fields of our people or who will 
 be a slave in Rome ! 
 
 " In the times that are at hand no man's life will 
 be worth anything ; and therefore I say, wife, that 
 though there be danger and peril around the lad, 
 let us not trouble overmuch, for he is, like all of us, 
 in God's hands." 
 
 Therefore the parting took place on the shore. 
 Simon solemnly blessed John, and his mother cried 
 over him. Mary was a little surprised at these dem- 
 onstrations at what she regarded as a very tem- 
 porary separation, but her merry spirits were 
 subdued at the the sight of her aunt's tears, although 
 she herself saw nothing to cry about. She bright' 
 ened up, however, when John whispered, as he said 
 good-by to her : 
 
 " I shall come across the lake as often as I can to 
 see how you are getting on, Mary." 
 
 Then he took his place in the stern of the boat, 
 the fishermen dipped their oars in the water, and
 
 68 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 the boat drew away from the little group who stood 
 watching it as it made its way across the sparkling 
 water to Hippos. 
 
 Upon landing John at once went to the house 
 where Josephus was lodging. The latter gave 
 him in charge to the leader of the little group of 
 men who attached themselves to him as his body- 
 guard. 
 
 " Joab," he said, " this youth will henceforth 
 make one of your party. He is brave and, I think, 
 ready and quick-witted. Give him arms and see 
 that he has all that is needful. Being young, he 
 will be able to mingle unsuspected among the 
 crowds, and may obtain tidings of evil intended me, 
 when men would not speak maybe before others 
 whom they might judge my friends. He will be 
 able to bear messages unsuspected, and may prove 
 of great service to the cause." 
 
 John found at once that there was nothing like 
 discipline or regular duties among the little band 
 who constituted the body-guard of Josephus. They 
 were simply men who, from affection for the gov- 
 ernor and a hatred for those who, by their plots 
 and conspiracies, would undo the good work he 
 was accomplishing, had left their farms and occu- 
 pations to follow and guard him. 
 
 Every Jewish boy received a certain training in 
 the use of weapons in order to be prepared to fight 
 in the national army when the day of deliverance 
 should arrive, but beyond that the Jews had no 
 military training whatever. Their army would be
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 69 
 
 simply a gathering of the men capable of bearing 
 arms throughout the land each ready to give his 
 life for his faith and his country, relying like their 
 forefathers on the sword of the Lord and Israel, 
 but without the slightest idea of military drill, 
 discipline, or tactics. Such an army might fight 
 bravely, might die nobly, but it could have little 
 chance of victory over the well- trained legions of 
 imperial Rome. 
 
 At noon Josephus embarked in a galley with his 
 little band of followers, eight in number, and sailed 
 across the lake to Tiberias. Here they landed and 
 went up to the house in which Josephus always 
 dwelt when in that city. His stay there was gen- 
 erally short, Tarichea being his general abode, for 
 there he felt in safety, the inhabitants being devoted 
 to him ; while those of Tiberias were ever ready to 
 follow the advice of the disaffected, and a section 
 were eager for the return of the Romans and the 
 renewal of the business and trade which had 
 brought wealth to the city before the troubles be- 
 gan. That evening Josephus sent for John, and 
 said : 
 
 " I purpose in two days to go to Tarichea, where 
 I shall spend the Sabbath. I hear that there is a 
 rumor that many of the citizens have privately sent 
 to King Agrippa asking him to send hither Roman 
 troops, and promising them a good reception. The 
 men with me are known to many in the city and 
 would be shunned by my enemies, and so would 
 hear naught of what is going on ; therefore I pur-
 
 7fl FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 pose to leave you here. In the morning go early to 
 the house of Samuel, the son of Gideon. He dwells 
 in the street called that of Tarichea, for it leadeth 
 in the direction of that town. He is a tanner by 
 trade, and you will have no difficulty in finding it. 
 He has been here this evening, and I have spoken to 
 him about you, and when you present yourself to 
 him he will take you in. Thus no one will know 
 that you are of my company. Pass your time in 
 the streets, and when you see groups of people as. 
 semble join yourself to them and gather what they 
 are saying. If it is aught that is important for me 
 to know, come here and tell me ; or if it be after I 
 have departed for Tarichea, bring me the news there. 
 It is but thirty furlongs distant 1 ." 
 
 John followed up the instructions given him, and 
 was hospitably received by Samuel the tanner. 
 
 In the course of the day a number of the citizens 
 called upon Josephus and begged him at once to set 
 about building walls for the town, as he had aL 
 ready built them for Tarichea. When he assured 
 them that he had already made preparations for 
 doing so, and that the builders should set to work 
 forth with, they appeared satisfied, and the city re- 
 mained perfectly tranquil until Josephus left the 
 next morning for Tarichea.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 71 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 THE LULL BEFOBE THE STORM. 
 
 THE galley which carried Josephus from Tiberias 
 was scarcely out of sight when John, who was stand- 
 ing in the market-place watching the busy scene 
 with amusement, heard the shout raised: "The 
 Komans are coming 1" At once people left their 
 business and all ran to the outskirts of the city. 
 John ran with them, and on arriving there saw a 
 party of Roman horsemen riding along at no great 
 distance. The people began to shout loudly to 
 them to come into the town, calling out that all the 
 citizens were loyal to King Agrippa and the Ro- 
 mans, and that they hated the traitor Josephus. 
 
 The Romans halted, but made no sign of entering 
 the town, fearing that treachery was intended, and 
 remembering the fate of their comrades who had 
 trusted to Jewish faith when they surrendered the 
 towers of Hippicus, Pha.saelus, and Mariamne. The 
 movement, however, spread through the city ; the 
 people assembled in crowds shouting " Death to 
 Josephus!" and exclaiming for the Romans and 
 King Agrippa.
 
 72 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Such as were loyal to Josephus did not venture to 
 raise their voices, so numerous and furious were the 
 multitude ; and the whole city was soon in open re- 
 volt, the citizens arming themselves in readiness for 
 war. As soon as he saw the course which affairs 
 were taking, John made his way out of the town 
 and ran ut the top of his speed to Tarichea, where 
 he arrived in a little over half an hour. He was 
 directed at once to the house of Josephus, who rose 
 in surprise at the table at which he was seated writ, 
 ing at John's entry. 
 
 "Scarcely had you left, my lord, than some Ro- 
 man horsemen approached near the town, where- 
 upon the whole city rose in revolt, shouting to them 
 to enter and take possession in the name of the king, 
 and breathing out threats against yourself. The 
 Romans had not entered as I came away ; but the 
 populace were all in arms, and your friends did not 
 venture to lift up a voice. Tiberias has wholly re- 
 volted to the Romans." 
 
 " This is bad news, indeed," Josephus said grave- 
 ly. " I have but the seven armed men who accom- 
 panied me from Tiberias here. All those who were 
 assembled in the city I bade disperse so soon as I 
 arrived, in order that they might go to their towns 
 or villages for the Sabbath. Were I to send round 
 the country I could speedily get a great force to- 
 gether ; but in a few hours the Sabbath will begin, 
 and it is contrary to the law to fight upon the Sab- 
 bath, even though the necessity be great. And yet 
 if the people of Tiberias march hither we can hardly
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 73 
 
 hope to resist successfully, for the men of the town 
 are too few to man the full extent of the walls. It 
 is most necessary to put down this rising before 
 King Agrippa can send large numbers of troops 
 into Tiberias ; and yet we can do nothing until the 
 Sabbath is past. 
 
 " Nor would I shed blood if it can be avoided. 
 Hitherto I have put down every rising, and caused 
 Sepphoris, Tiberias, and other cities to expel the 
 evil-doers and return to obedience by tact and by 
 the great force which I could bring against them, 
 and without any need of bloodshed. But this time, 
 I fear, great trouble will come of it, since I cannot 
 take prompt measures, and the enemy will have 
 time to organize their forces and to receive help 
 from John of Gischala and other robbers, to say 
 nothing of the Komans." 
 
 Josephus walked up and down the room in agita- 
 tion, and then stood looking out into the harbor. 
 
 " Ah !" he exclaimed suddenly, " we may yet 
 frighten them into submission. Call in Joab." 
 
 "When Joab entered Josephus explained to him in 
 a few words the condition of things at Tiberias and 
 then proceeded : 
 
 " Send quickly to the principal men of the town 
 and bid them put trusty men at each of the gates 
 and let none pass out ; order the fighting men to 
 man the walls in case those of Tiberias should come 
 hither at once ; then let one or two able fellows 
 embark on board each of the boats and vessels in 
 the port, taking with them two or three of the ip-
 
 74 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 firm and aged men. Send a fast galley across to 
 Hippos and bid the fishermen set out at once with 
 all their boats and join us off Tiberias. We will 
 not approach close enough to the city for the peo- 
 ple to see how feebly we are manned, but when 
 they perceive all these ships making toward them 
 they will think that I have with me a great army 
 with which I propose to destroy their city." 
 
 The orders were very quickly carried out. 
 Josephus embarked with his eight companions in 
 one ship, and, followed by two hundred and thirty 
 vessels of various sizes, sailed toward Tiberias. As 
 they approached the town they saw a great move- 
 ment among the population. Men and women were 
 seen crowding down to the shore the men holding 
 up their hands to show that they were unarmed, 
 the women wailing and uttering loud cries of 
 lamentation. 
 
 Josephus waited for an hour until the ships from 
 Hippos also came up and then caused them all to 
 anchor off the town, but at such a distance that the 
 numbers of those on board could not be seen. Then 
 he advanced in his own ship to within speaking dis- 
 tance of the land. The people cried out to him to 
 spare the city and their wives and children, saying 
 that they had been misled by evil men and regretted 
 bitterly what they had done. 
 
 Josephus told them that assuredly they deserved 
 that the city should be wholly destroyed, for that 
 now when there was so much that had to be done 
 to prepare for the war which Rome would make
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 75 
 
 against the country they troubled the country with 
 their seditions. The people set up a doleful cry for 
 mercy, and Josephus then said that this time he 
 would spare them, but that their principal men 
 must be handed over to him. 
 
 To this the people joyfully agreed, and a boat 
 with ten of their senate came out to the vessel. 
 Josephus had them bound and sent them on board 
 Due of the other ships. Another and another boat- 
 load came off, until all the members of the senate 
 And many of the principal inhabitants were prison- 
 ers. Some of the men had been drawn from the 
 other ships and put on board those with the prison- 
 ers, and these then sailed away to Tarichea. 
 
 The people of Tiberias, terrified at seeing so 
 many taken away and not knowing how many 
 more might be demanded, now denounced a young 
 man named Clitus as being the leader of the revolt. 
 Seven of the body-guard of Josephus had gone down 
 the lake with the prisoners, and one Levi alone re- 
 mained. Josephus told him to go ashore and to cut 
 off one of the hands of Clitus. Levi was, however, 
 afraid to land alone among such a number of 
 enemies, whereupon Josephus addressed Clitus, and 
 told him that he was worthy of death, but that he 
 would spare his life, if his two hands were sent on 
 board a ship. 
 
 Clitus begged that he might be permitted to keep 
 one hand, to which Josephus agreed. Clitus then 
 drew his sword and struck off his left hand. 
 Josephus now professed to be satisfied, and after
 
 76 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 warning the people against again listening to evil 
 advisers sailed away with the whole fleet. Josephus 
 that evening entertained the principal persons 
 among the prisoners, and in the morning allowed 
 all to return to Tiberias. 
 
 The people there had already learned that they 
 had been duped, but with time had come reflection, 
 and knowing that in a day or two Josephus could 
 have assembled the whole population of Galilee 
 against them and have destroyed them before any 
 help could come, there were few who were not well 
 content that their revolt had been so easily and 
 bloodlessly repressed, and Josephus rose in their 
 estimation by the quickness and boldness of the 
 stratagem by which he had, 1 without bloodshed, 
 save in the punishment of Clitus, restored tran- 
 quillity. 
 
 Through the winter Josephus was incessantly 
 active. He endeavored to organize an army, en- 
 rolled a hundred thousand men, appointed com- 
 manders and captains, and strove to establish some- 
 thing like military drill and order. But the people 
 were averse to leaving their farms and occupations, 
 and but little progress was made. Moreover, a 
 great part of the time of Josephus was occupied in 
 suppressing the revolts which were continually 
 breaking out in Sepphoris, Tiberias, and Gamala, 
 and in thwarting the attempts of John of Gischala 
 and his other enemies, who strove by means of 
 bribery at Jerusalem to have him recalled, and would 
 have succeeded had it not been that the Galileans,
 
 ffOR THE TEMPLE. 77 
 
 save those of the great cities, were always ready to 
 turn out in all their force to defend him, and by 
 sending deputations to Jerusalem counteracted the 
 efforts there of his enemies. 
 
 John was incessantly engaged as he accompanied 
 Josephus in his rapid journeys through the province 
 either to suppress the risings or to see to the work 
 of organization ; and only once or twice was he able 
 to pay a short visit to his family. 
 
 " You look worn and fagged, John," his cousin 
 said on the occasion of his last visit, when spring 
 was close at hand. 
 
 " I am well in health, Mary, but it does try one 
 to see how all the efforts of Josephus are marred by 
 the turbulence of the people of Tiberias and Sep- 
 phoris. All his thoughts and time are occupied in 
 keeping order, and the work of organizing the army 
 makes but little progress. Vespasian is gathering a 
 great force at Antioch. His son Titus will soon join 
 him with another legion, and they will together 
 advance against us." 
 
 " But I hear that the walling of the cities is well- 
 nigh finished." 
 
 " That is so, Mary, and doubtless many of them 
 will be able to make a long defense ; but, after all, 
 the taking of a city is a mere question of time. 
 The Komans have great siege engines which nothing 
 can withstand ; but even if the walls were so strong 
 that they could not be battered down, each city 
 could in time be reduced by famine. It is not for 
 me, who am but a boy, to judge the doings of my
 
 78 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 elders, but it seems to me that this walling of cities 
 is altogether wrong. They can give no aid to each 
 other, and one by one must fall and all within per- 
 ish or be made slaves, for the Romans give no quar- 
 ter when they capture a city by storm. 
 
 " It seems to me that it would be far better to 
 hold Jerusalem only with a strong force of fighting 
 men, and for all the rest of the men capable of car- 
 rying arms to gather among the hills and there to 
 fight the Romans. When the legion of Cestius was 
 destroyed we showed that among defiles and on 
 rocky ground our active lightly armed men were a 
 match for the Roman soldiers in their heavy armor, 
 and in this way I think that we might check even 
 the legions of Vespasian. 
 
 " The women and the old men and children could 
 gather in the cities and admit the Romans when 
 they approached. In that case they would suffer 
 no harm, for the Romans are clement when not op- 
 posed. As it is, it seems to me that in the end de- 
 struction will fall on all alike. Here in Galilee we 
 have a leader, but he is hampered by dissensions 
 and jealousies. Samaria stands neutral. Jerusa- 
 lem, which ought to take the lead, is torn by fac- 
 tion. There is war in her streets ; she thinks only 
 of herself and naught of the country, although she 
 must know that when the Romans have crushed 
 down all opposition elsewhere she must sooner or 
 later fall. The country seems possessed with mad- 
 ness, and I see no hope in the future." 
 
 " Save in the God of Israel," Mary said gently ; 
 " that is what Simon and Martha say."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 79 
 
 " Save in him," John assented ; " but, dear, he 
 suffered us to be carried away into Babylon, and 
 how are we to expect his aid now when the people 
 do naught for themselves, when his city is divided 
 in itself, when its streets are wet with blood, and 
 its very altars defiled by conflict ? When evil men 
 are made high-priests and all rule and authority is 
 at an end, what right have we to expect aid at the 
 hands of Jehovah 'i My greatest comfort, Mary, is 
 that we lie here on the east of the lake, and that 
 we are within the jurisdiction of King Agrippa. On 
 this side his authority has never been altogether 
 thrown off, though some of the cities have made 
 common cause with those of the other side. Still, 
 we may hope that on this side of Jordan we may 
 escape the horrors of war." 
 
 " You are out of spirits, John, and take a gloomy 
 view of things ; but I know that Simon, too, thinks 
 that everything will end badly, and I have heard 
 him say that he too is glad that his farm lies on this 
 side of the lake, and that he wishes Gamala had not 
 thrown off the authority of the king, so that there 
 might be naught to bring the Romans across Jor- 
 dan. Our mother is more hopeful ; she trusts in 
 God, for, as she says, though the wealthy and pow- 
 erful may have forsaken him, the people still cling 
 to him, and he will not let us fall into the hands 
 of our enemies." 
 
 " I hope it will be so, Mary, and I own I am out 
 of spirits and look at matters in the worst light ; 
 howevev, I will have a talk with father to-night."
 
 80 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 That evening John had a long conversation with 
 Simon, and repeated the forebodings he had ex- 
 pressed to Mary. 
 
 " At any rate, father, I hope that when the 
 Romans approach you will at least send away my 
 mother, Mary, and the women to a place of safety. 
 "We are but a few miles from Gamala, and if the 
 Romans come there and besiege it they will spread 
 through the country, and will pillage, even if they 
 do not slay, in all the villages. If, as we trust, God 
 will give victory to our arms, they can return in 
 peace ; if not, let them at least be free from the 
 dangers which are threatening us." 
 
 " I have been thinking of it, John. A fortnight 
 since I sent old Isaac to your mother's brother, 
 whose farm, as you know, lies upon the slopes of 
 Mount Hermon, a few miles from Neve, and very 
 near the boundary of Manasseh. to ask him if he 
 will receive Martha, and Mary, and the women 
 until the troubles are over. He will gladly do so, 
 and I purpose sending them away as soon as I hear 
 that the Romans have crossed the frontier." 
 
 " I am indeed rejoiced to hear it, father ; but do 
 not let them tarry for that, let them go as soon as 
 the snows have melted on Mount Hermon, for the 
 Roman cavalry will spread quickly over the land. 
 Let them go as soon as the roads are fit for travel. 
 I shall feel a weight off my mind when I know that 
 they are safe. And does my mother know what 
 you have decided ?" 
 
 " She knows, John, but in truth she is reluctant to
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 81 
 
 go. She says at present that if I stay she also will 
 stay." 
 
 "I trust, father, that you will overrule ray 
 mother ; and that you will either go with her, or if 
 you stay you will insist upon her going ; should you 
 not overcome her opposition and finally suffer her 
 with Miriam, and the older women, to remain with 
 you, 1 hope that you will send Mary and the young 
 ones to my uncle. The danger with them is vastly 
 greater ; the Romans, unless their blood is heated 
 by opposition, may not interfere with the old 
 people, who are valueless as slaves, but the young 
 ones " And he stopped. 
 
 " I have thought it over, my son, and even if 
 your mother remains here with me I will as- 
 suredly send off Mary and the young maidens to 
 the mountain. Make your mind easy on that score. 
 We old people have taken root on the land which 
 was our fathers'. I shall not leave, whatever may 
 befall, and it may be that your mother will tarry 
 here with me, but the young women shall assuredly 
 be sent away until the danger is over. Not that I 
 think the peril is as great as it seems to you. Our 
 people have ever shown themselves courageous in 
 great danger ; they know the fate that awaits them 
 after provoking the anger of Rome. They know 
 they are fighting for faith^ for country, and their 
 families, and will fignt desperately. They greatly 
 outnumber the Romans, at least the army by which 
 we shall first be attacked, and maybe if we can 
 resist that we may make terms with Rome, for 
 assuredly in the long run she must_overpower us."
 
 82 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " I should think with you, father," John said, 
 shaking his head, "if I saw anything like union 
 ; among the people, but I lose all heart when I see 
 how divided they are, how blind to the storm that 
 is coming against us, how careless as to anything 
 but the trouble of the day, how intent upon the 
 work of their farms and businesses, how disinclined 
 to submit to discipline and to prepare themselves 
 for the day of battle." 
 
 " You are young, my son, and full of enthusiasm, 
 but it is hard to stir men whose lives have traveled 
 in one groove from their ordinary course. In all 
 our history, although we have been ready to as- 
 semble and meet the foe, we have ever been ready 
 to lay by the sword when the, danger is past, and to 
 return to our homes and families. We have been a 
 nation of fighting men, but never a nation with an 
 army." 
 
 " Yes, father, because we trusted in God to give 
 us victory on the day of battle. He was our army. 
 "When he fought with us we conquered, when he 
 abstained we were beaten. He suffered us to fall 
 'into the hands of the Romans, and instead of re- 
 penting of our sins we have sinned more and more. 
 The news from Jerusalem is worse and worse. 
 There is civil war in its streets. Robbers are its 
 masters. The worst of the people sit in high 
 place." 
 
 "That is so, my son. God's anger still burns 
 fiercely, and the people perish ; yet it may be that 
 he will be mercifnl in the end."
 
 FOE THE TEMPLE. 83 
 
 " I hope so, father, for assuredly our hope is only 
 in him." 
 
 Early in the spring Vespasian was joined by 
 King Agrippa with all his forces, and they advanced 
 to Ptolemais, and here Titus joined his father, hav- 
 ing brought his troops from Alexandria by sea. 
 The force of Yespasian now consisted of the Fifth, 
 Tenth, and Fifteenth legions. Besides these he 
 had twenty-three cohorts, ten of which numbered 
 a thousand footmen, the rest each six hundred 
 footmen and a hundred and fifty horse. 
 
 The allied force contributed by Agrippa and 
 others consisted of two thousand archers and a 
 thousand horse ; while Malchus, King of Arabia, 
 sent a thousand horse and five thousand archers. 
 The total force amounted to sixty thousand regular 
 troops, besides great numbers of camp-followers, 
 who were all trained to military service and could 
 fight in case of need. Yespasian had encountered 
 no resistance on his march down to Ptolemais. 
 The inhabitants of the country through which he 
 passed forsook the villages and farms, and retired, 
 according to the orders they had received, to the 
 fortified towns. 
 
 There was no army to meet the Romans in the 
 field. The efforts at organization which Josephus 
 had made bore no fruit whatever. No sooner had 
 the invader entered the country than it lay at his 
 mercy, save only the walled cities into which the 
 people had crowded. In the range of mountains 
 stretching across Upper Galilee were three places
 
 84 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 of great strength, Gabara, Gischala, and Jotapata. 
 The last named had been very strongly fortified by 
 Josephus himself, and here he intended to take up 
 his own position. 
 
 "It is a pitiful sight truly," Joab remarked to 
 John as they saw the long line of fugitives, men, 
 women, and children, with such belongings as they 
 could carry on their own backs and those of their 
 beasts of burden " it is a pitiful sight, is it not ?" 
 
 " It is a pitiful sight, Joab, and one that fills me 
 with foreboding as well as with pity. What agonies 
 may not these poor people be doomed to suffer 
 when the Romans lay siege to Jotapata !" 
 
 " They can never take it," Joab said scornfully. 
 
 " I wish I could think so, Joab. When did the 
 Romans ever lay siege to a place and fail to capture 
 it? Once, twice, three times they may fail, but in 
 the end they assuredly will take it." 
 
 " Look at its position. See how wild is the coun- 
 try through which they will have to march." 
 
 " They have made roads over all the world, Joab ; 
 they will make very short work of the difficulties 
 here. It may take the Romans weeks or months to 
 besiege each of these strong places, but they will 
 assuredly carry them in the end, and then better a 
 thousand times that the men had in the first place 
 slain the women and rushed to die on the Roman 
 swords." 
 
 " It seems to me, John," Joab said stiffly, " that 
 you are overbold in thus criticising the plans of our 
 general."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 85 
 
 " It may be so," John said recklessly, " but 
 methinks when we are all risking our lives, each 
 man may have a right to his opinions. I am ready, 
 like the rest, to die when the time comes, but that 
 does not prevent me having my opinions ; besides, 
 it seems to me that there is no heresy in question- 
 ing the plans of our general. I love Josephus, and 
 would willingly give my life for him. He has 
 shown himself a wise ruler, firm to carry out what 
 is right and to suppress all evil-doers ; but, after 
 all, he has not served in war. He is full of resources, 
 and will, 1 doubt not, devise every means to check 
 the Komans ; but even so, he may not be able to 
 cope in war with such generals as theirs, who have 
 won their experience all over the world. Nor may 
 the general's plan of defense which he has adopted 
 be the best suited for the occasion." 
 
 " Would you have us fight the Romans in the 
 open ?" Joab said scornfully. " What has been, 
 done in the south ? See how our people marched 
 out from Jerusalem under John the Essene, Niger 
 of Peraea, and Silas the Babylonian to attack Asca- 
 lon, held by but one cohort of Roman foot and one 
 troop of horse. What happened ? Antoninus, the 
 Roman commander, charged the army without fear, 
 rode through and through them, broke them up 
 into fragments, and slew till night-time, when ten 
 thousand men, with John and Silas, lay dead. Not 
 satisfied with this defeat, in a short time Niger ad- 
 vanced again against Ascalon, when Antoninus 
 sallied out again and slew eight thousand of them.
 
 86 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Thus eighteen thousand men were killed by one 
 weak cohort of foot and a troop of horse, and yet 
 you say we ought not to hide behind our walls, but 
 to meet them in the open !" 
 
 " I would not meet them in the open where the 
 Roman cavalry could charge, at any rate not until 
 our people have learned discipline. I would harass 
 them and attack them in defiles, as Cestius was at- 
 tacked ; harassing them night and day, giving them 
 no peace or rest, never allowing them to meet us in 
 the plains, but moving rapidly hither and thither 
 among the mountains, leaving the women in the 
 cities, which should offer no resistance, so that the 
 Romans would have no point to strike at, until at 
 length, when we have gained confidence and dis- 
 cipline and order, we should be able to take bolder 
 measures gradually and fight them hand to hand.'' 
 
 " Maybe you are right, lad," Joab said thought- 
 fully. " I like not being cooped up in a stronghold 
 myself, and methinks that a mountain warfare such 
 as you speak of would suit the genius of the people ; 
 we are light-limbed and active, inured to fatigue, 
 for we are a nation of cultivators, brave assuredly 
 and ready to give our lives. They say that in the 
 fight near Ascalon not a Jew fled. Fight they 
 could not, they were powerless against the rush of 
 the heavy Roman horse, but they died as they 
 stood, destroyed but not defeated. Gabara and 
 Gischala and Jotapata may fall ; but, lad, it will be 
 only after a defense so desperate that the haughty 
 Romans may well hesitate ; for if such be the re-
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 87 
 
 sistance of these little mountain towns, what will 
 not be the task of conquering Jerusalem garrisoned 
 by the whole nation." 
 
 " That is true," John said, " and if our death here 
 be for the safety of Jerusalem we shall not have 
 died in vain. But 1 doubt whether such men as 
 those who have power in Jerusalem will agree to 
 any terms, however favorable, that may be offered. 
 It may be that it is God's will that it should be so. 
 Two days ago, as I journeyed hither after going 
 down to Sepphoris with a message from the general 
 to some of the principal inhabitants there, I met an 
 old man traveling with his wife and family. I 
 asked him whether he was on his way hither, but 
 he said 'No,' he was going across Jordan and 
 through Manasseh and over Mount Hermon into 
 Trachonitis. He said that he was a follower of 
 that Christ who was put to death in Jerusalem some 
 thirty-five years since, and whom many people still 
 believe was the Messiah. He says that he foretold 
 the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and 
 warned his followers not to stay in the walled cities, 
 but to fly to the deserts when the time came." 
 
 "The Messiah was to save Israel," Joab said 
 scornfully. " Christ could not save even himself." 
 
 " I know not," John said simply. " I have heard 
 of him from others, and my father heard him preach 
 several times near the lake. He says that he was a 
 man of wondrous power, and that he preached a 
 new doctrine. He says that he did not talk about 
 himself or claim to be the Messiah ; but that he
 
 88 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 simply told the people to be kind and good to each 
 other, and to love God and do his will. My father 
 said that he thought he was a good and holy man, 
 and full of the Spirit of God. He did works of 
 great power too, but bore himself meekly, like any 
 other man. My father always regards him as a 
 prophet, and said that he grieved when he heard 
 that he had been put to death at Jerusalem. If he 
 were a prophet, what he said about the destruction 
 of Jerusalem should have weight with us." 
 
 " All who heard him agreed that he was a good 
 man,' 1 Joab assented. " I have never known one of 
 those who heard him say otherwise, and maybe he 
 was a prophet. Certainly he called upon the 
 people to repent and turn from their sins, and had 
 they done as he taught them these evils might not 
 have fallen upon us, and God would doubtless have 
 been ready to aid his people as of old. However, 
 it is too late to think about it now. We want all 
 our thoughts for the matter we have in hand. We 
 have done all that we can to put this town into a 
 state of defense, and, methinks, if the Romans ever 
 penetrate through these mountains and forests they 
 will see that the} r have a task which will tax all 
 their powers before they take Jotapata." 
 
 The position of the town was indeed immensely 
 strong. It stood on the summit of a lofty mass of 
 rock, which, on three sides, fell abruptly down into 
 the deep and almost impassable ravines which sur- 
 rounded it. On the north side alone, where the 
 ridge sloped more gradually down, it could be ap-
 
 FOB THE TEMPLE. 39 
 
 preached. The town extended part of the way 
 down this declivity, and at its foot Josephus had 
 built a strong wall. On all sides were lofty moun- 
 tains covered with thick forests, and the town could 
 not be seen by an enemy until they were close at 
 hand. 
 
 As soon as Vespasian had arrived at Ptolemais 
 (on the site of which city stands the modern Acre) 
 he was met by a deputation from Sepphoris. That 
 city had only been prevented from declaring for the 
 Romans by the exertions of Josephus, and the 
 knowledge that all Galilee would follow him to at- 
 tack it should it revolt. But as soon as Vespasian 
 arrived at Ptolemais, which was scarce twenty miles 
 away, they sent deputies with their submission to 
 him, begging that a force might be sent to defend 
 them against any attack by the Jews. 
 
 Vespasian received them with courtesy, and sent 
 Placidus with a thousand horse and six thousand 
 foot to the city. The infantry took up their quar- 
 ters in the town, but the horsemen made raids over 
 the plains, burning the villages, slaying all the men 
 capable of bearing arms, and carrying off the rest 
 of the population as slaves. 
 
 The day after the conversation between Joab and 
 John a man brought the news to Jotapata that 
 Placidus was marching against it. Josephus at once 
 ordered the fighting men to assemble, and, march- 
 ing out, placed them in ambuscade in the mountains 
 on the road by which the Romans would approach. 
 
 As soon as the latter had fairly entered the pass
 
 90 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 the Jews sprang to their feet and hurled their 
 javelins and shot their arrows among them. The 
 Romans in vain endeavored to reach their assail- 
 ants, and numbers were wounded as they tried to 
 climb the heights, but few were killed, for they 
 were so completely covered by their armor and 
 shields that the Jewish missiles thrown from a dis- 
 tance seldom inflicted mortal wounds. They were, 
 however, unable to make their way further, and 
 Placidus was obliged to retire to Sepphoris, having 
 failed signally in gaining the credit he had hoped 
 for from the capture of the strongest of the Jewish 
 strongholds in Upper Galilee. 
 
 The Jews, on their part, were greatly inspirited 
 by the success of their first v encounter with the 
 Romans, and returned rejoicing to their stronghold. 
 All being ready at Jotapata, Josephus, with a con- 
 siderable number of the fighting men, proceeded to 
 Garis, not far from Sepphoris, where the army had 
 assembled. But no sooner had the news arrived 
 that the great army of Vespasian was in movement 
 than they dispersed in all directions, and Josephus 
 was left with a mere handful of followers, with 
 whom he fled to Tiberias. 
 
 Thence he wrote earnest letters to Jerusalem, 
 saying that unless a strong army was fitted out and 
 put in the field it was useless to attempt to fight the 
 Romans, and that it would be wiser to come to 
 terms with them than to maintain a useless resist- 
 ance which would bring destruction upon the 
 nation. He remained a short time only at Tiberias,
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 91 
 
 and thence hurried up with his followers, to Jota- 
 pata, which he reached on the 14th of May. 
 
 Yespasian marched first to Gadara, which was 
 undefended, the fighting men having all gone to 
 Jotapata ; but although no resistance was offered, 
 Vespasian put all the males to the sword, and 
 burned the town and all the villages in the neigh- 
 borhood, and then advanced against Jotapata. 
 
 For four days the pioneers of the Roman army 
 had labored incessantly cutting a road through the 
 forests, filling up ravines, and clearing away 
 obstacles, and on the fifth day the road was con- 
 structed close up to Jotapata. 
 
 On the 14:th of May Placidus and Ebutius were 
 sent forward by Vespasian with a thousand horse to 
 surround the town and cut off all possibility of 
 escape. On the following day Vespasian himself, 
 with his whole array, arrived there. The defend- 
 ers of Jotapata could scarcely believe their eyes 
 when they saw the long heavy column, with all its 
 baggage and siege engines, marching along a 
 straight and level road, where they had believed 
 that it would be next to impossible for even the in- 
 fantry of the enemy to make their way. If this 
 marvel had been accomplished in five days, what 
 hope was there that the city would be able to with- 
 stand this force which had so readily triumphed 
 over the defenses of nature !
 
 92 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 THE SIEGE OF JOTAPATA. 
 
 "WELL, Joab, what do you think now ?" John said 
 as he stood on the wall with his older companion 
 watching the seemingly endless column of the 
 enemy. " It seems to me that we are caught here 
 like rats in a trap, and that we should have done 
 better a thousand times in maintaining our freedom 
 of movement among the mountains. It is one thing 
 to cut a road, it would be another to clear off all 
 the forests from the Anti-Libanus, and so long as 
 there was a forest to shelter us the Romans could 
 never have overtaken us. Here there is nothing to 
 do but to die." 
 
 " That is so, John. I own that the counsel you 
 urged would have been wiser than this. Here are 
 all the best fighting men in Galilee shut up without 
 hope of succor or of mercy. Well, lad, we can at 
 least teach the Romans the lesson that the Jews 
 know how to die, and the capture of this mountain 
 town will cost them as much as they reckoned 
 Avould suffice for the conquest of the whole country. 
 Jotapata may save Jerusalem yet." 
 
 John was no coward, and was prepared to fight
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 93 
 
 to the last ; but he was young, and the love of life 
 was strong within. He thought of his old father 
 and mother, who had no children but him ; of his 
 pretty Mary, far away now, he hoped, on the slopes 
 of Mount Hermon ; and of the grief that his death 
 would cause to them ; and he resolved that although 
 he would do his duty he would strain every nerve 
 to preserve the life so dear to them. 
 
 He had no longer any duties to perform other 
 than those common to all able to bear arms. When 
 the Romans attacked, his place would be near Jose- 
 phus, or were a sally ordered he would issue out 
 with the general, but until then his time was his 
 own. There was no mission to be performed now, 
 no fear of plots against the life of the general, 
 therefore he was free to wander where he liked. 
 Save the newly erected wall across the neck of 
 rock below the town there were no defenses, for it 
 was deemed impossible for man to climb the cliffs 
 that fell sheer down at every other point. John 
 strolled quietly round the town, stopping now and 
 then to look over the low wall that bordered the 
 precipice, erected solely to prevent children from 
 falling over. The depth was very great, and it 
 seemed to him that there could be no escape any- 
 where save on that side which was now blocked by 
 the wall, and which would, ere long, be trebly 
 blocked by the Romans. 
 
 The town was crowded. At ordinary times it 
 might contain near three or four thousand inhabit- 
 ants ; now, over twenty-five thousand had gathered
 
 94 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 there. Of these more than half were men, but 
 many had brought their wives and children with 
 them. Every vacant foot of ground was taken up. 
 The inhabitants shared their homes with the 
 strangers, but the accommodation was altogether 
 insufficient, and the greater part of the new-comers 
 had erected little tents and shelters of cloths or 
 blankets. 
 
 In the upper part of the town there were at pres- 
 ent comparatively few people about, for the 
 greater part had gone to the slope, whence they 
 watched with terror and dismay the great Eoman 
 column as it poured down in an unbroken line hour 
 after hour. The news of the destruction which had 
 fallen on Gadara had been brought in by fugitives, 
 and all knew that although no resistance had been 
 offered there, every male had been put to death and 
 the women taken captives. 
 
 There was naught then to be gained by surrender 
 even had any one dared to propose it. As for 
 victory over such a host as that which was marching 
 to the assault, none could hope for it. For hold out 
 as they might, and repel every assault on the wall, 
 there was an enemy within which would conquer 
 them. For Jotapata possessed no wells. The 
 water had daily to be fetched by the women from 
 the stream in the ravine, and although stores of 
 grain had been collected sufficient to last for many 
 months, the supply of water stored up in cisterns 
 would scarce suffice to supply the multitudes 
 gathered on the rock for a fortnight.
 
 POM THE TEMPLE. 95 
 
 Death, then, certain and inevitable, awaited them ; 
 and yet an occasional wail from some woman as 
 she pressed her children to her breast alone told of 
 the despair which reigned in every heart. The 
 greater portion looked out silent and as if stupefied. 
 They had relied absolutely on the mountains and 
 forests to block the progress of the invader. They 
 had thought that at the worst they would have had 
 to deal with a few companies of infantry only. 
 Thus the sight of the sixty thousand Koman troops, 
 swelled to nigh a hundred thousand by the camp- 
 followers and artificers, complete with its cavalry 
 and machines of war, seemed like some terrible 
 nightmare. 
 
 After making the circuit of the rock, and wander- 
 ing for some time among the impromptu camps in 
 the streets, John returned to a group of boys whom 
 he had noticed leaning against the low wall with a 
 carelessness as to the danger of a fall over the prec- 
 ipice which proved that they must be natives of 
 the place. 
 
 " If there be any possible way of descending these 
 precipices," he said to himself, "it will be the boys 
 who will know of it. Where a goat could climb 
 these boys, born among the mountains, would try 
 to follow, if only to excel each other in daring and 
 to risk breaking their necks." Thus thinking he 
 walked up to the group, who were from twelve to 
 fifteen years old. 
 
 " I suppose you belong to the town ?" he began. 
 
 There was a general assent from the five boys,
 
 96 FOR THE TEMPLE 
 
 who looked with considerable respect at John, who, 
 although but two years the senior of the eldest 
 among them, wore a man's garb and carried sword 
 and buckler. 
 
 " I am one of the body-guard of the governor," 
 John went on, " and I dare say you can tell me all 
 sorts of things about this country that may be use- 
 ful for him to know. Is it quite certain that no one 
 could climb up these rocks from below, and that 
 there is no fear of the Romans making a surprise in 
 that way ?" 
 
 The boys looked at each other, but no one volun- 
 teered to give information. 
 
 " Come !" John went on ; "I have only just left 
 off being a boy myself, and I was always climbing 
 into all sorts of places when I got a chance, and I 
 have no doubt it's the same with you. When 
 you have been down below there you have tried 
 how far you can get up. Did you ever get up far, 
 or did you ever hear of any one getting up far ?" 
 
 " I expect I have been up as far as any one," the 
 eldest of the boys said. " I went up after a young 
 kid that had strayed away from its mother. I got 
 up a long way half-way up, I should say ; but I 
 couldn't get any further. I was barefooted too. 
 I am sure no one with armor on could have got up 
 anything like so far. I don't believe he could get 
 np fifty feet." 
 
 " And have any of you ever tried to get down 
 from above ?" 
 
 They shook their heads.
 
 FVH THE TEMPLE. 97 
 
 " Jonas the son of James did once," one of the 
 smaller boys said. " He had a pet hawk he had 
 tamed, and it flew away and perched a good way 
 down, and he clambered down to fetch it. He had 
 a rope tied round him, and some of the others held 
 it in case he should slip. I know he went down a 
 good way, and he got the hawk, and his father beat 
 him for doing it, too." 
 
 " Is he here now ?" John asked. 
 
 " Yes, he is here," the boy said. " That's his 
 father's house, the one close to the edge of the rock. 
 I don't know whether you will find him there now. 
 He ain't indoors more than he can help. His own 
 mother's dead, and his father's got another wife, 
 and they don't get on \vell together." 
 
 " Well, I will have a chat with him one of these 
 days. And you are all quite sure that there is no 
 possible path up from below ?" 
 
 " I won't say there isn't any possible path," the 
 eldest boy said ; " but I feel quite sure there is not. 
 1 have looked hundreds of times when I have been 
 down below, and I feel pretty sure that if there had 
 been any place where a goat could have got up I 
 should have noticed it. But you see the rock goes 
 down almost straight in most places. Anyhow, I 
 have never heard of any one who ever got up, and 
 if any one had done it, it would have been talked 
 about for years and years." 
 
 " No doubt it would," John agreed. " So I shall 
 tell the governor that he need not be in the least 
 uneasy about an attack except in front."
 
 98 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Go saying he nodded to the boys and walked 
 away again. 
 
 In the evening the whole of the Roman army had 
 arrived, and Vespasian drew up his troops on a hill 
 less than a mile to the north of the city, and there 
 encamped them. 
 
 The next morning a triple line of embankments 
 was thrown up by the Romans around the foot of 
 the hill, where alone escape or issue was possible, 
 and this entirely cut off those within the town from 
 any possibility of flight. The Jews looked on at 
 these preparations as wild animals might regard a 
 line of hunters surrounding them. But the dull 
 despair of the previous day had now been succeeded 
 by a fierce rage. Hope there was none. They 
 must die, doubtless j but they would die fighting 
 fiercely till the last. Disdaining to be pent up 
 within the walls, many of the fighting men en- 
 camped outside, and boldly went forward to meet 
 the enemy. 
 
 Vespasian called up his slingers and archers, and 
 these poured their missiles upon the Jews, while he 
 himself with his heavy infantry began to mount the 
 slope toward the part of the wall which appeared 
 the weakest. Josephus at once summoned the fight- 
 ing men in the town, and sallying at their head 
 through the gate rushed down and flung himself 
 upon the Romans. Both sides fought bravely ; the 
 Romans strong in their discipline, their skill with 
 their weapons, and their defensive armor: the Jews 
 fighting with the valor of despair, heightened by
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 99 
 
 the thought of their wives and children in the town 
 above. 
 
 The Komans were pushed down the hill, and the 
 fight continued at its foot until darkness came on, 
 when both parties drew off. The number of killed 
 on either side was small, for the bucklers and hel- 
 mets defended the vital points. The Romans had 
 thirteen killed and very many wounded, the Jews 
 seventeen killed and six hundred wounded. 
 
 John had fought bravely by the side of Josephus. 
 Joab and two others of the little band were killed ; 
 all the others were wounded more or less severely, 
 for Josephus was always in the front, and his chosen 
 followers kept close to him. In the heat of the fight 
 John felt his spirits rise higher than they had done 
 since the troubles had begun. He had fought at 
 first so recklessly that Josephus had checked him 
 with the words : 
 
 " Steady, my brave lad. He fights best who fights 
 most coolly. The more you guard yourself the more 
 you will kill." 
 
 More than once when Josephus, whose command- 
 ing figure and evident leadership attracted the at- 
 tention of the Roman soldiers, was surrounded and 
 cut off, John with three or four others made their 
 way through to him and brought him off. When it 
 became dark both parties drew off ; the Romans 
 sullenly, for they felt it a disgrace to have been 
 thus driven back by foes they despised ; the Jews 
 with shouts of triumph, for they had proved them- 
 selves a match for the first soldiers in the world,
 
 100 FOB THE TEMPLE. 
 
 and the dread with which the glittering column had 
 inspired them had passed away. 
 
 The following day the Jews again sallied out and 
 attacked the Eomans as they advanced, and for five 
 days in succession the combat raged, the Jews fight- 
 ing with desperate valor, the Komans with steady 
 resolution. At the end of that time the- Jews had 
 been forced back behind their wali, and the Romans 
 established themselves in front of it. Vespasian, 
 seeing that the wall could not be carried by assault 
 as he had expected, called a council of war, and it 
 was determined to proceed by the regular process 
 of a siege, and to erect a bank against that part of 
 the wall which offered the greatest facility for 
 attack. 
 
 Accordingly the whole army, with the exception 
 of the troops who guarded the banks of circumvai- 
 lation, went into the mountains to get materials. 
 Stone and timber in vast quantities were brought 
 down, and when these were in readiness the work 
 commenced. A sort of penthouse roofing, con- 
 structed of wattles covered with earth, was first 
 raised to protect the workers from the missiles of 
 the enemy upon the wall, and here the working 
 parties labored securely, while the rest of the troops 
 brought up earth, stone, and wood for their use. 
 
 The Jews did their best to interfere with the 
 work, hurling down huge stones upon the penthouse, 
 sometimes breaking down the supports of the roof 
 and causing gaps, through which they poured a 
 storm of arrows and javelins until the damage had
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 101 
 
 been repaired. To protect his workmen Yespasian, 
 brought up his siege engines, of which he had a "hun- 
 dred and sixty, and from these vast quantities of 
 missiles were discharged at the Jews upon the walls. 
 The catapults threw javelins, balls of fire, and blaz- 
 ing arrows, while the balistae hurled huge stones, 
 which swept lanes through the ranks of the defend- 
 ers. At the same time the light-armed troops, the 
 Arab archers, and those of Agrippa and Antiochus 
 kept up a rain of arrows, so that it became impossible 
 for the Jews to remain on the walls. 
 
 But they were not inactive. Sallying out in small 
 parties, they fell with fury upon the working par- 
 ties, who, having stripped off their heavy armor, 
 were unable to resist their sudden onslaughts. 
 Driving out and slaying all before them, the Jews 
 so often applied fire to the wattles and timbers of 
 the bank that Vespasian was obliged to make his 
 work continuous along the whole extent of the wall, 
 to keep out the assailants. But in spite of all the 
 efforts of the Jews the embankment rose steadily, 
 until it almost equaled the height of the wall, and 
 the strugge now went on between the combatants 
 on even terms, they being separated only by the 
 short interval between the wall and bank. Josephus 
 found that in such a conflict the Romans, with their 
 crowd of archers and slingers and their formidable 
 machines, had all the advantage, and that it was 
 absolutely necessary to raise the walls still higher. 
 
 He called together a number of the principal men, 
 and pointed out the necessity for this. They agreed
 
 102 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 with him, but urged that it was impossible for men 
 to work exposed to such a storm of missiles. Jose- 
 phus replied that he had thought of that. A num- 
 ber of strong posts were prepared, and at night these 
 were fixed securely standing on the wall. Along 
 the top of these a strong rope was stretched, and on 
 this were hung, touching each other, the hides of 
 newly killed oxen. These formed a complete screen, 
 hiding the workers from the sight of those on the 
 embankment. 
 
 The hides, when struck with the stones from the 
 balistae, gave way and deadened the force of the 
 missiles, while the arrows and javelins glanced off 
 from the slippery surface. Behind this shelter the 
 garrison worked night and day, raising the posts 
 and screens as their work proceeded, until they had 
 heightened the wall no less than thirty -five feet, 
 with a number of towers on its summit and a strong 
 battlement facing the Romans. 
 
 The besiegers were much discouraged at their 
 want of success, and enraged at finding the efforts 
 of so large an army completely baffled by a small 
 town which they had expected to carry at the first 
 assault, while the Jews proportionate!}" rejoiced. 
 Becoming more and more confident they continually 
 sallied out in small parties through the gateway or 
 by ladders from the walls, attacked the Romans 
 upon their embankment, or set fire to it. And it 
 was the desperation with which these men fought, 
 even more than their success in defending the wall, 
 that discouraged the Romans, for the Jews were
 
 HEIGHTENING THE WALLS OF JOTAPATA UNDER SHELTER OF THE Os-HipES. Page 108.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 103 
 
 utterly careless of their lives, and were well con- 
 tent to die when they saw that they had achieved 
 their object of setting fire to the Roman works. 
 
 Yespasian at length determined to turn the siege 
 into a blockade, and to starve out the town which 
 he could not capture. He accordingly contented 
 himself by posting a strong force to defend the 
 embankment, and withdrew the main body of the 
 army to their encampment. He had been informed 
 of the shortness of the supply of water, and had 
 anticipated that in a very short time thirst would 
 compel the inhabitants to yield. 
 
 John had taken his full share in the fighting, and 
 had frequently earned the warm commendation of 
 Josephus. His spirits had risen with the conflict, 
 but he could not shut his eyes to the fact that 
 sooner or later the Romans must become masters 
 of the place. One evening, therefore, when he had 
 done his share of duty on the walls, he went up to 
 the house which had been pointed out to him as 
 that in which lived the boy who had descended the 
 face of the rocks for some distance. 
 
 At a short distance from the door a lad of some 
 fifteen years old, with no covering but a piece of 
 ragged sack-cloth round the loins, was crouched up 
 in a corner seemingly asleep. At the sound of 
 John's footsteps he opened his eyes in a quick 
 watchful way that showed that he had not been 
 really asleep. 
 
 "Are you Jonas the son of James?" John asked. 
 
 " Yes I am,*' the boy said, rising to his 
 " What do you want with me ?"
 
 1C4 . FOB THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " I want to have a talk with you," John said. 
 " I am one of the governor's body-guard, and I 
 think perhaps you may be able to give us some use- 
 ful information." 
 
 " Well, come away from here," the boy said, 
 " else we shall be having her," and he nodded tow- 
 ard the house, " coming out with a stick." 
 
 " You have rather a hard time of it from what 
 I hear," John began when they stopped at the wall 
 a short distance away from the house. 
 
 i4 I have that," the boy said. "I look like it, 
 don't I ?" 
 
 " You do," John agreed, looking at the boy's thin 
 half-starved figure ; " and yet there is plenty to eat 
 in the town." 
 
 " There may be," the boy said ; " anyhow I don't 
 get my share. Father is away fighting on the wall, 
 and so she's worse than ever. She is always beat- 
 ing me, and I dare not go back now. I told her 
 this morning the sooner the Romans came in the 
 better I should be pleased. They could only kill 
 me, and there would be an end of it ; but they 
 would send her to Rome for a slave, and then she 
 would see how she liked being cuffed and beaten all 
 day." 
 
 " And you are hungry now ?" John asked. 
 
 " I am pretty near always hungry," the boy 
 said. 
 
 " Well, come along with me then. I have, got a 
 little room to myself, and you shall have as much 
 to eat as vou like."
 
 FOR THE TJSMPLE. 105 
 
 The room John occupied had formerly been a 
 loft over a stable in the rear of the house in which 
 Josephus now lodged, and it was reached by a 
 ladder from the outside. He had shared it at first 
 with two of his comrades, but these had both fallen 
 during the siege. After seeing the boy up into it, 
 John went to the house and procured him an 
 abundant meal, and took it with a small horn of 
 water back to his quarters. 
 
 " Here's plenty for you to eat, Jonas, but not 
 much to drink. We are all on short allowance, the 
 same as the rest of the people, and I am afraid that 
 won't last long." 
 
 There was a twinkle of amusement in the boy's 
 face, but without a word he set to work at the food, 
 eating ravenously all that John had brought him. 
 The latter was surprised to see that he did not touch 
 the water, for he thought that if his stepmother 
 deprived him of food, of which there was abun- 
 dance, she would all the more deprive him of water, 
 of which the ration to each person was so scanty. 
 
 " Now," John said, " you had better throw away 
 that bit of sack-cloth and take this garment. It 
 belonged to a comrade of mine who has been 
 killed." 
 
 " There's too much of it," the boy said. " If you 
 don't mind my tearing it in half, I will take it." 
 
 " Do as you like with it," John replied ; and the 
 boy tore the long strip of cotton in two and 
 wrapped half of it round his loins. 
 
 " Now," he said, " what do you want to ask me ?"
 
 106 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 "They tell me, Jonas, that you are a first-rate 
 climber and can go anywhere ?" 
 
 The boy nodded. 
 
 " I can get about, I can. I have been tending 
 goats pretty well ever since I could walk, and where 
 they can go I can." 
 
 " I want to know, in the first place, whether there 
 is any possible way by which one can get up and 
 down from this place, except by the road through 
 the wall?" 
 
 The boy was silent. 
 
 " Now look here, Jonas," John went on, feeling 
 sure that the lad could tell something if he would : 
 " if you could point out a way down the governor 
 would be very pleased, and as long as the siege 
 lasts you can live here with me and have as much 
 food as you want, and not go near that stepmother 
 of yours at all." 
 
 " And nobody will beat me for telling you ?" the 
 boy asked. 
 
 "Certainly not, Jonas." 
 
 "It wouldn't take you beyond the Koraans, 
 They have got guards all round." 
 
 " No, but it might enable us to get down to the 
 water," John urged, the sight of the unemptied horn 
 causing the thought to flash through his mind that 
 the boy had been in the habit of going down and 
 getting water. 
 
 "Well, I will tell you," the boy said. "I don't 
 like to tell, because I don't think there's any one 
 here knows it but me. I found it out and I never
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 107 
 
 *aid a word about it, because I was able to slip 
 away when I liked, and no one knows anything 
 about it. But it doesn't make much difference now, 
 because the Romans are going to kill us all. So I 
 will tell you. At the end of the rock you have to 
 climb down about fifty feet. It's very steep there, 
 and it's as much as you can do to get down ; but 
 when you have got down that far, you get to the 
 head of a sort of dried-up water-course, and it ain't 
 very difficult to go down there, and that way you 
 can get right down to the stream. It don't look 
 from below as if you could do it, and the Eomans 
 haven't put any guards on the stream just there. I 
 know because I go down every morning as soon as 
 it gets light. I never tried to get through the 
 Roman sentries, but I expect one could if one tried. 
 But I don't see how you are to bring water up here, 
 if that's what you want. I tell you it is as much 
 as you can do to get up and down, and you want 
 both your hands and your feet; but I could go 
 down and bring up a little water for you in a skin 
 hanging round my neck, if you like." 
 
 " I am afraid that wouldn't be much good, Jonas," 
 John said ; " but it might be very useful to send 
 messages out that way." 
 
 " Yes," the boy said ; " but you see I have always 
 intended, when the Romans took the place, to make 
 off that way. If other people go it's pretty sure to 
 be found out before long, and then the Romans 
 will keep watch ; but it don't much matter. I 
 know another place where you and I could lie hid-
 
 108 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 den any time, if we had got enough to eat and 
 drink. I will show you, but mind you must prom- 
 ise not to tell any one else. There's no room for 
 more than two, and I don't mean to tell you unless 
 you promise." 
 
 " I will promise, Jonas. I promise you faithfully 
 not to tell any one." 
 
 " Well, the way down ain't far from the other one. 
 I will show it you one of these days. I went down 
 there once to get a hawk I had taken from the nest 
 and tamed. I went down first with a rope tied 
 round me, but I found I could have done it without 
 that; but I didn't tell any of the others, as I 
 wanted to keep the place to myself. You climb 
 down a.bout fifty feet, and then you get on a sort of 
 ledge about three feet wide and six or seven feet 
 long. You can't see it from above, because it's a 
 hollow, as if a bit of rock had fallen out. Of course, 
 if you stood up you might be seen by some one 
 below, or on the hill opposite, but it's so high it is 
 not likely any one would notice you. Anyhow, if 
 you lie down there no one would see you. I have 
 been down there often and often since. When she 
 gets too bad to bear I go down there and take a 
 sleep, or lie there and laugh when I think how she 
 is hunting about for me to carry down the pails to 
 the stream for water." 
 
 " I will say nothing about it, Jonas, you may be 
 quite sure. That place may save both our lives, but 
 the other path I will tell Josephus about. He may 
 find it of great use."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 109 
 
 Josephus was indeed greatly pleased when he 
 heard that a way existed by which he could send 
 out messages. Two or three active men were 
 chosen for the work, but they would not venture 
 to descend the steep precipice by which Jonas made 
 his way down to the top of the water-course, but 
 were lowered by ropes to that point. Before start- 
 ing they were sown up in skins, so that if a Roman 
 sentry caught sight of them making their way down 
 the water-course on their hands and feet he would 
 take them for dogs or some other animals. Once at 
 the bottom they lay still" till night, and then crawled 
 through the line of sentries. 
 
 In this way Josephus was able to send out dis- 
 patches to his freinds out side and toJerusalem, im- 
 ploring them to send an army at once to harass the 
 rear of the Romans, and to afford an opportunity 
 for the garrison of Jotapata to cut their way out. 
 Messages came back by return, and for three weeks 
 communications were thus kept up, until one of the 
 messengers slipped while descending the ravine, 
 and as he rolled down attracted the attention of the 
 Romans, who after that placed a strong guard at 
 the foot of the water-course. 
 
 Until this discovery was made Jonas had gone 
 down regularly every morning and drank his fill, 
 and had brought up a small skin of water to John, 
 who had divided it among the children whom he 
 saw most in want of it, for the pressure of thirst 
 was now heavy. The Romans, from rising ground 
 at a distance, had noticed the women going daily
 
 HO FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 with jugs to the cistern, whence the water was 
 doled out, and the besiegers directed their missiles 
 to that point, and many were killed daily while 
 fetching water. 
 
 A dull despair now seized the Jews. So long as 
 they were fighting they had had little time to think 
 of their situation ; but now that the enemy no 
 longer attacked, and there was nothing to do but 
 to sit down and suffer, the hopelessness of their 
 position stared them in the face ; but there was no 
 thought of surrender. They knew too well the fate 
 that awaited them at the hands of the Romans. 
 They were therefore seized with rage and indigna- 
 tion when they heard that Josephus and some of 
 the principal men were thinking of making an en- 
 deavor to escape. John, who had hitherto regarded 
 his leader with a passionate devotion, although he 
 thought that he had been wrong in taking to the 
 fortified towns instead of fighting among the moun- 
 tains, shared in the general indignation at the pro- 
 posed desertion. 
 
 " It is he who has brought us all here," he said to 
 Jonas, who had attached himself to him with dog- 
 like fidelity, " and now he proposes to go away and 
 leave every one here to be massacred ! I cannot 
 believe it." 
 
 The news was, however, well founded ; for when 
 the inhabitants crowded down to the house, the 
 women weeping and wailing, the men sullen and 
 fierce, to beg Josephus to abandon his intention, 
 the governor attempted to argue that it was for the
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. HI 
 
 public good that he should leave them. He might, 
 he said, hurry to Jerusalem and bring an army to 
 the rescue. The people, however, were in no way 
 convinced. 
 
 " If you go," they said, " the Romans will speedily 
 capture the city. We are ready to die all together, 
 to share one common fate, but do not leave us." 
 
 As Josephus saw that if he did not accede to the 
 prayers of the women the men would interfere 
 by force to prevent his carrying out his intentions, 
 he told them he would remain with them, and tran- 
 quillity was at once restored. The men, however, 
 came again and again to him asking to be led out 
 to attack the Romans. 
 
 " Let us die fighting," was the cry ; " let us die 
 among our foes, and not with the agonies of thirst. 5 * 
 
 "We must make them come up to attack us 
 again," Josephus said. "We shall fight to far 
 greater advantage so, than if we sallied out to attack 
 them in their own intrenchments, when we should 
 be shot down by their archers and slingers before 
 ever we should reach them." 
 
 " But how are we to make them attack us ? We 
 want nothing better." 
 
 " I will think it over," Josephus said, " and tell 
 you in 'the morning." 
 
 In the morning, to the surprise of the men, they 
 were ordered to dip large numbers of garments into 
 the precious supply of water, and to hang them on 
 the walls. 
 
 Loud were the outcries of the women as they saw
 
 112 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 the scanty store of water upon which their lives de- 
 pended so wasted ; but the orders were obeyed, and 
 the Romans were astonished at seeing the long line 
 of dripping garments on the wall. 
 
 The stratagem had its effect. Yespasian thought 
 that the news he had received that the place was ill 
 supplied with water must be erroneous, and ordered 
 the troops again to take their station on the walls 
 and renew the attack. Great was the exultation 
 among the Jews when they saw the movement 
 among the troops, and Josephus, ordering the fight- 
 ing men together, said that now was their oppor- 
 tunity. There was no hope of safety in passive 
 resistance, therefore they had best sally out, and if 
 they must die, leave at least a 'glorious example to 
 posterity. 
 
 The proposal was joyfully received, and he placed 
 himself at their head. The gates were suddenly 
 opened, and they poured out to the attack. So 
 furious was their onslaught that the Romans were 
 driven from the embankment. The Jews pursued 
 them, crossed the lines of circumvallation, and 
 attacked the Romans in their camp, tearing up the 
 hides and penthouses behind which the Romans de- 
 fended themselves, and setting fire to the lines in 
 many places. 
 
 The fight raged all day; the Jews then retired to 
 the city, only 10 sally out again the following 
 morning. For three days the attacks were con- 
 tinued, the Jews driving in the Romans each day, 
 and retiring when Yespasian brought up heavy
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 113 
 
 columns, who were unable, from the weight of 
 their armor, to follow their lightly armed assailants. 
 
 Vespasian then ordered the regular troops to re- 
 main in camp, the assaults being repelled by the 
 archers and slingers. Finding that the courage of 
 the Jews was unabated, and that his troops were 
 losing heavily in this irregular fighting, he deter- 
 mined to renew the siege at all hazards and bring 
 the matter to a close. The heavy-armed troops 
 were ordered to be in readiness, and to advance 
 against the walls with the battering-ram. 
 
 This was pushed forward by a great number of 
 men, being covered as it advanced with a great 
 shield constructed of wattles and hides. As it was 
 brought forward, the archers and slingers covered 
 its advance by a shower of missiles against the de- 
 fenders of the wall, while all the war machines 
 poured in their terrible shower. The Jews, unable 
 to show themselves above the battlements, or to 
 oppose the advance of the terrible machine, 
 crouched in shelter until the battering-ram was 
 placed in position. 
 
 Then the ropes by which it swung from the 
 framework overhead was seized by a number of 
 soldiers, and the first blow was delivered at the 
 wall. It quivered beneath the terrible shock, and a 
 cry of dismay arose from the defenders. Again and 
 again the heavy ram struck in the same place. The 
 wall tottered beneath the blows, and would soon 
 have fallen had not Josephus ordered a number of 
 sacks to be filled with straw and let down by ropes
 
 114 FOE THE TEMPLE. 
 
 from the walls, so as to deaden the blows of the 
 ram. 
 
 For a time the Romans ceased work, and then 
 fastening scythes to the ends of long poles cut the 
 ropes. The Jews were unable to show them- 
 selves above the walls, or to interfere with the men 
 at work. In a few minutes the sacks were cut 
 down, and the ram recommenced its work of de- 
 struction.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 THE FALL OF THE CITY. 
 
 THE Eoman soldiers, seeing the wall of Jotapata 
 tremble beneath the blows of the battering-ram, 
 whose iron head pounded to powder the stones 
 against which it struck, redoubled their efforts, 
 when suddenly, from three sally-ports which they 
 had prepared, the Jews burst out, carrying their 
 weapons in their right hands and blazing torches in 
 their left. As on previous occasions, their onslaught 
 was irresistible. They swept the Romans before 
 them, and set fire to the engines, the wattles, and 
 the palisades, and even to the woodwork of the em- 
 bankment. 
 
 The timber had by this time dried, and as bitumen 
 and pitch had been used as cement in the construc- 
 tion of the works, the flames spread with great 
 rapidity, and the work of many days was destroyed 
 in an hour. All the engines and breastworks of the 
 Fifth and Tenth Legions were entirely consumed. 
 Just as the attack began, Eleazar, the son of 
 Sameas, a Galilean, with an immense stone from 
 the wall, struck the iron head of the battering-ram 
 and knocked it off. He then leaped down from
 
 116 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 the wall, seized the iron head, and carried it back 
 into the city. 
 
 He was pierced by five arrows ; still he pressed 
 on and regained the walls, and held up the iron 
 head in the sight of all, and then fell down dead. 
 Such was the spirit with which the Jews were ani- 
 mated ; and the Roman soldiers, trained as they 
 were to conflict among many peoples, were yet 
 astounded by the valor displayed by the race that 
 they had considered as un warlike peasants. But 
 the Romans were not discouraged ; heavy masses of 
 troops were brought up, the Jews were driven with- 
 in their walls, and toward evening the ram was 
 again in position. 
 
 While Vespasian was directing the attack he 
 was struck by a javelin in the heel. The Romans 
 ceased from the attack and crowded round their 
 general ; but as soon as they ascertained that his 
 wound was not serious they returned to the attack 
 with redoubled fury. All that night the contest 
 raged unceasingly. The Roman engines swept the 
 walls with missiles. The towers came crashing 
 down under the blows of the huge stones, while the 
 javelins, arrows, and the stones from the slings 
 created terrible havoc among the defenders of the 
 wall. But as fast as these fell fresh combatants 
 took their places, and they continued burling down 
 stones and blazing brands upon the freshly erected 
 wattles round the battering-ram. 
 
 The Romans had the advantage in this strife ; for, 
 while the fires on the walls, at which the Jews
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 117 
 
 lighted their brands and boiled the pitch and sul- 
 phur in which these were dipped, enabled them to 
 aim accurately, they themselves worked in deep 
 shadow at the foot of the wall. The night was a 
 terrible one ; the bolts, stones, and arrows which 
 passed over the wall spread ruin and death over the 
 town. The din was unceasing. The thundering 
 noise of the great stones ; the dull, deep sound as 
 the ram struck the wall ; the fierce shouts of the 
 combatants as they fought hand to hand for the 
 corpses were in places piled so thick that the assail- 
 ants could mount upon them to the top of the 
 walls the shrieks of the women and the screams of 
 the children, combined in one terrible and confused 
 noise which was echoed back and multiplied by the 
 surrounding mountains. 
 
 Morning was just breaking when the shaken wall 
 gave way and fell w T ith a crash. Yespasian called 
 off his weary troops and allowed them a short time 
 for refreshment ; then he prepared to storm the 
 breach. He brought up first a number of his bravest 
 horsemen dismounted and clad in complete armor. 
 They were provided with long pikes, and were to 
 charge forward the instant the machines for mount- 
 ing the breach were fixed. Behind these were the 
 best of his infantry, while in their rear were the 
 archers and slingers. Other parties with scaling- 
 ladders were to attack the uninjured part of the 
 wall, and to draw off the attention of the besiegers. 
 The rest of the horse extended all over the hills 
 round the town, so that none might make their 
 escape.
 
 118 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Joseph us prepared to receive the attack. He 
 placed the old, infirm, and wounded to repel the 
 attack on the uninjured parts of the wall. He then 
 choss the five strongest and bravest men, and with 
 them took his place to form the front line of the de- 
 fenders of the breach. He told them to kneel down 
 and cover their heads with their bucklers until the 
 enemy's archers had emptied their quivers, and when 
 the Romans had fixed the machines for mounting, 
 they were to leap down among the enemy and fight 
 to the last, remembering that there was now no 
 hope of safety, naught but to revenge the fate 
 which was impending over them, their wives and 
 children. 
 
 As the Romans mounted to^ the assault a terrible 
 cry broke out from the women. They saw the Ro- 
 mans still manning the lines which cut oif all escape, 
 and they believed that the end was now at hand. 
 Josephus, fearing that their cries would dispirit the 
 men, ordered them all to be locked up in their 
 houses, and then calmly awaited the assault. The 
 trumpet of the legion sounded, and the whole Ro- 
 man host set up a terrible shout, while at the same 
 moment the air was darkened by the arrows of their 
 bowmen. Kneeling beneath their bucklers the Je ws 
 remained calm and immovable, and then, before the 
 Romans had time to set foot upon the breach, with 
 a yell of fury they rushed upon them and threw 
 themselves into the midst of their assailants. For 
 a time the Romans could make no way against the 
 desperate courage of the Jews, but as fast as the
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 119 
 
 leading files fell fresh troops took their places, while 
 the Jews, who were vastly reduced by their losses, 
 had no fresh men to take the place of those who 
 died. At last the solid phalanx of the Romans 
 drove back the defenders and entered the breach. 
 
 But as they did so, from the walls above and from 
 the breach in front vessels filled with boiling oil 
 were hurled down upon them. The Roman ranks 
 were broken, and the men in agony rolled on the 
 ground unable to escape the burning fluid which 
 penetrated through the joints of their armor. Those 
 who turned to fly were pierced by the javelins of 
 the Jews, for the Romans carried no defensive armor 
 on their backs, which were never supposed to be 
 turned toward an enemy. 
 
 Fresh troops poured up the breach to take the 
 place of their agonized comrades ; but the Jews 
 threw down upon the planks vessels filled with a 
 sort of vegetable slime. Unable to retain their foot- 
 ing upon the slippery surface the Romans fell upon 
 each other in heaps. Those rolling down carried 
 others with them, and a terrible confusion ensued, 
 the Jews never ceasing to pour their missiles upon 
 them. When evening came Vespasian called off his 
 men. He saw that to overcome the desperate re- 
 sistance of the defenders fresh steps must be taken 
 before the assault was repeated, and he, accordingly, 
 gave orders that the embankment should be raised 
 much higher than before, and that upon it three 
 towers, each fifty feet high and strongly girded 
 with iron, should be built.
 
 120 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 This great work was carried out in spite of the 
 efforts of the besieged. In the towers Vespasian 
 placed his javelin men, archers, and light machines, 
 and as these now looked down upon the wall they 
 were enabled to keep up such a fire upon it that 
 the Jews could no longer maintain their footing, 
 but contented themselves with lying behind it and 
 making desperate sallies whenever they saw any 
 parties of Romans approaching the breach. 
 
 In the mean time a terrible calamity had befallen 
 the neighboring town of Japha. Emboldened by 
 the vigorous defense of Jotapata it had closed its 
 gates to the Romans. Yespasian sent Trajan with 
 two thousand foot and a thousand horse against it. 
 The city was strongly situated and surrounded by 
 a double wall. Instead of wa'iting to be attacked 
 the people sallied out and fell upon the Romans. 
 They were, however, beaten back, and the Romans, 
 pressing on their heels, entered with them through 
 the gates of the outside walls. The defenders of 
 the gates through the inner walls, fearing that these 
 too would be carried by the mob, closed them, and 
 all those who had sallied out were butchered by the 
 Romans. 
 
 Trajan, seeing that the garrison must now be 
 weak, sent to Vespasian and asked him to send his 
 son to complete the victory. Titus soon arrived 
 with a thousand foot and five hundred horse, and 
 at once assaulted the inner walls. The defense was 
 feeble. The Romans effected their entry, but inside 
 the town a desperate conflict took place, the in-
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 121 
 
 habitants defending every street with the energy of 
 despair, while the women aided their efforts by 
 hurling down stones and missiles from the roofs. 
 The battle lasted six hours, when all who could 
 bear arms were slain ; the rest of the male popula- 
 tion were put to death, the women taken as slaves. 
 
 In all, fifteen thousand were killed, two thousand 
 one hundred and thirty taken prisoners. In another 
 direction a heavy blow had also been struck by the 
 Romans. The Samaritans had not openly joined 
 the revolt, but had gathered in great force on 
 Mount Gerizim. Cerealis was sent by Yespasian 
 with three thousand infantry and six hundred 
 horse against them. He surrounded the foot of the 
 mountain, and abstained rom an assault until the 
 Samaritans were weakened by thirst, many dying 
 from want of water. Cerealis then mounted the 
 hill, and sent to them to throw down their arms. 
 On their refusal he charged them from all sides, 
 and put every soul in number eleven thousand six 
 hundred to the sword. 
 
 The situation of the defenders of Jotapata was 
 now pitiable ; indeed scarce a man but had received 
 wounds, more or less severe, in the desperate com- 
 bats. All were utterly worn out with fatigue, for 
 they were under arms day and night in readiness 
 to repel the expected attack. Numbers of the 
 women and children had died of thirst and terror. 
 Save the armed men lying in groups near the foot 
 of the wall in readiness to repel an assault, scarce a 
 soul was to be seen in the lately crowded streets.
 
 122 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 The houses were now ample to contain the vastly 
 diminished number. Here the women and children 
 crouched in utter prostration. The power of suffer- 
 ing was almost gone ; few cared how soon the end 
 came. 
 
 The siege had now continued for forty-seven days, 
 and the Roman army, strong in numbers, in dis- 
 cipline, and in arms, and commanded by one of its 
 best generals, had yet failed to capture the little 
 town which they had expected to take within a few 
 hours of their appearance before it, and so fierce 
 was the valor of the besieged that Yespasian did 
 not venture to order his legions forward to renew 
 the assault. But now a deserter informed him that 
 the garrison was greatly exhausted, that the men 
 on guard could not keep awake, and that the 
 breach could be carried at night by a sudden 
 assault. 
 
 Vespasian prepared for the assault, which was to 
 take place at daybreak. A thick mist enveloped 
 the town, and the sleeping sentries were not aroused 
 by the silent steps of the approaching Romans. 
 Titus was the first to enter the breach, followed by 
 a small number of troops. These killed the sleep- 
 ing guards, and the main body of the Romans then 
 poured in. Before the Jews were conscious of 
 their danger the whole of the Roman army was 
 upon them. 
 
 Then the slaughter commenced. Many of the 
 Jews killed each other rather than fall into the 
 hands of the Romans, many threw themselves over
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 123 
 
 the precipices, numbers took refuge in the deep 
 caverns under the city. That day all in the streets 
 or houses were killed ; the next, the Romans 
 searched the caverns and underground passages, 
 slaughtering all the men and boys, and sparing none 
 but infants and women. 
 
 During the siege and capture forty thousand men 
 fell. Only twelve hundred women and children 
 were spared. So complete was the surprise, and so 
 unresistingly did the Jews submit to slaughter, that 
 only one Roman was killed. This was Antoninus, 
 a centurion. He came upon a Jew in a deep 
 cavern, and told him he would spare his life if he 
 would surrender. The Jew asked him to give him 
 his hand as a pledge of his faith, and to help him 
 out of the cave. Antoninus did so, and the Jew at 
 once ran him through with a spear. 
 
 John was asleep when the Romans entered. He 
 was aroused by Jonas rushing into the room. The 
 boy was at all times restless, and suffered less than 
 most of those within the walls, for there was an 
 abundance of grain up to the end of the siege, and 
 until the Romans had discovered the way down to 
 the water he had not suffered in any way from 
 thirst. He was considered too young to take part 
 in the actual fighting, but had labored with the rest 
 in repairing the defenses, carrying food to men 
 on the walls, and carrying away the dead and 
 wounded. 
 
 " Get up, John !" he exclaimed. " In the mist I 
 have just run upon a mass of Roman soldiers ranged
 
 124 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 in order. The town is taken. Quick, before they 
 scatter and begin to slay !" 
 
 John caught up his sword and ran out. Just as 
 he did so a terrible shout was heard, followed by 
 shrieks and cries. The work of butchery had 
 begun. 
 
 John's plans had been laid for some time. At 
 night Jonas had frequently descended to the ledge, 
 taking with him food and jars of the water he 
 brought up from below, and once or twice John 
 had descended, Jonas fastening a rope round his 
 body and lowering it gradually, for, active as he 
 was, John could not get down without such assist- 
 ance. Indeed, to any one who looked casually 
 over the top the descent appeared absolutely im- 
 possible. 
 
 At the top of their speed the lads ran to the spot 
 at which the descent had to be made. The rope 
 was hidden close at hand. John slipped the noose 
 at the end over his shoulders, Jonas twisted the 
 rope once round a stunted tree which grew close by, 
 and allowed it to go out gradually. As soon as the 
 strain upon it ceased, and he knew John was upon 
 the ledge, he loosened the rope and dropped the 
 end over, and then began himself to descend, his 
 bare feet and hands clinging to every inequality, 
 however slight, in the rock. He presently stood 
 by the side of John. The latter had coiled up the 
 rope and laid it by him, and had then thrown him- 
 self down and was sobbing bitterly. Jonas sat 
 down quietly beside him till he had recovered his 
 composure.
 
 : FOR TEE TEMPLE. 125 
 
 " It is no use fretting," he said philosophically. 
 " There's no one you care about particularly up 
 there, and I am sure there's no one I care about ; 
 only I should like to have peeped in and have seen 
 her face when the Romans burst open the door. I 
 don't suppose she was very sorry, though, for it will 
 be better to be a Roman slave than to be going 
 through what they have been for the last month." 
 
 " It is horrible !" John said, " horrible ! How- 
 ever, Jonas, let us thank God for having thus pre- 
 served our lives when all besides are in such terrible 
 danger of death." 
 
 For a time the two lads sat silent. John was the 
 first to speak. 
 
 " I am thankful," he said, u that owing to our 
 being down the face of the rock the sound is carried 
 away above our heads and we can hear but little of 
 what is going on there. It seems a confusion of 
 sounds, and comes to us rather as an echo from the 
 hills yonder than directly from above." 
 
 Sometimes, indeed, thrilling screams and shouts 
 were heard, but for the most part the sounds were 
 so blended together that they could not be distin- 
 guished one from another. As soon as the mist 
 cleared off the lads lay down as far back from the 
 ledge as they could get. 
 
 " "We must not lift up a head to-day," John said ; 
 "the guards below and on the hills will have their 
 eyes fixed on the rock on the lookout for fugitives, 
 and until night-time we must not venture to sit up. 
 Fortunately that outer edge of the shelf is a good
 
 126 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 deal higher than it is back here, and I don't think 
 that even those on the mountain opposite could see 
 us as we lie." 
 
 " I should think a good many may escape like 
 us," Jonas said presently ; " there are numbers of 
 caverns and passages from which they have dug the 
 stone for the building of the houses. A lot of the 
 people are sure to hide away there." 
 
 " 1 dare say they will," John agreed ; " but I fear 
 the Eomans will hunt them all out." 
 
 " How long do you think we shall have to stay 
 here, John ?" 
 
 " Till the Romans go, whether it is one week or 
 two ; but I do not think they will stay here many 
 days. The town is so full of dead that in this hot 
 weather it will be unbearable before long. At 
 any rate we shall be able to pass a good deal of 
 time in sleep. We have not had much of it lately. 
 Till last night I have not been in the house at night 
 for over a fortnight. But I felt last night as if I 
 must have a sleep whatever came of it. I suppose 
 the guards at the breach must have felt the same, 
 or the Romans could never have got in without the 
 alarm being given." 
 
 For a few minutes John \&y thinking of the 
 terrible scenes that must be passing on the rock 
 above, then his drowsiness overcame him and he 
 was soon fast asleep. It was dark when he woke ; 
 as he moved, Jonas spoke. 
 
 " Are you awake, John ? because if you are, let 
 us have something to eat. I have been awake the
 
 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 127 
 
 last four hours, and I have been wishing you would 
 stir." 
 
 " There was no occasion to wait for my waking, 
 Jonas ; there are the grain and the water close at 
 hand, and no cooking is required." 
 
 " I wasn't going to eat till you woke, if it had 
 been all night," Jonas said ; " still I am glad you 
 are awake ; they are quiet now up above, and I 
 have heard the Eoman trumpets sounding. I 
 expect that most of them have marched back to 
 their camp." 
 
 The next day passed like the first. Occasionally 
 cries of agony were heard ; sometimes bodies were 
 hurled from the top of the rock but a short distance 
 from where they were lying. 
 
 The next two days passed more quietly, but 
 upon that following, a murmur, as of a multitude of 
 men working, was heard. From time to time there 
 were heavy crashes as masses of stones, hurled down 
 the precipice, struck against its face as they fell, 
 and then bounded far out beyond the stream at its 
 foot. All these sounds were echoed back by the 
 surrounding hills until it seemed as if a storm was 
 raging far away in the heart of the mountains. 
 
 "They are destroying the town," John said, in 
 answer to his companion's question as to the cause 
 of the uproar. " That is the best thing possible for 
 us. Had it remained standing they might have left 
 a garrison here to prevent our people reoccupying 
 it. If they destroy it, it is a sign that they intend 
 to march away altogether."
 
 128 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Several times Jonas wished to climb up at night 
 to ascertain what was going on, but John would 
 not hear of it. 
 
 " There is nothing to find out, Jonas. We know 
 what they did at Gadara, where they slew all the 
 males and carried off all the women, although no 
 resistance was offered. "We may be sure that there 
 will be no more mercy shown at Jotapata, which 
 has affronted the Roman power by keeping their 
 great army at bay , for nearly seven weeks, and 
 whose capture has cost them thousands of men. 
 We know what has happened they have slain 
 every soul, save a few young women who were 
 worth money as slaves. Now they are leveling the 
 town to its foundations. The place that defied them 
 will cease to exist. And yet they talk of Roman 
 magnanimity ! Would we had five thousand fight- 
 ing men hidden here with us ; we would climb 
 then, Jonas, and fall upon them in the night and 
 take mighty vengeance for the woes they have in- 
 flicted. But, being alone, we will remain here till 
 we have reason to believe that the last Roman has 
 left. Did one of them catch sight of you our fate 
 would be sealed. They have no boys among them, 
 and the slightest glimpse of your figure would be 
 enough to tell them that you were a Jew who had 
 been in hiding, and in their fear that one man 
 should escape their vengeance they would hunt you 
 down as a pack of wolves might hunt down a 
 solitary lamb." 
 
 " They could never get down here, John."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 129 
 
 "Not by the way you came; but they would 
 lower a cage full of armed men from above, and 
 slay us without pity." 
 
 " But if I were found out, John, I would not lead 
 them here. I would throw myself over the preci- 
 pice rather than that risk should come to you !" 
 
 " But I don't want you to throw yourself over 
 the precipice, Jonas, I want to keep you with me : 
 in the first place, because we are great friends now ; 
 in the second, because if you were killed I might as 
 well throw myself over at once, for I do not think 
 I could ever climb up this rock without your assist- 
 ance." 
 
 " It is much easier going up than coming down, 
 John." 
 
 " That may be, and indeed I have no doubt it is 
 so, but I would rather not put the matter to the 
 test. No ; we have provision and water here 
 enough to last us for ten days, and until they are 
 consumed it were best not to stir from here." 
 
 Four days later, however, they heard the sound 
 of the Roman trumpets, and on raising their heads 
 carefully a few inches saw that the guards on the 
 opposite hills had all been withdrawn. Having now 
 less fear of being seen, they raised their heads still 
 further and looked up the valley to the great camp 
 on the hillside, where at night they had seen the 
 fires of the Eomans blazing high. 
 
 " They are going !" Jonas exclaimed joyously. 
 " Look at the sun sparkling on the long lines of 
 arms and armor. Not a sound is to be heard
 
 130 fOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 above the work is done. They are about to march 
 away." 
 
 " Do not let us expose ourselves further," John 
 said ; " it may be that they have left a few watch- 
 ers to see if any who have eluded their search may 
 show themselves believing that they have gone. I 
 have no doubt they are going, and by to-morrow it 
 will be safe for us to move." 
 
 All day they heard the sound of trumpets, for the 
 great host took a long time getting into motion, 
 but gradually the sound grew fainter and fainter 
 as the rear-guard of the army took the road which 
 they had cut through the mountains eight weeks 
 before. 
 
 That night when darkness fell, and the two lads 
 sat up on their ledge and looked round, not a light 
 was to be seen and not a sound broke the silence of 
 the night. 
 
 " At daybreak to-morrow, Jonas, as soon as it 
 becomes light enough for you to see your way, you 
 shall go up and look round : they may have left a 
 guard behind, but I should hardly think so. After 
 the wholesale slaughter at Gadara and here the 
 hatred of the Romans will be so intense that, confi- 
 dent as they are in their arms and discipilne, they 
 would hardly venture to leave a small body of men 
 in the heart of these mountains." 
 
 As soon as it was daylight Jonas prepared to 
 climb up to the plateau above. He took with him 
 the rope, arranging that if he found that the place 
 was absolutely deserted he would lower one end to
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 131 
 
 John and fasten the other to the tree above, and 
 that he would then aid John as much as his strength 
 would permit in making his way up the rock. 
 
 John watched his companion making his way up, 
 and observed exactly where he placed his feet and 
 hands until he was out of sight ; then he waited. 
 In about a quarter of an hour the end of the rope 
 fell in front of him. He fastened it securely under 
 his arms, and then, taking off his sandals, began the 
 ascent. It was not so difficult as it had looked, and 
 the steady strain which Jonas kept on the rope 
 from above aided him and gave him confidence. 
 In three or four minutes he gained the top of the 
 rock. 
 
 " There is not a soul to be seen," Jonas said ; " the 
 town has gone, and the people, and the Romans. 
 All is desolation 1" 
 
 The scene was indeed changed since John had 
 last looked upon it. Not a wall in the so lately 
 busy little town had been left standing. The whole 
 area was covered three or four feet deep with a 
 chaos of stones, mortar, and beams, forming a great 
 grave, below which lay the bodies of forty thousand 
 of the defenders of the place. The walls so bravely 
 defended had disappeared, and the embankment 
 whose erection had cost the Romans so much labor 
 and bloodshed had been destroyed by fire. A dead 
 silence hung over the place, and the air was tainted 
 with a terrible odor of corruption. 
 
 The desolation and solitude of the scene over- 
 powered John, and he sat down on a fragment of
 
 132 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 masonry and wept unrestrainedly for some time. 
 He roused himself at last as Jonas touched him. 
 
 " I shall go down again and get what grain there 
 is left," the boy said. " There is no chance of find- 
 ing anything to eat within a day's march of here. 
 The Roman horse will have destroyed every village 
 within a wide circuit." 
 
 " But I cannot let you go down again, Jonas ; the 
 danger is too great." 
 
 "But I have been up and down lots of times," 
 Jonas said. 
 
 " That may be, Jonas ; but you might be dashed 
 to pieces this time." 
 
 " "Well, if you like I will fasten the rope round 
 me ; then if I should slip I shall be safe." 
 
 John consented with some reluctance, but he was 
 so nervous and shaken that he walked some distance 
 away, and did not turn round until he heard Jonas' 
 footsteps again approaching him. 
 
 " Now we can start," the boy said. " We have 
 got grain here enough for three days, and to-night 
 we will crush it and cook it. I have had enough of 
 eating raw grain for a long time to come." 
 
 The boy's cheerfulness restored the tone of John's 
 nerves, and making their way with some difficulty 
 over the chaos of stone and timber until they 
 arrived at the pile of charred timber which marked 
 the spot where the Roman embankment had stood, 
 they stepped out briskly, descended the hill, crossed 
 the deserted lines of circumvallation, and then 
 began to ascend the mountains, which had for some
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 133 
 
 distance been stripped of their timber for the 
 purposes of the siege. In another hour's walking 
 they reached the forest, and pressed on until the 
 afternoon. Not that there was any need for speed 
 now, but John felt a longing to place as wide a gap 
 as possible between himself and the great charnel- 
 ground which alone marked the spot where Jota- 
 pata had stood. 
 
 At length Jonas urged the necessity for a halt 
 for rest and food. They chose a spot at the foot of 
 a great tree, and then set to work to collect a store 
 of firewood. John took out the box of tinder, 
 which in those days every one carried about with 
 him, and a fire was soon lighted. Jonas then 
 looked for two large flat stones, and set to work to 
 grind some grain. 
 
 The halting-place had been chosen from the 
 vicinity of a little spring which rose a few yards 
 distant. With this the pounded grain was mois- 
 tened, and after kneading it up Jonas rolled it in 
 balls and placed them in the hot ashes of the fire. 
 In half an hour they were cooked, and the meal 
 was eaten with something like cheerfulness. 
 Another day's walking brought them to a little 
 village nestled in the forest. Here they were 
 kindly received, though the people scarce believed 
 them when they said that they were survivors of 
 the garrison of Jotapata. The news of the capture 
 of the town and the destruction of its defenders 
 had already spread through the country, and John 
 now learned for the first time the fate which had
 
 134 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 befallen Japha and the Samaritans on Mount 
 Gerizira, events which filled him with consterna- 
 tion. 
 
 The folly of the tactics which had been pursued 
 of cooping all the fighting men up in the walled 
 cities, to be destroyed one after the other by the 
 Romans, was more than ever apparent. He had 
 never from the first been very hopeful of the result 
 of the struggle, but it seemed now as if it could end 
 in nothing but the total destruction of the Jewish 
 race of Palestine. John stayed for two days in the 
 little mountain village, and then, with a store of 
 provisions sufficient to last him for some days, pur- 
 sued his way, following the lines of the Anti-Liba- 
 nus until that range of hills joined the range of 
 Mount Hermon north of the sources of the Jordan. 
 
 He had stopped for a day at Dan, high up 
 among the hills. Here the people had no fear of 
 Roman vengeance, for the insurrection had not ex- 
 tended so far north, and the Roman garrison of 
 Csesarea Philippi overawed the plains near the 
 upper waters of the Jordan. Determined, how- 
 ever, to run no unnecessary risks, John and his 
 companion pursued their way on the lower slopes 
 of the hills, until, after six days' walking, they 
 arrived at Neve. 
 
 Here they learned where the farm of John's 
 kinsman was situated, and made their way thither. 
 As they came up to the house a woman came out, 
 gazed intently at John, and with a scream of terror 
 ran back into the house. It was one of Martha's
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 135 
 
 maids. John stood irresolute, fearing that his sud- 
 den appearance might startle the other inmates, 
 when suddenly Mary appeared at the door, looking 
 pale but resolute. She too gazed fixedly at John, 
 and her lips moved, but no sound came from them. 
 
 " Don't you know me, Mary ?" John said. 
 
 The girl gave a scream of joy and threw herself 
 into his arms. A moment later Martha, followed 
 by Miriam and the other servants, came out. 
 
 <; It is no spirit, mother, it is John himself," Mary 
 exclaimed, and the next moment John was clasped 
 in his mother's arms. 
 
 It was not surprising that the first who saw John 
 had thought that he was a spirit. The news had 
 already been received that the whole of the garri- 
 son of Jotapata had been put to the sword, and 
 John's appearance was changed so greatly within 
 the last three months that he would scarce have 
 been known. Fatigue, anxiety, and the loss of 
 blood from several wounds which he had received 
 in the course of the siege had so pulled him down 
 that he was but a shadow of his former self. His 
 clothes were in rags. He had washed them, at the 
 village where he had first stopped, for before that 
 they had been stiffened with blood, and even now, 
 stained and ragged as they were, they gave him the 
 appearance of a mendicant. Jonas had held back 
 a little while the first joyful greeting was going on, 
 but John soon turned to him. 
 
 " Mother," he said, " this must be as another son 
 to you, for, next to the protection of God, it is te
 
 186 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 him I owe ray life." Martha welcomed the young 
 stranger affectionately. 
 
 " Before you tell us aught that has befallen you, 
 John, go and change your garments and wash, 
 while we prepare a meal for you. The clothes of 
 your uncle's son Silas, who is about your age, will 
 fit you, and those of his younger brother will do 
 for your friend." 
 
 " Was the last news of my father good ?" John 
 asked. 
 
 " Yes, the Lord be praised, he was well when he 
 heard of him a week since." 
 
 The travelers were at once conducted to a room 
 and supplied with water and clean garments. By 
 the time they had changed and returned to the 
 general room John's uncle and cousin had been 
 fetched in from the farm, and he received another 
 hearty welcome. 
 
 It almost seemed to him, as he sat down to a 
 comfortable meal with Mary and his mother wait- 
 ing upon him, that the events of the past two 
 months had been a hideous dream, and that he had 
 never left his comfortable home on the shore of the 
 Lake of Galilee. As to Jonas, unaccustomed to 
 kind treatment or to luxury of any kind, he was too 
 confused to utter a word. When the meal was 
 over John was asked to tell his news, and he 
 related all the stirring incidents of the siege, and 
 the manner in which he and his companion had 
 effected his escape. 
 
 " We are, no doubt," he concluded, " the solq 
 male survivors of the siege."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE, 137 
 
 " Not so, ray son," Martha said. " There is a re 
 port that Josephus has survived the siege, and that 
 he is a prisoner in the hands of the Romans." 
 
 " It may be that they have spared him to grace 
 Vespasian's triumph at Eome," John said. " It is 
 their custom, I believe, to carry the generals they 
 may take in war to Rome to be slain there." 
 
 It was not until some time afterward that John 
 learned the particulars of the capture of Josephus. 
 When he saw that all was lost, Josephus had leaped 
 down the shaft of a dry well, from the bottom of 
 which a long cavern led off, entirely concealed 
 from the sight of those above. Here he found forty 
 of the leading citizens, who had laid in a store of 
 food sufficient to last for many days. Josephus, at 
 least, who gives his account of all these circum- 
 stances, says that he quite unexpectedly found these 
 forty citizens in hiding there ; but this is improbale 
 in the extreme, and there can be little doubt that 
 he had long before prepared this refuge with them 
 when he found that the people would not allow 
 them to attempt to make their escape from the 
 city. 
 
 At night Josephus came up from the well and 
 tried to make his escape, but finding the Romans 
 everywhere vigilant, he returned to the place of 
 concealment. On the third day a woman, who was 
 aware of the hiding-place, informed the Romans of 
 it, probably in return for a promise of freedom, foi 
 the Romans were searching high and low for Jose 
 phus, who could not, they were convinced, have
 
 138 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 escaped through their lines. Vespasian immediately 
 sent two tribunes, Paulinus and Gallicanus, to in- 
 duce him to surrender by promise of his life. 
 
 Josephus refused to come out, and Vespasian sent 
 another tribune, Nicanor, a personal friend of Jose- 
 phus, to assure him of his safety if he would sur- 
 render. In the account Josephus gives of the trans- 
 action he says that at this moment he suddenly 
 remembered a dream in which it was revealed to 
 him that all these calamities should fall upon the 
 Jews, that he himself should be saved, and that 
 Vespasian should become emperor, and that there- 
 fore if he passed over to the Romans he would do 
 so not as a renegade, but in obedience to the voice 
 of God. 
 
 It was certainly a happy coincidence that the 
 dream should have occurred to him at this moment. 
 He at once announced his readiness to surrender, 
 but his forty companions did not see the matter in 
 the same light. The moment Josephus left them 
 the Roman soldiers would throw combustibles down 
 the well and suffocate them if they did not come 
 out and submit to slaughter. 
 
 They urged upon Josephus that he was their 
 leader ; that they had all followed his orders and 
 cast in their lot with his; and that it would be 
 treacherous and base in the extreme for him now 
 to save his life by going over to the Romans, when 
 all the inferior people had slain themselves or had 
 submitted to slaughter rather than beg their lives 
 of the Romans. Josephus argued with them at
 
 FOB THE TEMPLE. 139 
 
 length, but they were not convinced, and drawing 
 their swords, threatened to kill him if he tried to 
 leave them. They would all die together, they 
 said. Josephus then proposed that, in order to 
 avoid the sin of suicide, they should draw lots 
 which should kill each other. To this they 
 assented ; and they continued to draw lots as to 
 which should slay the other until only Josephus 
 and one other remained alive. 
 
 This is the story that Josephus tells. He was, of 
 course, endeavoring to put his own case in the best 
 light, and to endeavor to prove that he was not, as 
 the Jews universally regarded him, a traitor to his 
 country. It need hardly be said that the story is 
 improbable in the extreme, and that had any one of 
 the forty men survived and written the history he 
 would probably have told a very different tale. The 
 conduct of Josephus from the first outbreak of the 
 trouble showed that he was entirely adverse to the 
 rising against the Eomans. He himself, having 
 been to Rome, had seen her power and might, and 
 had been received with great favor by Poppsea, the 
 wife of Nero, and had made many friends there. 
 
 He had, therefore, at the outset opposed as far as 
 he was able, without going so far as to throw sus- 
 picion on his patriotism, the rebellion against the 
 Romans. During the events in Galilee he had 
 shown himself anxious to keep in favor with the 
 Romans. He had rebuked those who had attacked 
 the soldiers traveling as an escort with a large 
 amount of treasure belonging to KingAgrippa, and
 
 140 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 would have sent back the spoils taken had not the 
 people risen against it. He affected great indig- 
 nation at the plunder of Agrippa's palace at Tibe- 
 rias, and, gathering all he could of the spoils, had 
 handed them over to the care of the chief of 
 Agrippa's friends there. 
 
 He had protected the two officers of Agrippa 
 whom the Jews would have killed, had released and 
 sent them back to the king ; and when John of 
 Gischala wished to carry off large quantities of 
 grain stored by the Romans in Upper Galilee, 
 Josephus refused to allow him to do so, saying that 
 it should be kept for its owners. It is almost 
 certain that Josephus must in some way have 
 entered into communication with the Romans ; for 
 how otherwise could he, with the principal in- 
 habitants, have proposed to make their escape when 
 every avenue was closed ? Josephus was a man of 
 great talent and energy, full of resources, and of 
 great personal bravery at least if his own account 
 of his conduct during the siege is to be believed. 
 But no one can read his labored excuses for his own 
 conduct without feeling sure that he had all along 
 been in correspondence with the Romans, and that 
 he had beforehand been assured that his life should 
 be spared. 
 
 He had from the first despaired of successful 
 resistance to the Romans ; and his conduct in throw- 
 ing himself, at the last moment, into a town about 
 to be besieged, and, as he must have known, cap- 
 tured for the want of water alone rendered its fall
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 141 
 
 a mere question of time when his presence and 
 leadership were so urgently required among the 
 people to whose command he had been appointed, 
 seems to prove that he wished to fall into their 
 hands. It would not be just to brand Josephus as a 
 traitor. He had done his best to induce the 
 Galileans to form themselves into an army and to 
 defend the province ; and it was only when that 
 army dispersed at the approach of the Romans that 
 he went to Jotapata. It was his leadership that 
 enabled that city to continue its heroic defense. It 
 cannot therefore be said that Josephus in any way 
 betrayed the trust confided to him by the council 
 at Jerusalem. But the conclusion can hardly be 
 avoided, that from the first, foreseeing that utter 
 ruin and destruction would fall upon the Jews, he 
 had set himself to work to prepare a way of pardon 
 and escape for himself, and that he thought a 
 position of honor among the Romans vastly prefer- 
 able to an unknown grave among the mountains of 
 Galilee. 
 
 Upon being taken out of the well Josephus was 
 taken to Yespasian, and in the presence only of the 
 general, his son Titus, and two other officers, an- 
 nounced that he was endowed with prophetic pow- 
 ers, and that he was commissioned by God to tell 
 Yespasian that he would become emperor, and that 
 he would be succeeded by his son Titus. The 
 prophecy was one that required no more penetration 
 than for any person in the present day to predict 
 that the most rising man in a great political party
 
 142 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 would one day become prime minister. The em- 
 peror was hated, and it was morally certain that his 
 fall would not long be delayed ; and in that case the 
 most popular general in the Roman army would al- 
 most certainly be chosen to succeed him. 
 
 Yespasian himself was not greatly affected by the 
 prophecy. But Josephus declared that he had all 
 along predicted the success of the Romans, the fall 
 of the town after forty-six days' siege, and his own 
 safety ; and as some of the female captives were 
 brought up, and, on Josephus appealing to them 
 whether this was not so, naturally replied in the 
 affirmative, Josephus says that Vespasian was then 
 satisfied of his prisoner's divine mission, and thence- 
 forth treated him with great honor. 
 
 It is much more easy to believe that an agree- 
 ment already existed between Vespasian and Jose- 
 phus, and that the latter only got up this story to 
 enable him to maintain that he w r as not a traitor to 
 his country, but acting in accordance with the orders 
 of God. Certain it is that no similar act of clem- 
 ency was shown by Vespasian to any other Jew, 
 that no other thought of pity or mercy entered his 
 mind during the campaign, that he spared no man 
 who fell alive into his hands, and that no more ruth- 
 less and wholesale extermination than that which 
 he inflicted upon the people of Palestine was ever 
 carried out by the most barbarous of conquerors. 
 
 To this day the memory of Josephus is hated 
 among the Jews.
 
 FOE THE TEMPLE. 143 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE MASSACRE ON THE LAKE. 
 
 JOHN remained for three weeks at his uncle's. A 
 messenger with the news of his safe arrival there 
 had been sent off to his father, who came up to see 
 him three days later. The formal act of betrothal 
 between John and his cousin took place. Simon 
 and Martha would have been willing that the full 
 ceremony of marriage should take place, and the 
 latter even urged this upon her son. 
 
 " You are now more than seventeen, John, and 
 have taken your place among men, and may well 
 take to yourself a wife. Mary is nigh fifteen, and 
 many maidens marry earlier. You love each other. 
 Why, then, should you not be married ? It would 
 cheer the old age of your father and myself to see 
 our grandchildren growing up around us." 
 
 " Had the times been different,, mother, I would 
 gladly have had it so ; but with the land torn by 
 war, with our brethren being slaughtered every- 
 where, with Jerusalem and the Temple in danger, 
 it is no time for marrying and giving in marriage. 
 Besides, the law says that for a year after marriage a 
 man shall not go to the war or journey upon business,
 
 r 
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 but shall remain at home quiet with his wife. I 
 could not do that now. Did the news come to- 
 morrow that the Romans were marching upon Je- 
 rusalem, assuredly I should do my duty and take up 
 arms and go to the defense of the Holy City ; and 
 maybe Mary would be left a widow before the days 
 of rejoicing for the marriage were over. 
 
 "No, mother; the life of no man who can wield 
 a weapon is his own at present. The defense of 
 the Temple is the first and greatest of duties. If I 
 fall there you will adopt Mary as your child and 
 marry her to some one who will take my place and 
 be a son to you. Mary will grieve for me, doubt- 
 less, for a time, but it will be the grief of a sister 
 for a brother, not that of a wife for her husband ; 
 and in time she will marry the man to whom you 
 shall give her and will be happy. Even for myself 
 1 would rather that it were so left. I shall feel 
 more free from cares and responsibilities; and 
 though, if you and my father lay your orders upon 
 me, I shall of course obey them, I pray you that 
 in this matter you will suffer me to have my 
 way." 
 
 Martha talked the matter over with her husband, 
 and they agreed that John's wishes should be 
 carried out, and that the marriage should be post- 
 poned until the troubles were over. Neither of 
 them believed that John would fall in the struggle. 
 They regarded his escape from Jotapata as well- 
 nigh miraculous, and felt assured that God, having 
 specially protected him through such great danger, 
 would continue to do so to the end.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 145 
 
 Contrary to expectation, Yespasian had not fol- 
 lowed up his success at Jotapata by a march against 
 Jerusalem. His army had suffered very heavy 
 losses in the siege, and the desperate valor which 
 the defenders of the town had shown had doubtless 
 impressed upon his mind the formidable nature of 
 the task he had undertaken. If a little mountain 
 town had cost him so dearly, what would not be 
 the loss which would be entailed by the capture of 
 a city like Jerusalem, with its position of vast 
 natural strength its solid and massive fortifica- 
 tions, and defended as it would be by the whole 
 strength of the Jewish nation fighting with the fury 
 of religious fanaticism and despair ! 
 
 His army, strong as it was, would doubtless cap- 
 ture the city, but at such a cost that it might be 
 crippled for further action, and Yespasian was 
 keeping one eye upon Rome, and wished to have 
 his army complete and in perfect order in readiness 
 for anything that might occur there. Therefore, 
 after the fall of Jotapata he marched first to 
 Caesarea, and after a short halt there passed north 
 to Csesarea Philippi, where the climate, cooled by 
 the breezes from the mountains, was pleasant and 
 healthful, and here he gave the army twenty days 
 to rest and recover from their wounds and fatigues. 
 He then marched south again to Scythopolis, or 
 Bethsan, lying just within the borders of Samaria 
 and not far from the Jordan. Here Titus with a 
 detached force joined him, and they prepared to 
 reduce the cities near the lake.
 
 146 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Simon had by this time returned home accom- 
 panied by John and Jonas. Simon tried to per- 
 suade his son to remain with his mother, but John 
 had entreated that he might accompany him. 
 
 " The war may last for a long time, father, and 
 the land must be tilled, else why should you your- 
 self return home ? We are in the province of King 
 Agrippa, and after what has befallen Jotapata and 
 Japha it is not likely that the people of Hippos or 
 of other towns will venture to show disaffection 
 therefore there is no reason why the Komans should 
 carry fire and sword through Agrippa's country 
 east of Jordan. It is well that my mother and 
 Mary should not return, for if evil days should 
 come they could not save themselves by rapid 
 flight ; besides we risk but death, and death were a 
 thousand times better than slavery among the 
 Romans. If we find that they are approaching and 
 are wasting the land, we can fly. The boats are 
 close by, and we can take to the lake and land 
 where we will and make our way back here." 
 
 " And you will not seek, John, when the Romans 
 approach, to enter Tiberias or Gamala, or any other 
 cities that may hold out against the Romans ?" 
 
 " No, father. I have had my share of defending 
 a walled city, and save for Jerusalem I will fight 
 no more in cities. All these places must fall sooner 
 or later if the Romans sit down before them. I 
 will not be cooped up again. If any leader arises 
 and draws together a band in the mountains to 
 harass and attack the Romans I will join him, for
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 147 
 
 it has always seemed to me that in that way only 
 can we fight successfully against them ; but if not, 
 I will aid you in the labors of the farm until the 
 Romans march against Jerusalem." 
 
 Simon yielded to his son's wishes, for the events 
 of the last year had aged him much and he felt the 
 need of assistance on the farm. The men who had 
 worked for him had, save Isaac and one or two of 
 the older men, gone away to Jerusalem or to 
 Gamala, or one or other of the fortified towns. 
 The time for the harvest was at hand and there 
 would be few to gather it in, Martha would fain 
 have accompanied them, but Simon would not hear 
 of this. 
 
 " You are in a safe refuge here, wife, and rather 
 than that you should leave it I would abandon our 
 farm altogether. If you come, Mary and the 
 women must come also, and even for us men the 
 danger would be greater than were we alone." 
 
 Mary also tried her power of persuasion, but 
 Simon was not to be moved, and the three set off 
 together, for Jonas as a matter of course accom- 
 panied John wherever he went. The three weeks' 
 kindness, rest, and good feeding had done wonders 
 for him. The wild, reckless expression which John 
 had noticed when he had first met him had well- 
 nigh disappeared, his bones had become better cov- 
 ered and his cheeks filled out, and comfortably 
 clothed as he now was few would have recognized 
 in him the wild goatherd of Jotapata.
 
 148 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Simon was mounted on a donkey, the others 
 walked. 
 
 " It is well that I am off again," Jonas said ; " an- 
 other month there and I should have got fat and 
 lazy, and should have almost forgotten how to run 
 and climb, and should have grown like the dwellers 
 on the plains." 
 
 " There will be plenty of work for you on the 
 farm, Jonas," Simon said ; " you need not be afraid 
 of growing fat and lazy there." 
 
 " I don't think I am fond of work," Jonas said 
 thoughtfully, " not of steady work, but I will work 
 hard now, Simon ; you have all been so good to me 
 that I would work till I dropped for you. I 
 wouldn't have worked before, cot if they had beaten 
 me ever so much, because they were always unkind 
 to me ; and why should one work for those who do 
 nothing for you but beat and ill-use you ?" 
 
 " You should always do your duty, Jonas," Simon 
 said. u If others do not do their duty to you, so 
 much the worse for them ; but that is no excuse for 
 your not doing your duty as far as you can." 
 
 Jonas, being a little behind Simon, made a little 
 face expressive of his disagreement with this opin- 
 ion, but he said nothing. They followed the course 
 of the ,'iver Hieromax down to Capitolias, where 
 they slept that night in the house of some friends 
 of Simon, and on the following evening arrived at 
 the farm. John received a hearty greeting from 
 Isaac and the other men, and several of the fisher- 
 men, when they heard of his return, came in to see 
 him.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 149 
 
 For the next fortnight John and Jonas worked 
 from daylight till dark, and by the end of that time 
 the greater part of the corn was gathered in the 
 granary ; a portion was stored away in a deep pit, 
 straw being laid over it when the hole was nearly 
 full, and earth being thrown in level to the surface, 
 so that should the Romans come and sack the gran- 
 ary there should still remain a store which would 
 carry them on until the next harvest. Then the 
 news came from across the lake that the Romans 
 were breaking up their camp at Scythopolis and 
 were moving toward Tiberias. 
 
 No resistance was expected to be offered there. 
 The greater part of the inhabitants had all along 
 been well affected to the Romans, and had only 
 been compelled by a small faction in the city and 
 by the fear of the country people of Galilee to join 
 in the insurrection. It was, too, the richest city in 
 the dominions of King Agrippa, for although these 
 lay for the most part east of Jordan the towns of 
 Tiberias and Tarichea were included in them. 
 Tiberias was, in fact, his chief city. 
 
 Here he had his richest palace, and the city, 
 which greatly benefited by being the seat of his 
 government, was Roman rather than Jewish in its 
 hopes and feelings. So confident was Vespasian 
 that no resistance would be offered, that when he 
 arrived within half a mile of the town he sent for- 
 ward an officer with fifty horse to exhort the peo- 
 ple to open their gates. 
 
 When he got near the town the officer dismounted
 
 150 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 and went forward to speak, when a party of the 
 war faction, headed by Jesus the son of Shaphat, 
 charged out upon him. The officer, having had no 
 orders to fight the Jews, fled on foot with five of 
 his men who had also dismounted. Their assailants 
 seized the horses and carried them in triumph into 
 the city. The senate of Tiberias at once issued out 
 from the city and hurried to the camp of Yespasian, 
 and implored him not to visit the crime of a small 
 body of desperate men upon the whole city, whose 
 inhabitants had always been favorably disposed to- 
 ward Rome. Agrippa added his entreaties to theirs, 
 and Vespasian, who had just given orders for the 
 troops to advance to storm and sack the city, re- 
 called them. The insurgents v under Jesus fled to 
 Tarichea, and the gates being opened the Romans 
 entered Tiberias, Vespasian issuing strict orders 
 against plundering and the ill-treatment of the in- 
 habitants. 
 
 At Tarichea were assembled not only the insur- 
 gents from Tiberias, but fighting men from all the 
 towns on the lake and from the country on the 
 east. The city had been carefully fortified by 
 Josephus, and as the inhabitants had a very large 
 number of vessels in the port, they relied upon these 
 for escape in case the town should be reduced to 
 extremities. No sooner did the Romans appear be- 
 fore their walls and begin to lay out their siege 
 works than the Tiberians and others under the com- 
 mand of Jesus sallied out and dispersed the work- 
 men.
 
 FOB THE TEMPLE. 151 
 
 When the Roman troops advanced in regular 
 order some of the Jews retired into the city ; others 
 made for their boats, which were ranged along on 
 the shore, and in these, putting out a little distance, 
 they cast anchor and opened fire with their missiles 
 upon the Romans. 
 
 In the mean time a large number of Jews had just 
 arrived from the further side of Jordan. Vespasian 
 sent Titus with six hundred chosen horse to dis- 
 perse them. The number of the Jews was so large 
 that Titus sent for further succor, and was reen- 
 forced by Trajan with four hundred horse, while 
 Antonius Silo with two thousand archers was sent by 
 Yespasian to the side of a hill opposite the city to 
 open fire thence upon the defenders of the walls and 
 thus prevent them from harassing the Roman horse- 
 men as they advanced. 
 
 The Jews resisted the first charge of the cavalry, 
 but they could not long withstand the long spears 
 and the weight and impetus of the horses, and fled 
 in disorder toward the town. The cavalry pursued 
 and tried to cut them off from it, but although great 
 numbers were slaughtered, the rest by pure weight 
 of numbers broke through and reached the city. A 
 great dissension arose within the walls. The in- 
 habitants of the town, dismayed by the defeat in- 
 flicted by a small number of Romans upon the mul- 
 titude in the field, were unwilling to draw upon 
 themselves the terrible fate which had befallen the 
 towns which had resisted the Romans, and therefore 
 clamored for instant surrender. The strangers,
 
 152 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 great numbers of whom were mountaineers from 
 Peraea, Ammonitis, and the broken country of 
 Mount Galaad and the slopes of Hermon, who knew 
 little of what had been passing in Galilee, were for 
 resistance, and a fray arose in the town. 
 
 The noise of the tumult reached Titus, who called 
 upon his men to seize the moment while the enemy 
 were engaged in civil discord to attack. Then lead- 
 ing his men he dashed on horseback into the lake, 
 passed round the end of the wall, and entered the 
 city. Consternation seized the besieged ; the inhab- 
 itants attempted no resistance, still hoping that their 
 peaceful character would save them from ill-treat- 
 ment, and many allowed themselves to be slaugh- 
 tered unresistingly. Jesus and his followers, how- 
 ever, fought gallantly, striving, but in vain, to make 
 their way down to the ships in the port. Jesus 
 himself and many of his men were killed. Titus 
 opened the gates and sent word to his father that 
 the city was captured, and the Roman army at once 
 entered. 
 
 Vespasian placed a number of his troops in the 
 large vessels in the port, and sent them off to attack 
 those who had first fled to the boats. These were 
 for the most part fishermen from the various towns 
 on the lake. The cavalry were sent all round the 
 lake to cut off and slay those who sought to gain 
 the land. The battle, or rather the slaughter, went 
 on for some time. The fishermen in their light 
 boats could do nothing against the soldiers in the 
 large vessels. These slew them with arrows or
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 153 
 
 javelins from a distance, or ran them down, and 
 killed them as they struggled in the water. Many 
 of the boats were run ashore, but the occupants 
 were slain there by the soldiers on the lookout for 
 them. Altogether six thousand perished in the 
 slaughter. 
 
 In the mean time Vespasian had set up a tribunal 
 in Tarichea. The inhabitants of the town were 
 separated from the strangers. Vespasian himself 
 was, as Josephus said, unwilling to shed more blood, 
 as he had promised when he had entered the city 
 to spare the lives of all, but he yielded to the argu- 
 ments of those who said that the strangers were 
 mountain robbers, the foes of every man. 
 
 Accordingly they were ordered to leave the city 
 by the road to Tiberias. As soon as they had left 
 the town the troops surrounded them, headed by 
 Vespasian in person. Twelve hundred of the aged 
 and helpless he ordered to be slain at once ; six 
 thousand of the most able-bodied he sent to Nero, 
 to be employed on the canal he was digging across 
 the isthmus of Corinth ; thirty thousand four hun- 
 dred were sold as slaves ; and a large number were 
 bestowed upon Agrippa, who also sold them as 
 slaves. This act, after the formal promise of par- 
 don, disgraces the memory of Vespasian even more 
 than the wholesale massacres of the garrisons of the 
 towns which resisted to the last. 
 
 The news of this act of wholesale vengeance 
 spread such terror through the land that the whole 
 of the cities of Galilee at once opened their gates,
 
 154 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 and sent deputations to Yespasian to offer their 
 submission and ask for pardon. Garaala, Gischala, 
 and Itabyrium, a town on Mount Tabor which had 
 been strongly fortified by Josephus, alone held 
 out. Itabyrium lay some ten miles to the west of 
 Tiberias. 
 
 Standing back among the trees at a short distance 
 from the lake, Simon, John, and the workers on the 
 farm watched with horror the slaughter of the 
 fishermen on the lake. None of their neighbors 
 were among those who had gone out to aid in the 
 defense of Tarichea, for Simon had gone among 
 them to dissuade them from launching their boats 
 and joining the flotilla as it proceeded down the 
 lake in the morning. He urged upon them that if 
 they took part in the affair the} 7 would only bring 
 down vengeance upon themselves and their families. 
 
 " There is no lack of men," he said, " in Tiberias 
 and Tarichea. Such aid as you can give would be 
 useless, and whether the cities fall at once, or 
 whether they resist, the vengeance of the Romans 
 will fall upon you. In a few hours their horsemen 
 can ride round the shores of the lake and cut off all 
 who are absent from returning to their homes, and 
 give the villages to fire and sword. Those who can 
 point to their boats drawn up at the side of the lake 
 will be able to give proof to the Romans that they 
 have not taken part against them. So far we have 
 escaped the horrors of war on this side of Jordan. 
 If the strong cities of Galilee cannot resist the 
 Roman arms, what hoDe should we have on this
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 155 
 
 side, where the population is comparatively scanty, 
 and where there are few strong places ? Do not let 
 us provoke the Romans, my friends. If they go up 
 against Jerusalem, let those who will go and die in 
 defense of the Temple, but it would be worse ^han 
 folly to provoke the wrath of the Roman^ by 
 thrusting yourselves into the quarrel here." 
 
 Warmly did the fishermen congratulate them- 
 selves when they saw the combat proceeding 
 on the lake, and when a strong body of Roman 
 horse rode along the shore, leaving parties a6 regular 
 intervals to cut off those who might try an\i land. 
 A body of twenty were posted down by the boats, 
 and two came into the village and demanded food 
 for the party. Simon, when he saw them coming, 
 ordered all the able-bodied men to retire and remain 
 in the olive groves on the slopes at a distance from 
 the lake until the Romans had gone, while he and 
 Isaac and some other old men went clown and met 
 the soldiers. 
 
 " Are any of the people of this place out there on 
 the lake ?" the officer in command of the twenty 
 men asked as Simon and his party, bringing bread, 
 fruit, and wine, came down to the water-side. 
 
 " No, sir," Simon replied ; " we have but eight 
 boats belonging to the village, and they are all 
 there. We are peaceable people, who till the soil 
 and fish the lake, and take no part in the doings of 
 the great towns. We are subjects of King Agrippa, 
 and have no cause for discontent with him." 
 
 " A great many other people have no cause for
 
 156 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 discontent, old man," the officer said, " but they 
 have, nevertheless, risen in rebellion. However, as 
 your boats are here, and your people seem to have 
 taken no part in this matter, I have naught to say 
 against you, especially as your wine is good, and 
 you have brought down plenty of it." 
 
 Simon and his companions withdrew, and, with 
 aching hearts, watched from a distance the massacre 
 upon the lake. The fury, however, produced among 
 the men in the towns and villages on the shore at 
 the sight of the numerous corpses washed ashore 
 was so great that many of the young men left their 
 avocations and started for Gamala, which, relying 
 upon the strength of its position, which was even 
 stronger than that of Jotapata, was resolved to resist 
 to the last. 
 
 Several of the young men of the village, and 
 many from the villages near, were determined to 
 take this course, maddened by the slaughter of 
 many friends and relations. John himself was as 
 furious as any, especially when the news came of 
 the violation of faith at Tarichea, and of the selling 
 of nigh forty thousand men into slavery. 
 
 " Father," he said that evening, " I had thought 
 to stay quietly with you until the Romans advanced 
 against Jerusalem, but I find I cannot do so. The 
 massacre at Jotapata was bad enough, but the 
 slaughter of defenseless men on the lake is worse. 
 I pray you let me go." 
 
 "Would you go into Gamala and die there, 
 John ?" Simon asked. " Better to die at the Temple 
 than to throw away your life here."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 157 
 
 " I do not intend to go into Garaala, father, nor 
 to throw away my life, though I care little for it, 
 except for the sake of you and my mother and 
 Mary ; but I would do something, and I would save 
 the sons of our neighbors and others from the fate 
 that assuredly waits them if they enter Garaala. 
 They know not, as I do, how surely the walls will 
 go down before the Roman engines ; but even did 
 they know it, so determined are they to tight these 
 slayers of our countrymen that they would still go. 
 What I propose to do is to carry out what I have 
 always believed to be the true way of fighting the 
 Romans. I will collect a band, and take to the 
 mountains, and harass them whenever we may find 
 opportunity. I know the young men from our 
 village will follow me if I will lead them, and they 
 will be able to get their friends along the shore to 
 do the like. In that way the danger will not be so 
 great, for in the mountains the Romans would have 
 no chance of overtaking us, while, if we are suc- 
 cessful, many will gather round us, and we may do 
 good service." 
 
 " I will not stay you, John, if you feel that the 
 Lord has called upon you to go ; and, indeed, you 
 may save, as you say, the lives of many of our 
 neighbors, by persuading them to take to the hills 
 with you, instead of shutting themselves up in 
 Gamala. Go down then to the village and talk to 
 them, and see what they say to your plan." 
 
 John had little doubt as to his proposal being 
 accepted by the younger men of the village. The
 
 158 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 fact that he had been chosen as one of the body- 
 guard of Josephus had at once given him impor- 
 tance in the eyes of his neighbors, and that he should 
 have passed through the siege of Jotapata, and had 
 escaped, had caused them to regard him not only as 
 a valiant fighter, but as one under the special pro- 
 tection of God. Since his return scarce an evening 
 had passed without parties coming from one or other 
 of the villages along the shore to hear from his lips 
 the story of the siege. As soon, then, as he went 
 down to the fishing village, and told the young men 
 who had determined to leave for Gamala that he 
 thought badly of such action, but that he intended 
 to raise a band and take to the mountains and 
 harass the Romans, they eagerly agreed to follow 
 him, and to obey his orders. There were eight of 
 them, and John at once made them take on oath of 
 obedience and fellowship, swearing in all things to 
 obey his orders, to be true to each other to death, 
 to be ready to give their lives when called upon for 
 the destruction of the Romans, and never, if they 
 fell into the hands of the enemy, to betray the 
 secrets of the band, whatever might be the tortures 
 to which they were exposed. 
 
 John could have obtained more than eight men 
 in the village, but he would only take quite young 
 men. 
 
 " I want only men who can undergo fatigue and 
 watching, who can climb mountains, and run as fast 
 as the Roman horse can gallop ; besides, for work 
 like this it is necessary that there should be one
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 159 
 
 leader, and that he should be promptly obeyed. If 
 I take older men, they will naturally wish to have 
 a voice in the ordering of things. I have seen 
 enough of military matters to know that, for prompt 
 decision and swift execution, one head, and one 
 head only, is necessary. Besides, we may find diffi- 
 culties in the way of getting food, and at first I 
 wish for only a small band. If success attends us, 
 we shall increase rapidly. Twenty will be quite 
 enough to begin with." 
 
 As soon as the eight young men, of whom all but 
 two were under twenty years old, had taken the 
 oath, they started at once to the villages round. 
 
 " Do each of you gather in two, but no more," 
 John said ; " and let them be those whom you know 
 to be strong and active. Do not bring more, and if 
 four of you bring but one so much the better. If 
 you find many more eager to join, you can tell them 
 that we will send for them when the times comes 
 to increase our numbers, and pray them to abide 
 here and not to go into Gamala. Let each bring his 
 arms and a bag of meal, and meet me to-morrow 
 evening at sundown on the Hieromax River, three 
 miles below Capitolias, that will be opposite to 
 Abila, which lies on the mountain side. Let all 
 travel singly, for the Roman horse may be about. 
 However, as we shall be walking east, while Gamala 
 lies to the west of south, they will not take us, 
 should we come upon them, for men going thither 
 to aid in the defense of the town." 
 
 The young men started at once on their missions,
 
 160 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 full of confidence in John, and feeling certain that 
 under his leadership they should soon come to 
 blows with the Eomans, being also in their hearts well 
 satisfied that their warfare would be in the open 
 country, and they should not be called upon to fight 
 pent up in walls from which there was no escape. 
 Having seen his followers off, John returned home 
 and told Simon the progress he had made. The 
 old man sighed. 
 
 " I do not seek to keep you, John, for your duty 
 to your country stands now in the first rank of all, 
 and it may be that the Lord preserved you at 
 Jotapata because he intends you to do great deeds 
 for him here. I do not sa\ 7 spare yourself or avoid 
 danger for our sakes ; I only say do not throw away 
 your life by rashness. Remember that, young as 
 you are, you are a leader, and be prudent as well as 
 brave. After Gamala has fallen, as fall I fear it 
 will, and the Romans have moved away from these 
 parts, as they will then do, for there is no resistance 
 to them on this side of Jordan save at that town, I 
 shall bring your mother and Mary back again, and 
 you will find us waiting here to welcome you if you 
 return. If not, my son, I shall mourn for you as 
 Jacob mourned for Joseph, and more, seeing that 
 you are the only prop of my old age ; but I shall 
 have the consolation of knowing that you died for 
 your country." 
 
 " You will find in Mary a daughter, father ; and 
 you must find a husband for her who will take my 
 place. But it may be that if the Romans march not
 
 FQR THE TEMPLE. 161 
 
 direct upon Jerusalem and they say that Vespa- 
 sian has arranged that two of the legions shall win- 
 ter on the seacoast at Caesarea and the third at 
 Scythopolis it is probable that he will not move 
 against Jerusalem till the spring. In that case I 
 may be often here during the winter. For I will 
 not go down to Jerusalem until the last thing, for 
 there all is turmoil and disturbance, and until the 
 time comes when they must lay aside their private 
 feuds and unite to repel the invader, I will not go 
 down." 
 
 
 
 Father and son talked until late in the night. In 
 the morning John made his preparations for de- 
 parture. He had told Jonas of his intentions. The 
 boy listened silently, only saying, " Wherever you 
 go, John, I am ready to go with you ; it makes no 
 difference to me;" and afterward went down to 
 the lake side, where he filled his pouch with smooth 
 pebbles, each of which he selected with great care; 
 for when herding his goats among the mountains, 
 Jonas had been always practicing with a sling, and 
 many a cony had fallen before his unerring aim. 
 All the lads in the mountains were accustomed to 
 the use of the sling, but none in Jotapata had ap- 
 proached Jonas in their skill with this weapon. 
 
 During the siege he had often astonished John 
 by the accuracy of his aim, and had several times 
 compelled the Romans to cease working one of their 
 machines, which specially harassed the defenders of 
 the wall, by striking down one after another of 
 those who directed it, his stones seldom failing to
 
 162 FOR TSE TEMPLE. 
 
 strike them full in the face, the only spot unpro- 
 tected by their armor. 
 
 In the morning John prepared to start. He and 
 Jonas each carried a small sack, supported by a 
 strap passing over the shoulders, and containing 
 some eight pounds of meal and a gourd of water. 
 Jonas carried no weapon save a long knife hidden 
 under his garment, and his sling and pouch of 
 stones. John carried a sword and buckler and a 
 horn. Before they started John knelt before his 
 father and received his blessing, and Simon, as he 
 bade him adieu, gave him a small bag of money. 
 
 " You will need to buy things in the mountains, 
 lad, and I would not that you should be driven, like 
 the robber bands, to take food by force. It is true 
 that they who go not to the war should support 
 those who risk their lives for their country ; but 
 there are many aged men who, like myself, cannot 
 fight, there are many women whose husbands are 
 away in Gamala or Jerusalem, and these may not 
 be able to afford to assist others. Therefore it is 
 well that you should have means of paying for what 
 you require, otherwise the curse of the widow and 
 fatherless may fall upon you. And now, farewell, 
 my son ! May God have you in his keeping, and 
 send you home safe to your mother and me 1"
 
 FOB THE TEMPLE. 
 
 CHAPTEK YIII. 
 
 AMONG THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 JONAS was in high spirits as they started from 
 the farm. He was leaving no friends behind, and 
 so long as he had John with him he was perfectly 
 contented. He was delighted to be on the move 
 again, for although he had worked steadily in get- 
 ting in the harvest, regular labor was distasteful to 
 him ; and accustomed as he had been to wander for 
 weeks free and unchecked with his goats among 
 the mountains, the regular life and order of the 
 farm were irksome to him. John, on the other 
 hand, was silent, replying briefly to the boy's ques- 
 tions. He felt the danger of the enterprise upon 
 which he had embarked, and his responsibility as 
 leader, and the thought of the grief which his 
 father and mother would feel did aught befall him, 
 weighed on his mind. Presently, however, he 
 roused himself. 
 
 " Now, Jonas, you must keep a sharp lookout 
 round, for if we see any Roman soldiers in the dis- 
 tance I must hide my sword and buckler before they 
 discover us, and you must stow away your sling and 
 pouch ; then we will walk quietly on. If they ques-
 
 164 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 tion us, we are going to stay with friends at Capito- 
 lias, and as there will be nothing suspicious about 
 us, they will not interfere with us. After they have 
 passed on we will go back for our arms. We are 
 not traveling in the direction of Gamala, and they 
 will have no reason to doubt our story." 
 
 They did not, however, meet any of the parties 
 of Roman horse who were scouring the country, 
 carrying off grain and cattle for the use of the army, 
 and they arrived in the afternoon on the bank of 
 the Hieromax. Upon the other side of the river 
 rose the steep slopes of Mount Galaad, high up on 
 whose side was perched the little town of Abila. 
 
 " Here we can wait, Jonas. "We are nearly oppo- 
 site the town. The others will doubtless soon be 
 here." 
 
 It was not long before the band made their ap- 
 pearance, coming along in twos and threes as they 
 had met on the river bank. By sunset the last had 
 arrived, and John found that each of his first re- 
 cruits had brought two others. He looked with 
 satisfaction at the band. The greater part of them 
 had been fishermen, all were strong ancT active, and 
 John saw that his order that young men only should 
 be taken had been obeyed, for not one of them was 
 over the age of twenty-three, and, as he had laid it 
 down as an absolute rule, all were unmarried. All 
 were, like himself, armed with sword and buckler, 
 and several had brought with them bags with jav- 
 elin heads, to be fitted to staves later on.^cA.11 their 
 faces bore a look of determination, and at the same 
 time of gladness. 
 
 '
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 165 
 
 The massacre on the lake had excited the inhab- 
 itants of the shore to fury, and even those who had 
 hitherto held back from the national cause were 
 now eager to light against the Komans ; but many 
 shrank from going to Gamala, which was indeed 
 already as full of fighting men as it could hold, and 
 John's proposal to form a band for warfare in the 
 mountains had exactly suited the more adventurous 
 spirits. 
 
 All present were known to John personally. 
 Many of them were sons of friends of Simon, and 
 the others he had met at village gatherings, or when 
 fishing on the lake. There were warm greetings as 
 each accession to the party arrived, and each mem- 
 ber of the band felt his spirits rise higher at finding 
 that so many of those he knew personally were to 
 be his comrades in the enterprise. When the last 
 comer had arrived John said : 
 
 " We will now be moving forward. We had best 
 get well up the mountain before night falls ; it mat- 
 ters not much where we camp to-night ; to-morrow 
 we can choose a good spot for our headquarters." 
 
 It being now the height of the dry season the 
 river was low, and they had no difficulty in wading 
 across. Then they struck up the hill to the right 
 of Abila until they had fairly entered the forests 
 which clothed the lower slopes of the mountains. 
 Then John gave the word for a halt. 
 
 Dead wood was soon collected and a fire made. 
 Cakes of meal were baked in the ashes, and after 
 these had been eaten the party lay round the fire, 
 and a few minutes later John rose to his feet.
 
 106 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " You all know the reason for which we are 
 gathered together here. We all long for vengeance 
 on the oppressors of our country, the murderers of 
 our kinsmen and friends, the men who carry off our 
 women to shame and slavery in Rome. We are all 
 ready to die for our country and our God ; but we 
 would fain die doing as much harm to the Eomans 
 as we can, fighting like freemen in the open, instead 
 of rats slaughtered in a cage. That is why, instead 
 of going into Gainala, we have gathered here. 
 
 u I am the youngest among you ; but I have so 
 far assumed the leadership because, in the first 
 place, I have been much with Josephus, who, 
 although he may now most unworthily have gone 
 over to the Romans to save his life, was yet a wise 
 governor and a great leader. From him I have 
 learned much of the Romans. In the second place, 
 I have seen more of their warfare than any of you, 
 having passed through the terrible siege of Jota- 
 pata. 
 
 "Lastly, I believe that God, having saved me 
 almost alone of all the host that defended the town, 
 has intended me as an instrument for his service. 
 Therefore have I taken upon myself the command, 
 in the first place, of this band ; but, at the same 
 time, if you think that I am too young, and would 
 rather place another at your head, I will stand 
 aside and release from their oath those who have 
 already sworn. I am not self-seeking. I crave not 
 the leadership over you, and will obey whomsoever 
 you roav choose for your chief. But to whomsoever
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 167 
 
 is the leader prompt obedience must be given, for 
 there must, even in a band like this, be order and 
 discipline. We work for a common good, but we 
 must yield to the direction of one will and one head. 
 Xow, what say you? I will walk away to leave 
 you free to consult one with another, and will abide 
 by your decision whatever it be. Only, the de- 
 cision once made must be adhered to. There must 
 be no after-grumbling, no hesitation or drawing 
 back. You must have absolute confidence and give 
 absolute obedience to him whom you choose. For 
 only so can we hope to succeed in our enterprises." 
 
 John had gone but a short way among the trees 
 when he was called back again. All had come pre- 
 pared to follow him. His father had always been 
 a man of weight and position among the villagers 
 on the shore, and democratic as were the Jewish 
 institutions, there was }^et a certain respect paid to 
 those of position abov.e their fellows. John's ex- 
 perience, and especially his escape from Jotapata, 
 seemed specially to mark him as one destined to 
 play an important part. And his quiet, resolute 
 bearing now the feeling that he knew what was to 
 be done and how to do it, that he was, in fact, their 
 natural leader came home to all, and it was with 
 sincerity that they assured him that they accepted 
 him as their leader. 
 
 " Very well," John said quietly. " Then let those 
 who have not already taken the oath stand up and 
 do so." 
 
 This was done, and John then said :
 
 168 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " Now I will tell you more of my plans, although 
 these ol course cannot be in any way settled until 
 we see how things turn out. It is by watching for 
 opportunities and seizing the right moment only 
 that we can hope for success. We are all ready to 
 give our lives for our country, but we do not wish 
 to throw them away. We want each of us to do 
 as much as possible. We want to live so as to 
 share in the defense of the Temple ; therefore we 
 have to combine prudence with daring. 
 
 " As for an attack upon any strong body of 
 Roman troops, it would be impossible unless they 
 attempt to follow us among the mountains. One of 
 our first duties will be to learn the country well, so 
 that we may know where to defend ourselves should 
 they come up after us ; where from eminences we 
 can cast down rocks upon them ; where there are 
 crags which we can climb, but up which their 
 heavy-armed soldiers cannot follow us. This is our 
 first task, for as yet they have not commenced the 
 siege of Gamala. When they do so we must draw 
 down near them and hide ourselves, mark the posi- 
 tion of their camp, see how their tents are arranged, 
 and where their sentries are placed. 
 
 " Then we can begin work ; sometimes falling 
 upon their guards, at other times creeping in past 
 their sentries, scattering through the camp, and at 
 a given signal firing their tents with the brands 
 from their fires, slaying those who first rush out, 
 and then making off again to the hills. Then, too, 
 they will be sending great numbers of men up the
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 169 
 
 hills to cut timber and branches for their embank- 
 ments, their breastworks, and the construction of 
 the wattles to protect their machines. We shall be 
 in hiding, and when a party of men separates from 
 the rest we will fall upon these ; we will harass 
 their workers from a distance, always avoiding a 
 regular combat, but hindering their work and wear- 
 ing them out. Thus we may do better service to 
 the defenders of Gamala than if we were within 
 the walls. 
 
 "At present we have only swords, but we must 
 get bows and arrows. It would not have been safe 
 to have carried them across the plains, but we can 
 procure them at Abila or Jabez Galaad. I fear 
 that we shall not be able to interfere with the pro- 
 visioning of the army, for upon the plains we shall 
 have no chance with their cavalry ; but here in 
 these mountains, stretching away over Peraea into 
 Arabia and Moab, we can laugh at pursuit by the 
 Eomans ; and even Agrippa's light-armed Arabs 
 will have difficulty in following us, and of them we 
 need have little fear. At Jotapata we proved our- 
 selves a match for the Romans, and their light- 
 armed troops will not care to venture against us 
 alone, as they will not know our numbers, and will 
 fear being led into ambushes. 
 
 " There is one question which we have to con- 
 sider, and that is food ; as to flesh, we shall have it 
 in abundance. There will be many flocks of goats 
 belonging to those in Gamala straying among the 
 mountains without an owner, therefore of goats'
 
 170 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 milk and flesh we can take abundance ; but there 
 will be a scarcity of grain. I have some money 
 with me with which we can purchase it at Abila 
 and the villages. As for Jabez Galaad it is too 
 close to Gamala, and the Romans will probably 
 ascend the hill and destroy it, or place a guard 
 there. At any rate, the money will be sufficient to 
 purchase meal for us for some time, much longer 
 probably than Gamala will be able to hold out, and 
 when that has fallen it will be time to arrange 
 about the future. Only let us take nothing without 
 payment ; let us not be like the robber bands which 
 prey upon the people, until they long for the 
 Romans as masters. 
 
 " Only we must remember that while we desire 
 now to do the Romans as much harm as possible, 
 this is but the beginning of our work, and that we 
 must save ourselves for the future. Gamala is but 
 one town, and we shall have plenty of opportunities 
 for striking at the enemy in the future. We have 
 put our hands to the plow now, and so long as the 
 war lasts we will not look back. It may be that 
 our example may lead others to follow it, and in 
 that case the Romans' difficulties will thicken every 
 day. 
 
 " Were there scores of bands of determined men 
 like us hanging around them, ready to attack small 
 bodies whenever they venture away from their 
 camps to gather in provisions and forage, and to 
 harass them at night by constant alarms, we could 
 wear them out ; only we must always avoid a
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 171 
 
 pitched battle. In irregular fighting we are as 
 good as they ; better, for we can move more 
 quickly ; but when it comes to fighting in order of 
 battle we have no chance with them whatever. 
 Their cavahy the other day outside Tarichea were 
 like wolves among a flock of sheep. Nothing but 
 disaster can come of fighting in the plain. 
 
 " Every people should fight in the way that suits 
 them best, and an attempt to meet an enemy in 
 their own way of fighting is sure to lead to disaster. 
 Let the Roman keep the plain with his cavalry and 
 his heavy infantry ; let the Jew, light-footed and 
 swift, keep to the hills. He is as much superior 
 there as is the Roman in the plains. And now we 
 must establish signals. We will get horns at Abila, 
 and I will fix upon signals. One long note will 
 mean, gather to me ; two, fall back gradually ; 
 three, retire at once with all speed to the spot 
 agreed upon before setting out in the morning. 
 
 " Two short notes will mean, advance and attack 
 in the manner arranged ; one short note oft repeated 
 will tell you the Romans are advancing, sound your 
 horns ; for it were well that each provided himself 
 with a cow's horn, so that the signals can be re- 
 peated. If we are scattered over a hillside among 
 the trees, and the Romans hear horns sounded in 
 many quarters, they will think that there must be 
 a large body of men assembled. This will make 
 them slow and cautious in all their movements, will 
 force many to stand prepared with their arms to 
 guard those at work, and will altogether confuse
 
 172 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 and puzzle them. And now we will lie down and 
 sleep ; as soon as it is dawn we will be on foot 
 again." 
 
 The next two days were spent in exploring that 
 part of the mountains, examining the direction and 
 extent of each valley and ravine, seeing where 
 steep precipices afforded an opportunity for rolling 
 down rocks upon an enemy passing along the 
 valley or trying to storm the height, in searching 
 for pools in dried water-courses, and in deciding 
 upon a spot favorable for the camp. 
 
 They fixed upon a spot high up on the mountains, 
 two miles east of Abila, as their headquarters. It 
 was in a pass between two peaks, and gave them 
 the option of descending either to the north or 
 south, or of skirting along the mountains toward the 
 sources of the Jabbok River, and thenc* crossing the 
 Hermon range beyond the limits of Persea. Jonas 
 was sent the first thing to discover whether the 
 Romans had taken possession of Jabez Galaad, which 
 lay but five miles from Gamala, and on the southern 
 side of the range of hills on whose western spur 
 Gamala was built. 
 
 He returned in a short time saying that he had 
 found the inhabitants in a state of great alarm, fc^r 
 that a Roman force could be seen coming up the 
 road from the plain. Most of the fighting men of 
 the town were in Gamala ; the rest with the young 
 women were leaving, so that only old people and 
 children would be found in the town when the 
 Romans arrived. Jonas also brought word that
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 173 
 
 Vespasian's whole array was moving against 
 Gamala. John had given Jonas money before he 
 started to purchase bows and arrows. He had 
 brought back bows for the whole party, and as 
 many arrows as he could carry. 
 
 "I paid nothing for them," he said as he threw 
 them down. " The man who sold them was pray- 
 ing those who were leaving the town to take them, 
 for he thought that if the Romans found them in 
 his house they would destroy it ; but no one listened, 
 all were too busy in carrying off such of their house- 
 hold goods as they could take to burden themselves 
 further ; so he gladly gave me as many as I could 
 take. I carried off nearly all his bows, and I left 
 him breaking up the rest and his store of arrows in 
 order to burn them before the Romans arrived. A 
 boy carrying a bag of arrow-heads came with me 
 some little distance. I paid the man for them, and 
 they are now hidden in the forest. You can fetch 
 them when you will, but 1 could not carry more 
 with me than I have got." 
 
 " You have done well, Jonas," John said as the 
 men seized each a bow and divided the arrows 
 among them; and then stood waiting, expecting 
 orders from John to proceed at once to harass the 
 Roman column as it ascended the hill. 
 
 " No," John said in answer to their looks, " we 
 will not meddle with them to-day. Did we shoot at 
 them they would suppose that we belonged to 
 Jabez Galaad. and would in revenge destroy the 
 town and all those they may find within it, and our
 
 174 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 first essay against them would bring destruction 
 upon thousands of our countrymen." 
 
 The others saw the justness of his reasoning, and 
 their faith in him as their leader was strengthened 
 by his calmness and readiness of decision. 
 
 " Is the bag of arrow-heads heavy, Jonas?" 
 
 " It is as mueh as the boy, who was about my 
 own age, could carry," Jonas replied. 
 
 " Then do you, Phineas, and you, Simeon, go with 
 Jonas to the place where the bag is hidden, and 
 carry it to the place we have fixed upon for our 
 camp. If on the way you come across a herd of 
 goats, shoot two or three of them and take them 
 with you, and get fires ready. The day is getting 
 on, but we will go across the mountains and see 
 where the Romans are pitching their camp, and by 
 sunset we will be with you." 
 
 Making their way along the mountain the band 
 came, after an hour's walking, to a point where 
 they could obtain a view of Gamala. 
 
 The city stood on the western extremity of the 
 hill, which, after sloping gradually down, rose sud- 
 denly in a sharp ridge like the hump of a camel, 
 from which the town had its name, Gamala. On 
 both sides this rock ended abruptly in a precipitous 
 chasm, in which ran the two branches of the 
 Hieromax, which met at the lower end of the 
 ridge, and ran together into the end of the lake at 
 Tarichea, three miles away. 
 
 Thus Gamala was only accessible from behind, 
 where the ridge joined the mountains. Across this
 
 FOB THE TEMPLE. 175 
 
 neck of land a deep fosse had been dug, so as to cat 
 off all approach. The houses were crowded thickly 
 on the steep slope of the ridge, which was so abrupt 
 that the houses seemed to overhang one another. 
 On the southern crag, which was of immense 
 height, was the citadel of the town. There was a 
 spring supplying abundance of water within the 
 walls. Had it been defended by a garrison as brave 
 and numerous as that of Jotapata it would have 
 been well-nigh impregnable, but Cheres and Joseph, 
 who commanded, had none of the genius of Jose- 
 phus, although they were brave and determined. 
 The city was crowded with fugitives from all parts, 
 and had already, for seven months, resisted a be- 
 sieging force which Agrippa had sent against it. 
 
 It was impossible to blockade the whole circuit 
 of the town, but Vespasian took possession of all 
 the neighboring heights and established his camp, 
 with that of the Fifteenth Legion, on the hill fac- 
 ing the city to the east. The Fifth Legion threw 
 up works opposite the center of the city, while the 
 Tenth set to work to fill up ditches and ravines in 
 order to facilitate the approaches. Agrippa ap- 
 proached the wall to persuade the inhabitants to 
 surrender, but was struck on the right elbow by a 
 stone from a sling and forced to retire. 
 
 This insult to the native king, who came in the 
 character of an ambassador, enraged the Romans, 
 and they set about the operations for the siege with 
 great vigor. In spite of the efforts of the Jews the 
 fosse which protected the wall on the east was
 
 176 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 speedily filled up, and the Romans then began, as 
 at Jotapata, to raise an embankment facing the 
 wall. 
 
 The day after the Romans had established their 
 camp John and his followers advanced along the 
 mountain until they could look down upon it, and 
 for a long time watched the Romans at work, and 
 learned all the details of the camp. 
 
 " You must fix them in your minds," John said, 
 " in order that even on a dark night you may be 
 able to make your way about it without difficulty, 
 so that you may be able, after striking a blow, to 
 fly directly to the mountain, for any who get 
 confused and miss their way will assuredly be killed. 
 You see the enemy have placed, a strong guard half- 
 way up the hillside in order to protect themselves 
 from surprise ; but it will be possible, by moving 
 down to the streams and then mounting again, to 
 reach the camp without passing through them. 
 And by the same way we must make our retreat, 
 for if we succeed in setting the camp on fire the 
 flames will enable the guard on the mountain to see 
 us approaching them. I had hoped that we might 
 be able to penetrate unobserved to the tent of 
 Yespasian, and to slay him and some of his gen- 
 erals ; but by the bustle that we see round that 
 tower on the hillside, and by the strong force of 
 cavalry picketed round it, it is evident that he has 
 taken up his quarters there, and, indeed, from the 
 top of the tower he can look down upon the town 
 and on all that is passing there, and issue his
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 177 ' 
 
 directions to his troops accordingly, so we must 
 give up that idea. Another time we may be more 
 fortunate. Bat, see, a great number of troops are 
 ascending the hill toward us, doubtless to cut 
 timber for their works. As soon as they are at 
 work we will attack them." 
 
 The party retired into the forest, and as soon as 
 they heard the sound of the Roman axes they crept 
 quietly forward, moving noiselessly with their 
 sandaled feet among the trees. When within a 
 short distance of the Romans John ordered them to 
 halt, and crept forward with Jonas to reconnoiter. 
 There was little fear of their being heard, for 
 several hundred men were at work felling trees, a 
 line of sentries at ten paces apart standing under 
 arms to prevent a surprise. The Romans were 
 working too thickly to permit of any successful 
 action by so small a party, and John saw that the 
 idea of an attack must be abandoned, and that he 
 must confine himself for the present to harassing 
 the sentries. 
 
 Rejoining his men he told them what he had dis- 
 covered, and bade them scatter along the line, and, 
 crawling up under the protection of the trees, to 
 approach as near as they could to the line of 
 sentries, and then to shoot at them or at the work- 
 men, many of whom, having thrown off their heavy 
 armor to enable them the better to work, offered 
 more favorable marks for the arrows than the 
 sentries, whose faces only were exposed. They 
 were on no account to come to close quarters with
 
 178 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 the Komans. If the latter advanced they were in- 
 stantly to retire, approaching again as soon as the 
 Romans recommenced their work ; and so to con- 
 tinue until he blew the signal for them to draw off 
 altogether. They were not to begin until they 
 heard his signal for attack. 
 
 After allowing some little time to elapse for the 
 men to get into position, John blew his horn. A 
 moment, and cries and shouts were heard along the 
 whole Roman line. The sound of chopping instant- 
 ly ceased, and the Roman trumpets blew to arms. 
 John had advanced sufficiently near to see the Ro- 
 man workmen before he gave the signal. Jonas 
 was a little in advance of him, and as the horn 
 sounded he saw him step out from behind a tree, 
 whirl his sling round his head and discharge a stone, 
 and almost simultaneously a Roman sentinel, some 
 forty paces away, fell with a crash upon the ground. 
 
 The Roman soldiers who had retained their armor 
 ran instantly forward to support their sentries. The 
 others hastily buckled on their breastplates, caught 
 up their bucklers and helmets, and joined their com- 
 rades. Arrows continued to fall among them from 
 their invisible foes, and although most of these fell 
 harmless from their armor, several soldiers fell in 
 addition to the seven or eight who had been killed 
 by the first volley. The centurion in command soon 
 saw that the number of his assailants was small, but, 
 afraid of being drawn into an ambush, he hesitated 
 to give orders for an advance, but dispatched a mes- 
 senger instantly to camp, contenting himself with
 
 FOB THE TEMPLE. 179 
 
 throwing out strong parties a hundred yards in ad- 
 vance of his line. These now became the objects of 
 attack, while arrows ceased to fall among the main 
 body of the troops. 
 
 John moved round the flank till he gained a po- 
 sition whence he could observe the camp. The 
 trumpets above had been heard there, and the troops 
 had already taken up their position under arms. As 
 he looked on he saw the messenger run up to a party 
 of mounted officers. A minute later a trumpet 
 sounded, and a strong body of Arabian archers ad- 
 vanced at a run up the slope. John at once with- 
 drew to his first position, and sounded the order for 
 instant retreat, and then hurrying back half a mile, 
 sounded the note for his followers to assemble at the 
 spot where he was standing. 
 
 In a few minutes all had joined him. They were 
 in high spirits at the success of this first skirmish, 
 and wondered why they had been so suddenly called 
 off when the Romans had shown no signs of ad- 
 vancing against them. 
 
 " There are fully a thousand Arab archers in the 
 forest by this time," John said. " They are as fleet 
 of foot as we are, and it would be madness to re- 
 main. We have stopped their work for a time, 
 and have killed many without a scratch to ourselves. 
 That is well enough for to-day ; to-morrow we 
 will beat them up again." 
 
 At daybreak two of the party were sent forward 
 to the edge of the wood to see with what force the 
 Eomans went out to work. They brought back the
 
 180 MR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 report that they were accompanied by a strong 
 body of archers, and that as soon as they reached 
 the forest the archers were scattered in front of 
 them for a long distance, and that it would be im- 
 possible to approach them unobserved. On the 
 previous afternoon John had dispatched Jonas to 
 Abila, and he had returned with a number of cows' 
 horns. Round the fire in the evening the men had 
 set to work to pierce the points with heated arrow- 
 heads, and had converted them into instruments 
 capable of giving a deep, prolonged sound. On the 
 return of the scouts John set his men in motion. 
 
 " We cannot fight them to-day, but we can hinder 
 their work. We will scatter through the forest, 
 and as we approach them each, is to sound his horn, 
 and continue to do so from time to time. The 
 Romans will think that a great force is advancing 
 against them." 
 
 This was done with the effect John had antici- 
 pated. Hearing the sound of horns all over the 
 mountain side, the Romans concluded that a great 
 force was advancing to attack them, and the archers 
 were at once recalled. 
 
 The troops all stood to arms, and for several hours 
 remained waiting an attack. Then after strong bod- 
 ies of heavy -armed troops, preceded by the archers 
 skirmishing before them, had pushed some distance 
 into the forests without meeting with an enemy, 
 the work recommenced, a considerable number still 
 standing to their arms as protectors to the rest. 
 Although a certain amount of time had been gained
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 181 
 
 for the city by the interruption of the work of 
 bringing in timber, John had undertaken these 
 sham attacks rather with the purpose of accustom- 
 ing his band to work together and to give them 
 confidence, than with the view of troubling the 
 Koraans. In this he was perfectly successful. The 
 band when they reached their camp that evening 
 were in high spirits. 
 
 They had for two days puzzled and baffled a large 
 Roman force, had inflicted some loss upon them, 
 and forced them to desist from their work. They 
 were pleased with themselves and their leader, and 
 had lost much of the dread of the Romans which 
 the capture of Jotapata, Japha, and Tarichea, and 
 the tales of their cruelty and ferocity, had excited 
 among the whole population. A reverse at the 
 commencement of their work would have been 
 fatal, and John had felt that however earnest the 
 men were in their determination to die fighting for 
 their country, the loss of a few of their number at 
 the outset would have so dispirited the rest that the 
 probability was that the band would disperse, or 
 would at any rate be unwilling to undertake any 
 desperate operation. But in their present mood 
 they were ready for any enterprise upon which he 
 might lead them, and he accordingly told them that 
 he should abstain next day from a continuance of 
 his attacks upon the working party, but that at 
 night he would carry out the design of setting fire 
 to their camp. 
 
 Accordingly the following day the Romans pur-
 
 182 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 sued their work unmolested, although they still 
 continued the precaution of keeping a force of arch- 
 ers and parties of heavy-armed troops in advance of 
 those working in the wood. John did not move till 
 the afternoon, and then, descending the hill to the 
 right, he skirted along in the lower forest until 
 within two miles of Gamala ; here he halted until 
 nightfall. While waiting for the hour of action he 
 gave final instructions to his men and assigned to 
 them the order in which they should ascend from 
 the river toward the rear of the camp. When 
 they approached the spot where they would prob- 
 ably find Roman sentries posted they were to ad- 
 vance singly, crawling along upon the ground. 
 
 Those who first went through were to keep 
 straight on until they reached the further end of 
 the camp, stopping as near as they could judge fifty 
 paces apart. They were then to wait for half an 
 hour so as to be sure that all would have gained 
 their allotted positions. Then when they saw a 
 certain star sink below the horizon (a method of 
 calculating time to which all were accustomed) they 
 were to creep forward into the Roman camp, and 
 each to make his way as noiselessly as possible until 
 he came within a few paces of one of the smolder- 
 ing fires of the Romans and to wait until they heard 
 a single note from John's horn. Each was at once 
 
 O 
 
 to spring forward, seize a lighted brand and fire the 
 nearest tent, and then to crawl away, cutting, as 
 they went, the ropes of the tents, so as to bring 
 them down and create as much confusion as possi-
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 183 
 
 ble. Then, either by crawling, or, if discovered, by 
 leaping to their fe&t and making a sudden rush, all 
 were to make their way down to the river again, to 
 follow its banks for half a mile, and then wait in a 
 body for an hour. At the end of that time they 
 were to make their way back to their camp in the 
 mountains, certain by that time that all who were 
 alive would have rejoined them. Should he him- 
 self not be with the party they were at once to pro- 
 ceed to the election of another leader. 
 
 At about ten o'clock they again moved forward, 
 and descending to the river followed its banks until 
 they arrived at the spot they had fixed on ; then in 
 single file they began to climb the hill. John 
 placed himself in the middle of the line in order to 
 have a central position when the attack began. As 
 soon as they reached the top of the slope they lay 
 down and one by one crawled forward into the 
 darkness, two or three minutes being allowed to 
 elapse between the departure of each man. They 
 could hear the call of the Roman sentries as they 
 answered each other every half-hour, and knew that 
 the line was but a hundred yards or so in front of 
 them. 
 
 The night was very dark, and no sudden shout 
 proclaimed that those ahead had been noticed. 
 When John's turn came to advance, Jonas was to 
 follow next behind him. All had left their bows, 
 arrows, bucklers, and swords behind them, and 
 carried only their knives, for they had not come to 
 fight, and the knives were required only for cutting
 
 184 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 the tent-ropes, or, in case of discovery, to enable 
 them to take a life or two before they fell fighting. 
 Each had sworn to kill himself if he found escape 
 impossible, in order to escape a death by torture if 
 he fell alive into the hands of the Romans. 
 
 John, on approaching the line of sentries, was 
 guided by sound only in trying to avoid them. He 
 could not see their figures, but could hear the sound 
 of their footsteps and the clash of their arms as 
 they tramped a few yards backward and forward. 
 He was, like his comrades, stripped to the waist, 
 having only on a short garment reaching half-way 
 down the knee, as it was upon speed and activity 
 that his life would depend. 
 
 Without interruption he crawled through the 
 lines of sentries, and continued his course until he 
 was, as near as he could tell, opposite the center of 
 the long line of tents ; then he lay quiet watching 
 the setting of the star. No sound was heard from 
 the camp in front, although from down the hillside 
 beyond it came a confused noise, as of a host of men 
 at work, and the glare of many fires reddened the 
 skies, for there five thousand men were at work 
 raising the embankment against the doomed city, 
 while the archers and slingers maintained a never- 
 ceasing conflict of missiles with the defenders on 
 the walls. 
 
 The star seemed to John as if it hung on its course, 
 so long was it in sinking to the horizon. But at 
 last it sank, and John, crawling noiselessly forward, 
 made his way into the Koman camp.
 
 FOtt TEE TEMPLE. 185 
 
 It was arranged with wide and regular streets 
 laid out with mechanical accuracy. Here and 
 there, in front of a tent of a commanding officer, 
 sentries paced to and fro, the sound of their foot- 
 steps and the clash of their arms each time they 
 turned giving warning of their positions. In the 
 center of the streets the fires, round which the sol- 
 diers had shortly before been gathered, still glowed 
 and flickered ; for although the days were hot the 
 cold at night rendered fires desirable, and there was 
 an abundance of fuel to be obtained from the 
 hills. 
 
 John crawled along with the greatest care. He 
 had no fear of being seen, but had he come roughly 
 against a tent-rope he might have brought out some 
 wakeful occupant of the tent to see who was 
 moving. 
 
 He continued his course until he found himself 
 opposite a fire in which some of the brands were 
 burning brightly, while there was no sentry on 
 guard within a distance of fift\ 7 yards. So far every- 
 thing had gone well ; neither in passing through 
 the lines of the sentries nor in making their way 
 into the camp had any of the band been observed. 
 It was certain now that some at least would succeed 
 in setting fire to the tents before they were dis- 
 covered, and the wind, which was blowing briskly 
 from the mountains, would speedily spread the 
 flames, and a heavy blow would be inflicted upon 
 the enemy.
 
 186 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE STORMING OF GAMALA. 
 
 AT last John made sure that all his followers 
 must have taken up a favorable position. Rising to 
 his feet he sounded a short note on his horn, then 
 sprang forward and seized one of the blazing brands 
 and applied it to a tent. The canvas, dried by the 
 scorching sun, lit in an instant, and as the flame 
 leaped up John ran further among the tents, lighted 
 another, and leaving the brand there sprang twenty 
 yards away and then threw himself down. By this 
 time, although not twenty seconds had elapsed since 
 he had given the signal, a sudden uproar had suc- 
 ceeded the stillness which had reigned in the camp. 
 The sentries had started on their posts as they 
 heard the note of the horn, but had stood a moment 
 irresolute, not knowing what it meant. Then, as 
 the first flash of flame shot up, a simultaneous shout 
 had arisen from every man on guard, rising louder 
 and louder as the first flame was followed almost 
 instantly by a score of others in different parts of 
 the camp. 
 
 It was but a few seconds later that the first 
 trumpeter who rushed from his tent blew the alarm.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 187 
 
 Before its notes ceased it was answered all over the 
 camp, and with a start the sleeping soldiers sprang 
 up, caught up their arras, and rushed out of their 
 tents. Startled as they were with the suddenness 
 of the awaking and the sight of the blazing tents, 
 there was none of that confusion that would have 
 occurred among troops less inured to warfare. Each 
 man did his duty ; and buckling on their arms as 
 best they might, stumbling over the tent-ropes in 
 the darkness, amazed by the sound of the fall of 
 tents here and there, expecting every moment to be 
 attacked by their unseen foe, the troops made their 
 way speedily to the wide streets and there fell in 
 together in military array and waited for orders. 
 These were not long in coming. 
 
 As soon as the generals reached the spot they 
 told off a number of men to endeavor to extinguish 
 the flames, sent other parties to scour the camp and 
 search for the enemy, while the rest in solid order 
 awaited any attack that might be made upon them. 
 But short as was the time that had elapsed since 
 the first alarm, it had sufficed to give the flames 
 such hold and power that they were beyond con- 
 trol. 
 
 With extraordinary rapidity the fire had leaped 
 from tent to tent, and threatened to overwhelm the 
 whole camp. The soldiers tried in vain to arrest 
 the progress of the flames, rushing among the blaz- 
 ing tents, cutting the ropes to bring them to the 
 ground, and trying to beat out the masses of fire as 
 they fell. Many were terribly burned in their en-
 
 188 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 deavors, but in vain, and the officers soon called 
 them off and set them to work pulling down the 
 tents which the fire had not yet reached, but even 
 this was useless ; the flakes of fire, driven before 
 the wind, fell on the heaps of dried canvas, and the 
 flames spread almost as rapidly as they had done 
 when the tents were standing. 
 
 Nor were the parties in search of the incendiaries 
 more successful. John had lain quiet where he 
 threw himself down for a minute or two, by which 
 time the tents had emptied of their occupants; 
 then pausing only occasionally to circle a tent and 
 cut away its ropes, he made his way to the edge of 
 the camp. By this time the sheet of flame had ex- 
 tended well-nigh across the 1 camp, extending high 
 above it and lighting it almost as if by day. But 
 between him and the fire lay still a dark mass of 
 tents, for the wind was blowing in the opposite 
 direction, and light as it was elsewhere, in the 
 black shadow of the tents it was still dark in the 
 extreme. 
 
 John made his way along until he came to the 
 end of the next street, and then paused. Already 
 three or four active figures had run past him at the 
 top of their speed, and he wished to be the last to 
 retreat. He stayed till he heard the tramp of 
 troops coming down, driven out by the spreading 
 flames, and then sprang across the end of the road, 
 and dashed along at full speed, still keeping close 
 to the line of tents. 
 
 A shout which rose from the leading files of the
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 189 
 
 Roman column showed that he was seen. As he 
 neared the end of the next opening the Roman 
 soldiers were pouring out, and he turned in among 
 the tents again. Through these he made his way, 
 dashing across the open spaces, and once rushing 
 through the midst of a Roman column, through 
 which he passed before the troops had time to strike 
 at or seize him. 
 
 At last he reached the extremity of the camp ; 
 the slope down to the river was but fifty yards 
 away, and once over the brow he would be in dark- 
 ness and safe from pursuit. But already the 
 Romans had drawn up a column of men along the 
 edge of the plateau to cut off any who might try 
 to pass. John paused among the last row of the 
 tents, hesitating what course to adopt. He could 
 not make directly up the mountain, for the space 
 between it and the camp was now covered by the 
 Roman cavalry, the greater portion of their in- 
 fantry being still engaged in trying to save at least 
 some portion of the camp. 
 
 Suddenly he heard a footstep among the tents 
 close behind him. He drew back into the tent by 
 which he was standing and peered cautiously out. 
 A Roman soldier came hastily along and entered 
 the next tent, doubtless to fetch some article of 
 value which he had left behind him as he rushed 
 out on the first alarm. 
 
 A sudden idea flashed across John's brain : he 
 waited till the soldier came out, followed him with 
 silent steps, and then sprang upon him at a bound,
 
 190 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 hurling him to the ground and burying his knife 
 again and again in his body. 
 
 Not a cry had escaped the Roman. The instant 
 he was sure he was dead John rose to his feet, 
 placed the helmet of the fallen man on his head, 
 secured the breastplate by a single buckle round his 
 neck, took up his buckler and sword, and then 
 emerging from one of the tents ran toward the 
 Roman line, making for one of the narrow openings 
 between the different companies. Several other 
 soldiers, who had, like the man whom John had 
 killed, gone back to their tents to fetch armor or 
 arms left there, were also hurrying to take their 
 places in the ranks, therefore no special attention 
 was paid to John until he was within a few yards 
 of the opening. Then a centurion at the end of the 
 line said sternly : 
 
 " You will be punished to-morrow for not being 
 in j^our place. What is your name ?" for as John 
 was between him and the sheet of flame rising from 
 the camp, the Roman was unable to see his face. 
 Instead of halting, as he expected, John sprang past 
 him, and throwing down his helmet and buckler 
 dashed through the space between the companies. 
 
 "Seize him! cut him down!" the centurion 
 shouted; but John was already descending the 
 slope. As he ran he swung the loosely buckled 
 breastplate round on to his back, and it was well he 
 did so, for a moment later a Roman javelin rang 
 against it, the force of the blow almost throwing 
 him on his face. But in a moment he continued his
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 191 
 
 course. He was in total darkness now ; and though 
 the javelins were flying around him, they were 
 thrown at random. But the descent had now be- 
 come so steep he was obliged to pause in his course, 
 and to make his way cautiously. 
 
 He undid the buckle and left the breastplate be- 
 hind him, threw down the sword, and climbed down 
 until he stood by the side of the river. He could 
 hear shouts above him, and knew that the Romans 
 were searching the hillside, hoping that he had been 
 killed or wounded by their darts. But he had no 
 fear of pursuit. He swam the river, for he had 
 struck upon a deep spot, and then at full speed ran 
 along on the bank, knowing that some of the 
 Roman cavalry were encamped upon the plain and 
 would soon be on the spot. However, all was 
 quiet, and he met no one until he arrived opposite 
 the place where it had been arranged that the party 
 should meet. Then he waded across. 
 
 " Is that you, John ?" a voice exclaimed. 
 
 " It is I, Jonas. Thank God you have got back 
 safely ! How many are with you?" 
 
 There was a loud cry of satisfaction ; and as he 
 made his way up the bank a number of his fol- 
 lowers crowded round him, all in the highest state 
 of delight at his return. Jonas threw his arms 
 round his neck, crying with joy. 
 
 " I thought you must have fallen, John. I have 
 been here ten minutes ; most of the others were here 
 before me, only three have arrived since, and for 
 the last five minutes none have come."
 
 192 FOE TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 " I fear no more will come," John said ; " the 
 Romans have cut off all retreat. How many are 
 missing ?" 
 
 " "We were nineteen here before you came," one 
 of the men replied. 
 
 " Then there are six missing," John said. " We 
 will not give them up. Some may have made their 
 way straight up the mountain, fearing to be seen as 
 they passed the ends of the open spaces ; some may 
 have made their way down the opposite slope to 
 the other arm of the river. But even if all are 
 killed we need not repine. They have died as they 
 wished taking vengeance upon the Romans. It 
 has been a glorious success. More than half the 
 Roman camp is assuredly destrpyed, and they must 
 have lost a prodigious quantity of stores of all kinds. 
 Who are missing ?" 
 
 He heard the names of those absent. 
 
 " I trust we may see some of them yet," he said ; 
 " but if not, Jonas to-morrow shall carry to their 
 friends the news of their death. They will be 
 wept; but their parents will be proud that their 
 sons have died in striking so heavy a blow upon our 
 oppressors. They will live in the memory of their 
 villages as men who died doing a great deed ; and 
 women will say, Had all done their duty as they 
 did the Romans would never have enslaved our 
 nation. We will wait another half-hour here ; but 
 I fear that no more will join us, for the Romans are 
 drawn up all along the line where alone a descent 
 could be made in the valley."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 193 
 
 " Then how did you escape, John," Jonas asked, 
 " and how is it that you were not here before ? 
 Several of those who were in the line beyond you 
 have returned." 
 
 " I waited till I hoped that all had passed," John 
 said. " Each one who ran past the open spaces 
 added to the danger, for the Romans beyond could 
 not but notice them as they passed the spaces light- 
 ed by the flames, and it was my duty as leader to 
 be the last to go." 
 
 " Six of those who were beyond you have joined 
 us," one of the men said. " The other six are those 
 that are missing." 
 
 " That is what I feared," John answered. " I felt 
 sure that those behind me would have got safely 
 away before the Romans recovered from their first 
 confusion. The danger was of course greater in 
 proportion to the distance from the edge of the 
 slope." 
 
 " But how did you get through, John, since you 
 say that all escape is cut off ?" 
 
 John related how he had slain the Eoman soldier 
 and escaped with his armor, and the recital raised 
 him still higher in the estimation of his followers ; 
 for the modern feeling that it is right to kill even 
 the bitterest enemy only in fair fight was wholly 
 unknown in those days, when, as was done by the 
 Romans at Jotapata, men would cut the throat of a 
 sleeping foe with no more compunction than if they 
 were slaughtering a fowl. 
 
 Perceiving by John's narration that there was no
 
 194 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 chance of any of their comrades getting through to 
 join them now, the party struck off into the hills, 
 and after three hours' inarch reached their encamp- 
 ment. They gave a shout of joy as they approached 
 it, for a fire was burning brightly, and they knew 
 that some of their comrades must have reached the 
 spot before them. Four men rose as they ap- 
 proached, and joyful greetings were exchanged. 
 Their stories were soon told. As soon as they heard 
 by the shouts of the Romans on the hillside, and of 
 the outer sentries, that they were discovered as they 
 passed the spaces lit up by flames, they had turned 
 back. Two of them had made their way up a deep 
 water-course past the Roman guard on the hill, the 
 attention of the soldiers being fixed upon the camp. 
 The other two had climbed down the precipitous 
 rocks on the other side of the hill. 
 
 " It was terrible work in the darkness," one of 
 them said. " I fell once and thought I ha.d broken 
 my leg ; but, fortunately, I had caught on a ledge, 
 and was able to go on after a time. I think two of 
 our party must have perished there ; for twice as I 
 was descending I heard a sudden cry, and then a 
 sound as of a body falling from rock to rock." 
 
 " Better so than to have fallen into the hands of 
 the Romans," John said, " and to have been forced 
 to slay themselves by their own hands, as we agreed 
 to do. Well, my friends, we have done a glorious 
 deed. We have begun well. Let us trust that we 
 may strike many more such blows against our ty- 
 rants. Now, let us thank God that he has fought
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 195 
 
 by our hands, and that he has brought so many of 
 us back from so great a danger ! Simeon, you are 
 the oldest of the party ; do you lift up your voice 
 for us all." 
 
 The party all stood listening reverently while 
 Simeon said a prayer of thanksgiving. Then one 
 of them broke out into one of the psalms of 
 triumph, and all joined at once. When this was 
 done they gathered round the lire, prepared their 
 cakes of meal, and put meat on long skewers on the 
 flames. Having eaten, they talked for hours, each 
 in turn giving his account of his share in the adven- 
 ture. 
 
 They then talked of their missing friends, those 
 from the same village telling what they knew of 
 them, and what relations they had left behind. At 
 last, just as morning was breaking, they retired 
 into the little bowers of boughs that had been 
 erected to keep off the cold, which was at this 
 elevation sharp at nights. They were soon fast 
 asleep. 
 
 The first thing the next morning Jonas set off to 
 explore the foot of the precipices on the south cido 
 of the Roman camp, and to search for the bodies of 
 their two missing comrades. He found oneterriblj r 
 crushed ; of the other he could find no sign what- 
 ever. On his returning to the mountain camp one 
 of the young men was sent off to bear to the rela- 
 tives of the man whose body had been found the 
 certains news of his death, and to inquire of the 
 friends of the other whether he had any relations
 
 16 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 living near the mountains to whom he might have 
 made his way if hurt or disabled by his fall. The 
 messenger returned on the following day with the 
 news that their missing comrade had already arrived 
 at his home. His fall had not been a very deep 
 one, and when he recovered consciousness, some 
 hours before daybreak, he found that one of his legs 
 was useless and an arm broken. 
 
 Thinking that in the morning the Romans might 
 search the foot of the precipices, he dragged himself 
 with the greatest difficulty a few hundred yards and 
 there concealed himself among some bushes. A 
 man came along in search of an ass that had 
 strayed ; he called to him, and on the man hearing 
 that he was one of the party Who had caused the 
 great fire in the Roman camp, the sight of whose 
 flames had caused such exultation in the heart of 
 every Jew in the plains around, he hurried away, 
 and fetched another with a donkey. Upon this the 
 injured man was lifted and carried down to the 
 lake, passing on the way several parties of Roman 
 soldiers, to whom the idea did not occur that the 
 sick man was one of the party who had inflicted 
 such a terrible blow upon them on the previous 
 night. Once by the side of the lake there was no 
 difficulty in getting him on board a boat, in which 
 he was carried to his native village. 
 
 The Romans were furious at the blow which had 
 been struck them. More than half their camp and 
 camp equipage had been destroyed, a great part of 
 the baggage of the officers and soldiers had been
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 197 
 
 Aurned, and each man had to deplore losses of his 
 own as well as the destruction of the public prop- 
 erty. But more than this they felt the blow to 
 their pride. There was not a soldier but felt 
 humiliated at the thought that a number of the 
 enemy for from the fire breaking out simultane- 
 ously, it was certain at least a score of men must 
 have been engaged in the matter should penetrate 
 unseen into the midst of their camp ; and worse 
 still, that after effecting all this damage all should 
 have succeeded in making their escape for, so far 
 as they knew, the whole of the Jews got safely 
 away. 
 
 But not for a moment did they relax their siege 
 operations. The troops engaged upon the embank- 
 ment were relieved at the usual hour, and half a 
 legion went up into the mountains as usual to pro- 
 cure timber, while four thousand archers, divided 
 into parties two hundred strong, extended them- 
 selves all over the hills and searched the forest for 
 miles for some sign of their enemy, who were, they 
 were now convinced, comparatively few in numbers. 
 
 The news of the daring attack on the Roman 
 camp spread far and wide among the towns and 
 villages of the plains, and aroused the drooping 
 spirits of the people, who had begun to think that 
 it would be worse than useless to offer any oppo- 
 sition to the Roman power. Whence came the 
 party which had accomplished the deed or who 
 was its leader none knew, and the inhabitants of the 
 villages near Hippos, who alone could have enlight-
 
 198 FOR THE TEMPLE, 
 
 ened them, were careful to maintain an absolute 
 silence, for they knew that if by any chance a 
 rumor reached the Romans of the locality from 
 which their assailants had come, they would have 
 carried fire and sword among all the villages by the 
 lake. Titus was away, being absent on a mission 
 in Syria, and Yespasian himself went among the 
 troops exhorting them not to be downcast at the 
 disaster that had befallen them, for that the bravest 
 men were subject to sudden misfortunes of this 
 kind, and exhorted them to push on the siege with 
 all the more vigor in order that they might the 
 sooner remove to camping-grounds where they 
 would not be exposed to such attacks by a lurking 
 foe. 
 
 The soldiers replied with cheers, and the next 
 day, the embankment being completed, they opened 
 so terrible a fire from their war engines upon the 
 defenders of the walls that these were forced to re- 
 tire into the city. The Romans at once pushed for- 
 ward their battering-rams to the walls, and setting 
 to work with the greatest vigor speedily made 
 three breaches, through which they rushed with ex- 
 ulting shouts. The Jews ran down to oppose them, 
 and a desperate conflict took place in the narrow- 
 streets ; but the Romans, pouring in in great num- 
 bers through the breaches, pressed them step by 
 step up the steep hill. The Jews, animated by 
 despair, again turned, and fell upon them with such 
 furv that the Romans could not withstand the 
 
 ti 
 
 assault, and were driven down the steep lanes and 
 paths with great slaughter.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 199 
 
 But those who fled were stopped by the crowd of 
 own men pressing up the hill from below, and 
 the Roman soldiers, jammed, as it were, between the 
 Jews above and their own countrymen below, took 
 refuge in the houses in great numbers. But these 
 were not constructed to bear the weight of so many 
 men in heavy armor. The floors fell in, and as 
 many of the Romans climbed up on to the flat roofs 
 these also fell, bringing the walls down with them. 
 Standing, as they did, almost one above another, 
 each house that fell brought down the one below it, 
 and thus the ruin spread as one house of cards 
 brings down another, until the whole of the town 
 standing on the steep declivity on its eastern side 
 was a mass of ruins. 
 
 The confusion was tremendous. The dust of the 
 falling houses so thickened the air that men could 
 not see a yard in front, of them. Hundreds of the 
 Roman soldiers were buried among the ruins. 
 Some were killed at once ; others, jammed between 
 fallen timbers, strove in vain to extricate them- 
 selves, and shouted to their comrades to come to 
 their assistance, but these, enveloped in darkness, 
 ignorant of the ground, half-suffocated with dust, 
 were powerless to aid them. 
 
 In the confusion Romans fell by the swords of 
 Romans. Many who could not extricate themselves 
 slew themselves with their own swords ; while the 
 exulting Jews, seeing in this terrible disaster a 
 miracle effected in their favor, crowded down from 
 above, slaying with their swords, hurling masses
 
 200 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 of stone down on the foe, killing those unable to re- 
 treat, and adding to the confusion and terror with 
 their yells of triumph, which rose high above the 
 confused shouts of the Komans. 
 
 Yespasian himself, who had entered the town 
 with his soldiers and had pushed forward with them 
 up the hill, was nearly involved in the common de- 
 struction ; but as the houses came crashing down 
 around him he shouted loudly to the soldiers near 
 to gather round him, and to lock their shields to- 
 gether to form a testudo. Recognizing the voice of 
 their beloved general, the soldiers near rallied round 
 him, and, sheltered beneath their closely packed 
 shields, resisted the storm of darts and stones from 
 above, and gradually and in good order made their 
 way down over the ruins and issued safely from 
 the walls. 
 
 The loss of the Romans was great. The soldiers 
 were greatly dispirited by their defeat, and espe- 
 cially by the thought that they had deserted their 
 general in their retreat. Yespasian, however, was 
 wise enough to see that this was no time for rebuke, 
 and he accordingly addressed them in language of 
 approbation. He said that their repulse was in no 
 way due to want of valor on their part, but to an 
 accident such as none could foresee, and which had 
 been brought about to some extent by their too 
 impetuous ardor, which led them to fight rather 
 with the desperate fury of the Jews than with the 
 steady discipline that distinguished Roman soldiers. 
 
 The defenders of the city were full of exultation
 
 FOE THE TEMPLE. 201 
 
 at their success, and setting to work with ardor, 
 soon repaired the breaches and strengthened the 
 walls. But all knew that in spite of their momen- 
 tary success their position was desperate, for their 
 provisions were almost exhausted. The stores 
 which had been laid up were very large, but the 
 siege had lasted for many months before the arrival 
 of the Romans, and the number of the people as- 
 sembled within the walls far exceeded the usual 
 population. 
 
 The Romans on their part increased the height 
 of their embankment and prepared for a second 
 assault. 
 
 In the mean time Itabyrium had fallen. The hill 
 of Tabor was inaccessible except on the north side, 
 and the level area on the top was surrounded by a 
 strong wall. Placidus had been sent with six hun- 
 dred horse against the place, but the hill was so 
 steep and difficult that he hesitated to attack it. 
 Each party pretended to be anxious to treat, each 
 intending to take advantage of the other. Placidus 
 invited the garrison to descend the hill and discuss 
 terms with him. The Itabyrians accepted the in- 
 vitation with the design of assailing the Romans 
 unawares. Placidus, who was on his guard, feigned 
 a retreat. The Itabyrians boldly pursued on to the 
 plain, when the Roman horse, wheeling round, 
 dashed among them, inflicting terrible slaughter 
 and cutting off their retreat toward the city. Those 
 who escaped the slaughter fled to Jerusalem. The 
 town, weakened by the loss of so many fighting
 
 TEE TEMPLE, 
 
 men, and being much distressed by want of water, 
 again opened negotiations, and surrendered upon 
 the promise that the lives of all within it should be 
 spared. 
 
 Hunger was now doing its work among the peo- 
 ple of Gamala. The inhabitants suffered terribly, 
 for the provisions were all taken for the use of the 
 fighting men, and the rest had to subsist as best 
 they could on any little hoards they might have 
 hidden away, or on garbage of all kinds. Numbers 
 made their escape through the sewers and passages 
 which led into the ravines, where the Romans had 
 placed no guards. Still the assaults of the Romans 
 were bravely repelled, until on the night of the 22d 
 of September two soldiers of the Fifteenth Legion 
 contrived to creep unobserved to the foot of one of 
 the highest towers of the wall and began silently 
 to undermine its foundations. Before morning 
 broke they had got in so far that they could not be 
 perceived from the walls. .Still they worked in, 
 leaving a few stones in their place to support the 
 tower until the last moment. Then they struck 
 these away and ran for their lives. The tower fell 
 with a terrible crash, with the guards upon it. 
 
 In their terror the defenders of the walls leaped 
 up and fled in all directions, and many were killed 
 by the Romans' darts, among them Josephus, one 
 of their two leaders ; while Chares, who was lying 
 in the height of a fever, expired from the excite- 
 ment of the calamity. The confusion in the town 
 was terrible. Deprived of their two leaders, and
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 203 
 
 with the town open to assault, none knew what was 
 to be done. All expected instant destruction, and 
 the air was filled with the screams and wailings of 
 the women ; but the Romans, mindful of their last 
 repulse, did not at once advance to the assault. 
 But in the afternoon Titus, who had now returned, 
 taking two hundred horse and a force of infantry, 
 crossed the breach and entered the town. 
 
 Some of the defenders rushed to meet him, others, 
 catching up their children, ran Avith their wives to 
 the citadel. The defenders fought bravely, but 
 were driven steadily up the hill by the Romans, 
 who were now reenforced by the whole strength of 
 the army led by Yespasian. Quarter was neither 
 asked nor given. The defenders contested every 
 foot of the hill, until the last defender of Gamala 
 ou-tside the citadel had fallen. 
 
 Then Yespasian led his men against the citadel 
 itself. It stood on a rugged rock of great height 
 offering tremendous difficulties to the assailants. 
 The Jews stood upon the summit rolling down 
 great stones and darts upon the Romans as they 
 strove to ascend. But the very heavens seemed to 
 fight against the unfortunate Jews, for a terrific 
 tempest suddenly broke upon the city. So furious 
 was the wind that the Jews could no longer stand 
 on the edge of the crag, or oppose the progress of 
 the enemy ; while the Romans, sheltered from the 
 wind by the rock itself, were able to press upward. 
 The platform once gained, they rushed upon the 
 Jews, slaying all they met, men, women, and 
 children.
 
 204 FOR TE% TEMPLE. 
 
 Yast numbers of the Jews in their despair threw 
 themselves headlong, with their wives and children, 
 over the precipices, and when the butchery was 
 complete five thousand bodies were found at the 
 foot of the rocks ; four thousand lay dead on the 
 platform above. Of all those in Gamala when the 
 Romans entered, two women alone escaped. They 
 were the sisters of Philip, a general in Agrippa's 
 army. They managed to conceal themselves until 
 the carnage was over and the fury of the Romans 
 had subsided, and then showed themselves and pro- 
 claimed who they were. 
 
 Gischala now alone of the cities of Galilee defied 
 the Roman arms. The people themselves were for 
 the most part tillers of the soil> and were anxious to 
 make their submission ; but John, the rival and 
 bitter enemy of Josephus, with the robber band he 
 had collected, was master of the town, and refused 
 to allow any talk of submission. The city had none 
 of the natural strength of Jotapata and Gamala, 
 and Yespasian sent Titus against it with a thousand 
 horse, while he ordered the Tenth Legion to take 
 up its winter quarters at Scythopolis, and himself 
 moved with the other two legions to Caesarea. 
 Titus, on his arrival before Gischala, saw that the 
 city could be easily taken by assault, but desirous 
 of avoiding any more shedding of blood, and learn- 
 ing that the inhabitants were desirous of surrender- 
 ing, he sent an officer before it to offer terms of 
 capitulation. 
 
 The troops of John of Gischala manned the
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 205 
 
 walls; and when the summons of Titus was pro- 
 claimed, John answered that the garrison accepted 
 willingly the generous terms that were offered, but 
 that the day being the Sabbath, nothing could be 
 concluded without an infringement of the law until 
 the next day. Titus at once granted the delay and 
 drew off his troops to a neighboring town. In the 
 night John of Gischala marched away with all his 
 armed men, followed by many of the inhabitants 
 with their wives and children, fearing to remain in 
 the city exposed to the anger of Titus, when he 
 found he had been duped. 
 
 The women and children soon began to drop be- 
 hind; but the men pressed on, leaving the helpless 
 and despairing women behind them. 
 
 In the morning when Titus appeared before the 
 town it opened its gates to him at once, the people 
 hailing him as their deliverer from the oppression 
 they had so long suffered at the hands of John and 
 his bands of ruffians. Titus entered Gischala amid 
 the acclamations of the people, and behaved with 
 great moderation, injuring no one and contenting 
 himself with throwing down a portion of the walls, 
 and warning the inhabitants that if they again rose 
 in rebellion the same mercy would not be extended 
 to them. He had at once dispatched a troop of 
 horse in pursuit of the fugitives. They overtook 
 them and slew six thousand of the men, and brought 
 three thousand women and children back into the 
 city. John himself with the strongest of his band 
 were not overtaken, but made their way to 
 Jerusalem.
 
 206 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 The fame of the successful exploit of the destruc- 
 tion of the Eoraan camp brought large numbers of 
 young men flocking to the hills as soon as the 
 Komans retired from Gamala, all eager to join the 
 band, and John could have recruited his numbers to 
 any extent ; but now that all G.alilee had fallen, and 
 the Romans retired to their winter quarters, he did 
 not see that there was anything to be done until 
 the spring. It would be madness to attack either 
 of the great Roman camps at Scythopolis or 
 Caesarea ; and although doubtless the garrisons left 
 in Tiberias, Tarichea, and other towns might have 
 been driven out, this would only have brought upon 
 those cities the anger of the Romans, and involved 
 them in ruin and destruction. v 
 
 Still less would it have been of any advantage to 
 go down at present into Judea. That province was 
 suffering woes as great as the Romans could inflict 
 upon it, from the action of the factions. Under the 
 pretense of punishing all who were supposed to be 
 favorable to making terms with Rome, bands of 
 armed men pervaded the whole country, plunder- 
 ing and slaying the wretched inhabitants. 
 
 Law and order were at an end. Those in Jeru- 
 salem who claimed for themselves the chief 
 authority in the country had done nothing to assist 
 their countrymen in the north in their struggle 
 with the Romans. Not a man had been dispatched 
 to Galilee. The leaders were occupied in their own 
 desperate feuds, and battles took place in the streets 
 of the city. The peaceful inhabitants were plun- 
 dered and ill-treated, and the condition of those
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 207 
 
 within the walls was as terrible as was that of those 
 without. Anarchy, plunder, and carnage extended 
 throughout Judea, and while the destruction of 
 Jerusalem was threatened by the Roman army in 
 the north, the Jews made no preparation whatever 
 for its defense, but spent their whole time and 
 energy in civil strife, When, therefore, the numerous 
 band who had now gathered round him urged him 
 to lead them down to Jerusalem, John refused to 
 do so. Getting upon an elevated spot where his 
 voice could be heard by them all, he said : 
 
 " My friends, you have heard as well as I what is 
 taking place in Jerusalem and the country round it. 
 Did we go down there what good could we do 2 We 
 should be drawn into the strife on one side or 
 another, and the swords which should be kept for 
 the defense of the Temple against the Romans 
 would be stained with Jewish blood. Moreover, we 
 should aid to consume the food stored away in the 
 granaries. Nor can we through the winter attempt 
 any enterprise against the Romans here. The woes 
 of Galilee are over. Tens of thousands have fallen, 
 but those that survive can go about their business 
 and till their fields in peace. Were we to renew 
 the war here we should bring upon them a fresh 
 outburst of the Roman vengeance. 
 
 " Therefore there is naught for us to do now; but 
 in the spring, when the Romans get into motion 
 against Jerusalem, we will march to its defense. 
 We have naught to do with the evil deeds that are 
 being performed there; we have but to do our 
 duty ; and the first duty of every Jew is to die, if
 
 208 FOR THE TEMPLE!. 
 
 need be, in the defense of the Temple. Therefore 
 let us now disperse to oar homes. When the first 
 news comes that the Romans are stirring, those of 
 you who are disposed to follow me and obey my 
 orders can assemble here. 
 
 " But let only such come ; let the rest make their 
 way singly to Jerusalem. I am resolved to have 
 only such with me who will follow me as one man. 
 You know how the factions rage in the city. A 
 compact body of men, true to themselves and their 
 leader, can maintain themselves aloof from the 
 strife and make themselves respected by both 
 parties ; but single men must take sides with one 
 faction or other, or be ill-treated by both. We are 
 wanted at home ; the fields are lying untilled for 
 want of hands ; therefore let us lay aside our arms 
 until the spring, and do our duty to our families 
 until we are called upon to aid in the defense of the 
 Temple. When the hour comes I shall be ready to 
 lead if you are ready to follow." 
 
 John's address received general approval, and the 
 gathering dispersed, all vowing that they would 
 assemble in the spring and follow John wherever he 
 chose to lead them, for he was already regarded 
 with an utmost superstitious admiration in the 
 country around. His deliverance at Jotapata, and 
 the success that he alone of the Jewish leaders had 
 gained over the Romans, marked him in their eyes 
 as one specially chosen by God to lead them to vic- 
 tory, and in a few hours the hill above Gamala was 
 deserted, and John and his followers were all on 
 their way toward their homes.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 CAPTIVES. 
 
 JOHN was received with great joy by his father, 
 who had already heard the story brought by the 
 injured member of the band from Gamala, and was 
 filled with pride that his son should so have distin- 
 guished himself. He at once agreed to John's pro- 
 posal that he should start on the following day to 
 fetch the women from Neve, as there was no longer 
 any fear of trouble from the Romans. Galilee was 
 completely subdued, and whatever events might 
 take place in Judea, those in the north would be un- 
 affected by them. 
 
 The day after his return, then, John set out with 
 Jonas for Neve. John charged his companion on no 
 account to say anything of their doings at the siege 
 of Gamala ; and as communication was difficult, 
 and they had not heard from Simon since John had 
 left him, his friends at Neve were not aware that 
 he had been absent from the farm. Martha and 
 Mary were delighted to see him, and to hear that 
 all was well at home. They had been greatly 
 alarmed at the news of the slaughter of the fisher- 
 men on the lake, fearing that John might have gone 
 across to Tarichea with some of his friends in the
 
 210 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 village. Their fears on this head, however, abated 
 as time passed on and they did not hear from 
 Simon, who, they felt assured, would have brought 
 the news to Martha had aught happened to their 
 son. 
 
 They had mourned over the siege and massacre 
 <of Gamala, and had been filled with joy when the 
 news had arrived three days before that the Roman 
 army had marched away to take up its quarters for 
 the winter, and they had looked for the summons 
 which John brought for their return home. 
 
 "And does your 'father think, John, that there 
 will be trouble again in the spring? Shall we have 
 to leave home again as soon as the winter is past ?" 
 
 " He hopes not, mother. Gamala was the only 
 town on this side of the Jordan that resisted the 
 Roman authority, and as all the territories of 
 Agrippa are now peaceful there is no reason why 
 the Romans should enter these again ; and, indeed, 
 all Galilee has now surrendered. As Vespasian 
 moved toward the sea deputies came to him from 
 every town and village, and I think now that there 
 will be no more trouble there." 
 
 " It has been terrible enough, my son. What 
 tens of thousands of men have perished, what 
 destruction has been wrought ! We have been 
 mourning for months now for the woes which have 
 fallen upon our people." 
 
 " It has been most terrible, mother, and yet it 
 might have been worse. Nigh a hundred and fifty 
 thousand have fallen at Gadara, Jotapata, Japha,
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 211 
 
 Tarichea, and Garnala, besides those who were slain 
 in the villages that had been sacked and destroyed. 
 Still, considering all things, it might have been 
 worse ; and were it all over now, did no more dan- 
 gers threaten our nation, we might even rejoice that 
 no greater evils have befallen us for our revolt 
 against Rome; but what has been done is but a 
 preparation for the siege of Jerusalem. However, 
 do not let us begin to mourn over the future ; the 
 storm has for the present passed away from us, and 
 whatever misfortunes have befallen our countrymen 
 we have happily escaped. The farm stands unin- 
 jured, and no harm has come to any of us." 
 
 " And all the villagers have escaped, John ? Did 
 none of our neighbors go out in their boats to 
 Tarichea ? We feared, when we heard of the sea- 
 fight, that some must have fallen." 
 
 " No, mother. Fortunately they listened to the 
 counsels of my father, who implored them not to put 
 out on the lake, for that did they do so they would 
 only bring misfortune and ruin upon themselves." 
 
 " And have you heard, John," Mary asked, "any- 
 thing of the champion who they say has arisen ? 
 "We have heard all sorts of tales of him how he 
 harassed the Romans before Gamala and with his 
 followers burned their camp one night and well- 
 nigh destroyed them, and how when he goes into 
 the fight the Roman javelins drop off without harm- 
 ing him, and how when he strikes the Romans fall 
 before his blows like wheat before a sickle." 
 
 John burst into a laugh.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " I wonder, Mary, that the reports didn't say also 
 that he could fly through the air when he chose, 
 could render himself invisible to the enemy, and 
 could by a wave of his hand destroy them as the 
 hosts of Sennacherib were destroyed. The Romans 
 were harassed somewhat at Gamala by John and 
 his followers, who crept into their camp at night 
 and set it on fire, and had a few skirmishes' with 
 their working parties ; but when you have said that 
 you have said all that there is to say about it." 
 
 " That is not like you, John," Mary said indig- 
 nantly, for the tales that had circulated through 
 the province had fired her imagination. " Everv 
 one is talking of what he has done. He alone of all 
 our leaders has checked the Romans, and has shown 
 wisdom as well as valor in fighting. I should have 
 thought you would have been one of the first to 
 praise him. Every one is talking about him, and 
 since we heard of what he has been doing mother 
 and I pray for him daily as we pray for you and 
 your father ; and now you want to make out he has 
 done nothing." 
 
 " I do not want to make out that he has done 
 nothing, Mary, for doubtless the Lord has been with 
 him, and has enabled him to give some trouble to 
 the Romans ; but I was laughing at the fables you 
 have heard about him, and at the reports which 
 had converted his skirmishes with the Romans into 
 all sorts of marvelous actions." 
 
 " I believe they were marvelous actions," Mary 
 said; " why should what people say be all wrong? 
 We believe in him, don't we, mother ?"
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 213 
 
 " Yes, Mary. It is true that the tales we have 
 heard may be, as John says, exaggerated, but as- 
 suredly this new champion of our people must be a 
 man of wisdom and valor, and I see not why, as 
 God raised up champions for Israel in the old time, 
 he should not do so now when our need is so 
 great." 
 
 "There is no reason, mother," John said more 
 quietly, " but I fear that the champion of Israel is 
 not yet forthcoming. We have heard of the doings 
 of this John, and, as I said, he has merely had some 
 skirmishes with the Romans, his band being too 
 small to admit of any regular fighting. He inter- 
 rupted their work and gave them some trouble, and 
 his men, creeping down into the camp, set it on fire, 
 and so caused them a good deal of loss ; but more 
 than this cannot be said of him." 
 
 " At any rate," Mary said disdainfully, " he has 
 done more than your Josephus, John, for he 
 brought ruin on all who took his advice and went 
 into the cities he had fortified. It may please you 
 to make little of what this champion has done ; 
 others do not think so. Everywhere he is talked 
 of and praised the old men are talking of him, the 
 Jewish maidens are singing songs in his honor; I 
 heard them yesterday gathered round a well near 
 Neve. His father must rejoice and his mother be 
 proud of him, if they are alive. What do they say 
 down by the lake, Jonas, of this captain? Are not 
 the tales we have heard believed there?" 
 
 " I have heard nothing about the Roman javelins
 
 214 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 not harming him," Jonas said, "but he certainly- 
 got safely out of the hands of the Romans when 
 they had well-nigh taken him, and all say that he 
 is brave and prudent, and men have great confi- 
 dence and trust in him." 
 
 " Ridiculous, Jonas !" John exclaimed angrily, 
 and Mary and his mother looked at him in surprise. 
 
 " Truly, John," his mother said, " what Mary 
 said is just. This is not like you. I should have 
 thought you would have been one of the first to 
 admire this new leader, seeing that he is fighting in 
 the way I have heard you advocate as being that in 
 which the Romans should be fought, instead of the 
 Jews being shut up in the cities." 
 
 " Quite so, mother ! No doubt he is adopting the 
 proper way of fighting, and therefore has naturally 
 had some success. I am only saying that he has 
 done nothing wonderful, but has given the Romans 
 some trouble by refusing to fight and by merely try- 
 ing to harass them. If there were a thousand men 
 who would gather small bands together and harass 
 the Romans night and day in the same manner, 
 they would render it well-nigh impossible for them 
 to make any progress. As it was, he merely aided 
 in delaying the fall of Gamala by a day or two. 
 And now let us talk cl something else. Our father 
 has succeeded in getting in the principal part of the 
 harvest, but I fear that this year you will be short 
 of fruit. We have had no time to gather in the 
 figs, and they have all fallen from the trees, and 
 although we have made enough wine for our own 
 use, there will be but little to sell."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 215 
 
 " It matters not at all," Martha said. " God has 
 been very merciful toward ns, aud so that we have 
 but bread to eat and water to drink until next har- 
 vest we shall have nothing to repine about when, 
 ruin and destruction have fallen upon so many." 
 
 That evening, when Mary and Martha had retired 
 to their apartments, the former, who had been very 
 silent all the evening, said : 
 
 " I cannot understand, mother, why John speaks 
 so coldly of the doings of this brave leader, and why 
 he was almost angry at our praises of him ; it seems 
 altogether unlike him." 
 
 " It is unlike him, Mary ; but you must never be 
 surprised at men ; they do not like to hear each 
 other praised ; and though I should have thought, 
 from what I know of my son, that he was above the 
 feeling of jealousy, I cannot but think that he 
 showed some signs of that feeling to-day." 
 
 " But it seems absurd, mother. I can understand 
 John being jealous of any one his own age who sur- 
 passed him in any exercises, though I never saw him 
 so ; for when in rowing on the lake, or in shooting 
 with bows and arrows, or in other sports, some of 
 our neighbors' sons have surpassed him he never 
 seemed to mind at all, and it seems almost absurd 
 to think that he could be jealous of a great leader 
 who has done brave deeds for our people." 
 
 " It does seem so, Mary, and I wonder myself ; 
 but it has been ever one of our national faults to be 
 jealous of our leaders. From the time the people 
 vexed Moses and Aaron in the wilderness it has
 
 216 FOR THE TEMPLJS. 
 
 ever been the same. I grieve to see it in John, \vho 
 has distinguished himself greatly for his age, and of 
 whom we are proud ; but no one is perfect, my 
 child, and you must not trouble because you find 
 that your betrothed husband is not free from all 
 weaknesses." 
 
 " I don't expect him to be free from all weak- 
 nesses, mother ; but this is one of the last weak- 
 nesses I should have expected to find in him, and it 
 troubles me. When everything seemed so dark it 
 was a pleasure to think that a hero, perhaps a de- 
 liverer, had arisen; and now John seems to say 
 that he has done nothing/' 
 
 " My dear child," Martha said, " something may 
 have occurred to vex John on the way, and when 
 men are put out they will often show it in the 
 strangest manner. Probably John will another 
 time speak just as warmly in praise of our new- 
 leader as you would yourself." 
 
 " Perhaps it may be so, mother," Mary assented. 
 " I can hardly believe that John is jealous it does 
 seem so unlike himself." 
 
 " I would not speak on the subject again, Mary, 
 if I were you, unless he himself brings it up. A 
 wise woman keeps silence on subjects which may 
 lead to disagreement. You will learn, when you 
 have married, that this is the easiest and best 
 way." 
 
 " I suppose so, mother," Mary said in a tone of 
 disappointment ; " but somehow it never seemed to 
 me before that John and I could have any subject on 
 which there would be disagreement."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 217 
 
 " My dear Mar}-," Martha said, smiling, " John 
 and you are both mortal ; and although you may 
 truly love each other, and will, I trust, be very 
 happy as husband and wife, subjects will occur upon 
 which you will differ ; and then, as you know, the 
 wisest plan is for the wife to be silent. It is the 
 wife's duty always to give way to the husband." 
 
 Mary gave a little shrug of her shoulders, as if to 
 intimate that she did not regard altogether favor- 
 ably this view of a wife's duties ; however, she said 
 no more, but kissed Martha and retired to bed. 
 
 The next morning they started early, and jour- 
 neyed to Capitolias, where they stayed at? the house 
 of some friends. In the evening the talk again 
 turned upon the new leader who had burned the 
 Roman camp. When they did so John at once 
 made some excuse and went out. He regretted 
 now that he had not at once told his mother what 
 he had been doing. He had intended, in the first 
 place, to give her a little surprise, but had no idea 
 of the exaggerated reports that had been spread 
 about ; and when Mary broke out into praise of the 
 unknown leader, it seemed to him that it would 
 have been absurd to say that he himself was the 
 person of whom she had formed so fantastically 
 exalted an opinion. 
 
 Not having said so at first, he did not see how 
 he could say so afterward, and so left the matter as 
 it stood until they should return home. 
 
 While John was out he heard news which caused 
 him some uneasiness It was said that parties of
 
 218 FOR TSS TEMPLE. 
 
 Roman horse from Scythopolis had been scouring 
 the country, burning many villages under the pre- 
 text that some Roman soldiers who had straggled 
 away marauding on their own account had been 
 killed by the peasants, slaughtering the people, and 
 carrying off as slaves such young women and men 
 as were likely to fetch good prices. He told his 
 mother what he had heard, and asked her whether 
 she did not think that it would be better to stay 
 where they were for a time, or return to Neve. 
 But Martha was anxious to be at home again ; and 
 the friend with whom they were stopping said that 
 these reports were a week old, and that doubtless 
 the Romans had returned to their camp. She 
 determined, therefore, that 1 she and Mary would 
 continue their journey, but that the maids should 
 remain with their friend at Capitolias until the 
 Roman excursions ceased. 
 
 They accordingly set out in the morning as be- 
 fore, the two women riding, and John and Jonas 
 walking by the side of the donkeys. Following the 
 road by the side of the Hieromax, they kept on 
 without meeting anything to cause alarm until they 
 reached the angle of the stream where the road to 
 Hippos branched off from that which followed 
 the river down to Tarichea. They had gone but 
 a short distance when they saw a cloud of dust 
 rising along the road in front of them and the 
 sparkle of arms in the sun. 
 
 " Turn aside, mother," John exclaimed. " Those 
 must be the Romans ahead."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 219 
 
 Turning aside they rode toward some gardens 
 and orchards at no great distance, but before they 
 reached them two Roman soldiers separated them- 
 selves from the rest and galloped after them. 
 
 " Fly, John !" Martha said hurriedly. " You and 
 Jonas can escape." 
 
 " It would only insure evil to you if we did, 
 mother. No ; we will keep together." 
 
 The Roman soldiers rode up and roughly ordered 
 the party to accompany them back to the main 
 body, which consisted of fifty men. The leader, a 
 young officer whose garments and armor showed 
 that he belonged to a family of importance, rode 
 forward a few paces to meet them. 
 
 " Some more of this accursed race of rebels !" he 
 exclaimed. 
 
 "We are quiet travelers," John said, "journeying 
 from Capitolias to Tarichea. We have harmed no 
 one, ray lord." 
 
 "You are all the same," the Roman replied, 
 scowling upon them. " You speak us fair one day, 
 and stab us in the back the next. Pomponius," 
 he continued, turning to a sergeant, "put these 
 two lads with the rest. They ought to fetch a good 
 price, for they are strong and active. As to the 
 girl, I will make a present of her to the general to 
 send to his wife in Rome. She is the prettiest 
 Jewess I have seen since I entered the country. 
 The old woman can go. She is of no use to any 
 one." 
 
 Martha threw her arms round Mary and would
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 have striven to resist with her feeble strength the 
 carrying out of the order, when John said in 
 Hebrew : 
 
 " Mother, you will ruin us all and lose your own 
 life ! Go home quietly, and trust to me to save 
 Mary." 
 
 The habit of submitting to her husband's will 
 which Martha had practiced all her life asserted 
 itself. She embraced Mary passionately, and drew 
 aside as the Roman soldiers approached, and then 
 tottering away a short distance, sank weeping on 
 the ground. Mary shed no tear, but, pale as death, 
 walked by the side of a soldier, who led her to the 
 rear of the cavalcade, where four or five other 
 young women were standing in dejected attitudes. 
 John and Jonas were similarly placed with some 
 young men in the midst of the Roman soldiers. 
 Their hands were tied behind them, and the troop 
 resumed its way. They were traveling by the road 
 along which the little party had just come. "When- 
 ever a house or small village was seen half of the 
 troop galloped off. Flames were soon seen to rise, 
 and parties of wretched captives were driven in. 
 When about half-way to Capitolias the troop 
 halted. The horses were turned into a field of ripe 
 corn to feed ; half the men sat down to a meal, 
 while the remainder stood on guard over the cap- 
 tives. John had whispered to Jonas to work his 
 hands so as to loosen his cords, if possible ; and the 
 lad, whose bones were very small, soon said that he 
 could slip the ropes off without difficulty.
 
 MARY AND THE HEBREW WOMEN IN THE HANDS OF THE ROMANS. Page 230.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 221 
 
 It was harder work for John ; and indeed while 
 on the march he did not venture to exert himself, 
 fearing that the movements would be noticed by his 
 guards. But when they halted he got into the 
 middle of the group of captives and tried his best to 
 loosen the cords. Jonas was close beside him. 
 
 " It is of no use, Jonas," he said. " The cords 
 are cutting into my flesh, and they will not yield 
 in the slightest." 
 
 " Let me try, John. Stand round close," Jonas 
 said to the other captives in Hebrew. " I want to 
 loosen my friend's knots. If he can get away he 
 will bring rescue to you all." 
 
 The others moved so as to completely cover the 
 movements of Jonas ; and the lad, stooping down, 
 applied his teeth to the knot in John's cords, and 
 soon succeeded in loosening it. 
 
 " That will be enough, Jonas. I can draw my 
 hand through now." 
 
 Jonas again stood up. 
 
 " When I make an effort to escape, Jonas, do you 
 dash between the horsemen and run for it. In the 
 confusion you will get a start, and they will not 
 overtake you until you are across the river. Once 
 on the hill you are safe. If you remain behind and 
 I get away, as likely as not one of the soldiers would 
 send a javelin through you, as being my companion." 
 
 After half an hour's halt the Komans again 
 mounted their horses and turned to retrace their 
 steps. 
 
 .Two Romans rode on either side of the captives,
 
 222 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 who were about fifty in number ; and John gradu- 
 ally made his way to the front of the party between 
 the two leading horsemen. The officer, talking to 
 his sergeant, rode a few paces ahead in the middle 
 of the road. Since the cords had been loosened 
 John had continued to work his fingers until the 
 circulation was restored. Suddenly he slipped his 
 hands from their fastenings, gave three bounds for- 
 ward, and vaulted on to the back of the horse be- 
 hind the officer. He had drawn the knife which 
 had been hidden in his girdle, and he threw one arm 
 round the officer, while he struck the knife deep 
 into the horse's flank. The animal reared in the 
 air, and then, at a second application of the knife ? 
 sprang forward at the top of His speed before the 
 astonished Roman knew what had happened. 
 
 John held him in his arms like a vise, and, exert- 
 ing all his strength, lifted him from the saddle and 
 hurled him headlong to the ground, where he lay 
 bleeding and insensible. John had now time to 
 look round. Struck with astonishment at the sud- 
 den incident which had passed under their eyes, the 
 Romans had at first instinctively reined in their 
 horses. The sergeant had been the first to recover 
 himself, and, shouting to the five leading soldiers on 
 each side to fallow him, had spurred in pursuit just 
 as his officer was hurled to the ground. But John 
 was already some fifty yards away, and felt sure 
 that he could not be overtaken. 
 
 He had remarked the horse ridden by the officer 
 while they were eating, and saw that it was of far
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE, 223 
 
 higher blood and swifter pace than any of those 
 ridden by the soldiers. His own weight, too, was 
 far less than that of the heavy-armed men in pur- 
 suit of him ; and with a shout of scornful defiance 
 and a wave of his hand he continued his course. 
 Before a mile had been passed he had left his pur- 
 suers far in the rear, and, seeing the hopelessness of 
 the pursuit, they presently reined up and returned 
 to the main body. Jonas had carried out John's 
 instructions, and the instant the latter sprang on the 
 officer he slipped under the belly of the horse next 
 to him and ran at the top of his speed for the river. 
 
 It was but a hundred yards away, and he had 
 gone three-quarters the distance before any of the 
 soldiers, confused at the attack upon their offi- 
 cer, doubtful whether the whole of the captives were 
 not about to fall upon them, and without orders 
 how to act, set out in pursuit. Jonas plunged into 
 the stream, dived to the other side, and then sprang 
 forward again, just as three .or four soldiers reached 
 the bank he had left. Their javelins were hurled 
 after him, but without effect, and with a shout of 
 triumph he sprang up the hillside, and was soon safe 
 from pursuit. 
 
 As soon as he saw that the Romans had turned 
 back, John sprang from his horse, unstrapped the 
 heavy armor which covered its chest and sides, and 
 flung it away, and then mounting, resumed his 
 course. At the first house he came to he borrowed 
 a shepherd's horn, and as he approached the first 
 village sounded his signal for the assembly.
 
 224 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Two or three young men ran out from their 
 houses as he dashed up, for there was not a village 
 in those parts from which some of the young men 
 had not gone up to the mountains to join him after 
 the fall of Gamala, and all were ready to follow 
 him anywhere. He rapidly gave them orders to go 
 to all the villages round, and instruct the young 
 men to assemble with all speed possible at their old 
 trysting-place near Jabez Galaad, and to spread the 
 news as they went, some from each village being 
 sent as messengers to others. Then he pursued his 
 way at full speed, and by sunset had issued his 
 orders in some twenty villages. Being convinced 
 that by night a sufficient number of men would 
 have gathered in the mountain for his purpose, he 
 rode back to the river, swam his horse across, and 
 then leaving it to shift for itself, made his way up 
 the mountain. 
 
 Some seventy or eighty men had already arrived 
 at the appointed place, and fresh parties were 
 coming in every minute. Jonas was already there, 
 John having arranged with him to watch the move- 
 ments of the Romans until the sun set, and then to 
 bring word to the place of meeting as to their move- 
 ments. 
 
 " Well, Jonas, what is vour news ?" 
 
 */ 
 
 " The Romans have halted for the night at a spot 
 about a mile this side of where we left them. They 
 remained where they were until the party who had 
 ridden after you returned, then they went slowty 
 back, after having made a litter with their spears,
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 335 
 
 on which four of them carried the officer you threw 
 from his horse what a crash he made ! I heard 
 the clang of his arras as I was running. They 
 stopped near one of the villages they burned as we 
 went past, and when I turned to make my way here 
 their fires were burning, so there's no doubt they 
 mean to halt there for the night." 
 
 " That is good news, indeed !" John said. " Be- 
 fore morning we will rouse them up in a way they 
 little expect." 
 
 John's followers arrived eager for the fight, for 
 the news of the devastations committed by this 
 party of Romans had roused the whole district to 
 fury. As a rule the Romans, except when actually 
 on a campaign, abstained from all ill-treatment of 
 the inhabitants, the orders against plundering and 
 injuring the people being here, as in other countries 
 held by the Roman arms, very stringent. In the 
 present case there was no doubt that Roman sol- 
 diers had been killed, but these had brought their 
 fate upon themselves by their ill-treatment and in- 
 sult of the villagers ; and no notice would have 
 been taken of the slaying of men while acting in 
 disobedience of orders, had it not been that they 
 belonged to the company of Servilius Maro. He 
 was a young noble, possessed of great influence in 
 Rome, and of a ferocious and cruel disposition, and 
 he had urged the general so strongly to allow him 
 to go out to inflict punishment upon the country 
 people that consent had reluctantly been given. 
 But even at this time, although the Jews were not
 
 226 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 aware of it, a messenger was on his way to Servilius 
 with peremptory orders to him to return at once to 
 Scythopolis, as most serious reports as to his 
 cruelty to peaceful inhabitants had come to the gen- 
 eral's ears. 
 
 But that message Servilius was never to receive. 
 By midnight upward of four hundred men had 
 gathered at the rendezvous in the mountains. John 
 divided the force into four bodies, and gave each 
 their orders as to the part that they were to take, 
 and then marched down the hill, crossed the river, 
 and advanced toward the Roman bivouac. 
 
 "When within a quarter of a mile of the fires the 
 band broke up into sections, and proceeded to sur- 
 round the enemy. When each company reached 
 the position John had marked out for it the men 
 began to crawl slowly forward toward the Romans. 
 John sounded a note on his horn, and with a shout 
 the whole band rushed to their feet and charged 
 down upon the enemy. Before the latter could 
 spring to their feet and mount their horses the Jews 
 were among them. 
 
 John, with a picked band of twenty men, at once 
 made his way to the center of the camp, where the 
 captives, ignorant of the cause of this sudden alarm, 
 stood huddled together. Placing his men around 
 them to prevent any Roman soldier injuring them, 
 John joined in the fray. It was short. Taken by 
 surprise, unable to get together and form in order 
 of defense, the Roman soldiers were surrounded and 
 cut down, each man fighting stubbornly to the last.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 227 
 
 One of the first to fall was their leader, who, spring- 
 ing to his feet at the alarm, had rushed just as he 
 was, without helmet or armor, among his soldiers, 
 and was stabbed in a dozen places before he had 
 time to draw his sword. The moment the conflict 
 was over, and the last Roman had fallen, John 
 ordered his men to disperse at once. 
 
 " Regain your homes before morning," he said ; 
 " there may be other parties of Romans out, and it 
 is as well that none, even of your friends, should see 
 you return, and then the Romans will have no clew 
 as to those who have taken part in this night's 
 business. Take not any of their arms or spoils. 
 We have fought for vengeance and to relieve our 
 friends, not for plunder. It is well that the Romans 
 should see that, when they hear of the disaster and 
 march out to bury the dead." 
 
 The men were already crowding round the cap- 
 tives, relieving them from their bonds, and in many 
 cases embracing and weeping on their necks, for 
 among them were many friends and relations of the 
 rescuing party. 
 
 John soon, found Mary. 
 
 "Is this a miracle you have performed, John ?" 
 the girl said. " Can it be true that our captors have 
 been slain, and that we are free ?" 
 
 " Yes, dear, we can continue our journey." 
 
 "But how has it happened, John how has it all 
 come about ?" 
 
 " Jonas and I escaped, as I suppose you know, 
 Mary."
 
 228 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " There was a great confusion and stir upon the 
 road," Mary said, " but I did not know what had 
 happened until we got here. Then some of the men 
 said that two of the captives had escaped, and that 
 one of them jumped on to the horse of the officer 
 and overthrew him, and had ridden off. They said 
 they were both young ; and as 1 missed you both 
 from among the party I thought it must have been 
 you. But how did all these men come together ?" 
 
 " I rode round the country, calling upon the 
 young men in the villages to take up arms to rescue 
 their friends who had been carried away captive 
 into slavery, and to revenge the destruction which 
 this band of ruffians had caused. There were plenty 
 of brave men ready to undertake the task, and, as 
 you see, we have carried it out. And now. Mary, 
 we had best be going. You see the others are dis- 
 persing fast, and it is as well to be as far from here 
 by morning as possible. A troop of Roman horse 
 may come along, journeying between Scythopolis 
 and Capitolias, and if they came upon this camp 
 the} 7 might scour all the country." 
 
 " I am ready, John. What a fate you have saved 
 me from ! I have seemed in a dream ever since the 
 Romans met us this afternoon. I have tried to 
 think of what my life was going to be, but could 
 not. When we got here I tried to weep, but no 
 tears would come. I have been sitting there as 
 still and cold as if frozen, till I heard the notes of a 
 horn. Oh, John, do you know John of Gamala 
 was there ?"
 
 THE TEMPLE. 229 
 
 "How do you know, Mary ?" John asked in surv 
 prise. 
 
 " One of the young men, who was a captive, was 
 lying near, and he leaped to his feet when the horn 
 sounded, and shouted, ' There is John of Gamala's 
 horn ; we are saved.' Did you know he was with 
 you?" 
 
 " Yes, I knew he was," John said. 
 
 "You won't say anything against him again," 
 Mary said. " Why did you not bring him here to 
 us that we might thank him ?" 
 
 " Certainly I will not say anything against him 
 in future, Mary. And now let us be going. I am 
 very anxious about my poor mother. We will fol- 
 low the road to the spot where we left her. By the 
 time we get there morning will be breaking. We 
 will inquire for her a,t every village we pass through, 
 for I am sure she cannot have gone far. The 
 Romans did not take the asses, but even with them 
 she could not have traveled far, and probably took 
 shelter at the first place which she came to." 
 
 This proved to be the case. At the first village 
 they arrived at, after passing the spot at which they 
 had been taken captives, they heard that late the 
 evening before a woman had arrived in sore dis- 
 tress. She was leading two asses, which she seemed 
 too feeble to mount. She stated that her son and 
 daughter had been carried away by the Romans, 
 and she had been received for the night in the prin- 
 cipal house in the village. 
 
 Martha's delight when John and Mary entered
 
 230 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 the house where she had been sheltered was beyond 
 words. She fell on their necks and kissed them, 
 with broken sentences of thankfulness to God at 
 their deliverance, and it was some time before she 
 was sufficiently calm to hear how their escape had 
 been effected by the night attack upon the Romans 
 by the country people. She was scarcely surprised 
 when she heard that John had effected his escape, 
 and summoned the people to rise to rescue them. 
 
 " You told me to trust to you to save Mary, John, 
 and I have kept on saying your words over and 
 over again to myself. It seemed to me as if I did 
 not quite understand them, and yet there was com- 
 fort in them. I could not even think what you 
 could do to help Mary, and yet it appeared as if you 
 yourself must have some hope." 
 
 As soon as Martha was sufficiently recovered 
 from her emotions to resume their journey the 
 party again started. They made a detour to avoid 
 Hippos, for, as John said, there might be inquiries 
 as to every one who was noticed coming from the 
 direction of the scene of the struggle. They made 
 many halts by the way, for Martha was scarcely 
 able to retain her seat on the donkey, and even 
 Mary was greatly shaken by the event of her cap- 
 tivity and rescue. During the heat of the day they 
 remained under the shade of some trees, and the 
 sun was setting when they approached the farm. 
 Simon and the men hurried out when the sound of 
 the asses' feet was heard. Martha burst into tears 
 as he assisted her to alight.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 231 
 
 " What ails you, wife ? I trust that no evil has 
 befallen you by the way. Where are the maids ? 
 Why, Mary, my child, you look pale too !" 
 
 " No wonder, uncle, that aunt is shaken, and that 
 I look pale. For John and I and Jonas were taken 
 captives by the Eomans, who carried us off to sell 
 as slaves, leaving poor mother behind." 
 
 " And how then have you escaped, child ?" 
 
 " John and Jonas got away from them, and raised 
 all the country ; for the Romans had done much 
 harm killing and carrying away captives and burn- 
 ing. So when he called them the men took up 
 arms and fell upon the Romans at night and slew 
 them all, and rescued me and some fifty other cap- 
 tives who had fallen into their hands." 
 
 Simon asked no further questions for the time, but 
 helped Martha into the house, and then handed her 
 over to the care of Mary, and half an hour later she 
 had recovered sufficiently to return to the room, 
 and sit there holding Simon's hand in quiet hap- 
 piness, and watching Mary as she resumed her 
 accustomed tasks and assisted old Isaac in prepar- 
 ing supper. 
 
 " Everything looks just as it was, mother. I 
 could hardly have believed things would have got 
 on so well without me to look after them. And 
 there are quantities of grapes on the vines still; 
 they are too ripe for wine, but they will last us for 
 eating for months, and that is ever so much better 
 
 O 7 
 
 than making them into wine " 
 
 She stopped, for Simon had taken his place at the
 
 232 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 head of the table, and offered up thanks in the 
 name of the whole household for the mercies that 
 had been vouchsafed to them, and especially that 
 they were all once again assembled together in 
 their house without there being one vacant place. 
 Then the meal began. While it was eaten many 
 questions; were asked on both sides ; Simon inquir- 
 ing about his brother-in-law and his family and the 
 life they had led at the farm, Martha asking after 
 their neighbors, who had suffered and who had 
 escaped without loss or harm. When Isaac and the 
 men retired Jonas rose also to go, but Simon stopped 
 him. 
 
 "Remain with us, Jonas. Your life has been 
 strangely cast in that of John's, and I would that 
 henceforth you take your place as one of the family. 
 You saved his life at Jotapata, and you will hence- 
 forth be as an adopted son to me. Martha, I know 
 that you will spare some of your affection for the 
 lad who is as a younger brother to John, and who 
 would, I believe, nay, I feel sure, if need be, give 
 his life for his friend." 
 
 " I would do so, indeed," Jonas said simply. " He 
 found me an outcast whom none cared for, he has 
 treated me like a brother, and I would gladly die 
 for him." 
 
 Martha said a few kind words to Jonas, whose 
 quiet and somewhat subdued manner, and whose 
 evident affection for John, had greatly pleased her, 
 and Mary gave him a little nod, which signified 
 that she gladly accepted him as one of the family.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 233 
 
 " And now, Martha," Simon said, " you have not 
 yet told me how proud you must feel in the doings 
 of our son. Our friends here are never weary of 
 congratulating me, and truly I feel thankful that a 
 son of mine should have done such deeds, and that 
 the Lord should have chosen him to use him as an 
 instrument of his will." 
 
 "My dear father," John interrupted, "I have 
 told you that there is nothing at all out of the way 
 in what we have done. Jonas and the others did 
 just as much as I did, and methinks that some of 
 them make much more than is needful of our 
 skirmishes, and praise me because in so doing they 
 praise themselves, who did as much as I did." 
 
 " But I do not understand you, Simon," Martha 
 said. " I know that John fought bravely at Jota- 
 pata, and that it was marvelous that he and Jona? 
 escaped when so many fell. Is it this that you art- 
 speaking of?" 
 
 " What ! has John said nothing about what ho 
 has been doing since ?" Simon asked in surprise. 
 
 " No, father, I said nothing about it," John said 
 before his mother could speak. " I thought, in the 
 first place, that you would like to tell them v and, in 
 the next, the people there had heard suck magni- 
 fied reports that I could not for very shame lay 
 claim to be the hero they had pictured to them- 
 selves." 
 
 " But what has he done ?" Martha aaked more 
 and more surprised ; while Mary at his last word* 
 sprang to her feet and stood looking at him wit 
 an intent and eager face.
 
 234 FOB THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " He should have told you, Martha," Simon said. 
 " It is no light thing that this son of ours has done. 
 Young as he is the eyes of the people are upon 
 them. For with a small band which he gathered 
 here he harassed the enemy several days, and boldly 
 entering their camp destroyed it by fire." 
 
 " Oh, John !" Mary said in a low voice ; while 
 Martha exclaimed : 
 
 "What! is the John of whom we have heard so 
 much, the young man of whom the people speak as 
 their future leader, our boy ? You cannot mean it, 
 Simon I" 
 
 " There is no mistake about it, Martha. The lad 
 came to me and said he thought that with a small 
 band he could cause much trouble to the Komans ; 
 so I told him he could go, not knowing whether he 
 spoke from the restlessness of youth, or because it 
 was the will of the Lord that he should go and fight 
 for the country; indeed, it seemed to many that his 
 marvelous escape from Jotapata showed that God 
 had need of him. So I did not withstand him. 
 There were many from the villages round who were 
 ready to join themselves to him and follow him, for 
 the fame of his escape had made him much talked 
 of. So he went with twenty -four followers, and, of 
 course, Jonas here; and truly he did, as all men 
 say, great things. And though he saved not 
 Gamala, as indeed could not have been done save 
 by a miracle of God, with so small a band, he did 
 much, and by the burning of their camp not only 
 struck a heavy blow upon the Romans, but he in-
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 335 
 
 spired the people with hope. Before, it seemed that 
 to resist the Romans was to bring certain destruc- 
 tion upon those who ventured it ; now men see 
 that with prudence, united with bravery, much 
 may be done, and in the spring John will be fol- 
 lowed by a great gathering of fighting men from 
 all the country round." 
 
 Martha sat in speechless surprise looking at her 
 son. 
 
 " My dear mother," John said, " what I told you 
 before when you were praising the unknown John 
 is equally true now that it is John your son. "We 
 acted with common sense, which so far no one seems 
 to have exercised in our struggle with the Romans. 
 "We just kept out of their reach, and took good care 
 never to come to actual blows with them. We con- 
 stantly threatened them, and compelled them, who 
 knew nothing of our numbers or strength, to cease 
 working. As to the burning their camp, of course 
 there was a certain amount of danger in it, but one 
 cannot make war without danger. We crept 
 through their sentries into the camp in the night 
 and set it on fire, and then made our escape as best 
 we could. 
 
 " As only one of our number was killed, and he 
 from falling over a precipice and not by the sword 
 of the Romans, you see the peril could not have 
 been very great. It was just as I said, that because 
 we did not throw away our lives, but were prudent 
 and cautious, we succeeded. People have made a 
 great fuss about it because it is the only success,
 
 36 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 however small, that we have gained over the Ro- 
 mans ; but, as my father says, it has certainly had a 
 good effect. It has excited a feeling of hopefulness, 
 and in the spring many will take the field with the 
 belief that after all the Romans are not invincible, 
 and that those who fight against them are not 
 merely throwing away their lives." 
 
 It was sometime before Martha could realize that 
 the hero of which she had heard so much was the 
 quiet lad standing before her her own son John. 
 
 " Simon," she said at last, " morning and night I 
 have prayed God to protect him of whom we heard 
 so much, little thinking that it was my own son I 
 was praying for. To-night I will thank him that 
 he has so blessed me. Assuredly God's hand is 
 with him. The dangers he has run and the success 
 that he has gained may, as he says, be magnified by 
 report ; nevertheless he has assuredly withstood the 
 Romans, even as David went out against Goliath. 
 To-morrow I will hear more of this ; but I feel 
 shaken with the journey and with this strange 
 news. Come, Mary, let us to bed !" But Mary 
 had already stolen away, without having said a 
 single word after her first exclamation. 
 
 John was at work soon after daybreak next 
 morning, for there was much to be done. The men 
 were plowing up the stubble ready for the sowing, 
 Jonas had gone off with Isaac to drive in some 
 cattle from the hills, and John set to work to dig 
 up a patch of garden ground near the house. He 
 had not been long at work when he saw Mary ap-
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 337 
 
 preaching. She came along quietly and slowly, 
 with a step altogether unlike her own. 
 
 " Why, Mary, is that you ?" he said as she ap- 
 proached. " Why, Miriam herself could not walk 
 slower. Are you ill this morning, child ?" he asked 
 with a change of voice as he saw how pale she was 
 looking. 
 
 Mary did not speak until she came quite close, 
 then she stopped and looked at him with eyes full 
 of tears. 
 
 " Oh, John," she began, " what can I say ?" 
 
 " Why, my dear Mary, what on earth is the mat- 
 ter with you?" he said, throwing down his spade 
 and taking her hands in his. 
 
 " I am so unhappy, John." 
 
 " Unhappy !" John repeated. " What is making 
 you unhappy, child ?" 
 
 " It is so dreadful," she said, " to think that I, 
 who ought to have known you so well, I, your 
 betrothed wife, have been thinking that you were 
 so mean as to be jealous, for I did think it was that, 
 John, when you made light of the doings of the 
 hero I had been thinking about so much, and would 
 not allow that he had done anything particular. I 
 thought that you were jealous, John; and now I 
 know what you have done, and why you spoke so, 
 I feel I am altogether unworthy of you." 
 
 " Well, Mary, I never thought you were a little 
 goose before. What nonsense you are talking ! It 
 was only natural you should have thought I was 
 jealous, and I should have been jealous if it had
 
 238 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 been any one else you were praising so much. It 
 was my fault for not telling you at once. Conceal- 
 ments are always stupid ; but I had thought that it 
 would give you a pleasant surprise when you got 
 home to hear about it ; but instead of causing you 
 pleasure I have caused you pain. I was not vexed 
 in the slightest ; I was rather amused when you 
 answered me so curtly." 
 
 " I think it was cruel of you, John, to let me go 
 on thinking badly of you, and showing yourself in 
 so unworthy a light. That does not make it any 
 the less wrong of me. I ought to have believed in 
 you." 
 
 " You are making a mountain out of a molehill, 
 Mary, and I won't hear any such nonsense. You 
 heard an absurd story as to what- some one had been 
 doing, and you naturally made a hero of him. You 
 were hurt by my speaking slightingly of this hero 
 of yours, and naturally thought I was jealous at 
 hearing such praises of another from my betrothed 
 wife. It was all perfectly natural. I was not in 
 the least offended with you, or put out in any way, 
 except that I was vexed with myself for not telling 
 you at once that all these fables related to your 
 Cousin John. Now, dry your eyes, and don't think 
 any more about it. Go and pick two of the finest 
 bunches of grapes you can find, and we will eat 
 them together." 
 
 But it was some time before Mary recovered her 
 brightness. The changes which the last few months 
 had made almost depressed her. It was but a year
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 239 
 
 ago that John and she had been boy and girl to- 
 gether ; now he had become a man, had done great 
 deeds, was looked upon by many as one chosen for 
 the deliverance of the nation. Mary felt that she 
 too had aged ; but the change in her was as noth- 
 ing to that in her old playfellow. It was but a year 
 ago she had been gravely advising him, treating 
 him sometimes as if she had been the elder. She 
 would have treated him now, if he would have let 
 her, with something of the deference and respect 
 which a Jewish maiden would usually pay to a be- 
 trothed husband one who was shortly to become 
 her lord. But the first time he detected this man- 
 ner John simply laughed at her and said : 
 
 " My dear Mary, do not let us have any nonsense 
 of this sort. We have been always equals, you and 
 I, friends and companions. You know just as well 
 as I do that in all matters which we have had in 
 common, you have always had quite as much sense 
 as I, and on a great many matters more sense. 
 Nothing has occurred since then to alter that. I 
 have grown into a young man, you into a young 
 woman ; but we have advanced equally. On matters 
 concerning warfare I have gained a deal of knowl- 
 edge ; in other matters, doubtless, you have gained 
 knowledge. And if, dear, it is God's will that I 
 pass through the troubles and dangers that lie be- 
 fore us, and we become man and wife, I trifet that 
 we shall always be the friends and comrades that 
 we have been as boy and girl together. It is all 
 very well, when young men and maidens have seei?
 
 240 FOR 1HE TEMPLE. 
 
 nothing of each other until their parents bring them 
 together as man and wife, for the bride to affect a 
 deep respect, which I have not the least doubt she 
 is generally far from feeling in her heart, for the 
 man to whom she is given. Happily this has not 
 been the way with us. We have learned to know 
 each other well, and to know that, beyond the dif- 
 ference in strength which a man has over a woman, 
 there is no difference between us ; that one will rule 
 the house and the other will rule the farm, but that 
 in all things, I trust, we shall be companions and 
 equals. I do hope, Mary, that there will be no 
 change in our ways the few months we have to be 
 together now. 
 
 " In the spring I go up to help to defend Jerusa- 
 lem, and it is no use hiding the fact from ourselves 
 that there is but little chance of my returning. We 
 know what has befallen those who have hitherto 
 defended cities against the Romans, and what has 
 happened at Jotapata and Gamala will probably 
 happen at Jerusalem. But for this reason let us 
 have no change ; let us be as brother and sister to 
 one another, as we have been all along. If God 
 brings me back safe to you and you become my wife 
 there will be plenty of time to settle exactly how 
 much deference you shall pay me, but I shall expect 
 that when the novelty of affecting the wifely obe- 
 dience which is enjoined upon the females of our 
 race is past you will be quite ready to take up that 
 equality which is, after all, the rule in practice." 
 
 " I shall remember your words/' Mary saic/
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 241 
 
 saucily, "when the time comes. It may be you 
 will regret your expressions about equality some 
 day." 
 
 So during the winter Mary tried to be bright and 
 cheerful, and Martha, whose heart was filled with 
 anxiety as to the dangers and trials which lay be- 
 fore them Jerusalem and the Temple threatened, 
 and John away engaged in desperate enterprises 
 often wondered to herself when she heard the girl's 
 merry laugh as she talked with John, and saw how 
 completely she seemed to put aside every sort of 
 anxiety ; but she did not know how Mary often 
 spent the entire night in weeping and prayer, and 
 how hard was her struggle to keep up the brave 
 appearance which was, she knew, a pleasure to 
 John. 
 
 He was not much at home, being often absent for 
 days together. Strangers came and went fre- 
 quently. John had long conversations with them, 
 and sometimes went away with them and did not 
 return for three or four days. No questions were 
 asked by his parents as to these visitors or his absence. 
 They knew that they had reference to what they 
 considered his mission ; and as when he returned 
 home he evidently wished to lay aside all thought 
 of other things and to devote himself to his life 
 with them, they asked no questions as to what he 
 was doing. 
 
 He spoke sometimes of these things to Mary when 
 they were together alone. She knew that numbers 
 of young men were only waiting his signal to join
 
 242 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 him ; that parties of them met him among the hills 
 and were there organized into companies, each with 
 officers of their own choice over them ; and that, 
 unknown to the Romans at Scythopolis, there were 
 daily held throughout the country on both sides of 
 the Jordan meetings where men practiced with 
 their arms, improved their skill with the bow and 
 arrow, and learned to obey the various signals of 
 the bugle which John had now elaborated. 
 
 John was resolute in refusing to accept any men 
 with wives and families. There were other leaders, 
 he said, under whom these could fight ; he was de- 
 termined to have none but men who were ready to 
 sacrifice their lives, and without the care of others 
 dependent upon them. 
 
 He was ready to accept youths of fifteen as 
 well as men of twenty-five, believing that, in 
 point of courage, the one were equal to the other. 
 But each candidate had to be introduced by others, 
 who vouched for his activity, hardihood, and cour- 
 age. One of his objects was to avoid increasing his 
 band to too great dimensions. The number of those 
 ready to go up to defend Jerusalem, and eager to 
 enroll themselves as followers of this new leader, 
 whose mission was now generally believed in in 
 that part of the country, was very large ; but John 
 knew that a multitude would be unwieldy ; that he 
 would find it impossible to carry out with thousands 
 of men tactics dependent for success upon celerity 
 of movement; and, moreover, that did he arrive in 
 Jerusalem with so great a following, he would at
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 243 
 
 once become an object of jealousy to the leaders of 
 the factions there. 
 
 He therefore limited the number to four hundred 
 men, urging upon all others who presented them- 
 selves or sent messages to him to form themselves 
 into similar bands, to choose leaders, and to act as 
 independent bodies, hanging upon the rear of the 
 Romans, harassing them with frequent night alarms, 
 cutting off their convoys,' attacking their working 
 parties, and always avoiding encounters with strong 
 bodies of the Romans by retreating into the hills. 
 He said that although he would not receive more men 
 into his own force than he thought could be easily 
 handled, he should be glad to act in concert with the 
 other leaders, so that at times the bands might all 
 unite in a common enterprise, and especially that if 
 they entered Jerusalem they might hold together, 
 and thus be enabled to keep aloof from the parties 
 of John of Gischala or Eleazar, who were contend- 
 ing for the mastery of the city. 
 
 His advice was taken, and several bands similar 
 to his own were formed, but their leaders felt that 
 they needed the prestige and authority which John 
 had gained, and that their followers would not obey 
 their orders with the faith which was inspired in 
 the members of John's own band by their belief in 
 his special mission. Their representations on this 
 subject were so urgent that John, at their request, 
 attended a meeting at which ten of these chiefs were 
 present. It was held in a farm-house not far from 
 the spot where Gamala had stood. John was em-
 
 244 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 barrassed at the respect which these men, all of 
 them several years older than himself, paid him ; 
 but he accepted the position quietly, for he felt that 
 the belief that existed as to his having a special 
 mission added greatly to his power of utility. He 
 listened to their representations as to their want of 
 authority, and to the rivalries and jealousies which 
 already existed among those who had enrolled 
 themselves. When they had finished he said : 
 
 " I have been thinking the matter well over. I 
 am convinced that it is absolutely necessary that 
 none of the commands shall exceed the numbers I 
 have fixed upon, namely, four hundred men, divided 
 into eight companies, each with a captain ; but at 
 the same time I do not see any reasons why all our 
 corps should not be nominally under one leader. 
 If, then, you think it will strengthen your position, 
 I am ready to accept the general leadership and to 
 appoint you each as commanders of your troops. 
 Then you will hold my commissions, and I will sup- 
 port you in your commands with any authority I 
 may have. 
 
 " At the same time you will understand that you 
 will in reality act altogether independently of me, 
 save and except when it seems to me that we can 
 unite in any enterprise ; if we enter Jerusalem we 
 will then hold together for mutual protection from 
 the factions; but even there you will each com- 
 mand independently, for did I assume a general 
 command it would excite the jealousy of the lead- 
 ers of the factions, and we should be forced to take
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 245 
 
 part in the civil strife which is devastating the 
 city." 
 
 A cordial consent to this proposition was given 
 by the other leaders, who said that the knowledge 
 that they were John's officers would add immensely 
 to their authority, and would also raise the courage 
 and devotion of their men, who would not be- 
 lieve that they were being led to victory unless 
 they were acting under the orders of John himself. 
 
 " Kemember," John said, " that if misfortune be- 
 falls us I have never laid claim to any divine com- 
 mission. We are all agents of God, and it may be 
 that he has specially chosen me as one of his instru- 
 ments ; but this I cannot say beyond the fact that 
 so far I have been carried safely through great dan- 
 gers and have been enabled to win successes over 
 the Romans. But I do not set up as a specially 
 appointed leader. I say this for two reasons: in 
 the first place, that you should not think that I am 
 claiming authority and command on grounds which 
 may not be justified ; and in the second place, that 
 if I should fall early in the fighting, others should 
 not be disheartened and believe that the Lord has 
 deserted them. 
 
 " I am but a lad among you, and I recognize 
 that it is God who has so strangely brought me 
 into eminence, but having done that much he may 
 now choose some other instrument. If this should 
 be so, if, as may well be, one of you should obtain 
 far greater success than may attend me, I shall be 
 only too glad to lay aside this authority over the
 
 246 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 rest with which you are willing to invest me, and 
 to follow him as cheerfully as you now propose to 
 follow me." 
 
 The meeting soon afterward broke up, and the 
 news that John of Gamala, as he was generally 
 called from the success he had gained over the Ro- 
 mans before that town, had assumed the supreme 
 command of the various bands which were being 
 raised in Eastern Galilee and on the east of Jordan, 
 spread rapidly and greatly increased the popular 
 feeling of hope and confidence. Fresh bands were 
 formed, the leaders all receiving their appointments 
 from him. Before the spring arrived there were 
 twenty bands formed and organized in readiness to 
 march down toward Jerusalem as soon as the Ro- 
 man legions got into motion.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 24.7 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 A TALE OF CIVIL 8TKIFE. 
 
 TOWARD the spring Simon and his family were 
 surprised by a visit from the Rabbi Solomon Ben 
 Manasseh. It was a year since they had last seen 
 him, when he called to take leave of them on start- 
 ing for Jerusalem. They scarcely recognized him as 
 he entered, so old and broken did he look. 
 
 " The Lord be praised that I see you all safe and 
 well !" he said as they assisted him to dismount 
 from the donkey that he rode. " Ah, my friends, 
 you are happy indeed in your quiet farm, free from 
 all the distractions of this terrible time ! Looking 
 round here and seeing you just as I left you, save 
 that the young people have grown somewhat, I 
 could think that I left you but yesterday, and that 
 I have been passing through a hideous nightmare. 
 Look at me ! My flesh has fallen away and my 
 strength has gone. I can scarce stand upon my 
 legs, and a young child could overthrow me. I 
 have wept till my tears are dried up over the mis- 
 fortunes of Jerusalem, and yet no enemy has come 
 within sight of her walls, or dug a trench against 
 her. She is devoured by her own children. Ruin 
 and desolation have come upon her."
 
 248 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 The old man was assisted into the house and food 
 and wine placed before him. Then he was led into 
 the guest-chamber, and there slept for some hours. 
 In the evening he had recovered somewhat of his 
 strength, and joined the party at their meal. When 
 it was concluded and the family were alone, he told 
 them what had happened in Jerusalem during the 
 past year. Vague rumors of dissension and civil 
 war had reached them, but a jealous watch was set 
 round the city, and none were suffered to leave, 
 under the pretext that all who wished to go out 
 were deserters who sought to join the Romans. 
 
 " I passed through with difficulty," the rabbi said, 
 " after bribing John of Gischala with all my world- 
 ly means to grant me a pass through the guards, 
 and even then should not have succeeded had he 
 not known me in old times, when I looked upon 
 him as one zealous for the defense of the country 
 against the Romans, little thinking then that the 
 days would come when he would grow into an op- 
 pressor of the people, tenfold as cruel and pitiless 
 as the worst of the Roman tribunes. 
 
 " Last autumn, when, with the band of horsemen 
 with steeds weary with hard riding, he arrived be- 
 fore the gates of Jerusalem, saying that they had 
 come to defend the city, thinking it not worth 
 while to risk their lives in the defense of a mere 
 mountain town like Gischala, the people poured out 
 to meet him and do him honor. Terrible rumors 
 of slaughter and massacre in Galilee had reached 
 us, but none knew the exact truth. Moreover,
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 349 
 
 John had been an enemy of Josephus, and since 
 Josephus had gone over to the Eomans his name 
 was hated and accursed among the people, and thus 
 they were favorably inclined toward John. 
 
 " I don't think any one was deceived by the story 
 he told, for it was evident that John and his men 
 had fled before the Komans. Still, the tidings he 
 brought were reassuring, and he was gladly received 
 in the city. He told us that the Romans had suf- 
 fered very heavily at the sieges of Jotapata and 
 Gamala, that they were greatly dispirited by the 
 desperate resistance they had met with, that a 
 number of their engines of war had been destroyed, 
 and that they were in no condition to undertake the 
 siege of a strong city like Jerusalem. But though 
 all outwardly rejoiced, many in their hearts grieved 
 at the news, for they thought that even an occu- 
 pation by the Romans would be preferable to the 
 suffering they were undergoing. 
 
 " For months bands of robbers, who called them- 
 selves Zealots, had ravaged the whole country, 
 pillaging, burning, and slaying, under the pretense 
 that those they assaulted were favorable to the 
 cause of Rome. Thus gradually the country people 
 all forsook their homes and fled to Jerusalem for 
 refuge ; and when the country was left a desert 
 and no more plunder was to be gained, these robber 
 bands gradually entered Jerusalem. 
 
 " As you know, the gates of the holy city were 
 always open to all the Jewish people, and none 
 thought of excluding the strangers who entered,
 
 250 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 believing that every armed man would add to the 
 power of resistance when the Romans appeared be- 
 fore it. The robbers, who came singly or in small 
 parties from all parts of the country, soon gathered 
 themselves together in the city and established a 
 sort of terror over the peaceable inhabitants. Men 
 were robbed and murdered openly in the street ; 
 houses were broken open and pillaged ; none dare 
 walk in the street without the risk of insult or 
 assault. Antipas, Levias, and Saphias, all of royal 
 blood, were seized, thrown into prison, and there 
 murdered ; and many others of the principal people 
 were slain. Then the robbers proceeded to further 
 lengths. 
 
 " They took upon themselves to appoint a high- 
 priest ; selected a family which had no claim what- 
 ever to the distinction, and drawing lots among 
 them, chose as high-priest one Phannias a country 
 priest, ignorant, boorish, and wholly unable to dis- 
 charge the function of the office. Hitherto the 
 people had submitted to the oppression of the 
 Zealots, but this desecration of the holy office filled 
 them with rage and indignation ; and Ananus, the 
 oldest of the chief priests, a man of piety and 
 wisdom, was the head of the movement, and, calling 
 the people together, exhorted them to resist the 
 tyranny which oppressed them, and which was now 
 desecrating the Temple; for the Zealots had taken 
 refuge there and made the holy place their head- 
 quarters. 
 
 " The people seized their arms, but before they
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE, 251 
 
 were ready for the attack the Zealots, learning 
 what was going on, took the initiative and fell upon 
 them. The people were less accustomed to arms 
 than their foes, but they had the superiority of 
 numbers, and fought with fury. At first the 
 Zealots gained the advantage, but the people in- 
 creased in numbers, those behind pressed those in 
 front forward, and the Zealots were driven back 
 into the Temple, and the Quadrangle of the Gentiles 
 was taken. 
 
 " The Zealots fled into the inner court and closed 
 the gates. Thither their wounded had already been 
 carried, and the whole place was defiled with their 
 blood. But Ananus, having the fear of God before 
 his eyes, did not like to attack them there ; and 
 leaving six thousand chosen men on guard in the 
 cloisters, and arranging that these should be 
 regularly relieved, retired. Such was the state of 
 things when John of Gischala arrived. He at once 
 professed complete agreement with the party of 
 Ananus, and was admitted into, all their councils ; 
 but all the time, as we afterward learned, he was 
 keeping up a secret correspondence with the Zealots, 
 and betrayed to them all that took place at the 
 council. There was some distrust of him, but in 
 addition to the party that had entered the city with 
 him, he had speedily gathered together many 
 others ; and, distracted as we already were with our 
 troubles, none cared to add to the number of their 
 enemies by openly distrusting John, who took 
 many solemn oaths of fidelity to the cause of 
 order.
 
 252 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 "He at length volunteered to enter the inner 
 Temple on a mission to the Zealots, and to per- 
 suade them to surrender and leave the city. But no 
 sooner was he among them than he threw off the 
 mask, and told the Zealots that the offers to allow 
 them to depart in peace were blinds, and that they 
 would at once be massacred if they surrendered. 
 He therefore advised them to resist and to send for 
 assistance without, recommending them especially 
 to send to the Idumeans. Eleazar and Zacharias, 
 the chiefs of the Zealots, felt sure that they above 
 all would be sacrificed if they surrendered, and they 
 embraced John's counsel and sent off swift-footed 
 messengers to the Idumeans, urging them to come 
 to their assistance. 
 
 " The Idumeans had, since their conquest by 
 Hyrcanus, been incorporated with the Jews. They 
 were a fierce and warlike people, of Arab descent ; 
 and immediately the messengers of the Zealots ar- 
 rived they embraced the proposal, anticipating the 
 acquisition of great plunder in Jerusalem. March- 
 ing with all speed, they appeared twenty thousand 
 strong before the walls of Jerusalem. 
 
 " Although taken completely by surprise, for none 
 knew that messengers had gone over to the Idu- 
 means, the people manned the walls, and Jesus, a 
 colleague of Ananus, addressed the Idumeans. He 
 asked them to take one of three courses : either to 
 unite with the people in punishing the notorious 
 robbers and assassins who were desecrating the 
 Temple, or to enter the city unarmed and arbitrate
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 253 
 
 between the conflicting parties, or to depart and 
 leave the city to settle its own difficulties. Simon, 
 the leader of the Idumeans, answered that they 
 came to take the part of the true* patriots against 
 men who were conspiring basely to sell the people 
 into the hands of the Romans. 
 
 " At this answer Jesus left the wall, and we held 
 debate upon the situation. Before the arrival of 
 this new enemy we felt certain of overpowering 
 the Zealots, and Ananus would ere long have been 
 persuaded to lay aside his scruples and attack them, 
 for as they were desecrating the sanctuary it would 
 be better to shed their blood there, and, when these 
 wicked men were slain, to offer up atonement and 
 purify the Temple, as had been done before in the 
 days of the Maccabees after the Temple had been 
 defiled. 
 
 " We redoubled our guards round the Temple, so 
 that none could issue out thence to communicate 
 with the Idumeans. At night a terrible storm set 
 in, with lightning, thunder, and rain, so that the 
 very earth seemed to shake. A great awe fell upon 
 all within and without the city. To all it seemed 
 a sign of the wrath of God at the civil discords ; but 
 though doubtless it was the voice of the Almighty, 
 it was rather a presage of further evils. 
 
 " Under shelter of the storm, which drove all the 
 guards to take refuge, some of the Zealots cut asun- 
 der the bars of the gate and crept along the street 
 to the wall. Then they sawed through the bars of 
 the gate that faced the Idumeans, who were trem-
 
 254 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 bling with terror in the storm. Unseen by any one 
 the Iduraeans entered the gate, marched through 
 the city, and approached the Temple. Then they 
 fell upon our guards, while the Zealots attacked 
 them from behind. 
 
 " Furious at the hours they had passed exposed 
 to the tempest, ashamed of their fears, and natu- 
 rally pitiless and cruel, the Idumeans gave no quar- 
 ter, and a terrible carnage took place among the ten 
 thousand men who had been placed in the outer 
 court of the Temple. Some fought desperately, 
 others threw themselves down from the wall into 
 the city, and when morning dawned eighty-five hun- 
 dred of our best fighting men had been slain. 
 
 " As soon as it was daylight the Idumeans broke 
 into the city, pillaging and slaying. The high- 
 priests, Ananus and Jesus, were among those who 
 were slain, and in that terrible night were extin- 
 guished the last hopes of saving Jerusalem. Ananus 
 was a man of the highest character. He had labored 
 unceasingly to place the city in a posture of defense, 
 believing, and rightly, that the stronger were its 
 walls, and the more formidable the resistance it 
 could offer, the better chance there was of obtaining 
 favorable terms from the Romans. 
 
 " Ananus was the leader and hope of the peace 
 party, which comprised all the respectable classes 
 and all the older and wiser men in Jerusalem. His 
 death left the conduct of affairs in the hands of the 
 thoughtless, the rash, and the desperate. The mas- 
 sacre continued for days, the Idumeans bunting the
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 255 
 
 citizens in the streets. Vast numbers were killed 
 without question. The young men of the upper 
 classes were dragged to prison and were there 
 scourged and tortured to force them to join the 
 Zealots ; but not one would do so ; all preferred 
 death. 
 
 " Thus perished twelve thousand of the best and 
 wisest in Jerusalem. Then the Zealots set up a 
 tribunal, and by proclamation assembled seventy of 
 the principal citizens remaining to form a court, and 
 before it brought Zacharias, the son of Baruch, an 
 upright, patriotic, and wealthy man. Him they 
 charged with entering into correspondence with the 
 Romans, but produced no shadow of evidence against 
 him. 
 
 " Zacharias defended himself boldly, clearly estab- 
 lishing his own innocence, and denouncing the in- 
 iquities of his accusers. The seventy unanimously 
 acquitted the prisoner, preferring to die with him 
 to condemning an innocent man. The Zealots 
 rushed forward with cries of rage and slew Zacha- 
 rias, and with blows and insults turned the judges 
 out of the Temple. The Iduraeans at length began 
 to weary of massacre, and were sated with pillage, 
 and declaring that they had been deceived by the 
 Zealots, and that they believed no treason had been 
 intended, they left the city, first opening the prisons 
 and releasing two thousand persons confined there, 
 who fled to Simon the son of Gioras, who was wast- 
 ing the country toward Idumea. 
 
 "The Zealots after their departure redoubled
 
 256 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 their iniquities, and seemed as if they would leave 
 none alive save the lowest of the people. Gorion, a 
 great and distinguished man. was among the slain. 
 Niger of Peraea, who had been the leader in the 
 attack on the Romans at Ascalon, a noble and 
 true-hearted patriot, was also murdered. He died 
 calling upon the Romans to come to avenge those 
 who had been thus murdered, and denouncing 
 famine, pestilence, and civil massacre, as well as 
 war, against the accursed city. 
 
 " I had lain hidden with an obscure family, with 
 whom I had lodged during these terrible times. So 
 great was the terror and misery in the city that 
 those who lived envied the dead. It was death to 
 bury even a relative, and both within and without 
 the city lay heaps of bodies decaying in the sun. 
 Even among the Zealots themselves factions arose. 
 John of Gischala headed one party, and that the 
 more violent. Over these he ruled with absolute 
 authority, and occupied one portion of the city. 
 The other party acknowledged no special leader. 
 Sometimes, then, the factions fought among them- 
 selves, but neither side ceased from plundering and 
 murdering the inhabitants. 
 
 "Such, my friends, was the condition of Jeru- 
 salem when I left it, having, as I told you, 
 purchased a permission from John of Gischala to 
 pass through the guards at the gates. As I traveled 
 here I learned that another danger threatens us. 
 The sect called the Assassins, as you know, seized 
 the strong fortress of Masada near the Dead Sea at
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 357 
 
 the beginning of the troubles. Until lately they 
 have been content to subsist on the plunder of the 
 adjacent country, but on the night of the Passover 
 they surprised Engaddi, dispersed all who resisted, 
 and slew seven hundred women and children who 
 could not escape. They carried off the contents of 
 the granaries, and are now wasting the whole 
 region. 
 
 " What hope can there be of success, my friends, 
 when, with an enemy close to their gates, the Jews 
 are slaying more of their fellow-countrymen than 
 the Romans themselves ? Did ever a country pre- 
 sent so humiliating and terrible a spectacle ? Were 
 such atrocities ever perpetrated by men upon their 
 brothers ? And yet the madmen still believe that 
 the Almighty will deliver them, will save from 
 destruction that Temple which they have polluted, 
 the altars that they have deluged with blood." 
 
 When the rabbi had finished his narration there 
 was a long silence. Martha was in tears at the 
 recital of the misery which was endured by the 
 inhabitants of Jerusalem ; Simon sat with his face 
 covered with his hands ; John had scarce moved 
 since the rabbi had begun his story, but sat with a 
 heavy frown on his face, looking straight before 
 him ; while Mary anxiously watched him to see the 
 effect of the recital upon him. Simon was the first 
 to speak. 
 
 " It is a tale of mourning, lamentation, and woe 
 that you have told us, rabbi. Not even in the days 
 of our captivity in Babylon were the Jewish people
 
 258 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 fallen so low. Let us to bed now. These things 
 are too terrible to speak of until we have laid them 
 before the Lord and asked his guidance. I wonder 
 not now, rabbi, that years seem to have rolled over 
 your head since we last met." 
 
 The others rose. Mary, as she passed John, laid 
 her hands on his shoulder with a caressing action, 
 which was very rare to her, for she generally be- 
 haved to him as to a brother, holding any exhibition 
 of greater affection unmaidenly until the days of 
 betrothal were ended. 
 
 The action seemed to recall John from his gloomy 
 thought, and he smiled down at her anxious face ; 
 then when the others went ofl; to their apartments 
 he went out into the night air and stood for hours 
 nearly immovable with his eyes fixed on the stars. 
 In the morning Mary joined him in the garden, as 
 had come to be their custom, this being the only 
 time in the day when they were alone together. 
 
 " Well, John 2 " she asked. 
 
 He understood' her question. 
 
 " I have thought it over, Mary, in every way, but 
 I cannot see that my duty is changed by what we 
 heard last night. Affection for you and my parents 
 would keep me here, and I wish that I could see 
 that my duty could go hand in hand with my 
 wishes. I have been sorely tempted to yield, to re- 
 sign the struggle, to remain here in peace and quiet ; 
 but I should never be happy. I do not believe that 
 I am, as so many think, specially called to be a 
 deliverer, though God has assuredly specially pro-
 
 FOB THE TEMPLE. 259 
 
 tected and aided me ; but did I draw back now it 
 would be a grievous discouragement to many. I 
 have put my hand to the plow and cannot look 
 back. God has permitted these miseries to fall upon 
 Jerusalem doubtless as a punishment for the sins of 
 the people. It may be yet that his wrath will be 
 abated, and that he will remember the mercies of 
 old. 
 
 " He has suffered his temple to be profaned, but 
 it may not be his purpose to allow it to be de- 
 stroyed utterly. The evil doings, therefore, of evil 
 men do not release us from our duty, and it has 
 always been held the chief duty of all Jews to die, 
 if need be, in defense of the Temple. Never so long 
 as that stands can we say that the Lord has wholly 
 turned his face from us, that he purposes another 
 period of exile and captivity to befall his people. 
 Therefore, Mary, I shall go on as I have intended, 
 warring against the Romans and doing what 1 can 
 to hinder their advance against Jerusalem. I think 
 that the war may last longer than i had expected. 
 Vespasian will have heard from those who, like the 
 rabbi, have escaped from Jerusalem what is going 
 on within the city, and knowing the great strength 
 of its walls, and judging from what he saw at Jota- 
 pata and Gamala, how desperate would be its 
 resistance were he to appear before it, he may well 
 decide to leave it for the present, suffering the 
 population to prey upon each other, to consume 
 their provisions, and waste their strength till, when 
 lie marches against it, there will be no longer men 
 left to man the walls."
 
 260 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " I thought you would decide so, John," Mary 
 said quietly ; " and much as I love you for I do 
 love you, John I would rather part with you so, 
 never to see you again, than that you should draw 
 back now. I set you up on a pedestal before I knew 
 that it was you who was my hero, and I would not 
 have it said that he of whom such high hopes were 
 cherished drew back from the enterprise he had 
 taken up. Kather would I mourn for you all my 
 life than that men should say of you, This is he of 
 whom we said he is the deliverer, out who shrank 
 from the dangers of battle and threw down his 
 country's sword." 
 
 " Thank you, Mary. I am glad to hear you say 
 so. I thought that I was right ; but it was very 
 hard so to decide. And now that you agree with 
 me, my chief cause for hanging back is removed. 
 Henceforth I shall trouble no more over it. My 
 conscience tells me that I am right to go. You say 
 go also ; therefore now, whatever betides, I shall 
 .not blame myself, but shall feel that I could not 
 have taken any other course." 
 
 " I have faith, John, that you will come back to 
 me when the troubles are over. I believe that 
 whatever may happen at Jerusalem you will be 
 spared to me. I think that it was either for the 
 country or for me that your life was spared alone 
 of all those that fought at Jotapata, and I mean to 
 keep on thinking so. It will keep up my spirits 
 while you are away, and will help me to cheer our 
 mother."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. $61 
 
 " If the Komans do not move upon Jerusalem I 
 may be able to be often at home. Our policy will 
 be to strike a blow ; and then, when the Komans 
 gather in force, to scatter and disappear ; so that I 
 may often be home until the time comes when the 
 enemy gather round Jerusalem. But at any rate, 
 Mary, I shall try and believe that your hope is 
 well founded, and that in the end I shall return alive 
 to you. Certainly I shall not spare my life ; for 
 when one takes up the post of a leader of his fel- 
 lows he must never hang back from danger, but 
 must be always in the front. At the same time I 
 shall never forget that you are thinking and pray- 
 ing for me, and will never throw away my life reck- 
 lessly ; and if the time comes when I see that all is 
 lost, that fighting is no longer of avail, I will neither 
 rush into the enemy's ranks to die, nor will I throw 
 down my arms and die unresisting, nor will I slay 
 myself with my own weapons, but I will strive in 
 every way to save my life for your sake, having 
 done all that I could for our country and the 
 Temple." 
 
 " That is all I ask, John. I am quite content to 
 wait here until the day comes that you shall return ; 
 and then, though our cause be lost, our country 
 ruined, and God's Temple destroyed, we can yet 
 feel that God has been good and merciful to us, 
 even if we be driven out of our home, and have to 
 become exiles in a far land." 
 
 A week later the news came that the Komans 
 were preparing to take the field. The young men
 
 262 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 of the village at once started as messengers through 
 the country. At night a vast pile of brushwood was 
 lighted on the hill above Gamala, and answering 
 fires soon blazed out from other heights. At the 
 signal men left their homes on the shores of Galilee, 
 in the cities of the plains, in the mountains of 
 Persea and Batansea. Capitolias, Gerisa and Pella, 
 Sepphoris, Caphernaum and Tiberias, and even the 
 towns and villages almost within sight of Cesar's 
 camp at Caesarea, sent their contingents, and in 
 twenty-four hours eight thousand armed men were 
 gathered on the slopes of Mount Galaad. 
 
 Each man brought with him grain sufficient for a 
 week's consumption, and all had, according to their 
 means, brought money, in accordance with the in- 
 structions John and the other commanders had 
 issued. For John held that although, as they were 
 fighting for the country, they must, if necessary, 
 live upon the country, yet that as far as possible 
 they should abstain from taking food without pay- 
 ment, and so run the risk of being confounded with 
 the bands who, under the cloak of patriotism, 
 plundered and robbed the whole country. 
 
 The bands assembled, each under their leaders. 
 It was easy to see that they had come from different 
 localities. Tarichea and Tiberias had both sent two 
 companies, and the aspect of these differed widely 
 from that of the companies of peasants raised in 
 the villages on the slopes of Hermon or among the 
 mountains of Peraea ; but all seemed animated by an 
 equal feeling of devotion and of confidence in their 
 young leader.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 263 
 
 John, after carefully inspecting his own band, 
 visited the camps of the other companies, and was 
 everywhere received with acclamations. He ad- 
 dressed each company in turn, not only urging them 
 to show bravery, for that every Jew had shown 
 who had fought against the Romans, but pointing 
 out that far more than this was required. While 
 they must be ready to give their lives when need 
 be, they must be equalty ready to shun the fight, to 
 scatter and fly, when their leaders gave the orders. 
 It was not by bravery that they could hope to 
 overcome the Romans, but by harassing them night 
 and day, by attacking their camps, cutting off their 
 convoys, and giving them no rest. Above all, 
 obedience was required. 
 
 " Look at the Roman soldiers," he said. u They 
 have no wills of their own. They advance or re- 
 treat ; they attack when they know that those who 
 first attack must die; they support all hardships 
 and fatigues ; they accomplish marvels in the way 
 of work ; they give themselves up, in fact, to obey 
 the orders given them, never questioning whether 
 those orders are the best, but blindly obeying them ; 
 and so it must be here if we are to fight the 
 Romans with a chance of success. The most useful 
 man here the man who will do best service to his 
 country is not he who is strongest or bravest, but 
 he who is most prompt in his obedience to orders. 
 The true hero is he who gives up his will and, if 
 need be, his life, at the order of his leader. You 
 have chosen your own officers, and I have con-
 
 334 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 firmed the choice that you have made. It is for 
 you now to give them your support and assistance. 
 There will be hardships these must be borne with- 
 out complaint ; there will be delays these must be 
 supported with patience ; there will be combats and 
 dangers these must be met with confidence and 
 courage, believing that God will give you success, 
 and that although the issue of the strife is in his 
 hands, each of you should do his best by his conduct 
 and courage to gain success. 
 
 " We shall not act in one great body, for we could 
 not find food in the villages for so large a number ; 
 moreover, to do so would be to give the Romans an 
 opportunity of massing their forces against us, of 
 surrounding and destroying us. On great occasions 
 and for a great object we may gather together and 
 unite our forces. At other times, although acting 
 upon a general plan.and in concert with each other, 
 each company will work independently. So we 
 shall elude the Komans. When they strike at us, 
 we shall be gone ; when they try to inclose us, we 
 shall disperse ; when they pursue one body, others 
 will fall upon them ; when they think that we are 
 in one part of the country, we will be striking a 
 blow in another ; when they fancy themselves in 
 security, we will fall upon them. We will give 
 them no rest or peace." 
 
 John's addresses were received with shouts of 
 approval. By the great majority of those present 
 he was now seen for the first time ; but his ap- 
 pearance, the tone of authority with which he
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 265 
 
 spoke, his air of confidence, and the manner in 
 which he had evidently thought out the plans of 
 action, and prepared for all contingencies, confirmed 
 the reports which they had heard of him, and the 
 conviction that he was a specially appointed leader 
 was deepened and strengthened. How otherwise 
 could one who was a mere youth speak with such 
 firmness and authority ! 
 
 The memories of the Jews were stored with 
 legends of the prowess of Judas the Maccabean and 
 his brothers, and of other leaders who had from 
 time to time arisen and enabled them to clear their 
 country of oppressors, and they were thus prepared 
 to accept -willingly those who appeared to them 
 specially sent as leaders, and the question of age 
 and experience weighed but little with them. As 
 none had been trained as soldiers, there were none 
 who had to set aside superior claims. 
 
 Samuel had been chosen as a child, Saul was the 
 youngest of his brethren, and David a lad when he 
 slew the champion of the Philistines. Such being 
 the case, the youth of John was no drawback in the 
 eyes of his followers ; and, indeed, the fact that, 
 being still a youth, he had yet escaped from Jota- 
 pata, where all his elders had died, and that he had 
 inflicted a heavy blow upon the Komans when all 
 others who had opposed them had perished, seemed 
 in itself a proof that he was under special protection. 
 
 John probably believed in himself less than did 
 any man among his followers. Piously and de- 
 voutly brought up, he saw in the two escapes that
 
 266 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 he had had from death at the hands of the Komans 
 signs of a special protection of God. But while he 
 hoped that he might be able to do the Komans 
 much harm, he had not any conviction that he was 
 destined to deliver his country. He had none of 
 the fervent enthusiasm of men who are convinced 
 that they have a divine mission, and that miracles 
 would be wrought in his favor. 
 
 He had seen the tremendous strength of the 
 Roman army as it defiled from the mountains be- 
 fore Jotapata. He had learned the power of their 
 war engines, and had evidence of their discipline, 
 their bravery, and perseverance, and had no idea 
 that such a force as that gathered round him could 
 cope with the legions of Rome. Still, that firm and 
 pious belief which was so deeply ingrained in the 
 heart of the Jews, that God specially interested 
 himself in them, that he personally directed every- 
 thing that befell them, and intervened in every in- 
 cident of their history, had its effect upon him. 
 
 His training taught him that he was an instrument 
 in God's hands ; and although he hardly even 
 hoped that he was destined to be a deliverer of 
 Jerusalem, he thought that God might intend him 
 to do great things for his people. At any rate, 
 while never claiming any special authority, or to 
 have, more than those around him, any special 
 mission, he was careful not to damp the enthusiasm 
 of his followers by disclaiming the mission they 
 attributed to him, knowing how much such a belief 
 added to his authority and to the efficiency of the 
 force under his command.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 DESULTORY FIGHTING. 
 
 AFTER having gone through the camps of the 
 whole of the companies, John assembled the leaders 
 round him and held a council as to future operations. 
 It was agreed that it would be best to leave alone 
 for the present the legion at Scythopolis, for 
 rumors of the gathering would almost certainly 
 have reached that city, and the Romans might be 
 on their guard against attack. It was resolved, 
 therefore, to cross the Jordan a few miles below 
 Tarichea, to traverse the hills between En dor and 
 Gelbus, and by a long march to gain the range of 
 hills extending from Carmel to Samaria and form- 
 ing the boundary between the latter province and 
 Galilee. They would then be looking down upon 
 the camp of Vespasian at CesaraBa. 
 
 The country between these hills and the city was 
 too flat for them to engage with any hopes of suc- 
 cess, for although by a surprise they might inflict 
 great damage on the Romans, they would be wholly 
 unable to withstand the charges of the Roman 
 horse. They would therefore maintain a lookout 
 from the mountains, and attack the Roman camp
 
 268 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 the first time it was pitched on ground whence a 
 rapid retreat could be effected to the hills. 
 
 As the Jordan was unfordable between Scythopo- 
 lis and the lake, all who could not swim were or- 
 dered to carry with them on their march down to 
 the river logs of light wood sufficient to support 
 them in crossing. 
 
 Those who could swim were to assist in piloting 
 over those unable to do so. This would be a work 
 of no great difficulty, for the width of the Jordan 
 is not great, and it was only for a short distance in 
 the center that it would be unfordable. As was to 
 be expected, the companies raised near the shores 
 of the lake contained but few men unable to swim, 
 while those from the mountain districts were al- 
 most wholly ignorant of the art. 
 
 The bands were therefore linked together for the 
 purpose of crossing, one of those from the plains 
 and a company of mountaineers marching down to 
 the stream together. The preparations were all 
 complete by the afternoon, and just as it was be- 
 coming twilight the leading bands arrived on the 
 banks of the Jordan. The crossing was effected 
 without difficulty, and in two hours all were over. 
 Then the companies formed up under their leaders 
 and started independently, men who knew the coun- 
 try well being assigned as guides to each. 
 
 They crossed the hill between Endor and Gelbus, 
 marched through Jezrael, and then, just as morn- 
 ing was breaking, ascended the slopes of Mount 
 Carmel, leaving Legio on their right. It was a
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 269 
 
 march, of about fifty miles, but the men were all 
 active and vigorous, lightly armed, and sustained 
 by enthusiasm and excitement, and not a man 
 dropped behind during the journey. Once among 
 the hills, they threw themselves down for a rest of 
 some hours. From the crest of the hill it was but 
 some twelve miles down to Cesaraea, and the blue 
 line of the sea extended right and left as far as the 
 eye could reach. 
 
 In the afternoon Jonas was sent down to the city 
 to learn how matters stood there, and when Ves- 
 pasian was going to move. He was to remain there 
 that night and return with the news on the follow- 
 ing morning. He came back, however, at mid- 
 night, saying that the Romans had marched on the 
 previous day, that they had taken the southern 
 road which skirted the mountains for some distance, 
 and would probably cross the central range at 
 Sichem, and either proceed to Scythopolis or join 
 the legion thence on the plain of Aulon, west of the 
 Jordan. This was a disappointment, but at day- 
 break the companies were afoot. 
 
 It was decided they should march separately, 
 each taking its own line to the east, following in- 
 frequented roads, and keeping among the hills as 
 far as possible so that no report of the passage of 
 any large gathering of men should reach the Ro- 
 mans. Although no time had been lost, John, when 
 he approached the Jordan, learned that Vespasian 
 had already joined the legion from Scythopolis and 
 had crossed the river into Peraa, and was marching 
 with all speed against Gadara, its chief city.
 
 270 FOR THE TEMPLE, 
 
 Halting for the night near the Jordan, John 
 crossed the river by a ford next morning, and then 
 moved forward cautiously to commence operations 
 as soon as the Romans were engaged upon the siege 
 of the city. But ere many hours had passed he 
 learned that the inhabitants had sent forward a 
 deputation to Yespasian, and that the war party, 
 taken by surprise by the rapid advance of the Ro- 
 mans, had hastily evacuated the city after slaying 
 many of those who were willing to admit the Ro- 
 mans. 
 
 "When Vespasian arrived he had been received 
 with acclamations by the inhabitants, who had al- 
 ready destroyed a portion of their walls, to prove 
 that the} 7 never thought of resistance. Having thus 
 established the Roman authority in Pera3a, Yespa- 
 sian left a garrison there and set out with the main 
 body of his army for Caesarea, leaving a garrison in 
 the town and dispatching Placidus with five hun- 
 dred horse and three thousand foot in pursuit of the 
 fugitives who had fled from Gadara before he en- 
 tered it. 
 
 As Yespasian marched back the band under John 
 began their work. Wherever the road led through 
 the mountains they rolled down rocks upon the 
 column. The light-armed allies of the Romans were 
 sent out on each flank, and climbing the hills, at- 
 tacked their assailants. As soon, however, as they 
 neared the crests, which were, as they believed, held 
 by small parties only of the enemy, the Jews rushed 
 upon them with fury, overthrew them, and drove
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 271 
 
 them down the hills until the heavy-armed troops 
 were obliged to advance to their assistance, upon 
 which the Jews at once fell back to the higher 
 slopes. 
 
 Growing bolder by success they even ventured to 
 rush down upon the baggage, breaking through its 
 guard and killing great numbers of the animals. A 
 party of Roman horse which came up at full gallop 
 was charged just as they reached the spot by two 
 more companies from the hill, and these, before the 
 Romans could face about and oppose their line of 
 long spears to their assailants, were among them, 
 stabbing the horses, leaping up behind the soldiers 
 and slaying them with their knives, and throwing 
 the whole into confusion. Then the sound of a horn 
 was heard on the hillside, and the whole of the Jews 
 instantly relinquished their work and took to the 
 mountains just as a large body of cavalry, headed 
 by Titus, came thundering up. 
 
 At night the Romans were disturbed by constant 
 alarms. Men crept up to the sentries and slew 
 them in the darkness. Kumbers of the enemy pen- 
 etrated into the camp, killing the soldiers as they 
 slept, hocking the horses, and setting fire to the 
 camp in several places ; and it was not until the 
 whole army got under arms that the attack ceased. 
 The next day they were similarly harassed upon the 
 march, and it was not until they had crossed the 
 mountains and descended on to the western plain 
 that the Jews drew off, highly satisfied with the re- 
 sult of their first encounter with the Romans. Their 
 loss had been slight, not more than twenty having
 
 THE TEMPLE. 
 
 fallen, while they had killed more than two hundred 
 of the light-armed troops, had inflicted some loss 
 upon the Romans themselves, had slain numbers of 
 baggage animals, and had shown the enemy that 
 however formidable the Roman soldiers might be 
 on the plains, the legions of Yespasian were no 
 more invincible than was that of Cestius among the 
 hills. They regretted, however, that instead of en- 
 gaging the main army they had not followed the 
 force under Placidus, of whose dispatch from Gadara 
 they had not learned until it was too late. 
 
 The fugitives of whom Placidus was in pursuit 
 had taken possession of the village of Bethennabris. 
 He pursued the stratagem which had already suc- 
 ceeded so well. He feigned a ^etreat, and the Jews 
 sallied out and attacked him. He cut off the 
 greater part from returning to the village, and at 
 night attacked Bethennabris, captured it, and put 
 all within it to the sword. Those who had escaped 
 were joined by great numbers of the country people, 
 and made for the Jordan, intending to cross by the 
 ford opposite Jericho, but the river was swollen 
 with rain and they were unable to cross. Placidus 
 overtook and attacked them. Vast numbers were 
 killed, and more were driven into the river and 
 drowned. 
 
 Fifteen thousand fell, twenty-five hundred were 
 taken prisoners, with a vast number of animals 
 of all kinds. Placidus then reduced the whole of 
 Persea and the coast of the Dead Sea as far as 
 Machaerus.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 373 
 
 Vespasian soon moved down from Csesarea, 
 keeping near the sea, and capturing Antipatris, 
 Lydda, and Thamna, and blocking Emmaus ; then 
 continuing his course southward he wasted the 
 country to the frontier of Idumea, and captured the 
 towns Betaris and Caphartobas, putting to the 
 sword about ten thousand men. Then he marched 
 back by Emmaus and Sichem, descended the hills 
 and marched to Jericho, where he was joined by 
 Placid us with the troops from Pera3a. The city 
 had been desterted by its inhabitants, and the 
 Roman army rested here for some time, until, just 
 as Yespasian was about to march upon Jerusalem, 
 the news arrived of the death of Nero, and, un- 
 willing to weaken his army by besieging the city, 
 strong in itself and defended by a host, Yespasian 
 withdrew to Ca3sarea, and for another two years 
 Jerusalem had time for preparation or submission. 
 
 As Yespasian's march had, except when he was 
 crossing the mountains from Emmaus to Sichem, 
 lain entirely in the plains. John had been able to 
 do but little. Half the force had been sent across 
 the Jordan, and its operations had greatly added to 
 the difficulties Placidus had met with in subduing 
 Peraea. The other companies had closely followed 
 the march of Yespasian, had made many attacks 
 upon parties dispatched to pillage the country, and 
 after the Romans marched north again besieged 
 and captured some of the small places in which 
 they had left garrisons. They had united when the 
 two Romans armies met at Jericho, and were pre-
 
 274 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 pared to defend desperately the rugged mountain 
 roads leading thence to Jerusalem, when to their 
 surprise they saw the Roman host moving away to 
 the north again. 
 
 As soon as they ascertained that Yespasian had 
 for the present entii ely abandoned the idea of at- 
 tacking Jerusalem and that his troops had gone 
 into permanent quarters, John held a council with 
 the other commanders. Some were in favor of 
 remaining in arms, and of constantly attacking the 
 Roman garrisons ; others were for scattering and 
 returning to their homes, from which they had now 
 been absent three months, until the Romans again 
 set themselves in motion against Jerusalem. Opin- 
 ions were about equally divided, and John re- 
 mained silent until all had spoken ; then he said : 
 
 "I think that we had better disperse. If we 
 remained in arms we might gain some successes, 
 we might surprise and slay some Roman garrisons, 
 but the others would speedily prepare themselves 
 against attack by strengtheing their walls and tak- 
 ing every precaution. But did we succeed in de- 
 stroying.the garrisons in every one of the towns 
 they have captured, of what benefit would it be ? 
 It would rather excite the Romans yet more against 
 the people ; yet more would they march through 
 the land, burning, destroying, and slaying. They 
 would turn the country into a desert, and either 
 slay or carry away all the people captives. 
 
 "We should irritate without seriously injuring 
 the Romans, and the very people, whose sufferings
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 275 
 
 we should heighten by our work, would turn 
 against us. Now that the whole country has been 
 scoured, all the towns which have resisted destroyed, 
 and all the men who defended them put to the 
 sword, there may be breathing space for the land 
 until the Komans advance against Jerusalem. It 
 may be that those in Jerusalem may come to terms 
 with the Komans, in which case there need not be 
 any more bloodshed. Therefore I say that it seems 
 to me that it would be wrong to continue the war 
 so long as the Romans rest peacefully in their 
 camps ; but should Jerusalem have need of us in her 
 defense, every one of us will again take the field." 
 
 John's counsel was finally adopted. Many of the 
 men were longing to return to their homes, where 
 they knew that they would be welcomed and hon- 
 ored for the deeds they had performed ; for although 
 they had achieved no grand successes, they had 
 done much by compelling the Romans to keep to- 
 gether, and had thus saved many towns from plun- 
 der and destruction. Their operations too had 
 created a fresh sensation of hope, and had aroused 
 the people from the dull despair in which they were 
 sinking. Had messengers been now sent out on all 
 sides a great multitude of men would have col- 
 lected ; but John knew well that numbers would be 
 of no avail, and that in a pitched battle the Romans 
 could defeat many times their number of the un- 
 disciplined and ill-armed Jews. 
 
 John himself stood even higher in the estimation 
 of his followers than he did at the commencement
 
 FOR IRE TEMPLE. 
 
 of the campaign. His own band had been particu- 
 larly successful, and had several times encountered 
 parties of the Romans almost equal to themselves 
 in numbers. His plans had been always well laid, 
 and on no occasion had the Romans cut off and 
 killed any numerous parties. Altogether the just- 
 ness of his views had been established by experi- 
 ence, the men had gained confidence in themselves 
 and in him, and now only regretted that they had 
 had no opportunity of attacking the Romans in 
 anything like equal numbers. 
 
 Therefore when the news spread that John was 
 of opinion that the wisest course was for them to 
 return to their homes and there to hold themselves 
 in readiness to reassemble whenever the Romans 
 moved against Jerusalem, the decision was willingly 
 accepted, and a few hours after the Roman column 
 had inarched out from Jericho the Jewish com- 
 panies started for their respective homes, all prom- 
 ising to take up arms again when the signal was 
 given. 
 
 Although the success that had attended them had 
 not been so great as they had hoped, it had been 
 sufficiently marked to inspire them with confidence 
 in themselves and their leader; but few lives had 
 been lost, and they had learned that so long as they 
 persisted in the tactics their leader had laid down 
 there was but little chance of the Romans striking 
 a heavy blow at them. 
 
 Surprise was mingled with joy in the greetings 
 John received on his return home.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 377 
 
 "No disaster has befallen your bands, I hope, 
 John ?" Simon asked anxiously. " We heard that 
 the Romans had reached Jericho, and we have been 
 praying the Lord night and day for his protection 
 for you, believing that you would doubtless fall 
 upon the enemy as they marched through the moun- 
 tains toward Jerusalem." 
 
 " "We should have done so, father, and already 
 had taken up a position on the heights commanding 
 the roads, but there was no fighting, simply because 
 Yespasian has marched away with his army to 
 Ca3sarea, and will not, as we believe, make any 
 movement against Jerusalem this year." 
 
 " The Lord be praised !" Simon said piously. 
 " There is time yet for the city to repent in sack- 
 cloth and ashes for its sins, and to come to such 
 terms with the Romans as may save the Temple." 
 
 " So far as I have heard, father, Jerusalem is 
 little likely either to repent or to negotiate. The 
 news of what is passing there is even worse than 
 that which the Rabbi Solomon told us ; but I will 
 not pain you by talking of these matters now. You 
 have heard what we have been doing. We have 
 done no great deeds, but we have harassed the 
 Romans sorely, so that they could not say that they 
 held the country beyond the flight of their arrows. 
 We have taken many cities where they had left 
 small garrisons, we have cut off very many small 
 parties, have captured many flocks and herds whicli 
 they had carried off, and have lost but few men while 
 inflicting much damage. Moreover, we have gained
 
 278 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 experience and confidence, and when the time 
 conies for fighting hand to hand with the Romans 
 we shall enter upon the struggle without fear." 
 
 " But what can have induced the Romans to re- 
 tire when almost within sight of Jerusalem ?" 
 
 "Partly, no doubt, because Yespasian considered 
 it better to let the Jews go on slaying each other 
 than to waste his strength in killing them; but 
 partly, I believe, because of news from Rome. 
 "We heard a rumor that a messenger had arrived in 
 the Roman camp with the news that Nero is dead, 
 and Yespasian may well wish to keep his army to- 
 gether to watch the course of events." 
 
 This was indeed Yespasian's main object in re- 
 tiring, and for nearly two years he kept his army in 
 hand, waiting for his opportunity, while Galba, 
 Otho, and Yitellius in turn gained and lost the 
 imperial crown. John remained at home, except 
 that he went out with the companies in the spring 
 of 69, when Yespasian for a time set his troops in 
 motion. As before, the Romans marched down 
 into the south of Judea and reduced the country on 
 the western shore of the Dead Sea, while Cerealis 
 entered Idumea and completely subdued it, so that 
 there now remained only the towns of Herodium, 
 Masada, Machaerus, and Jerusalem itself which still 
 remained unconquered. 
 
 John's troops had pursued precisely the same 
 tactics as in the previous year, and had contented 
 themselves with harassing the Romans whenever 
 the latter entered difficult country, and in prevent-
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 279 
 
 ing them from sending out small foraging parties. 
 John himself would not have called his men under 
 arms, as he saw that no real advantage was gained ; 
 but the men were eager to go, and he saw that 
 there was a considerable advantage in their con- 
 tinued practice in arms, in the quickness with which 
 they worked together, and in the confidence which 
 they had in themselves. 
 
 The company suffered but slight loss in the oper- 
 ations, but John himself had an adventure which 
 nearly cost him his life. Vespasian with the bulk 
 of his army was encamped at Hebron, while Titus 
 was at Carmelia, near the Dead Sea. John's com- 
 pany were in the hills near Hebron, and he, wishing 
 to examine the Roman position at Carmelia and the 
 road between the two towns, started by himself. 
 He carried, as usual, his buckler, two light javelins, 
 and a sword. The road led down a series of pre- 
 cipitous valleys, and John, knowing that he could 
 instantly gain the hills out of reach of danger, did 
 not hesitate to descend into it. 
 
 He was now nineteen, strong, active, and sinewy. 
 The position in which he had been placed had given 
 him the habit of command, and the heavy responsi- 
 bility which had devolved upon him had added two 
 or three years to his apparent age. He was taller 
 than most of his country men, broad across the 
 shoulders, and a match for any single man under 
 his command. As he walked along he heard the 
 sound of a horse's footsteps coming up the valley. 
 He sprang a short distance up the craggy hillside,
 
 280 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 and then paused as a single horseman came in 
 sight. 
 
 As he came a little nearer John saw by the splen- 
 dor of his armor, and that of the horse he was 
 riding, that he was an officer of rank and distinc- 
 tion. John scorned to fly before a single foe, and 
 stood quietly watching him till he came nearly 
 abreast of him. The horseman reined up his charger, 
 and without a word seized his javelin and hurled it 
 at the armed figure standing on the hillside some 
 thirty feet above him. John sprang lightly aside, 
 and the missile struck the rock with a sharp clang 
 close to him. In return he threw a javelin at the 
 Roman, which struck him on the armor and fell 
 blunted. 
 
 " Well thrown !" the Roman said calmly, and hurled 
 a second javelin. The stroke was too swift to avoid ; 
 but John threw up his buckler so as to receive it at 
 an angle, and the javelin glanced off and flew far 
 up the hillside. This time John sprang down the 
 rocks with the activity of a goat till within a few 
 feet of the Roman. Then he threw his javelin at 
 the horse, with so true an aim that it struck at a 
 spot unprotected by armor, and the animal fell. 
 
 With an exclamation of anger the Roman threw 
 himself off as the animal sank beneath his legs. He 
 had already drawn his sword as John approached, 
 and stood at once on the defensive. Without a mo- 
 ment's hesitation John sprang at him, and the com- 
 bat commenced. John trusted to his activity, while 
 the Roman had an immense advantage in his heavy
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 281 
 
 armor, John being unprotected save by his buckler. 
 The Eoraan stood calm and confident, while John 
 attacked, moving quickly round and round him, 
 springing in to deliver a blow, and then bounding 
 out of reach of the sweep of the heavy Koman 
 sword. 
 
 For some time the combat continued. John had 
 received two or three severe wounds, while although 
 the Koman was bleeding his armor protected him 
 from any serious hurt. Suddenly John sprang in 
 at the Roman, throwing himself with all his force 
 against him ; he partially warded with his sword 
 the blow which the Roman struck at him as he 
 came in, but his weapon was beaten down, and the 
 Roman blade cut through his thick head-dress. But 
 the impetus of his spring was sufficient. The Ro- 
 man, taken by surprise by this sudden attack, tot- 
 tered, and then fell with a crash, John falling on 
 the top of him. 
 
 John was almost blinded by the blood which 
 streamed down his forehead from the blow he had 
 last received ; but he dashed it aside, seized his long 
 knife, and in another moment would have slain his 
 enemy had not the latter exclaimed : 
 
 " Strike, Jew ! I am Titus." 
 
 John was confused by the last blow he had re- 
 ceived ; but a thousand thoughts whirled in his 
 brain. For an instant he grasped the knife more 
 firmly to slay the son of the chief enemy of his 
 country ; then the possibility of carrying him away 
 a captive occurred to him ; but he saw that this
 
 282 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 was out of the question. Then another thought 
 flashed across his brain. 
 
 " Swear," he said in Greek, for he was ignorant 
 of Latin, " by your gods, to spare the Temple, or I 
 will kill you." 
 
 There was a moment's hesitation. The knife was 
 already descending, when Titus exclaimed in the 
 same language : 
 
 "I swear to do all in my power to save the 
 Temple." 
 
 John's knife fell from his hand. He tried to rise 
 to his feet ; then everything seemed to swim round, 
 and he fell insensible. Titus rose to his feet ; he 
 was shaken by the fall, and he too had lost much 
 blood. Panting from his exertions he looked down 
 upon his prostrate foe, and the generosity which 
 was the prevailing feature of his character, except 
 when excited in battle, mastered him. 
 
 "By Hercules," he exJaimed, "that is a gallant 
 youth, though he is a Jew, and he has well-nigh 
 made an end of me ! What will Vespasian say 
 when he hears that I have been beaten in fair fight, 
 and owe my life to the mercy of a Jew ! How they 
 think of their temple, these Jews ! Why, I would 
 not injure it were it in my power to do so. Have 
 not our emperors sent offerings there ? Besides, we 
 war not with the gods of the people we conquer. 
 Ah, here come Plancus and the others ! This will 
 be a lesson to me not to trust myself alone among 
 these mountains again. It is the first time I have 
 done so, and ?t shall be the last."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 283 
 
 A messenger had, in fact, arrived at Carmelia 
 with an order from Vespasian for him to go to 
 Hebron, as he had a desire to speak with him, and 
 ordering Plancus, a centurion, to follow with his 
 troop, Titus had sprung on his horse and ridden off 
 at once. The Romans were soon upon the spot, 
 and were loud in exclamation of surprise and grief 
 at seeing their commander covered with dust, and 
 bleeding from several wounds, while his horse lay 
 dead beside him. To their inquiries whether he 
 was seriously wounded, Titus replied lightly : 
 
 " I am more dirty than hurt. Though, had it not 
 been for my armor, there would have been a dif- 
 ferent tale to tell, for these Jews fight like demons. 
 As you see, he first slew my horse with his javelin, 
 and then we fought it out on foot." 
 
 " Was there only this one ?" the centurion asked 
 in surprise, pointing to John's body. 
 
 " Only that one," Titus said, " and he nearly got 
 the best of it. Fighting with these Jews is like 
 fighting with wild cats, so fierce are they in the 
 attack, and so quick are their movements. I tell 
 you that for a moment my life was at his mercy. 
 See if he is dead, Plancus." 
 
 "No, he breathes," Plancus said, stooping over 
 him. 
 
 " Let four of the men make a litter with their 
 spears," Titus said, " and take him down to Car- 
 melia, and let my own leech attend him. I would 
 gladly save his life if I can. I began the fray, and 
 truly he has shown himself so gallant a young man 
 that I would not that he should die,"
 
 284 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Accordingly, when John opened his eyes he 
 found himself lying in a Roman tent, where an old 
 man was sitting by his couch, and a Roman sentry 
 pacing backward and forward before the entrance 
 of the tent. 
 
 " Drink this," the old man said, placing a cordial 
 to his lips. " You need have no fear, you are in 
 the camp of Titus, and he himself has ordered that 
 all attention shall be paid to you." 
 
 John was too weak from loss of blood, and con 
 fused from the effects of the blow on his head, even 
 to feel the sensation of wonder. He drank the 
 potion and closed his eyes again, and went off into 
 a sleep which lasted for many hours. It was not 
 until the next day that he thoroughly awoke. The 
 leech continued to attend him, and at the end of 
 four days he was able to sit up. 
 
 In the afternoon he heard a clash of arms as the 
 sentry gave the military salute, and a moment later 
 Titus entered, accompanied by one whom John in- 
 stantly recognized as Josephus. John rose to his 
 feet. 
 
 " I told you. he was but a young man," Titus said 
 to Josephus ; " but now that I can see him more 
 nearly, or at any rate more calmly, I can see that 
 he is little more than a lad, and yet, as you have 
 heard me say, he is a man of valor, and defeated 
 me in fair fight." 
 
 " I seem to know his face," Josephus said, and 
 then addressed John in Hebrew. 
 
 " Who are you, young man ?"
 
 TITUS BRINGS JOSEPHUS TO SEE JOHN. -Page 284.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 285 
 
 " I am that John whom you saved in the storm 
 on the Sea of Galilee, and who fought with you at 
 Jotapata." 
 
 " Is it possible !" Josephus exclaimed in surprise. 
 " I thought that I alone was saved there." 
 
 " I lay hidden with the boy Jonas, who told us 
 of the track down to the water," John said quietly, 
 " and have since then been fighting the Romans. 
 While you " 
 
 " While I have been their prisoner," Josephus 
 broke in. " I know that all my countrymen are 
 enraged against me, but truly without a cause." 
 Josephus then translated to Titus what John had 
 told him, adding that the young man had served 
 him with zeal and devotion, and that he had an 
 affection for him. 
 
 "Then I am the more glad that he has not lost 
 his life," Titus said courteously. " And now, my 
 antagonist," he said in Greek to John, " I would 
 tell you that I bear you no malice, though you have 
 shed my blood and brought somewhat of disgrace 
 upon me ; for truly it is a disgrace for a Roman 
 soldier in heavy armor to be overthrown by one 
 who carries but a light buckler as his protection. 
 But I love a brave man, even though he be a foe, 
 and I honor those who are fighting for what they 
 believe to be the cause of their country. If I let 
 you go free, will you promise me not to bear arms 
 again against Rome ?" 
 
 " I could not promise that, Titus," John said 
 quietly, " even were you to order me now to be
 
 286 FOR TUE TEMPLE. 
 
 taken out and slain. It is the first duty of all Jews 
 to fight for the Holy City, and so long as I live, 
 and the Holy City is in danger, so long I must 
 fight for her. These are the commands of my re- 
 ligion, and I cannot, even to save my life, disobey 
 them." 
 
 "I will not press you to do so," Titus said; 
 " though Joseph us here will tell you that Rome is 
 not an unkind lord even to those who have most 
 withstood it. When vou are well enough to leave 
 
 / o 
 
 us you shall go unharmed, though, could you have 
 seen your way to desist from hostility to us, I 
 would have been a good friend to you and have 
 promoted you to posts of honor, and that in coun- 
 tries where you would not have been opposed to 
 your countrymen. But if you will not hav.e it so 
 you are free to go ; and remember that at any time 
 you have a friend in Titus, and that when this war 
 is over, and peace restored, if you come to me I 
 will repeat the offer that I have now made. More- 
 over, you may rely upon it that in the last ex- 
 tremity I will do all in my power to save the 
 Temple, and indeed, in no case would I have injured 
 a building so venerable and holy." 
 
 Titus then left the tent, but Josephus remained 
 for some time talking with John. 
 
 " I suppose you, like all others, have looked upon 
 me as a traitor, John ?" he began. 
 
 " Not so," John replied. " I knew that you 
 fought bravely at Jotapata, and risked your life 
 many times in its defense. I knew, too, that you
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 287 
 
 from the first opposed the revolt against the Ro- 
 mans, and it is not for me to judge as to jour posi- 
 tion among them." 
 
 " I am a prisoner," Josephus said. " I am kindly 
 treated, indeed, and Vespasian frequently asks my 
 opinion of matters connected with the country, but 
 surely I am doing more good to my countrymen by 
 softening his heart toward them than if I had died 
 at Jotapata ; still more if I had been, like John of 
 Gischala, a scourge to it. I trust even yet that, 
 through my influence, Jerusalem may be saved. 
 When the time comes Yespasian will. I hope, grant 
 terms ; and my only fear is that the madness of the 
 people will lead them to refuse all accommodation, 
 and so force him into taking the cit\ r by storm, in 
 which case it cannot but be that terrible misery will 
 fall upon it, and that vast numbers will lose their 
 lives. And now, tell me how you are at home, and 
 what you have been doing since I last saw you." 
 
 John thought it as well not to mention to 
 Josephus the prominent part which he had taken 
 among those who had so harassed the Romans, but 
 he said that he had joined the bands raised in 
 Galilee, and had been among those who had hung 
 upon the Roman flank and rear wherever they 
 marched. 
 
 " The Jews have behaved with prudence and 
 valor," Josephus said, " and I now see that it would 
 have been far better had I trusted more in moun- 
 tain warfare than in fenced cities, but it would 
 have been the same in the end. I know the Jews.
 
 288 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 They would have fought bravely for a time, but the 
 thought of each would have turned to his farm and 
 his vineyard, and they would never have kept the 
 field for any length of time. The Romans, therefore, 
 would in the end have tired them out, and perhaps 
 the fate which has befallen the cities that resisted 
 would have fallen upon all the land. And now re- 
 member that, although but a prisoner, I have much 
 influence with Yespasian, and that at any time, 
 should you fall into their hands again, I will exert 
 that influence in your favor." 
 
 John remained about ten days at Carmelia. 
 Titus had several interviews with him, and at the 
 last of these said : 
 
 " I have conceived a strong friendship for you, 
 young man, and would willingly do you service. 
 Take this signet-ring. At all times and in all 
 places it will pass you to my presence. If a Roman 
 sword be raised to strike you, and you show this 
 ring, it will be lowered. That you should fight 
 against us to the last is, as you believe, your duty, 
 and as I myself would so fight for Rome I seek not 
 further to dissuade you ; but when resistance is at 
 an end, and it is useless any longer to hold the 
 sword, your death cannot benefit your country. 
 Therefore, when that time comes, if not before, use 
 this ring and come to me, and I will grant you not 
 only your own life, but that of such friends as you 
 may wish to save. I do not forget that you had my 
 life in your hands, and that you spared it. It is a 
 life that may yet be valuable to Rome, and though
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 359 
 
 even now, when I speak of it, my cheek flushes 
 with humiliation, I am none the less grateful. It 
 pleases me to see that, in the conversations you 
 have had with my officers, you have borne yourself 
 so modestly, and have made no mention of this, for 
 although I myself do not hesitate to speak of the 
 mishap which befell me, it is pleasant for me that it 
 is not spoken of by others. Believe me, then, that 
 at all times you will find a sincere friend in Titus." 
 
 John replied in suitable terms, thanking Titus for 
 the promises he had made, and disclaiming any 
 merit in his success, which was but the last effort of 
 a beaten man, and was the result of the sudden sur- 
 prise, and not of any skill or bravery. Upon the 
 following morning Titus furnished him with an 
 escort far beyond the confines of the camp, and 
 then taking to the hills, John rejoined his compan- 
 ions, who had long since given him up as dead. 
 They could scarce credit him when he told them 
 that he had been lying wounded in the hands of the 
 Romans, and were still more surprised at hearing 
 that he had been engaged in a personal encounter 
 with Titus. Of this John gave no details beyond 
 the fact that after throwing their javelins the 
 horse of Titus had fallen, and they had fought 
 hand to hand, until at last he had fallen bleeding 
 from a severe wound, and that Titus himself had 
 been wounded. 
 
 " But how was it he did not slay you ?" was the 
 question. " It seems almost a miracle, especially 
 alter wounding Titus himself."
 
 290 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " Doubtless the Lord put it into his heart to spare 
 me," John said. " Titus only said that he preserved 
 my life as that of a brave foe. The Romans es- 
 teem bravery, and as I had withstood Titus for 
 some time he was pleased to think that I had done 
 well." 
 
 " Ah, if you had killed him, what rejoicings there 
 would have been in the land ! " 
 
 " No," John said earnestly, " there would have 
 been mourning. You may be sure that Yespasian 
 would have avenged his blood upon all the people. 
 It would have been a misfortune, indeed, had Titus 
 fallen. It is well that it ended as it did." 
 
 John was, however, far too weak to be able to 
 accompany his band upon its rapid marches, and 
 therefore for a time resigned its command to one of 
 his captains. He determined to go. until his 
 strength returned to him, to a small community of 
 which he had heard as dwelling in an almost in- 
 accessible valley on the shore of the Dead Sea. He 
 was told that they took no part in the commotion 
 of the times, and that they lived in such poverty 
 that even the robbers of Simon had not cared to in- 
 terfere with them. They practiced hospitality to 
 strangers, and spent their lives in religious observ- 
 ances. As John had often heard from his father of 
 this sect, which was at one time numerous in the 
 land, but had been sorely persecuted by the priests 
 and Pharisees, he determined to stop for a time 
 among- them, and learn somewhat of their doc' 
 
 O ' 
 
 trines.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 291 
 
 Accompanied by Jonas, he made his way across 
 the mountains to the valley where they dwelt. As 
 wounded and a stranger he was received without 
 question among them, and a little hut, similar to 
 that in which they ail lived, was placed at his dis- 
 posal. These huts were ranged in a square, in the 
 center of which stood a larger building, used as 
 their synagogue. Here John remained nearly a 
 month, and was greatly struck by their religious 
 fervor, the simplicity and austerity of their lives, 
 and the doctrines which they held. He learned 
 that the more rigorous of the sect abstained alto- 
 gether from the use of meat and wine, and that 
 celibacy was strictly enjoined. Those who married 
 did not separate themselves from the sect, but were 
 considered as occupying an inferior position in it. 
 
 Their food was of the simplest kind, and only 
 sufficient to sustain life ; the community raised the 
 grain and vegetables necessary for their use. But 
 it was the religious doctrines which they held 
 which most greatly surprised John. They attached 
 no importance whatever to the ceremonial law of 
 the Jewish Scriptures, maintaining, in the first 
 place, that the Scriptures had a spiritual significa- 
 tion wholly apart from the literal meaning alone 
 understood by the world, and that this spiritual 
 meaning could only be attained by those who, after 
 long probation, were initiated into the inner 
 mysteries of the sect. 
 
 In the second place, they held that the written 
 law had been altogether superseded by the coming
 
 292 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 of the great prophet, Christ, who had been put to 
 death by the Jewish priests. John learned that 
 there were already large numbers of Jews who had 
 accepted the doctrines taught by this Christ, 
 althougn they did not all embrace the strict rules 
 and modes of life of the ascetics. John was greatly 
 struck with their doctrines, although he did not 
 hear enough to do more than to dimly understand 
 their meaning. He determined, however, that if he 
 went safely through the war he would inquire fur- 
 ther into these mysteries. At the end of the four 
 weeks, his strength being comparatively restored, 
 he took his leave of the community, and rejoined 
 his band.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 93 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE TEST OF DEVOTION. 
 
 ALTHOUGH John was able to join his companions, 
 he was still far from strong, and was glad to have a 
 valid excuse for handing over his command to his 
 lieutenant and returning home. The campaign was 
 nearly over, and he could not have followed those 
 rapid marches through the hills which enabled the 
 band to appear now on one side, now on the other 
 of the Romans, and to keep them in a constant state 
 of watchfulness. At the same time he was glad of 
 the excuse to leave, for although he had declared to 
 Titus that he would fight again in defense of 
 Jerusalem, he felt that, after the kind treatment he 
 had met with, he could not take part in the daily 
 skirmishes with the Romans. 
 
 Mounting a donkey, which was among the many 
 animals captured in the attacks upon the Romans' 
 baggage train, John bade adieu to his comrades, 
 and with Jonas, now grown into a sturdy young 
 fellow, started for home. He journeyed by the 
 road to the west of Jerusalem, in order to avoid the 
 bandits of Simon, son of Gioras, who still scourged 
 the neighborhood of Masada and Herodium, lying 
 between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. He avoided
 
 294 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 all the towns in which there were Roman garrisons, 
 for the bandages on his head would have shown at 
 once that he had been engaged in fighting. He 
 traveled slowly, and was six days before he arrived 
 home. 
 
 " This time, my son, you have not come home un- 
 harmed," Simon said. " Truly you are a shadow of 
 your former self." 
 
 " I shall soon be strong again, father, and these 
 are honorable scars, for I had them in single com- 
 bat with Titus himself in the valley between Hebron 
 and Carmelia." 
 
 " Then how is it that you live to tell the tale, my 
 son?" Simon asked, while exclamations of wonder 
 broke from Mary and Martha. "Surely God did 
 not deliver him into your hands ?" 
 
 " I wish not to boast, father, and I have told the 
 true story to none ; but truly God did deliver him 
 into my hands." 
 
 " And he is dead ?" Simon exclaimed. 
 
 " No, father, he lives, for I spared him." 
 
 " Spared him !" Simon exclaimed. " What, you 
 did not avenge the miseries of our people upon the 
 son of the oppressor ?" 
 
 " No, father ; and I rejoice that I did not, for had 
 I done so, surely the Romans would have avenged 
 his death upon all the land. But I thought not of 
 that at the time. I was sore wounded and bleed- 
 ing, and my sense was well-nigh gone ; but as I 
 knelt upon him, and lifted my hand to slay him, a 
 thought, surely sent by God himself, came into my
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 295 
 
 mind, and I said, ' Swear by your gods that you will 
 spare the Temple, or I slay you;' and he swore 
 that, so far as lay in his power, he would spare the 
 Temple." 
 
 An exclamation of joy burst from his hearers, 
 and Simon said : 
 
 " Verily, my son, God has raised you up as a de- 
 liverer of his Temple, not, as some hoped, by defeat- 
 ing our oppressors, but by binding one of their 
 mightiest ones to do it no harm." 
 
 " I pray, father, say naught of this to any one. 
 It is between ourselves and Titus and the Lord, and 
 I would not that any man should know of it. 
 Moreover, Titus behaved with the greatest gener- 
 osity to me. My victory over him was but a sur 
 prise. I was sorely wounded, while he was almost 
 unharmed, when I sprang upon him, and by the 
 sudden impulse threw him to the ground, he being 
 burdened with his heavy armor. I had but 
 strength to hear him swear, and then I fell as one 
 dead. Titus might have slain me as I lay, but he 
 not onh 7 did me no harm, but when his soldiers 
 came up, he gave me into their care, and directed 
 me to be carried down to his camp, placed in a tent, 
 and tended by his own leech, and when I recovered 
 he let me go free." 
 
 " Truly it is a marvelous tale, John. That you 
 should have fallen into the hands of the Romans 
 and come forth unharmed after discomfiting their 
 leader is as marvelous to me as Daniel coming un- 
 harmed from the lions' den. We will say naught
 
 296 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 of your story, my son. Tell us only what you told 
 your own companions, so that we may know what 
 to say when we are questioned," 
 
 " I told them the truth, father, although not all 
 the truth. I said that I met Titus and fought with 
 him, that I wounded him somewhat, but that by 
 virtue of his armor I did him no great harm, while 
 he wounded me so seriously that I fell down as one 
 dead ; that he, feeling that I had fought like a 
 brave foeman, had me carried to his tent and tended, 
 and cared for until I was able to go forth, when he 
 sent me away free and unharmed." 
 
 " Truly men say of Titus that he is clement and 
 merciful, and therein differs much from Vespasian 
 his father, and the clemency which he showed to the 
 people of Gischala and other places which he has 
 taken proves that is so ; but this deed of his to you 
 shows that he must have a great heart, for few men 
 of rank and warlike fame who had been discomfited 
 by one yet scarce a man, but would have left him 
 by the road to die so that none might know what 
 had happened." 
 
 " Titus made no secret of it, father," John said ; 
 " he told Josephus, in my hearing, that I had spared 
 his life. He said naught of the oath which he had 
 taken, but I know that he will keep it as far, as he 
 said, as lies in his power." 
 
 " What is he like ?" Mary asked. 
 
 " He is not of very tall stature, but stoutly built 
 and strong ; his face, clean shaven as is their custom, 
 has a pleasant and kindly expression that tallies
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 397 
 
 with his disposition, for he is greatly beloved by his 
 soldiers. In action they say he is brave to rashness, 
 quick to anger, but as quickly appeased. Had he 
 been in command of the Roman legions they would 
 have been not less formidable in the fight, and per- 
 haps, when the passions of Titus were roused, not 
 less savage, but they would not have wrought such 
 wholesale cruelty and destruction as they have 
 done." 
 
 " It is rarely that pity enters into the heart of a 
 Roman," Simon said ; " and yet it is hardly for us 
 to complain, for when we crossed over the Jordan 
 and conquered Canaan we put all to the sword and 
 spared none. It may be that in future times, if 
 wars do not altogether cease in the world, they 
 will be waged in another spirit ; but so far, from 
 the commencement of the world until now, it has 
 ever been the same, war has brought desolation and 
 destruction upon the vanquished." 
 
 The next morning John went early into the gar- 
 den, not that he was strong enough for heavy 
 work, but in order that Mary might, as usual, join 
 him there. 
 
 " Do you know, John," she said, after their first 
 greeting, " you have made me happier than I have 
 been for some time." 
 
 " How is that, Mary ?" 
 
 " It seemed to me, John, that you were getting 
 away from me." 
 
 " Getting away, Mary !" he repeated ; " how do 
 you mean ?"
 
 298 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " You were becoming a great leader, John. I was 
 proud that it should be so, proud to think that you 
 might become a deliverer of the nation, and then it 
 would have been meet and right that you should 
 take to yourself as a wife a daughter of one of the 
 great ones of the land." 
 
 " Mary !" John exclaimed indignantly. 
 
 " It might have been necessary, John. The tillers 
 of the soil can marry where they please ; those who 
 have power must wed for other reasons than that 
 of love. They must make alliances that will 
 strengthen their position, and it would have been 
 your duty to have sacrificed your love for the sake 
 of your country. I should have been the first to 
 bid you do so.. I should have 1 been content to make 
 my sacrifice, too, on the altar of our country, con- 
 tent with knowing that you, the deliverer of Israel, 
 would have chosen me from among all other women 
 had you only had your own pleasure and happiness 
 to consult ; but after what you told us yesterday I 
 think perhaps that this need not be. so, and that the 
 way in which you were to save the Temple was not 
 the way we thought. Your mission has been ful- 
 filled, not by great victories, which would have 
 made you the hero of Israel, but in that contest in 
 the valley where no eyes but those of God beheld 
 you, and should the Temple be saved none will 
 know that you were its savior save we who love 
 you. Therefore, John, once again I can look for- 
 ward to the time when you and I can dwell to- 
 gether in the house of your fathers."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 99 
 
 Mary was so earnest that John did not attempt 
 to laugh her out of her fancies, as was his usual 
 way ; he only said quietly : 
 
 " Perhaps you are right, Mary, as to my mission, 
 but I do not think, dear, that even had I been 
 made ruler of Israel I would have gone elsewhere 
 for a wife; but as you say, circumstances might 
 have been too strong for me, and at any rate I am 
 well pleased that there is no chance of my happi- 
 ness being set in one scale and the good of my 
 country in another." 
 
 " And now, John, I believe that you will come 
 back to me even if Jerusalem falls. This is the 
 third time your life has been spared, and if we count 
 that day when we were so nearh^ drowned together 
 on the lake, we may say that four times your life 
 has been saved when it seemed all but lost, and I 
 believe now that it will be saved to the end." 
 
 " I hope for your sake, Mary, and for my father 
 and mother's that it may be so. I have so much to 
 make my life happy that I will assuredly do all in 
 my power to save it. As you know, I have never 
 held with those who would destroy themselves 
 when all seemed lost. My idea is, a man should 
 fight until the last, but should, if possible, provide 
 some way of escape when fighting is no longer of 
 avail. Fortunately, if I do not fall in battle I have 
 a talisman which will bring me safe to you. Titus 
 has given me a signet-ring which will at all times 
 procure me access to him. He has promised that 
 at all times he will be my friend, and should I fall
 
 300 FOR THE TEMPLE 
 
 into the hands of his soldiers again he will let me 
 go free, and will give me the lives of any who may 
 be dear to me." 
 
 "This Titus must be a noble enemy," Mary said, 
 with tears in her eyes ; "he is strong, and kind, and 
 generous. Had such a man been raised up as the 
 leader of our people, instead of the leader of our 
 foes, how different it might have been !" 
 
 " Yes, indeed," John agreed ; " truly we are sheep 
 without a shepherd, nay, we are sheep whose 
 leaders are ravening wolves, who devour their own 
 flock." 
 
 The time passed quietly and happily save for the 
 grief which the tidings of the terrible doings in 
 Jerusalem caused. The two years' respite which 
 the city had obtained when Vespasian marched 
 away from Jericho, instead of being turned to good 
 account, had brought even greater evils than be- 
 fore. Simon son of Gioras, having wasted all the 
 country toward Iduraea, began to threaten Jeru- 
 salem. The Zealots marched out against him, but 
 were driven back to the city. Simon, thinking that 
 the Iduraeans, believing him to be occupied with 
 Jerusalem, would have grown careless, suddenly 
 entered their country at the head of twenty thou- 
 sand men. 
 
 The Idumeans flew to arms and met him with 
 twenty-five thousand men, and a furious battle 
 ensued, in which neither party gained the advan- 
 tage. Simon retreated, and the Idumeans dis- 
 persed. Simon raised an even larger force than
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 301 
 
 before, and advanced with forty thousand irregular 
 troops besides his heavy-armed soldiers. They 
 took Hebron and wasted Idumea with fire and 
 sword. 
 
 The Zealots, in Simon's absence, succeeded in 
 capturing his wife, and carried her off to Jerusalem, 
 hoping by this means to force him to come to 
 terms. On receiving the news he hurried back 
 with his forces, surrounded Jerusalem, and slew 
 every one who ventured to leave the city, except 
 some whom he sent back, having cut off their 
 hands, to tell those within that unless his wife were 
 returned he would storm the city and slay every 
 man within it. Even the Zealots were alarmed at 
 his threats and fury and restored his wife, where- 
 upon he withdrew. 
 
 This had happened in the previous year before 
 Cerealis and Vespasian had entered Idumea. As 
 soon as the Romans had retired Simon again sallied 
 forth from Masada, collected a great number of 
 Idumeans and drove them before him into Jeru- 
 salem, then he encamped before the city and slew 
 all who quitted the protection of its walls. Thus, 
 within, John of Gischala and his followers tyran- 
 nized over the people, murdering and plundering 
 till they were sated with blood and knew not 
 what to do with their booty, while Simon cut off all 
 flight beyond its walls. 
 
 But at length the party of John became divided ; 
 the Idumeans, who were in considerable numbers in 
 the city, rose and drove John and the Zealots into
 
 302 
 
 the palace built by Grapte, which had served them 
 as their headquarters and the storehouse where 
 they piled up the treasure which they had amassed 
 by the plunder of the people. But the Idumeans 
 attacked them here and drove them into the Tem- 
 ple, which adjoined the palace, and took possession 
 of all the plunder that they had amassed. The 
 Zealots, however, were in great force in the Temple 
 and threatened to pour out and destroy the whole 
 city by fire. The Idumeans called an assembly of 
 the chief priests and they decided to admit Simon 
 within the gates. 
 
 The high-priest, Matthias, went out in person to 
 invite him to enter, and, amid the joyful greetings 
 of the population, Simon marched through the gates 
 with his followers and took possession of the upper 
 city. This was the last and most fatal mistake of 
 the people of Jerusalem. The sheep had invited a 
 tiger to save them from a wolf, and now two 
 tyrants instead of one lorded it over the city. As 
 soon as Simon entered he proceeded to attack the 
 Zealots in the Temple, but the commanding position 
 of that building enabled them to defend themselves 
 with success. 
 
 To obtain still further advantage they reared 
 four strong towers, and on these placed their mili- 
 tary engines and bowmen, and so swept the ap- 
 proaches to the Temple that Simon was forced to 
 desist from the attack. All through the winter 
 fighting went on without intermission, and the 
 streets of Jerusalem ran with blood. A further
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 303 
 
 division took place among the Zealots. Eleazar, 
 who had been their head before the arrival of John 
 of Gischala, jealous of the supremacy of that leader, 
 got together a party and suddenly seceded from 
 the main band and seized the inner court of the 
 Temple. 
 
 Now fighting went on within as well as without 
 the holy buildings. The party of Eleazar were well 
 supplied with provisions, for the stores in the 
 Temple were of immense extent. They were too 
 few in numbers to sally out to attack the party of 
 John ; but they were strong enough to defend the 
 walls of the inner court, which looked down upon 
 the rest of the Temple and enabled them to com- 
 mand the positions of John's troops. Day and 
 night the struggle went on. The inner court of the 
 Temple was desecrated by blood dying men lay 
 on the steps of the altar, and the shouts and songs 
 of the savage soldiery rose where the hymns of 
 praise of the Levites had been wont to ascend. 
 
 John's troops continued their attack upon the 
 inner court, while they successfully resisted the as- 
 saults of Simon, who tried to take advantage of the 
 internecine strife raging between the two parties of 
 Zealots ; but the superior height of the positions 
 held by John's men enabled them to defend them- 
 selves as successfully as did those of Eleazar, against 
 their attacks. 
 
 And yet during all this terrible strife the services 
 of the Temple were continued in the midst of blood 
 and carnage. Free ingress and egress were, as at
 
 304 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 all times, permitted to the pious, who made their 
 way unharmed through the fierce combatants, 
 passed over the pavement slippery with blood, and 
 laid their offering on the altars, often paying with 
 their lives for their pious services, being smitten 
 down even as they prayed at the altar by the 
 missiles which the followers of John poured inces- 
 santly into the inner court. 
 
 Sometimes, drunk with the wine obtained from 
 the abundant stores of the Temple, the followers of 
 Eleazar would sally out against John ; sometimes 
 John would pour out against Simon, wasting and 
 destroying the city as far as his troops could pene- 
 trate. Thus the Temple became surrounded by a 
 waste of ruins, held in turn by one or other of the 
 factions. Even the rites of burial, so dear to the 
 Jews, were neglected, and the bodies of the slain 
 lay unburied where they fell. And yet the forces 
 of the three factions which thus desolated the city 
 were comparatively small, and had the wretched 
 population who were tyrannized over by them pos- 
 sessed any unanimity or been led by any man of 
 courage, they could easily have overthrown them 
 all, for Simon's force amounted to about fifteen 
 thousand, that of John to six thousand, while Elea- 
 zar could count but twenty-four hundred men ; and 
 yet in Jerusalem were gathered a population amount- 
 ing, with the original inhabitants and the fugitives 
 from the country around, to over a million people. 
 
 At length the long interval of suspense was draw- 
 ing to an end. At the death of Vitellius Vespasian
 
 FOE THE TEMPLE. 805 
 
 had been called upon by the general voice of the 
 people to ascend the throne, and had some time be- 
 fore left for Rome to assume the imperial purple. 
 He was joyfully acknowledged by the whole Roman 
 empire, who had groaned under a succession of bru- 
 tal tyrants, and now hailed the accession of one who 
 was at once a great general and an upright and able 
 man, and who would rule the empire with a firm, 
 just, and moderate hand. When winter was over 
 Vespasian sent Titus, who had in the mean time 
 gone to Egypt, back to Palestine, and ordered him 
 to complete the conquest of Judea. 
 
 The Twelfth Legion, that which had been defeat- 
 ed when under the command of Cestius, was ordered 
 to reenforce the three already in Judea, and the 
 gaps made in the ranks during the war, and by the 
 withdrawal of the men who had accompanied Ves- 
 pasian to Rome, were filled by an addition of two 
 thousand picked troops from Alexandria and three 
 thousand from the legions stationed on the Eu- 
 phrates. The Syrian kings sent large contingents, 
 and Tiberius Alexander, an intimate friend of Titus, 
 a man of wisdom and integrity, was appointed to 
 high command. His knowledge of the country, 
 which he had once governed, added to his value in 
 the Roman councils. 
 
 As soon as the news spread that the Roman army 
 was collecting for its march against Jerusalem the 
 signal fires were kindled on the hills above Gamala, 
 and John, after a tender farewell to his parents and 
 Mary, set out with Jonas. In twenty-four hours
 
 306 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 the band had again assembled. When they were 
 gathered John addressed them. He pointed out to 
 them that the campaign that they were now about 
 to undertake differed widely from those which had 
 preceded it. 
 
 " Hitherto," he said, " you have but skirmished 
 around the Romans, and have run but comparatively 
 little danger ; but now those who go with me must 
 make up their minds that they are going to Jeru- 
 salem to die. It may be that the Lord will yet de- 
 liver the Holy City from her enemies as he delivered 
 it in days of old. But you know what has been 
 doing in Jerusalem for the last four years, that not 
 only the streets but the altar itself have been flooded 
 with the blood of the people,, how the Jews them- 
 selves have desecrated the Temple, and how wick- 
 edness of all kinds has prevailed in the city. 
 
 " Thus you can judge for yourselves what chance 
 there is that God will interfere on behalf of the 
 people who have forsaken and insulted him. If 
 he does not interfere, in my opinion the fate of the 
 city is sealed. I have seen the Romans at work at 
 Jotapata and Gamala, and I know how the strongest 
 walls go down before their engines and battering- 
 rams. Moreover, I hear that in the wars which 
 have been raging within the gates, the magazines, 
 which contain sufficient food to last even her great 
 population for years, have been entirely destroyed, 
 and thus those who go to defend her have to face 
 not the Roman sword only, but famine. 
 
 " Therefore I say that those who go up to defend
 
 ' FOR THE TEMPLE. 307 
 
 the Temple must make up their minds that they go 
 to die for the Temple. It is for each of 3-011 to ask 
 yourselves whether you are ready to do this. I ask 
 no one to go with me ; let each before it is too late 
 ask himself whether he is ready to do this thing. I 
 blame none who find the sacrifice too great; it is 
 between them and their conscience. Therefore I 
 pray you let all to-night disperse among the hills, 
 each by himself, so that you may think over what 
 I have said, and let all who may come to the con- 
 clusion that they are not called upon to go to cer- 
 tain death in defense of the Temple depart to their 
 homes without reproach from their comrades. Each 
 man here has done his duty so long as hope re- 
 mained. Now it is for each to decide for himself 
 whether he feels called upon to give his life for the 
 Temple." 
 
 Silently the crowd dispersed, and John joined the 
 captains and passed the night with them. 
 
 " I fear we shall have but a small gathering in 
 the morning," one of them said as they sat down 
 by the fire. " Many will fight as long as there is 
 hope, but few will go down to certain death." 
 
 " It is better so," John said ; " misery and ruin 
 have fallen upon the country. As you saw for your- 
 selves Judea and Idumea are but deserts, and more 
 have fallen by famine and misery than by the 
 sword. We would not have our nation blotted out, 
 and as in the days after the captivity in Babylon 
 God again collected his people and restored their 
 land to them, so it may be his intention to do now
 
 308 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 when they have paid the full penalty of their dis- 
 obedience and wickedness. Therefore I would not 
 that any should go down to die, save those who feel 
 that God has called them to do so. 
 
 " Already the victims who have fallen in these 
 four years are well-nigh countless, and in Jerusalem 
 there are a million people, sufficient, if they have 
 spirit and strength and the Lord is with them, to 
 defend the walls. Thus, then, however small the 
 number of those who may gather to-morrow, I shall 
 be content. Had the Romans advanced against 
 Jerusalem at the commencement of the war, there 
 ivas not a Jew capable of bearing arms but would 
 bave gone up to the defense of the Holy City ; but 
 now their spirit is broken by t'he woes that have 
 come upon them, and still more by the civil wars 
 in Jerusalem herself. A spirit of hopelessness and 
 despair has come upon us. It is not that men fear 
 to die or that they care to live, it is that they say, 
 What matters it whether we live or die? all is lost ; 
 why should we trouble as to what may come upon 
 us?" 
 
 " Then you no longer believe in your mission, 
 John ?" one of the party said gloomily. 
 
 " I have never proclaimed a mission," John said ; 
 " others have proclaimed it for me. I simply in- 
 vited a score of men to follow me, to do what we 
 could to hinder the Eomans, and because God gave 
 us success others believed that I was sent as a de- 
 liverer. And yet I believe that I had a mission, 
 and that mission has been fulfilled. I told you not
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 30., 
 
 before, but I tell you now for your comfort what 
 happened between me and Titus, but I wish not 
 that it should be told to others. I told you that 1 
 fought with him, and that being wounded and in- 
 sensible I was carried into his tent ; but that was 
 not all. When we fought, although sorely wounded 
 I sprang upon him and we fell to the ground, I 
 uppermost. I drew my knife and would have slain 
 him, when the Lord put a thought into my mind, 
 and I called upon him to swear that he would spare 
 the Temple. 
 
 " He swore that if it lay in his power he would 
 do so. Then he was but in inferior command, now 
 he is general of the army and should be able to 
 keep his oath. Thus, if I had a mission to save the 
 Temple, I trust that I have fulfilled it, and that 
 whatever fate may fall upon the city the Temple 
 will yet remain erect and unharmed." 
 
 John's words gave new life and energy to the 
 before dispirited men gathered round him. It 
 seemed to them not only that the Temple would be 
 saved, but that their belief in their leader's mission 
 as a deliverer was fully justified, and a feeling of 
 enthusiasm succeeded that of depression. 
 
 " Why did you not tell us before, why did you 
 not let all your followers know what a great thing 
 you had done, John ?" one of them asked presently. 
 
 " For two reasons," John replied. " I did not 
 wish to seem to exalt myself or to boast of the suc- 
 cess which God had given me over the Koman, for 
 it was assuredly his strength and not mine, for I
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 myself could do naught against the strength and 
 skill of Titus, and as I told you I was wounded nigh 
 to death while he received small hurt. In the next 
 place, I thought that if I made it public it would be 
 noised abroad through the land, and that Titus, 
 when he heard that all men knew that he had been 
 worsted in fight with a Jew, might repent of his 
 oath, or might even ask to be sent to some other 
 command so that he might not be called upon to 
 keep it." 
 
 John's companions agreed that the second reason 
 was a valid one, though they did not agree that the 
 first should have weighed with him. 
 
 "It is not by hiding a light under a bushel," one 
 of them said, " that men gain i the confidence of 
 their followers. The more men believe in their 
 leaders the more blindly will they follow him, the 
 greater the efforts they will make for him. It was 
 the belief in your mission which gathered eight 
 thousand men on these mountains to follow you, 
 and the proof that you have given us that that be- 
 lief was well founded, and that-you had a mission 
 to save the Temple, the knowledge that you had 
 single-handed forced the Roman general to swear 
 an oath to save the Temple, would have so 
 heightened that enthusiasm that they would have 
 followed you had you bidden them attack the whole 
 Roman army. I agree that for your second reason 
 it was wise to say nothing of what took place; but 
 your first was, I think, a mistaken one." 
 
 " At any rate," another said, " the hand of God
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 31 1 
 
 is plainly marked in the matter, for it has placed 
 Titus in full- command, and has thus given him the 
 power of carrying out the oath which he swore. 
 Now, my friends, we can go up with light hearts 
 with John to Jerusalem, for though we may die, yet 
 do we feel assured that the Lord purposes to save 
 the Temple, and that one day he will restore the 
 glories of Judah." 
 
 In the morning, as John had expected, the num- 
 ber of those who gathered at the sound of the 
 trumpet was comparatively small. The night's 
 reflection, the feeling that the sacrifice of their 
 lives would be of no avail, and the dull despair that 
 had seized the whole nation had had their effect, 
 and of the eight thousand men who had gathered 
 there the night before, but six hundred now obeyed 
 the summons. 
 
 These gathered stern and silent, but with an ex- 
 pression of desperate resolution on their faces. At 
 the earnest request of his captains, John allowed 
 them to go among the men and to tell them that 
 although the manner in which it was done was a 
 secret, John had given to them undoubted proofs 
 that he had a mission from God, and that they be- 
 lieved that whatever might happen to Jerusalem, 
 it was the Lord's will that the Temple should be 
 saved. The joyous expression of their leaders' 
 faces even more than their words assured their fol- 
 lowers of their sincerity. Their spirit rose, and 
 a renewed feeling of enthusiasm seized them ; and 
 when, an hour later, John took his place on a rock
 
 312 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 to address them, the shouts of greeting which 
 broke forth showed him how great was the change 
 in their spirit. 
 
 " My friends," he said, " I greet you who have 
 decided to die with me, if need be, in defense of 
 Jerusalem. I blame not those who have gone. 
 They would not have gone had the Lord required 
 them to stay ; but to you he has spoken, and has 
 told you that he has need of your services. Hence- 
 forward we will act as one band a band of men in- 
 spired with one thought and one aim. And now, 
 though our numbers may not be great, yet a force 
 so composed of men who hold their lives as naught 
 may do wonders. You remember how Gideon sent 
 the greater part of his army away, and with a mere 
 handful defeated the hosts of the enemy ! 
 
 " We look not for victory ; but we will show 
 the Romans what men can do to avenge their bleed- 
 ing country what deeds Jews can perform when 
 fighting for the Temple. We shall go into Jeru- 
 salem ; there we will hold aloof from all parties. If 
 \ve are attacked we will defend ourselves. But our 
 aim will be to act as a body apart from others, 
 ready to undertake the most desperate services, and 
 to set an example of courage and devotion. Now 
 let us count our numbers and arrange ourselves 
 anew into companies." 
 
 It was found that the bands composed of men 
 from Tiberias and the other cities of the lake had 
 entirely disappeared, and that those who had stayed 
 were principally hardy dwellers among the hills.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 313 
 
 They were again divided into twenty companies of 
 thirty men each ; and after examining their arms 
 and seeing that all were well provided, John gave 
 the order and the band set off. Keeping on the 
 eastern side of Jordan they stopped at a large vil- 
 lage near the ford opposite Jericho ; and here a 
 quantity of grain was purchased and was made up 
 into sacks, each weighing fifty pounds. 
 
 " The granaries that remain will be principally in 
 the hands of the troops of John or Simon," John 
 said ; " and it is as well that we should have our 
 own store to depend upon. So long as we can buy 
 food we will do so, and we can fall back upon our 
 own magazine if necessary. It will be best for two 
 or three of us to go into the city first and find a 
 quarter where we can lodge close together, and as 
 far removed as possible from the factions. Simon 
 holds the upper town and John the Temple ; there- 
 fore we will establish ourselves in the lower town. 
 We will not go in in a body, for they might refuse 
 us admittance ; but as the Romans approach there 
 will be a stream of fugitives entering the city ; we 
 will mingle with them and pass in unobserved. 
 
 "Many of the fugitives will be carrying the 
 goods they most value, and many doubtless will 
 take in provisions with them, therefore our sacks of 
 grain will not excite attention ." 
 
 It was five years since John had journeyed up 
 with his parents to Jerusalem, and he therefore 
 knew but little of the city. Some of his followers, 
 however, had been there more recently ; and he
 
 314 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 picked out four of these, one of whom was a cap- 
 tain of a company, to enter the city and find a suit- 
 able post for them. The whole band crossed the 
 Jordan together, and made a detour to avoid 
 Jericho, where the Tenth Legion had been quar- 
 tered during the winter. Then they took their way 
 up the steep road through the hills, until, passing 
 through Bethany, they came out on the crest of the 
 hill looking down upon the Y alley of Jehoshaphat, 
 with the Temple rising immediately opposite to 
 them, and the palace of Agrippa and the crowded 
 houses of the city in the background. 
 
 The men laid down their sacks and stood for a 
 long time looking at Jerusalem. Many were moved 
 to tears as they looked on the stately beauty of the 
 Holy City, and thought how low it had fallen, with 
 civil tumult within and a terrible enemy approach- 
 ing from without. Even now there is no fairer 
 scene in the world than the view of Jerusalem from 
 the spot where they were standing, called then as 
 now the Mount of Olives ; and it must have been 
 superb, indeed, in the days when the Temple stood 
 intact and the palaces of Agrippa and Herod rose 
 on the brow of Mount Zion. 
 
 After a long pause they resumed their way, 
 crossed the upper end of the Yalley of Jehoshaphat, 
 and established themselves for the night in a grove 
 of trees near the Grotto of Jeremiah, four chosen 
 men at once entering the city by the Old Gate on 
 the north side of the city. The country here, and 
 indeed all the hills around Jerusalem, were covered
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 315 
 
 with the houses of the wealthy, surrounded by gar- 
 dens and orchards. They belonged not only to the 
 Jews of the city, but to those who dwelt in foreign 
 countries, and who were accustomed each year to 
 come to Jerusalem for the Passover and to spend 
 some time there before they returned to their dis- 
 tant homes. Even now, undismayed by the dan- 
 gers of the times and the knowledge that the Ro- 
 mans would shortly besiege the city, pilgrims were 
 arriving from all the cities of Asia Minor, Greece, 
 and Egypt, for the time of the Passover was close 
 at hand. 
 
 At the foot of the walls and on the slopes around 
 large numbers of pilgrims were encamped, the rich 
 in gorgeous tents, the poor in shelters constructed 
 of boughs or carpets. This overflow of people was 
 an occurrence which was witnessed every year on 
 the same occasion, but its proportions were this 
 time of greater magnitude than usual, partly owing 
 to the difficulty of procuring lodgings in the town 
 owing to the crowds of fugitives there, partly be- 
 cause many thought it safer to camp outside, and to 
 enter the city only to pay their devotions and take 
 part in the ceremonial than to put themselves 
 wholly into the power of the ruffians of Simon and 
 John. 
 
 In the following morning the men returned and 
 reported that they had found a spot in the inner 
 lower town, between the Corner Gate and the Gate 
 of Ephraim in the second wall, where was a large 
 house inhabited now but by two or three persons ;
 
 316 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 here a great number of them could take up their 
 quarters, while the others could find lodging near. 
 The reason why so many houses were empty there 
 was that it was somewhat exposed to the irruptions 
 of Simon's men from the upper town, as they fre- 
 quently came down and robbed those who entered 
 the city at the Damascus Gate, from which led the 
 great north road. 
 
 Crowds of fugitives were making their wa} r by 
 this road to the city, flying before the advance of 
 the Romans, who were, they said, but a few hours' 
 march in their rear. Many were men coming to 
 take their part in the defense of the city, but the 
 great proportion were old men, women, and chil- 
 dren flying for refuge. John shook his head as he 
 watched the stream of fugitives, for he well knew 
 the horrors that would befall the besieged town. 
 
 "Better a thousand times," he said to Jonas, 
 " that these poor people should have remained in 
 their villages. They have nothing which would 
 tempt the cupidity of the Eoman soldiers, and no 
 evil might have befallen them ; whereas now they 
 will perish by famine or disease or be slain by the 
 Romans, besides consuming the food which would 
 have sustained the fighting men. Were master 
 of Jerusalem I would, when I heard the Romans 
 were approaching, have cleared out from the city 
 all who could not aid in the defense. It would 
 have seemed a harsh action, but it would have been 
 a merciful one, and would greatly strengthen the 
 power of resistance,"
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 317 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 JERUSALEM. 
 
 MINGLING with the crowd, John and his followers 
 made their way through the Damascus Gate into 
 Jerusalem, and followed the Damascus Street to 
 the Gate of Ephraim. An air of somber misery 
 pervaded the whole population. In their hearts the 
 greater portion of the population had for many 
 months been longing for the approach of the Ro- 
 mans ; even death would be preferable to the mis- 
 ery which they suffered. There were but few peo- 
 ple in the streets, for all remained in their houses 
 with closed doors, save when necessity drove them 
 out to make purchases. Turning sharp round by 
 the wall the members of the band made their way 
 along by it until they were met by one or other of 
 those who had gone on in advance, and were con- 
 ducted to the house which had been hired for them. 
 
 The inhabitants of the houses near looked out of 
 their windows in alarm when they saw so many 
 armed men arriving, but they gained courage on 
 observing their quiet and orderly demeanor, and 
 doors were presently unbolted and men came out 
 to inquire who were the new-comers. When they 
 were told that they were from Galilee an d Peraea
 
 318 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 and had come down only to fight for the Holy City, 
 that they would harm no one, and had nothing in 
 common with any of the factions, confidence was 
 restored, and offers were at once made to take in 
 ten, fifteen, or twenty men, according to the size of 
 the houses ; for the people soon saw that the new 
 arrivals would prove a protection from the attacks 
 and insults of small numbers of Simon's men, who 
 had hitherto pervaded the lower town, breaking 
 into houses, robbing and murdering wheresoever 
 they chose. 
 
 The grain was all stored in the house that had 
 been hired ; and here John took up his quarters with 
 the men of his own company and those of Asher, 
 one of his bravest and most determined captains. 
 The rest were all accommodated in houses in the 
 same street. And as this, like most of the streets of 
 Jerusalem, was very narrow, John felt that it could 
 be defended against an attack by a greatly superior 
 force. 
 
 It was but half an hour after the band had been 
 settled in their quarters that a shriek was heard at 
 the end of the street. John ran out in time to see 
 a woman struck down, while a body of some twenty 
 half-drunken soldiers with drawn swords were trying 
 to force in the door of a house. John sounded his 
 bugle, and there was a rush of armed men into the 
 street. John put himself at the head of the two 
 companies with him and advanced against the sol- 
 diers and sternly ordered them to desist. The 
 soldiers, astonished by the sudden appearance of so
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 319 
 
 large a body of armed men, drew back in astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 " Who are you ?" one who seemed to be their 
 leader asked. 
 
 " It matters not who I am," John said quietly. 
 " It is enough, as .you see, that I have a force here 
 sufficiently strong to make myself obeyed. This 
 street henceforth is mine ; and beware of attempt- 
 ing plunder or violence here, for whoever does so 
 surely dies !" 
 
 Muttering threats below their breath the soldiers 
 sullenly withdrew. An hour later one of the inhab- 
 itants ran in to inform John that a large body of 
 men were coming down from the upper city. John 
 immediately called his men to arms, and at their 
 head took up his position at the end of the street. 
 
 Ere long a crowd of soldiers were seen approach- 
 ing. At their head strode one whom John at once 
 guessed to be Simon himself. When he arrived 
 within ten paces Simon stopped, surprised at the 
 compact order and resolute appearance of the band 
 which filled the street. 
 
 " Who are you ?" he asked John imperiously. 
 
 " My name is John, and I am generally called 
 John of Gamala, although that is not my birthplace." 
 
 Simon uttered an exclamation of astonishment, 
 for the tales of John's attack upon the Roman camp 
 at Gamala, and of his subsequent actions against the 
 Romans, were well known in Jerusalem. 
 
 " You are but a lad," Simon said contemptuously, 
 " and John of Gamala must be a warrior !"
 
 320 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 K I am John of Gamala," John repeated quietly, 
 " and these men are part of my band. "We have 
 come down to defend Jerusalem, since there is no 
 more to be done in the open country. We wish to 
 interfere with none, to take part with no faction, 
 but simply to defend the city. We war with the 
 Romans and not with Jews. We assault no one ; 
 but woe be to him who assaults us ! Here are six 
 hundred of us, each man ready to die ; and though 
 you have twenty men to one, yet will we withstand 
 you if you meddle with us. By to-night the Ro- 
 mans will be outside the walls. Is this the time 
 that Jews should fall upon each other like wild 
 beasts ?" 
 
 Simon hesitated. The idea of opposition excited 
 him, as usua], to fury ; but, upon the other hand, he 
 saw that this determined body were not to be over- 
 come save with great loss, and he wanted his men 
 for his struggles with the Zealots. 
 
 "You are not in correspondence with John of 
 Gischala ?" he asked doubtfully. 
 
 " I am in correspondence with none," John said. 
 " As I have told you, we come only to fight for Je- 
 rusalem, and will take no part on one side or other 
 in your dissensions. We have taken up this street 
 between this gate and the Corner Gate, and this 
 street we will hold." 
 
 Simon still hesitated. He saw that round this 
 nucleus of determined men the whole of the citizens 
 of the lower town might gather, and that he might 
 be forced to confine himself to the upper town.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 321 
 
 This, however, would be of no great importance 
 now. The inner lower town was the poor quarter 
 of Jerusalem. Here dwelt the artisans and mechan- 
 ics in the narrow and tortuous lanes, while the 
 wealthier classes resided either in the upper town, 
 where stood the palaces of the great, or in the new 
 town between the second and third walls. The new 
 town had indeed until lately been a suburb outside 
 the walls. Agrippa had begun the third wall, which 
 was to inclose this, and had he been allowed to build 
 it according to his design, he would have made Je- 
 rusalem absolutely impregnable save by famine ; but 
 the authorities at Eome, knowing how turbulent 
 were the population of Jerusalem, and foreseeing 
 that at some time they might have to lay siege to 
 the city, had forbidden its construction, and the 
 new wall had been hastily erected by the Jews 
 themselves after they had risen and defeated Cestius 
 four years before. 
 
 This wall inclosed a vast number of villas with 
 gardens and open spaces, now thickly tenanted by the 
 temporary habitations of the fugitives and pilgrims. 
 The lower town then contained but little to tempt 
 the cupidity of Simon's troops. Its houses had in- 
 deed been ransacked over and over again, and 
 Simon reflected that even should his men be pre- 
 vented from descending into it it would matter but 
 little, while, as it was separated from the upper 
 town by the Tyroposon Valley and the first wall, 
 no rising there could be a formidable danger to him. 
 Still, it galled him to be resisted, and had it not
 
 322 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 been that the Komans were close at hand he would 
 at once have given his men orders to attack the 
 strangers. He stood for some minutes stroking his 
 beard, and then said : 
 
 " I will give you no answer now. I will think 
 over what you say till to-morrow, then we will talk 
 again." 
 
 " I doubt not what your decision will be," John 
 said. " You are a brave man, Simon, and although 
 you have done much harm to the Jews, yet I know 
 that you will defend Jerusalem to the end against 
 the Romans. You need feel no jealousy of me. I 
 aspire to no leadership or power. I am here only 
 to fight, and six hundred such men as mine are not 
 to be despised in the day of trial. Should the 
 Komans march away baffled before the walls, I, too, 
 shall leave, and you who remain can resume your 
 mad struggles if you will ; but I think that in the 
 presence of the enemy all strife within the city 
 should cease, and that we should be as one man in 
 the face of the Romans." 
 
 Simon looked with surprise and some admiration 
 at the young man who so boldly addressed him. 
 Savage and cruel as he was, Simon was a man of 
 the greatest bravery. He had none of the duplicity 
 and treachery which characterized John of Gischala, 
 but was straightforward and in his way honest. 
 As only his picture has come down to us as de- 
 scribed by the pen of Josephus, who at the time of 
 his writing his history had become thoroughly a 
 Roman, and who elevated Titus and his troops at
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 323 
 
 the expense of his own countrymen, great allowance 
 must be made for the dark colors in which he is 
 painted. 
 
 The fact that he was regarded with affection and 
 devotion by his troops, who were willing to go to 
 certain death at his orders, shows that at least there 
 must have been many good qualities in him, and 
 history records no instance of more desperate and 
 sustained bravery than he exhibited in defense of 
 Jerusalem. The frankness of John's speech, in- 
 stead of angering him, pleased him much. 
 
 "Enough," he said; "I need no further time to 
 reflect. A man who had thought of treachery 
 would not speak so boldly and fearlessly as you do. 
 Let us be friends. I have often wondered what 
 sort of man was the John of Gamala of whom I 
 have heard so much, and who has so long kept the 
 field against the Romans ; and although I wonder 
 greatly at seeing you so young a man, yet I rejoice 
 that so valiant a fighter should be here to aid us in 
 the struggle. Here is my hand in token of amity." 
 
 John took the hand held out to him, and a shout 
 of satisfaction rose from the armed men on either 
 side, the followers of John being rejoiced that they 
 would not be called upon to engage in civil strife, 
 those of Simon well satisfied that they were not to 
 be called upon to attack a body of men who looked 
 such formidable antagonists. Just at this moment 
 a man rode in at the gate saying that the Romans 
 were but two miles distant, and would speedily 
 make their appearance over the Hill of Scopus.
 
 324 FOB THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Simon ordered a part} 7 of his men to proceed at 
 once to Damascus Gate, and to close it as soon as 
 the Romans were visible. Then he turned again 
 to John. 
 
 " Come up with me," he said, " to the Palace of 
 Herod. From its summit we can see the enemy 
 approaching." 
 
 Giving orders to bis men to lay Uside their arms, 
 and calling Jonas to accompany him, John without 
 hesitation turned to accompany Simon. The latter 
 had hardly expected him to accept his invitation, 
 and the readiness with which he did so at once 
 pleased and gratified him. It was a proof of fear- 
 lessness, and a testimony to John's belief in his 
 faith and honor. John of Gischala, treacherous 
 himself, would not have placed himself in his 
 power, whatever the guarantee he gave for his 
 safety ; while he himself would not have confided 
 himself to John of Gischala, though the latter had 
 sworn to his safety with his hand on the altar. 
 
 John himself was struck with the rugged gran- 
 deur of Simon's appearance. He was far above the 
 stature of ordinary men, and of immense strength, 
 and there was nevertheless an ease and lightness in 
 his carriage which showed that he was no less 
 active than strong. His face was leonine in ex- 
 pression ; his long hair fell back from his forehead ; 
 his eyebrows were heavy ; his eyes were gray and 
 clear, with a fierce and savage expression when his 
 brows met in a frown and his lips were firmly set, 
 but at other times frank, open, and straightforward
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 335 
 
 in their look. The mouth was set and determined 
 without being hard, and a pleasant smile at times 
 lit up his features. He was a man capable of strong 
 affections and generous impulses. 
 
 He was cruel at times ; but it was an age of 
 
 O 
 
 cruelty, and Titus himself, who is held up as a 
 magnanimous general, was guilty of far more 
 hideous cruelties than any committed by Simon. 
 Had the latter been master of Jerusalem from the 
 first, and had not the granaries been destroyed in 
 the civil war, the legions of Titus would never have 
 achieved the conquest of the city. 
 
 Ascending the steep slope of the valley they 
 passed through the gate in the first wall, and turn- 
 ing to the right entered the Palace of Herod, which 
 was at once a royal dwelling and a fortress of 
 tremendous strength. 
 
 Much as John's thoughts were otherwise occupied, 
 he could not help being struck by the magnificence 
 and splendor of this noble building ; but he said 
 nothing as Simon strode along through the forum, 
 passed out beyond the palace itself, entered the 
 strong and lofty tower of Phasaelus, and ascended 
 to its summit. An involuntary exclamation burst 
 from John as he gained the platform. From the 
 point on which he stood he commanded a view of 
 the whole city and of the country round. Far 
 below at his feet lay the crowded streets of the 
 inner town, between which and the outer wall the 
 ground was thickly occupied by houses of the better 
 class standing half-embowered in trees. Close be-
 
 326 FOB, TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 side him rose the stately towers of Hippicus and 
 Mariamne. Behind him was the Palace of Herod, 
 standing on the ground once occupied by the Castle 
 of David. On the east the Palace of Agrippa 
 partly obscured the view of the Temple ; but a 
 portion of the building could be seen standing on its 
 platform on the summit of Mount Moriah ; to its 
 left, and connected with it by two lines of cloisters, 
 was the Castle of Antonia, while still further along 
 was the fort known as Acra. Behind the Palace 
 of Herod and its superb gardens were scattered the 
 palaces and mansions of the wealthy Jews and 
 strangers, which, with their gardens, occupied the 
 whole of the upper part of Mount Zion. On the 
 lower slope of Mount Moriah, lying between the 
 Valley of Jehoshaphat and that of the Tyropceon, 
 was a densely populated suburb known as the New 
 Town. 
 
 Westward, beyond the Tower of Hippicus, lay 
 the valley of Hinnom with the Dragon Pool glisten- 
 ing in the sun, while at a distance of four or five 
 miles to the southward could be seen the village of 
 Bethlehem. The whole country outside the walls 
 was a garden, with countless villas, mansions, and 
 groves of trees. For some minutes John looked 
 round in admiration of the scene, while Simon stood 
 with his eyes fixed upon the road crossing Mount 
 Scopus. Suddenly he uttered an exclamation, and 
 John joined him and looked in the direction in 
 which he was gazing. The white line of the road 
 was darkened by a moving mass, sparkling as the 
 sun shone on arms and armor.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 327 
 
 " They come at last," Siraon said, and as he spoke 
 cries of wailing and lamentation were heard from 
 the walls far below them. The four years that had 
 elapsed since danger first threatened Jerusalem had 
 deepened the impression in the minds of the Jews 
 that the enemy would not be permitted to approach 
 the Holy City. It was true that their faith had 
 been sorely shaken by many strange prodigies. A 
 strange light had shone about the altar and the 
 Temple, and it was said that voices had been heard 
 from the Holy of Holies, saying, " Let us depart 
 hence." 
 
 The Beautiful Gate of the Temple, which required 
 the strength of twentjr men to close it, had opened 
 of its own accord. War chariots and armies had 
 been seen contending in the clouds, and for months 
 a great comet, in shape like a flaming sword, had 
 hung over the city. Still men had hoped, and the 
 cry from the watchers that the Roman army was 
 in sight struck dismay among the inhabitants. 
 There were still many without the walls ; some of 
 these rushed wildly into the gates and entered the 
 city, while the wiser fled away to the hills and 
 made their way to their homes. 
 
 Titus, as he reached the brow of Mount Scopus, 
 reined in his horse and looked for some time in silence 
 at the great and magnificent city which extended 
 before him, and there can be little doubt that he 
 would fain have spared it had it been possible. 
 Even a Roman could not gaze on the massive 
 beauty of the Temple unmoved. It was the most
 
 328 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 famous religious edifice in the world. From all 
 parts pilgrims flocked to it, and kings made offer- 
 ings to it. It was believed by the Jews to be the 
 special seat of their deity ; and the Romans, partly 
 from policy, partly from superstition, paid respect 
 and reverence to the gods of all the nations they 
 subdued, and annual offerings had been sent by 
 Rome to the Temple. 
 
 Titus may well have wished to spare the city the 
 ruin and misery of a siege, to preserve the Temple 
 intact, and to hand over to King Agrippa uninjured 
 his palace and capital. In all the wide dominions 
 of Rome there was not a city which approached. 
 Jerusalem in beauty and grandeur ; and Titus must 
 have felt that whatever honor would accrue to him 
 from its conquest, would be dearly purchased by 
 the linking of his name to all time as the destroyer 
 of so magnificent a city. Similar emotions were 
 felt by the group of officers who rode with Titus, 
 and who reined up their horses as he did so. With 
 them the military point of view was doubtless the 
 most prominent, and as they saw from their lofty 
 vantage ground how the deep valleys of Hinnom 
 and Jehoshaphat girt the city in on either side, 
 and how stately and strong were the walls and 
 towers, they may well have felt how mighty was 
 the task which they had before them. 
 
 The scene was calm and peaceful. No sound of 
 warlike trumpets came from the walls ; no signs of 
 an enemy appeared without; and Titus rode on 
 past the deserted villas and beautiful grounds that
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 339 
 
 bordered the road, until he neared the Damascus 
 Gate. He was accompanied by six hundred horse, 
 for the legions had encamped in the Yalley of 
 Thorns, near the village of Gaboth Saul, some four 
 miles from Jerusalem. 
 
 The walls appeared deserted, but Titus, having 
 experience of the desperate courage of the Jews, 
 paused at some little distance from the gate, and 
 turning to the right entered a lane which ran 
 parallel to the wall, and made his way toward the 
 Tower of Psepbinus, or the Rubble Tower, at the 
 northeastern angle of the outer wall. Suddenly a 
 gate dear the Tower of the Women was thrown 
 open, and a crowd of armed men dashed out. 
 Rushing forward at the top of their speed, some 
 threw themselves across the road which Titus was 
 following ; but most of them rushed in behind him, 
 cutting him off from the main body of his cavalry, 
 and leaving him isolated with but a few followers. 
 
 The main body of Roman cavalry, furiously 
 assailed, and ignorant that Titus was cut off from 
 them, turned and fled. Titus hesitated a moment. 
 In front of him was an unknown country, he knew 
 not whither the lane he was following led, hedges 
 rose on either side, and even did he burst through 
 the crowd in front of him he might be overwhelmed 
 by missiles as he rode on. Therefore, calling upon 
 his men to follow him he turned round and dashed 
 into the crowd which barred his retreat. 
 
 He wore neither helmet nor breastplate, for as he 
 had only advanced to reconnoiter, and with no
 
 330 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 thought of fighting, these had been left behind. 
 Yet, though javelins flew around him in showers 
 and arrows whizzed close to him, not one touched 
 him as he struck right and left among those who 
 barred his passage, while his war-horse, excited by 
 the shouts and tumult, trampled them under his 
 feet. 
 
 In vain the Jews, astonished at his bravery, and 
 still more so at his immunity from harm amid the 
 shower of missiles, strove to seize him. He and his 
 little band cut his way onward, those in front 
 drawing back with almost superstitious fear from 
 his attack. 
 
 Two only of his followers were slain : one fell 
 pierced with numerous javelins, another was pulled 
 from his horse and killed; but with the rest he 
 emerged unharmed from among his assailants and 
 reached his camp in safety. 
 
 The soldiers of Simon, for it was his men who 
 guarded this part of the wall, returned with mingled 
 feelings. They were triumphant that they had 
 caused the son of Caesar himself to fly before them. 
 They were humiliated that so great a prize should 
 have escaped them when he seemed in their hands, 
 and they had a superstitious feeling that he had 
 been divinely protected from their assaults. 
 
 From their lookout Simon and John had seen the 
 Roman cavalry turn off from the Damascus road 
 into the lane, and had then lost sight of them. 
 Then they heard the sudden din of battle and the 
 shouts of the combatants, and saw the Roman
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 331 
 
 cavalry riding off in full speed, but the clamor had 
 continued, and in a short time another little party 
 of horsemen were seen to issue from the lane and 
 follow their companions. Simon laughed grimly. 
 
 "We have taught the Romans early that the 
 wasps have stings, and that if they think they are 
 going to take the nest without trouble they will be 
 mistaken. And now, John, what do you advise? 
 You were, they say, at Jotapata and Gamala, and 
 you have since shown how well you understand the 
 Roman tactics. I am a soldier with an arm to 
 strike, but so far I have not had experience in the 
 Roman tactics at sieges. Tell me what would you 
 do first were you commander of this city ?" 
 
 "There is no doubt what is the first thing to be 
 done," John said. " It is the duty of all within this 
 city to lay aside their feuds and unite in her 
 defense. It is for you, as the strongest, to make 
 the first advance, and to send at once to John and 
 Eleazar to propose that so long as the Romans are 
 before the city there shall be a truce between you, 
 and to arrange which part of the walls shall be held 
 by the soldiers of each. You must also arrange to 
 unite for common action, both in the defense and 
 in attacking them without the walls ; for it is only 
 by disturbing them at their work, and by hindering 
 them as they bring forward their engines of war, 
 that you can hope to hold the city. Strong as your 
 walls may be, they will crumble to ruins when 
 the battering-rams once begin their work against 
 them."
 
 332 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Simon was silent for a minute ; then he said : 
 
 " Your advice is good. I will send t once to 
 John and Eleazar and ask them to meet me on the 
 bridge across the Tyropoeon, which separates our 
 forces." 
 
 The sun was already setting, but the distance was 
 short. Simon advanced to the bridge, and, hailing 
 the Zealots on the other side, said that he desired 
 an interview with John in reference to the defense 
 of the city, and that he pledged his solemn oath 
 that no harm should come to him. He sent a 
 similar message to Eleazar. John shortly appeared, 
 for from the summit of Antonia he too had watched 
 the advancing Romans, and felt the necessity for 
 common action for defense of the town. 
 
 Eleazar refused to come. He would have trusted 
 Simon, but to reach the meeting-place he would 
 have had to pass through the outer courts of the 
 Temple held by John, and he knew that no confi- 
 dence could be reposed in any oath that the latter 
 might take. He sent word, however, that he was 
 willing to abstain from all hostilities, and to make 
 common cause with the others for the defense of the 
 city. John of (rischala advanced alone on to the 
 bridge, a wide and stately edifice carried on lofty 
 arches across the Tyropoeon Yalley, from a point 
 near the Palace of Agrippa to the platform of the 
 Temple. 
 
 " Come with me," Simon said to his companion. 
 John of Gischala paused in his advance as he saw 
 that Simon was not alone.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 333 
 
 " Let one of your men come with you if you like," 
 Simon said with a grim laugh at his hesitation, " or 
 two, or six if you like." But John of Gischala knew 
 that the eyes of the soldiers on both sides of the 
 bridge were upon him, and having faith in the oath 
 of Simon he again advanced. 
 
 John looked with curiosity at the man of whom 
 he had heard so much, and who, having been a 
 scourge to Upper Galilee with his horde of robbers, 
 had now brought such misery upon Jerusalem. 
 Without approaching his rival in size and strength, 
 John of Gischala was a powerfully built man. He 
 did not shrink from danger, and had upon occasion 
 shown great bravery ; but he relied upon craft more 
 than force to gain his ends. 
 
 He possessed great power of oratory, could rouse 
 men's passions or calm them at will. He could 
 cajole or threaten, persuade or deceive, with equal 
 facility, was always ready to break an oath if it was 
 inconvenient to keep it. Although fond of power, 
 he was still more greedy of gain ; but in one respect 
 he and Simon agreed, both hated the Komans with 
 an intense and bitter hatred, both were ready to die 
 in defense of Jerusalem. 
 
 " I thiok it is time, John," Simon said, " to cease 
 from our strife for the present, and to make com- 
 mon cause against the enemy. If we continue our 
 dissensions, and the Romans in consequence take 
 the city, our names will be accursed in all genera- 
 tions as the men who gave Jerusalem into the hands 
 of the Romans."
 
 334 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " I am ready to agree to a truce," John of Gischa. 
 la said. " It is you who have been attacking me, 
 not I who have been attacking you ; but we need 
 not talk of that now. Is it to be an understood 
 thing that if the Romans retire we shall both occu- 
 py the positions we hold now, whatever changes 
 may have taken place, and we can then either come 
 to an understanding or fight the matter out ?" 
 
 " Yes, that is what I would propose," Simon re- 
 plied. "Whatever changes may take place, when 
 the Romans retire we occupy exactly the positions 
 we hold now. Will you swear to that by the Tem- 
 ple ?" 
 
 " I will," John said. 
 
 The two men each took a v solemn oath to carry 
 out the terms they agreed upon, and throughout the 
 siege to put aside all enmity toward each other, and 
 to act together in all things for the defense of thecity. 
 They then arranged as to the portion of the wall 
 which each should occupy, these corresponding very 
 nearly to the lines which they at present held. 
 Simon held the whole of the third wall, which, 
 commencing from Hippicus, the tower at the north 
 corner of the high town, ran northward to Psephi- 
 nus, or the Rubble Tower, then eastward to the 
 Yalley of Jehoshaphat, and again south to the 
 Temple platform. 
 
 The second wall, inclosing the inner low town, or 
 Inner Acra, as it was sometimes called, was divided 
 between the two. Simon also held the first wall 
 from Hippicus right round at the foot of Zion across
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 335 
 
 the lower end of the Tyropoeon Valley, and round 
 the outer low town as far as the platform of the 
 Temple. John held the Temple platform, the mid- 
 dle low town, and some parts of the city immedi- 
 ately adjacent, both on the south slope of Mount 
 Moriah or Ophel, as this portion of the hill was 
 called, and part of the inner low town. 
 
 The line, therefore, which Simon had to defend 
 was vastly greater than that held by John's troops, 
 but in fact the whole line bordering the valleys of 
 Hinnom and Jehoshaphat was practically unassaila- 
 ble, the wall being built along the edge of precipices, 
 where it could not be attacked either with battering- 
 rams or by escalade, and it was really the north face 
 of the city only that was exposed to serious assault. 
 The outer wall on this side, that against which the 
 assault would first be made, was entirely occupied 
 by Simon's troops ; but it was not anticipated that 
 any successful resistance could be made here, for the 
 walls hastily raised by the Jews after turning out 
 the Romans were incapable of offering a long re- 
 sistance to such a force as was now to assail it. It 
 was, then, at the second wall that the first great 
 stand would be made, and John and Simon's troops 
 divided this between them, so that the division was 
 fair enough when it was considered that Simon's 
 force was more than double that of John. "When 
 this matter had been arranged, John of Gischala 
 said to Simon : 
 
 " Who is this young man who accompanies you ?" 
 " He is one who has done much more for the cause
 
 336 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 than either you or I, John of Gischala, and indeed 
 hitherto it may be doubted whether we Lave not 
 been the two worst enemies of Jerusalem. This is 
 John of Gamala, of whom we heard so often during 
 the last three years." 
 
 " This John of Gamala !" John repeated in a tone 
 of incredulity ; " you are mocking me, Simon." 
 
 " I mock no one," Simon said sternly. " I tell you 
 this is John of Garaala ; and when we think that 
 you and I, men of war, have as yet struck no single 
 blow against the Romans since I aided in the defeat 
 of the legion of Cestius for you ed from Gischala 
 like a coward at night, while I have been fighting 
 for my own hand down here we may well feel 
 ashamed, both of us, in the presence of this youth, 
 who has for three years harassed the Romans, burn- 
 ing their camps, driving out small garrisons, hinder- 
 ing pillagers from straying over the country, cutting 
 off their convoys, and forcing them to keep ever on 
 the watch. I tell you. John, I feel ashamed beside 
 him. He has brought here six hundred men of his 
 band, all picked and determined fellows, for the 
 defense of the city. I tell you they will be no 
 mean assistance, and you would say so also had you 
 seen how they drew up to-day in solid order ready 
 to withstand the whole of ray force. He is not of 
 my party or of yours ; he comes simply to fight 
 against the Romans, and, as I understand him, when 
 the Romans retire he will leave also." 
 
 " That is certainly my intention," John said 
 quietly ; " but before I go I hope that I shall be
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 337 
 
 able to act as mediator between you both, and to 
 persuade you to come to some arrangement which 
 may free Jerusalem from a renewal of the evils 
 which, between you, you have inflicted upon her. 
 If you beat back the Romans you will have gained 
 all the honor that men could desire, and your names 
 will go down to all posterity as the saviors of 
 Jerusalem and the Temple. If you desire treas- 
 ure, there is not a Jew but that will be ready to 
 contribute to the utmost of his power. If you 
 desire power, Palestine is wide enough for you to 
 divide it between you, only beware lest by striving 
 longer against each other your names go down as 
 those who have been the tyrants of the land, names 
 to be accursed as long as the Hebrew tongue re- 
 mains." 
 
 The two men were silent. Bold as they were, 
 they felt abashed before the outspoken rebuke of 
 this stripling. They had heard him spoken of as 
 one under the special protection of Jehovah. They 
 knew that he had had marvelous escapes, and that 
 he had fought single-handed with Titus ; and the 
 air of authority with which he spoke, his entire dis- 
 regard of their power, his fearlessness in the pres- 
 ence of men before whom all Jerusalem trembled, 
 confirmed the stories they had heard, and created 
 an impression almost to awe. 
 
 " If we three are alive when the Romans depart 
 from before the city," Simon said in his deep voice, 
 " it shall be as you say, and I bind myself before- 
 hand to agree to whatever you shall decide is just
 
 338 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 and right. Therefore, John of Gischala, henceforth 
 I shall regard this not as a truce, but as the begin- 
 ning of peace between us, and our rivalry shall be 
 who shall best defend the Holy City against her 
 foes." 
 
 " So be it !" John of Gischala replied ; " but I 
 would that Eleazar were here. He is an enemy in 
 ray midst, and just as, whenever I was fighting 
 with you, he fell upon me from behind, so will it be 
 that while I am struggling with the Romans he 
 may be attacking me from the inner Temple. He 
 has none of the outer walls to defend, and will 
 therefore be free to choose the moment when he 
 can fall upon me unawares." 
 
 " Make peace with him at any price," John said, 
 " only put an end to this strife and let there be no 
 more bloodshed in the Temple. How can we hope 
 for God's assistance in defending the city when his 
 altars are being daity desecrated with blood ?" 
 
 " I will see what I can do," John said. " Some- 
 how or other this strife must be brought to an end, 
 and it shall be done without bloodshed if possible." 
 
 " There is another thing, John," Simon said. 
 " Our comrade here has been telling me that from 
 what he saw at Jotapata and Gamala he is con- 
 vinced that by passive resistance only we cannot 
 defeat the Romans ; but that we must sally out and 
 attack them in their camps and at their work, and 
 therefore let us agree that we will meet here from 
 time to time and arrange that, issuing together
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 339 
 
 through the gates in our portions of the wall, we 
 may unite in falling upon the Komans." 
 
 " The counsel is good," John of Gischala said. 
 " It will keep up the courage of men to fight in the 
 open. Whenever an opportunity presents itself my 
 men shall act with yours. You have given Titus a 
 lesson to-day. The next time we will divide the 
 honor."
 
 340 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE SIEGE IS BEGUN. 
 
 THE Fifth Legion, which had been stationed at 
 Emmaus, half-way between Jerusalem and Jaffa, 
 marching the greater part of the night, joined the 
 Twelfth and Fifteenth at their halting-place at 
 Gaboth Saul, and the next morning the three ad- 
 vanced together. The Twelfth and Fifteenth 
 marched half-way down the Hill of Scopus and en- 
 camped together on a knoll, while the Fifth 
 Legion encamped .three furlongs to their rear, so 
 that in case of an attack by the Jews its weary 
 soldiers should not have to bear the brunt of the 
 conflict. As these legions were marking out their 
 camp the Tenth Legion, which had marched up 
 from Jericho, appeared on the Mount of Olives, and 
 Titus sent word for them to encamp there. 
 
 Thus Jerusalem was overlooked throughout its 
 length and breadth by the Roman camps on the 
 hills to the north and east sides. John had at the 
 earnest request of Simon taken up his residence 
 with him in the Palace of Herod, and from the top 
 of the Tower of Phasaelus watched the Roman 
 legions at work.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 341 
 
 " It seems to me," he said to Simon, " that now is 
 the time for us to make an assault. The Komans 
 raise veritable fortifications round their camp, and 
 when once these are completed we can scarcely 
 hope to storm them, whereas if we fall suddenly 
 upon them now we can fight on even terms. The 
 legion on the Mount of Olives is widely separated 
 from the rest, and we might overcome it before the 
 others could come to its assistance." 
 
 " I agree with you," Simon said ; " let us strike a 
 blow at once." 
 
 Simon at once sent off to John to propose that 
 the latter should issue out from the Golden Gate in 
 the middle of the Temple platform, while he himself 
 would lead out his troops by the gate to the north 
 of that platform. In accordance with the sugges- 
 tion of John he requested John of Gischala to place 
 a watchman on a conspicuous position on the wall, 
 with orders to wave his mantle as a signal to both 
 parties to charge, as from his position he would be 
 better able than they to see what the Romans were 
 doing, and both parties could see him, while they 
 might be invisible to each other. 
 
 John of Gischala sent back at once to say that he 
 approved of the plan, and would join in it. Simon 
 called his troops together, and leaving the outer 
 wall strongly manned lest the Twelfth and Fif- 
 teenth Legions might take advantage of the absence 
 of so large a portion of the garrison to make a sud- 
 den attack upon it, marched toward the northeast- 
 ern gate, being joined on the way by John with his
 
 342 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 band. They waited until a messenger came from 
 John of Gischala, saying that he was ready, then 
 the gates were thrown open and the troops poured 
 out. John had given strict orders to his men to 
 keep together in their companies, each under his 
 commander, and not to try to maintain regular 
 order as one band, for this would be next to impos- 
 sible fighting on such hilly and broken ground ; be- 
 sides, they would be sure to get mixed up with the 
 masses of Simon's troops. 
 
 At the same moment that Simon's force poured 
 through the northeastern gate, that of John of 
 Gischala issued from the Temple platform, and in 
 rivalry with each other both dashed down the steep 
 declivity into the bottom of the Yalley of Jehosha- 
 phat, and then climbed the sharp slope of the Mount 
 of Olives. Then with loud shouts they fell, in wild 
 disorder, each as he reached the spot, upon the 
 Tenth Legion. 
 
 The Romans, anticipating no attack and many of 
 them unarmed as they worked at the intrench- 
 ments, were unable to resist the fierce onslaught. 
 Accustomed to regular warfare, this rush of armed 
 men from all sides upon them surprised and discon- 
 certed them. Every moment added to the number 
 of their assailants as fresh combatants continued to 
 pour out from the city, and fighting stubbornly 
 and sullenly the Komans were driven out of their 
 half-formed intrenchments up the slope and over the 
 crest of the Mount of Olives. 
 
 The Jews fought regardless of life ; single men
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 343 
 
 dashed into the midst of the Romans and fell there 
 fighting fiercely ; John's compact companies hurled 
 themselves upon the line and broke it. Simon 
 fought desperately at the head of his men, cutting 
 down all who stood in his way. The Romans were 
 wavering and would soon have broken into open 
 flight, when rescue arrived. The general in com- 
 mand had, immediately the Jews had been seen 
 issuing out, sent off a horseman to Titus with the 
 news, and he, putting himself at the head of his 
 body-guard, started instantly to their assistance. 
 
 Falling suddenly upon the flank of the Jews he 
 bore them down by the impetuosity and weight of 
 the charge. In vain Simon and John of Gischala 
 tried to rally their men, and John's bands gathering 
 round him at the sound of his bugle opposed a firm 
 and stead) 7 resistance. The Roman legion rallied, 
 and, ashamed of having been driven back before the 
 very eyes of Titus, attacked the Jews with fury, and 
 the latter were driven down the hill into the 
 valley. 
 
 Here John's band refused to retire further, Simon 
 and John of Gischala rallied their troops, and an 
 obstinate contest ensued, the Romans being unable 
 to push the Jews further back now that the latter 
 were in turn fighting with the ground in their favor. 
 For some time the battle raged ; then Titus, seeing 
 that he could not drive the Jews back into the city, 
 ordered a portion of the Tenth Legion to reascend 
 the Mount of Olives and complete the work of for- 
 tifying their camp, so that at the end of the day 
 the legion could fall back to a place of safety.
 
 344 FOB THE TEMPLE. 
 
 The watchman on the wall saw the movement, 
 and thought that the Romans were retreating. He 
 waved his mantle wildly, and at the signal the Jews 
 again burst down upon their foes, and fresh forces 
 poured down from the gates to their assistance. In 
 vain the Roman line tried to hold the bottom of the 
 valley ; the Jews burst through them and drove 
 them in disorder up the hill, Titus alone, with a 
 few followers, making a stand on the lower slopes. 
 The Jews, rushing on, surrounded his party and fell 
 upon him from all sides, while their main body 
 swarmed up the hill, and the Romans, panic- 
 stricken, dispersed in all directions. 
 
 Victory seemed in the hands of the Jews, when 
 some of the Romans discovered that Titus was not 
 with them, but was cut off and surrounded at the 
 bottom of the hill. They shouted to others, and the 
 news rapidly spread through the fugitives. Over- 
 whelmed with shame at having deserted their 
 general, and knowing the severe punishment which 
 according to Roman military law would befall 
 them for their cowardice, the Romans paused in 
 their flight. 
 
 Their' discipline came to their aid, and they 
 quickly fell in in companies, and with a shout of 
 fury advanced upon the scattered Jews, who, al- 
 though vastly superior in numbers, had no order or 
 formation which would enable them to resist the 
 downward impetus of the solid masses of heavy- 
 armed Romans. Again they were driven down the 
 hill, and the Romans, pressing upon them, found to
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 345 
 
 their delight that Titus and his band had success- 
 fully resisted the attacks of their foes. 
 
 The Jews were driven some distance up the side 
 of the slope and there the combat was renewed, 
 until, seeing that they could make no further im- 
 pression upon the enemy, the Jews retired sullenly 
 through their gates into the city. They were, how- 
 ever, well satisfied with their day's work. Numbers 
 had fallen, but they had inflicted heavy loss upon 
 the Komans. They had forced one of the legions to 
 retreat in fair fight, had all but captured Titus, and 
 had proved to the Romans the formidable nature of 
 the task they had undertaken. 
 
 The next day, the 13th of April, was the day of 
 the Passover, and all Jerusalem prepared as usual 
 to celebrate the day of the great sacrifice. The 
 gates of the Temple were as usual thrown open, 
 and the multitude thronged in to worship. John of 
 Gischala had sworn to Eleazar, as he had to Simon, 
 to lay aside all hostility, but as usual he did not 
 allow his oath to prevent him from carrying out his 
 designs.- A number of his men concealed their arms 
 under their garments, and entered the Temple with 
 the worshipers. 
 
 At a signal the swords were drawn and the cry 
 of battle was raised. Eleazar and his followers at 
 once fled in dismay to the vaults under the Temple. 
 The multitude in the courts above, panic-stricken at 
 the threatened conflict, strove to escape. Many 
 were trampled under foot and killed ; some were 
 wantonly slain by John's followers, to whom mur- 
 der had become a pastime.
 
 346 &OR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 When order was restored John of Gischala went 
 to the entrance of the vaults and shouted to Eleazar 
 that he desired to keep his oath and would do him 
 no harm, but that for the general safety of the city 
 he could be no longer permitted to hold the inner 
 Temple, but must with his men take his share in the 
 defense of the walls. If Eleazar would agree to do 
 this he promised that no harm whatever should be 
 done to him or his followers. Eleazar being at the 
 mercy of his foe, accepted the terms and with his 
 followers ascended into the Temple. 
 
 For once John of Gischala kept his word : Eleazar 
 was permitted to retain the command of his own 
 two thousand men, but his force henceforth formed 
 a part of the Zealot army of John. Thus from this 
 time forward there were but two factions in the 
 city. 
 
 Josephus, always the bitter enemy of John of 
 Gischala, speaks in terms of the utmost reprobation 
 of his conduct on this occasion, and the occasion and 
 manner in which the deed was effected cannot for a 
 moment be defended. At the same time it must be 
 admitted that the occasion was an urgent one, that 
 the existence of this enemy in his midst crippled 
 John of Gischala's power to defend his portion of 
 the city, and that the suppression of Eleazar's fac- 
 tion and the conversion of his troops from enemies 
 into allies was an act of high policy, and was indeed 
 a necessity, if Jerusalem was to be successfully 
 defended. 
 
 The desecration of the Temple, however, upon so
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 347 
 
 sacred an occasion as the feast of the Passover, 
 filled all pious Jews with horror, and caused John 
 to be regarded with even greater detestation than 
 before. For the opinion of the unarmed multitude, 
 however, he cared little. He had crushed the fac- 
 tion of Eleazer, had added two thousand men to his 
 strength, and was now ready, without fear of trouble 
 within, to face the Roman enemy without. 
 
 The desperate sortie of the Jews had convinced 
 Titus that if Jerusalem was to be taken it must be 
 by means of regular siege operations, conducted 
 with the greatest care and caution, and having made 
 a circuit of the city he perceived that it was 
 impregnable save on the north and northwestern 
 sides, that is, the part defended by the third wall. 
 
 He reluctantly, therefore, gave orders that all the 
 villas, mansions, gardens, and groves standing be- 
 tween that wall and the foot of Mount Scopus 
 should be destroyed, and placing strong bodies of 
 troops opposite the gates to prevent any sortie of 
 the defenders, he set the whole of the three legions 
 encamped on that side to carry out the work of 
 destruction. 
 
 A feeling of grief and dismay filled the city at 
 the sight of the devastation that was being wrought, 
 and there were very many among the multitude 
 who would gladly have avoided further evils by 
 submitting to the Romans ; but such an idea did not 
 enter the heads of -the military leaders, and Simon 
 determined upon another sortie. A number of the 
 citizens were ordered to take their places upon the
 
 348 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 walls, and to cry out to the Romans that they 
 desired peace, and to implore them to enter the 
 town and take p6ssession. 
 
 In the mean time a number of Simon's men issued 
 out from the Women's Gate in confusion as if 
 expelled by the peace party. They appeared to be 
 in a state of extreme terror, sometimes advancing 
 toward the Eomans as if to submit to them, at 
 other times retreating toward the wall as if afraid 
 of putting themselves into the hands of the Ro- 
 mans, but as they n eared the walls they were 
 assailed by a shower of missiles from above. Titus 
 suspected that a trick was being played, and ordered 
 the troops to stand fast ; but the battalion facing 
 the gate, seeing it stand open, v were unable to resist 
 the impulse to rush in and take possession. They 
 therefore advanced through the crowd of Jews 
 outside until close to the gate ; then Simon's men 
 drew out their concealed weapons and fell upon 
 them in the rear, while a fresh body of armed men 
 rushed out from the gate and attacked them in 
 front, while from the two flanking towers a storm 
 of javelins, arrows, and stones was poured upon 
 them. 
 
 The Romans fought desperately, but numbers of 
 them were slain, and the rest took to flight, pursued 
 by the Jews, and did not halt until they reached 
 the tombs of Helen, half a mile from the walls, 
 while the Jews with shouts of .triumph reentered 
 the city. 
 
 John had taken no part in this sortie. He had
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 349 
 
 lost more than fifty men in the fight on the Mount 
 of Olives, and determined to hold the rest in re- 
 serve until they were needed in a moment of ex- 
 treme peril. The manner in which the bands had 
 held together, and had steadfastly resisted the 
 Roman attacks, had greatly excited the admiration 
 of Simon. 
 
 " I see now," he said on the evening of the sortie, 
 when talking the matter over with John, " the 
 secret of the successes you have gained over the 
 Eomans. Your men fight as steadily and with as 
 much discipline as they do, while they are far 
 quicker in their movements. They unite the 
 activity of my men with the steadiness of the 
 Romans. I wish now that I had spent the last year 
 in training and disciplining my men to act with 
 equal steadiness and order, but it is too late to try 
 to do so now. Each will do his best and will die 
 fighting ; but were I to attempt now to introduce 
 regularity among them they would lose the fierce 
 rush with which they assault the Romans, without 
 acquiring sufficient discipline to enable them to 
 keep their order as yours do in the confusion of the 
 battle." 
 
 "' Mine are all picked men," John said. " I had 
 eight thousand under my orders during the last two 
 years of fighting, but I bade all leave me, when I 
 advanced to Jerusalem, save those who were ready 
 and prepared to die ; therefore I can rely upon 
 every man as upon myself. Unless I see some ex- 
 ceptional opportunity I do not think I shall lead
 
 350 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 them out beyond the walls again. The time will 
 come as the siege goes on when you will need a 
 body of men to hold a breach or arrest the advance 
 of a Koman column, men who will die rather than 
 give way a foot. When that time comes my band 
 shall fill the gap." 
 
 " I think you are right," Simon agreed. " Your 
 men are too good to be wasted in desultory fighting. 
 They shall be kept as a last resource, and I know 
 that when the time comes they can be relied upon." 
 
 The clearing of the ground occupied four da} 7 s, 
 and Titus then determined to advance his camp 
 nearer to the city, and fixed upon a spot which was 
 the highest on the plateau, a quarter of a mile to the 
 northwest of the Rubble Tower. Before moving 
 into it the position was strongly fortified, and so 
 much impressed was Titus by the sallies which the 
 Jews had made that he formed up his whole army 
 along the north and northwest side of the city. 
 The heavy-armed troops, three deep, were the first 
 line ; behind them came a rank of archers, and be 
 hind these the cavalry three deep. 
 
 Brave as were the Jews they did not venture to 
 sally out to endeavor to break through this living 
 wall, which stood all day immovable, while the bag- 
 gage animals, aided by a great crowd of artisans 
 and camp-followers, moved the war engines, re- 
 serves, and baggage of the army from Mount 
 Scopus down to the new camp. Here the Twelfth 
 and Fifteenth Legions, under Titus himself, took up 
 their position. The Fifth Legion, under the com-
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 351 
 
 mand of Cerealis, formed their camp on a "knoll a 
 quarter of a mile from the Jaffa Gate, and divided 
 from it by the Valley of Hinnom, which is here of 
 no great depth. It lay about a third of a mile 
 south of the camp of Titus. The Tenth Legion re- 
 mained on the Mount of Olives. Their camp had 
 now been very strongly fortified, and was in a posi- 
 tion to repel any attack that might be made 
 against it. 
 
 Now that his dispositions were complete Titus 
 determined to save the city if possible from the 
 horrors of siege. He therefore sent Nicanor and 
 Josephus with a flag of truce toward the walls to 
 offer them terms. No sooner had they come with- 
 in bow-shot than an arrow was discharged from the 
 wall and struck Nicanor upon the shoulder. The 
 ambassadors at once retired, and Titus, indignant 
 alike at the insult to his messengers and the viola- 
 tion of the flag of truce, immediately began to 
 make preparations for the siege. Could the popu- 
 lation of the city have been consulted they would 
 have declared by an immense majority of voices for 
 surrender ; but Simon and John of Gischala, whose 
 men held the walls, were absolute masters of the 
 city, and the inhabitants were to pay now, as they 
 had paid in the past, for their cowardice in allowing 
 themselves to be tyrannized over by a body of men 
 whom they outnumbered by ten to one. 
 
 Titus, after a careful examination of the walls, 
 determined to attack at a spot between the Jaffa 
 Q-ate and Psephinus. In former times all assaults
 
 352 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 of the enemy had been directed against the north, 
 and it was here, consequently, that the wall was 
 strongest. At its foot, too, a wide and deep fosse 
 had been cut in the solid rock, rendering it impossi- 
 ble for the assailants to advance to the attack until 
 this was filled up. 
 
 But on the northwest the walls had not been 
 made equally strong, nor had the fosse been con- 
 tinued from Psephinus to the Jaffa Gate. It had 
 no doubt been considered that the projecting angle 
 of the wall at Psephinus and the fortifications of the 
 Palace of Herod covered this portion of the wall, 
 which was, moreover, to some extent protected by 
 the Valley of Hinnom. But between the top of the 
 slope of that valley and the foot of the walls was a 
 level space of ground sufficiently wide for the estab- 
 lishment of machines for breaching the wall. 
 
 Here, therefore, Titus determined to make his at- 
 tack. On the 22d of April the troops began the 
 work. Each legion was to erect a bank, mount a 
 battering-ram, and construct a tower. A vast quan- 
 tity of timber was required, and the desolation 
 already effected between the north wall and Scopus 
 was now widely extended, the whole of the trees 
 for a great distance round Jerusalem being cut 
 down and brought to the spot. The towers were 
 constructed about ninety feet in height and with a 
 wide face. They were put together beyond the 
 range of the missiles of the defenders, and were to 
 be advanced upon wheels up the bank until they 
 neared the wall.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 353 
 
 As the three banks approached the wall hurdles 
 covered with hides were erected to protect the 
 workers, and on each side javelin men and archers 
 were posted, together with the war engines for cast- 
 ing missiles. Simon was not idle. He possessed the 
 war engines taken when Antonia was surrendered 
 by the Romans and those captured from the legion 
 of Cestius but, his men had no experience in the 
 working of these machines. They could only ma- 
 nipulate them slowly, and their aim was bad. They 
 were able, therefore, to interfere but little with the 
 work of the Romans. 
 
 The archers and slingers, however, did greater 
 damage and killed many, while at times the gate 
 would be thrown open and Simon would dash out at 
 the head of his men, and do much damage before 
 the Romans could drive him back within the walls. 
 The Tenth Legion did more injury to the defenders 
 than did the others, being provided with more 
 powerful war machines. Their ballistse threw stones 
 weighing a hundredweight a distance of a quarter 
 of a mile. The Jewish watchmen on the walls kept 
 a vigilant watch upon these machines, and each 
 time a stone was coming shouted a warning, and the 
 defenders threw themselves on their faces until the 
 stone passed over. Even at night the whiteness of 
 the newly cut rock rendered the masses visible as 
 they flew through the air, and Titus then ordered 
 the stones to be painted black before they were dis- 
 charged, and thus added to their effect, as their ap- 
 proach could be no longer seen.
 
 354 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Night and day the Romans toiled at the work, 
 night and day the Jews with missiles and sorties 
 hindered their approach, until the banks had ap- 
 proached so close to the walls that the battering- 
 rams would be within striking distance. Then the 
 towers were brought up and the rams began to 
 strike their mighty blows upon the wall, while from 
 the top of the lofty towers and from the stories 
 below, the archers and war machines poured a 
 storm of missiles down upon the defenders of the 
 walls. 
 
 As it was evident now that the danger lay solely 
 in this quarter, and that the whole strength of the 
 besieged was needed here, Simon sent to John of 
 Gischala to urge that the^ line of demarcation 
 agreed upon by them between their respective 
 troops should no longer be observed. John would 
 not trust himself in the power of Simon, but gave 
 leave to his soldiers to go down and aid in the de- 
 fense, and they, who had been chafing at their 
 forced inactivity while Simon's men were bearing 
 the brunt of the fighting, went down to take their 
 share in the struggle. 
 
 Regardless of the storm of missiles the Jews 
 maintained their place upon the walls, shooting 
 blazing arrows and hurling combustibles down upon 
 the Roman works, and executing such frequent and 
 desperate sorties that Titus was obliged to keep the 
 greater part of his force constantly under arms, and 
 to gather round the towers large bodies of archers 
 and horsemen to repel the attacks. At length a
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 355 
 
 corner tower fell before one of the battering-rams, 
 but the wall behind stood firm and no breach was 
 effected. Nevertheless the Jews appeared dis- 
 pirited at this proof of the power of the battering- 
 rams, and fell back into the city. 
 
 The Roman legionaries, under the belief that the 
 fighting was over for the evening, were drawn back 
 into their camps. Suddenly, from a small gate 
 hitherto unnoticed by the Romans, situated at the 
 foot of the tower of Hippicus, the Jews poured out 
 with flaming brands in their hands, and dashed at 
 the Roman banks, sweeping the defenders of the 
 works before them, swarming up the banks and 
 surrounding the Towers, to which they endeavored 
 to set fire. They were, however, plated with iron 
 outside, and the beams inside were of so massive a 
 description that the Jews were unable to set light 
 to them. 
 
 While some of the Jews were striving to do this, 
 the rest fell with such fury upon the Roman troops 
 who hurried up to the protection of their works 
 that they were driven back. A bod}'- of Alexan- 
 drian troops only, posted near the towers, main- 
 tained themselves against the attack until Titus 
 with his cavalry charged down upon the Jews, who, 
 although a match for the Roman infantry, were 
 never throughout the war able to resist the charges 
 of the bodies of heavy horsemen. Titus is said to 
 have killed twelve Jews with his own hand, and, 
 fighting desperately to the end, the assailants were 
 driven back into the city. One prisoner only was
 
 356 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 taken, and him Titus, with the barbarity which 
 afterward distinguished his proceedings during the 
 siege, ordered to be crucified close to the walls. 
 
 Among those killed on the Jewish side was John, 
 the commander of the Idumeans, who formed part 
 of Simon's force. He was shot by an Arab while 
 he was parleying with a Roman soldier. He was 
 a man of great courage and excellent judgment, 
 and his loss was a serious one for the besieged. At 
 night all was still and silent ; both parties were ex- 
 hausted with their long and desperate struggle, and 
 even the machines ceased to hurl their missiles. 
 Suddenly a terrific crash was heard, and the very 
 ground seemed to shake. Both parties sprang to 
 arms the Jews fearing that l the wall had fallen ; 
 the Romans not knowing what had happened, but 
 apprehensive of another of the sorties, which they 
 had begun to hold in high respect. 
 
 Something like a panic seized them until Titus, 
 riding about among them, reassured them by his 
 presence and words. They knew, indeed, that a 
 repetition of the defeats they had suffered at the 
 Jewish hands would not be forgiven. The battalion 
 which had been defeated at the sortie at the 
 Women's Gate had been sternly rebuked by Titus, 
 who had ordered the military law to be carried into 
 effect, and a certain number of the soldiers to be 
 executed, and had only pardoned them upon the in- 
 tercession of the whole army on their be hall'. 
 Therefore the legionaries now fell into their ranks 
 at the order of Titus and drew up in order of battle,
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 357 
 
 while parties were sent forward to ascertain what 
 had happened. 
 
 It was found that a serious misfortune had be- 
 fallen them. The Jews in their attack had been 
 unable to set fire to the towers, but they h?d 
 worked so vigorously in their attempt to destroy 
 the bank that they had weakened that portion of it 
 upon which one of the towers stood ; this had given 
 way beneath the tremendous weight resting upon 
 it, and the great tower had fallen with a crash to 
 the ground. In the morning the combat recom- 
 menced, but although the Jews exposed their lives 
 on the walls unflinchingly, they were unable to 
 withstand the terrible shower of missiles poured 
 upon them from the remaining towers, or to inter- 
 rupt the steady swing of the huge rams which day 
 and night beat against the walls. 
 
 One of these especially did material damage, and 
 the Jews themselves christened it " Nico," or the 
 Conqueror. At length, wearied out by their efforts, 
 disheartened by the failure of their attempts to in- 
 terfere with the work of destruction, and knowing 
 that the inner lines were vastly stronger than those 
 without, the Jews abandoned the defense of the 
 tottering wall and retired behind their next line of 
 defense. The Eonians soon discovered that they 
 were unopposed, and scaled the wall. As soon as 
 they found that the whole space between it and the 
 second wall was abandoned they set to work and 
 threw down a large portion of the third wall, and 
 took up their post inside. Titus established himself
 
 358 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 at the spot known as the camp of the Assyrians, at 
 the foot of the Tower of Psephinus. 
 
 As soon as his arrangements were completed he 
 gave orders for the assault to be recommenced. 
 The date of the capture of the outer wall was on 
 the 6th of May, fifteen days after the commence- 
 ment of the siege. The capture of Bezetha, or the 
 New Town, enabled the Romans to make an attack 
 directly on the Palace of Herod on the one side and 
 Mount Moriah upon the other, without first assault- 
 ing the second wall, which defended the inner lower 
 town ; but two or three days' fighting convinced 
 Titus that these positions could not be successfully 
 attacked until the lower town was in his power. 
 
 The three great towers Pbasaelus, Hippicus, and 
 Mariamne, desperately defended by Simon's sol- 
 diers, formed an impregnable obstacle on the one 
 side, while Antonia and the steep ascent up to the 
 Temple platform was defended with equal stubborn- 
 ness and success by the soldiers of John of Gischala. 
 Titus therefore prepared for the assault of the 
 second wall. The point selected for the attack was 
 the middle tower on the northern face, close to 
 which were the wool mart, the clothes mart, and the 
 braziers' shops. 
 
 There were no natural obstacles to the approach, 
 and the battering-ram was soon placed in position, 
 while a strong body of archers prevented the 
 defenders showing themselves above the parapet. 
 The wall was of far less strength than that which 
 the Romans had before encountered, and soon began
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 359 
 
 to totter before the blows of the battering-ram. 
 The Jews, indeed, were indifferent as to its fall, for 
 they knew that the possession of the inner town was 
 of slight importance to them, and that its fall would 
 not greatly facilitate the attack upon what was the 
 natural line of defense, namely, the heights of Zion 
 and Moriah. 
 
 For a short time the Roman advance was delayed 
 by the proceedings of Castor, the Jewish officer 
 commanding the tower which they had assaulted. 
 He with ten men, alone had remained there when 
 th^ rest of the defenders had retired, and he got up 
 a sham battle among his men, the Romans suspend- 
 ing operations under the belief that a party of the 
 defenders were anxious to surrender. Castor himself 
 pitood on the parapet and offered Titus to surrender. 
 Titus promised him his life, and when an archer 
 standing near sent an arrow which pierced Castor's 
 nose he sternly rebuked him. 
 
 He then asked Josephus, who was standing be- 
 eide him, to go forward and assure Castor and his 
 companions that their lives should be spared. Jose- 
 phus, however, knew the way of his countrymen 
 too well, and declined to endanger his life. But 
 upon Castor offering to throw down a bag of gold, 
 a man ran forward to receive it, when Castor hurled 
 a great stone down at him, and Titus, seeing that 
 he was being fooled, ordered the battering-ram to 
 recommence its work. 
 
 Just before the tower fell Castor set fire to it, and 
 leaped with his companions, as the Romans sup-
 
 360 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 posed, into the flames, but really into a vault, whence 
 they made their escape into the city. As soon as 
 the tower fell Titus entered the breach with his 
 body-guard and a thousand heavy-armed troops. 
 The inhabitants, almost entirely of the poorer class, 
 surrendered willingly, and Titus gave orders that 
 none save those found with arms upon them should 
 be killed. The Romans dispersed through the nar- 
 row and winding streets, when suddenly Simon and 
 his men poured down from the upper city, and John 
 at the head of his band issued from his quarters. 
 
 While some fell upon the Romans in the streets, 
 others entered the houses and rained missiles upon 
 them from above ; while another party, issuing 
 from the gate by Phasaelus, 1 attacked the Romans 
 between the second and third walls and drove them 
 into their camp. For a time Titus and those in the 
 lower town suffered terribly ; but at last Titus post- 
 ed archers to command the lanes leading toward 
 the breach, and managed, but with considerable 
 loss, to withdraw his troops through it. 
 
 The Jews at once manned the wall, and formed 
 in close order behind the breach. Titus led his 
 heavy-armed troops against it, but John and Simon 
 defended it with the greatest valor, and for three 
 days and nights beat back the continued attacks of 
 the Roman soldiers ; but at the end of that time 
 they were utterly exhausted, while the Romans in- 
 cessantly brought up fresh troops. Even Simon, 
 who had fought desperately at the head of his men, 
 and had performed prodigies of valor, could no
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 3d 
 
 longer continue the struggle, and slowly and in good 
 order the defenders of the breach fell back to the 
 upper city, and the lower town remained in the 
 possession of the Romans. 
 
 In order to avoid a recurrence of the disaster 
 which had befallen them, Titus ordered a considera- 
 ble portion of the second wall to be leveled, so that 
 the troops could, if necessary, pour in or out with- 
 out difficulty. But Simon had no thought of repeat- 
 ing his sortie. A -large number of his best men had 
 already fallen, and he determined to reserve bis 
 force for the defense of the almost impregnable po- 
 sition of the upper city. Two hundred of John's 
 band had fallen round the breach, he himself had 
 received several wounds, and the fighting strength 
 of his band was now but one-half of what it was at 
 the commencement of the siege. 
 
 He had, before the Romans first entered the 
 inner tower, had the remainder of his store of grain 
 removed to the building in the upper town which 
 Simon had assigned to his band. It had as yet been 
 but little trenched upon, as Simon had ordered that 
 rations similar to those issued to his own men from 
 the few granaries which had escaped destruction 
 should be given to John's band. 
 
 " What do you think now of the prospect ?" Simon 
 asked as John and he stood together on the Tower 
 of Phasaelus on the day after the Romans had taken 
 possession of the lower town. 
 
 " I think, as I did at first," John said, " that 
 nothing but a miracle can save the Temple."
 
 362 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " But the difficulties that the Romans have over- 
 come," Simon said, "are as nothing to those still 
 before them." 
 
 " That is quite true," John agreed, " and had we 
 but a good supply of food I believe that we might 
 hold out for months ; but the grain is already nearly 
 exhausted, and cannof, support even the fighting 
 men much longer, while the inhabitants are dying 
 from hunger. Well and strong, we might resist 
 every attack that the Romans can make, but when 
 we can no longer lift our swords they must over- 
 come us. Still, as long as I can fight I am ready to 
 do so, in hopes that God may yet have mercy upon 
 us, and deliver his Temple."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 363 
 
 CHAPTEK XVI. 
 
 THE SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGE. 
 
 FOE a few days after the capture of the lower 
 city the Jews had a respite. Titus knew that 
 famine was sapping the strength of the defenders, 
 and that every day weakened their power of resist- 
 ance. He saw that the assault upon their strong 
 position would be attended with immense difficulty 
 and loss, and he was desirous of saving the city 
 from destruction. He ordered, therefore, a grand 
 review of the troops to take place, and for four days 
 the great army at his command the splendid 
 cavalry, the solid masses of the Eoman infantry, 
 and the light-armed troops and cavalry of the 
 allies defiled before him. The Jews, from the 
 height of the city, watched with a feeling of dull 
 despair the tremendous power assembled against 
 them, and felt the hopelessness of further resist- 
 ance. 
 
 An intense desire for peace reigned throughout 
 the multitude, but John of Gischala and Simon had 
 no thought of yielding. They believed that what- 
 ever mercy Titus might be ready to grant to the 
 inhabitants of the town, for them and their fol-
 
 364 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 lowers there was no hope whatever of pardon, and 
 they were firmly resolved to resist until the last. 
 Titus, finding that no offers of submission came 
 from the city, sent Josephus to parley with the 
 defenders. 
 
 He could not have made a worse choice of an 
 ambassador. Divided as the Jews were among 
 themselves, they were united in a common hatred 
 for the man whom they regarded as a traitor to his 
 country, and the harangue of Josephus to the effect 
 that resistance was unavailing and that they should 
 submit themselves to the mercy of Titus was 
 drowned by the execrations from the walls. In 
 fact, in no case could his words have reached any 
 large number of the inhabitants, for he had 
 cautiously placed himself out of bow-shot of the 
 walls, and his words could scarcely have reached 
 those for whom they had been intended even if 
 silence had been observed. His mission, therefore, 
 was altogether unavailing. 
 
 John felt his own resolution terribly shaken by 
 the sights which he beheld in the city. The in- 
 habitants moved about like specters, or fell and 
 died in the streets. He felt now that resistance 
 had been a mistake, and that it would have been 
 far better to have thrown open the gates when 
 Titus appeared before them, in which case the great 
 proportion at least of those within would have been 
 spared, and the Temple and the city itself would 
 have escaped destruction. He even regretted that 
 he had marched down to take part in the defense.
 
 MISERY IN JERUSALEM uuaiNG THK SIEGE BY TITUS. Page 364.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 365 
 
 Had he known how entirely exhausted were the 
 granaries he would not have done so. He had 
 thought that at least there would have been suf- 
 ficient provisions for a siege of some months, and 
 that the patience of the Romans might have been 
 worn out. He felt now that the sacrifice had been 
 a useless one ; but although he himself would now 
 have raised his voice in favor of surrender, he was 
 powerless. Even his own men would not have 
 listened to his voice. Originally the most fervent 
 and ardent spirits of his band, they were now in- 
 spired by a feeling of desperate enthusiasm equal 
 to that which animated Simon and John of Gischala, 
 and his authority would have been at once over- 
 thrown had he ventured to raise his voice in favor 
 of surrender. 
 
 Already he had once been made to feel that there 
 were points as to which his influence failed to have 
 any effect whatever. He had, the morning after 
 they retired to the upper city, spoken to his men on 
 the subject of their store of grain. He had urged 
 on them the horrors which were taking place before 
 their eyes, that women and children were expiring 
 in thousands, and that the inhabitants were suffer- 
 ing the extreme agonies of starvation, and had con- 
 cluded by proposing that their store should be 
 distributed among the starving women. His 
 words had been received in silence, and then one of 
 the captains of the companies had risen. 
 
 "What you say, John, of the sufferings which the 
 people are undergoing is felt by us all, but I, for
 
 366 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 one, cannot agree to the proposal that we should 
 give up our store of food. Owing to the number of 
 us that have fallen there are still well-nigh fifty 
 pounds a man left, which will keep us in health and 
 strength for another two months. Were we to give 
 it out it would not suffice for a single meal for a 
 quarter of the people assembled here, and would 
 delay their death but a few hours ; thus it would 
 profit them nothing, while it will enable us to 
 maintain our strength, and maybe, at a critical 
 moment, to hurl back the Romans from the very 
 gates of the Temple. 
 
 " It would be wickedness, not charity, to part 
 with our store. It would defeat the object for 
 which we came here, and, for which we are ready 
 to die, without any real benefit to those on whom 
 we bestowed the food," 
 
 A general chorus of approval showed that the 
 speaker represented the opinion of his comrades. 
 After a pause he went on : 
 
 "There is another reason why we should keep 
 what we ourselves have brought in here. You know 
 how the soldiers of Simon persecute the people, how 
 they torture them to discover hidden stores of food, 
 how they break in and rob them as they devour in 
 secret the provisions they have concealed. I knov^ 
 not whether hunger could drive us to act likewise, 
 but we know the lengths to which famished men 
 can be driven. Therefore I would that we should 
 be spared the necessity for such cruelties to keep 
 life together. We are all ready to die, but let it be
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 367 
 
 as strong men, facing the enemy, and slaving as 
 we fall." 
 
 Again the murmur of approval was heard, and 
 John felt that it would be worse than useless to 
 urge the point. He admitted to himself that there 
 was reason in the argument, and that while a dis- 
 tribution of their food would give the most tem- 
 porary relief only to the multitude, it would impair 
 the efficiency of the band. The result showed him 
 that, implicit as was the obedience given to him in 
 all military matters, his influence had its limits, and 
 that beyond a certain point his authority ceased. 
 
 Henceforth he remained in the house, except 
 when he went to his post on the walls immediately 
 adjoining, and he therefore escaped being harrowed 
 by the sight of sufferings that he could not relieve. 
 Each day, however, he set apart the half of his own 
 portion of grain and gave it to the first starving 
 woman he met when he went out. 
 
 The regulation issue of rations had now ceased, 
 the granaries were exhausted, and henceforth 
 Simon's troops lived entirely upon the food they 
 extorted from the inhabitants. 
 
 John of Gischala's followers fared better. Enor- 
 mous as had been the destruction of grain, the 
 stores in the Temple were so prodigious that they 
 were enabled to live in comparative abundance, and 
 so maintained their strength and fighting power. 
 
 But the sufferings of the people increased daily, 
 and great numbers made their escape from the city, 
 either sallying out from unguarded posterns at
 
 368 fOB THE TEMPLE 
 
 night, or letting themselves down from the lower 
 part of the walls by ropes. Titus allowed them to 
 pass through, but John of Gischala and Simon, with 
 purposeless cruelty, placed guards on all the walls 
 and gates to prevent the starving people leaving the 
 city, although their true policy would have been to 
 facilitate in every way the escape of all save the 
 fighting men, and thus to husband what provisions 
 still remained for the use of the defenders of the 
 city. 
 
 In the daytime, when the gates were open, 
 people went out and collected vegetables and herbs 
 from the gardens between the walls and the Roman 
 posts, but on their return were pitilessly robbed by 
 the rough soldiers, who confiscated to their own use 
 all that was brought in. The efforts to escape 
 formed a fresh pretext to Simon and John of Gis- 
 chala to plunder the wealthy inhabitants, who, 
 under the charge of intending to fly to the Romans, 
 were despoiled of all they had, tortured and ex- 
 ecuted. Titus soon changed his policy, and instead 
 of allowing the deserters to make their way 
 through, seized them and those who went out from 
 the city to seek food, scourged, tortured, and cruci- 
 fied them before the walls. Sometimes as many as 
 five hundred were crucified in a single day. This 
 checked the desertion, and the multitude, deeming it 
 better to die of hunger than to be tortured to death 
 by the Romans, resigned themselves to the misery 
 of starvation. 
 
 For seventeen days the Romans labored at their
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 369 
 
 embankments, and only one attack was made upon 
 the walls. This was carried out by the son of the 
 King of Commagene, who had just joined the army 
 with a chosen band, armed and attired in the 
 Macedonian fashion. As soon as he arrived he 
 loudly expressed his surprise at the duration of the 
 siege. Titus, hearing this, told him that he was at 
 perfect liberty to assault the city if he liked. This 
 he and his men at once did, and fought with great 
 valor, but with no success whatever, a great 
 number of them being killed, and scarcely one 
 escaping uninjured. 
 
 For a fortnight John had bestowed the half of 
 his ration upon a poor woman whose child was 
 sick, and who stood at the door of her house every 
 morning to wait his passing. One day she begged 
 him to enter. 
 
 " I shall need no more food," she said ; " thanks 
 to God, who sent you to our aid, my child is recov- 
 ered and can now walk, and I intend to fly to-night 
 from this terrible place." 
 
 " But there is no escape," John said ; " the sol- 
 diers allow none to pass, and if you could pass 
 through them the Romans would slay you." 
 
 " I can escape," the woman said ; " and that is 
 why I have called you in. My husband, who was 
 killed by Simon's robbers three months ago, was for 
 many years employed in working in the under- 
 ground passages of the city, and in repairing the 
 conduits which carry the water from the springs 
 As I often carried down his food to him when he
 
 370 FOfi THE TEMPLE. 
 
 was at work, I know every winding and turn of the 
 underground ways. 
 
 " As you know, the ground beneath the city is 
 honeycombed by passages whence stone was in the 
 old time obtained for buildings. 
 
 " There are many houses which have entrance by 
 pits into these places. This is one of them, and my 
 husband took it for that convenience. From here 
 I can find my way down to the great conduit which 
 was built by King Hezekiah to bring the water from 
 the upper springs of the river Gihon down into the 
 city. Some of these waters supply the pool known 
 as the Dragon Pool, but the main body runs down 
 the conduit in the line of the Tyropoe on Valley, and 
 those from the Temple could in old times go down 
 and draw water thence should the pools and cistern 
 fail. But that entrance has long been blocked up, 
 for when the Temple was destroyed and the people 
 carried away captives, the ruins covered the en- 
 trance and none knew of it. 
 
 " My husband when at work once found a passage 
 which ran for some distance by the side of some 
 massive masonry of old time. One of the great 
 stones was loose, and he prized it out to see what 
 might lie behind it ; when he did so he heard the 
 sound of running water, and passing through the 
 hole found himself in a great conduit. This he 
 afterward followed up, and found that it termi- 
 nated at the upper end of the Valley of Hinnom in 
 a round chamber, at the bottom of which springs 
 bubbled up.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 371 
 
 "There was an entrance to this chaiuber from 
 without through a passage. The outer exit of this 
 was well-nigh filled up with earth, and many bushes 
 grew there, so that none passing by would have an 
 idea of its existence. When the troubles here be- 
 came great he took me and sbbwed me the conduit, 
 and led me to the exit, saying ^3 at the time might 
 come when I might need to fly from Jerusalem. 
 The exit lies far beyond the camps that the Romans 
 have planted on either side of the Valley of Hin- 
 nom ; and by going out at night I and my child can 
 make our way unseen to the hills. Since you have 
 saved our lives I tell you of this secret, which is 
 known, I think, to none but myself; for, after 
 showing me the place, my husband closed up the 
 entrance to the passage, which was before well-nigh 
 filled up with stones. 
 
 "It may be that the time may come when you, 
 too, will need to save yourself by flight. Now, if 
 3 r ou will come with me I will show you the way. 
 See, I have mixed here a pot of charcoal and water, 
 with which we can mark the turnings and the pas- 
 sages, so that you will afterward be able to find 
 your way, for without such aid you would never be 
 able to follow the path through its many windings 
 after only once going through it." 
 
 John thanked the woman warmly for her offer, 
 and they at once prepared to descend into the pit. 
 This was situated in a cellar beneath the house, and 
 was boarded over, so that plunderers entering to 
 search for provisions would not discover it. Upon
 
 372 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 entering the cellar the woman lit two lamps. 
 " They arc full of oil," she said, " and I have often 
 been sorely tempted to drink it ; but I have kept 
 it untouched, knowing that my life might some day 
 depend upon it." 
 
 Rough steps were t*ut in the side of the pit, and 
 after descending some thirty feet John found him- 
 self in a long passage. The woman led the way. 
 As they went on John was surprised at the number 
 and extent of these passages, which crossed each 
 other in all directions, sometimes opening into great 
 chambers from which large quantities of stone had 
 been taken, while he passed many shafts, like that 
 by which they had descended, to the surface above. 
 The woman led the way with an unfaltering step, 
 which showed how thorough was her acquaintance 
 with the ground, pausing when they turned down a 
 fresh passage to make a smear at the corner of the 
 wall with the black liquid. Presently the passage 
 began to descend rapidly, 
 
 " We are now under the Palace of King Agrippa," 
 she said, " and are descending by the side of the 
 Tyropoeon Valley." 
 
 Presently, turning down a small side passage, 
 they found their way arrested by a pile of stones 
 and rubbish. They clambered up this, removed 
 some of the upper stones, and crawled along under- 
 neath the roof. The rubbish heap soon slanted 
 down again, and they continued their way as before. 
 Another turn and they were in a wider passage than 
 those they had latterly traversed.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 373 
 
 " This is the wall of the conduit," the woman said, 
 touching the massive masonry on her right hand. 
 " The opening is a little further on." 
 
 Presently the}' arrived at a great stone lying 
 across a passage, corresponding in size to a gap in 
 the wall on the right. They made their way through 
 this and found themselves in the Conduit of King 
 Hezekiah ; a stream of water ankle-deep was run- 
 ning through it. 
 
 " We need not go further," the woman said ; " once 
 here you cannot miss your way. It will take nigh 
 an hour's walking through the water before you 
 arrive at the chamber of the springs, from which 
 there is but the one exit." 
 
 "I will come down again with you to-night," 
 John said, " and will carry your child to the entrance. 
 You will both need all your strength when you 
 sally out, so as to get well beyond the Komans, who 
 are scattered all over the country, cutting wood for 
 their embankments. Moreover, I shall be able to 
 see, as I come down with you, whether all the 
 marks are plainly visible, and that there is no fear 
 of mistake, for once lost in these passages one would 
 never find one's way again, and there would be the 
 choice between dying of hunger and of being found 
 by the Romans, who will assuredly search all these 
 passages for fugitives as they did at Jotapata. Truly 
 I thank you with all my heart; I feel you have 
 given me the means of saving my life ; that is, if I 
 do not fall in the fighting." 
 
 As they made their way back to the house, John
 
 374 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 examined the marks at every turning, and added to 
 those that were not sufficiently conspicuous to catch 
 the eye at once. When they had gained the cellar 
 and replaced the boards the woman said : 
 
 " Why should you not also leave the city to-night ? 
 All say that there is no hope of resistance, and that 
 John of Gischala and Simon are only bringing de- 
 struction upon all in the city by thus holding out 
 against the Romans. Why should you throw away 
 your life so uselessly ?" 
 
 " I have come here to defend the Temple," John 
 said, " and so long . as the Temple stands I will 
 resist the enemy. It may be it is useless ; but no 
 one can say what is the purpose of God, or whether 
 he does not yet intend to save his Holy Seat ; but 
 when the Temple has fallen I shall have no more to 
 fight for, and will then, if I can, save my life for 
 the sake of those who love me." 
 
 That evening on his return from the wall John 
 proceeded to the house of the woman. She was in 
 readiness for the journey. The child, who was 
 seven or eight years old, was dressed, and the mother 
 had a little bundle with her valuables by her. As 
 soon as they descended into the passage below, 
 John offered to carry the child, but her mother 
 refused. 
 
 " She can walk well," she said, " for a time, and 
 you could not carry her upon your shoulder, for 
 the passages are in many places but just high 
 enough for you to pass under without stooging. 
 At any rate, she can walk for a time."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 375 
 
 It was not long, however, before the child, weak- 
 ened by its illness, began to drag behind, and John 
 swung her up on his back. The marks, he found, 
 were easily made out, and in half an hour they 
 arrived at the entrance to the conduit. Here they 
 were forced to walk slowly ; in some places the 
 water, owing to the channel having sunk, deepened 
 to the knee, at other times stones had fallen from 
 the roof and impeded their passage, and it was 
 nearly two hours before they reached the arched 
 chamber at the termination of the conduit. There 
 was a stone pavement round the edge of the pool, 
 and upon this they sat down to rest for an hour, for 
 both John and the woman were exhausted by the 
 labor they had undergone. 
 
 "It is time for me to be moving," the woman 
 said, rising ; " it must be nigh midnight, and I must 
 be some miles on my way before morning. The 
 child has walked but a short distance yet, and will 
 do her best now when she knows that those wicked 
 Eomans will kill her and her mother if they catch 
 them. Won't you, Mariamne 2" 
 
 The child nodded ; the Romans were the bogy 
 with which Jewish children had for the last five 
 years been frightened, and she announced her 
 intention of walking till her feet fell off. 
 
 "I will carry } 7 ou as much as I can," her mother 
 said ; " but it can only be for a short distance at a 
 time, for I, too, am weak, and your weight is too 
 much for me. And now God bless you, my friend," 
 she said, turning to John ; " and may he keep you
 
 3?6 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 safe through the dangers of the siege, and lead you 
 to your home and parents again !" 
 
 They made their way to the end of the passage 
 together, climbed over the rubbish which nearly 
 blocked the entrance, crawled through the hole, and 
 found themselves in the outer air. Thick low 
 bushes covered the ground around them, and no 
 sound was to be heard. John rose to his feet and 
 looked round. Behind him, at the distance of more 
 than a quarter of a mile, the light of the Roman 
 watch-fires showed where the legions were en- 
 camped. Beyond and above could be seen here 
 and there a light in the city. No sound was to be 
 heard save the occasional call of a Roman sentinel. 
 On the other side all was dark, for the working 
 parties always returned to camp at night in readi- 
 ness to repel any sortie the Jews might make against 
 the camps or working parties. 
 
 " It is a very dark night," John said doubtfully. 
 " Do you think you can find your way ?" 
 
 " There are the stars," the woman replied confi- 
 dently. " Besides, I was born at Bethlehem, and 
 know the country well. I shall keep on west for a 
 while, and then turn off into the deep valleys lead- 
 ing down toward Masada. God be with you !" and, 
 taking the child's hand, she emerged from the bushes 
 and glided noiselessly away into the darkness. John 
 set out on his return journey, which he found very 
 much shorter than he had done coming, for the 
 weight of a child for two hours when walking over 
 difficult ground is trying even to a strong and act-
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 377 
 
 ive man. He carefully replaced the boards across 
 the mouth of the pit, placed the lamps in a position 
 so that he could find them in the dark, and, upon 
 going out of the house, closed the door carefully. 
 
 The next morning, that of the 29th of May, the 
 Koman attack began. The Fifth and Twelfth Le- 
 gions had raised embankments near the Struthion or 
 Soapwort Pool, facing the Castle of Antonia, while 
 the Tenth and Fifteenth raised theirs facing the 
 great towers of Hippicus, Phasaelus, and Mariarnne. 
 They had not carried out their work unmolested, 
 for the Jews had now learned the art of construct- 
 ing and managing war machines, and had made 
 three hundred scorpions for throwing arrows and 
 forty ballistae for hurling stones, and with these 
 they had caused terrible annoyance and great loss 
 to the Komans. But now all was prepared. On 
 the evening of the 28th the last stroke had been 
 given to the embankment, and on the following 
 morning the engines were mounted, and the troops 
 stood in readiness for the attack. 
 
 Suddenly a smoke was seen stealing up round the 
 embankments facing Antonia, and the Roman offi- 
 cers called back their men, not knowing what was 
 going to occur. Then a series of mighty crashes 
 was heard ; the great embankments, with their en- 
 gines and battering-rams, tottered and fell ; dense 
 smoke shot up in columns, followed rapidly by 
 tongues of fire, and soon the vast piles of materials, 
 collected and put together with so much pains, were 
 blazing fiercely ; while the Jews laughed and shout- 
 ed in triumph upon the walls.
 
 378 FOE THE TEMPLE. 
 
 The moment John of Gischala perceived where 
 the Romans were going to construct their embank- 
 ments he had begun to run a mine from behind the 
 wall toward them. When the gallery was extended 
 under them a great excavation was hollowed out,, 
 the roof being supported by huge beams, between 
 which were piled up pitch and other combustibles. 
 When the Romans were seen advancing to the at- 
 tack fire was applied, and as soon as the supports of 
 the roof were burned away, the ground, with the 
 embankments upon it, fell in. 
 
 Simon, on his side, was equally ready to receive 
 the enemy, but he trusted rather to valor than strat- 
 agem ; and as soon as the Roman engines facing 
 the towers began to shake the 1 walls, Tepthaus, Me- 
 gassar, and Chagiras rushed out with torches in 
 their hands, followed by a crowd of Simon's soldiers. 
 They drove the Romans before them, and set fire 
 to the great machine. The Romans crowded up to 
 the assistance of the working parties, but as they 
 advanced they were received with showers of mis- 
 siles from the walls, and attacked fiercely by the 
 Jews, who poured out from the city in a continuous 
 stream. 
 
 The flames spread rapidly, and seeing no hope of 
 saving their engines and embankments, the Romans 
 retreated to their camp. The triumphant Jews 
 pressed hard on their rear, rushed upon the intrench- 
 ments, and assailed the guards. Numbers of these 
 were killed, but the rest fought resolutely, while the 
 engines on the works poured showers of missiles
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 379 
 
 among the Jews. Careless of death, the assailants 
 pressed forward, stormed the intrenchment, and the 
 Romans were on the point of flight, when Titus, 
 who had been absent upon the other side, arrived 
 with a strong body of troops, and fell upon the 
 Jews. 
 
 A desperate contest ensued, but the Jews were 
 finally driven back into the city. Their enterprise 
 had, however, been crowned with complete suc- 
 cess. The embankments, which had occupied the 
 Romans seventeen days in building, were destroyed, 
 and with them the battering-rams and the greater 
 part of their engines. The work of reconstruction 
 would be far more difficult and toilsome than at 
 first, for the country had been denuded of timber 
 for many miles off. Moreover, the soldiers were 
 becoming greatly disheartened by the failure of all 
 their attacks upon the city. 
 
 Titus summoned a council, and laid before them 
 three plans : one for an attempt to take the city by 
 storm ; the second to repair the works and rebuild 
 the engines ; the third to blockade the city and 
 starve it into surrender. The last was decided 
 upon, and as a first step the whole army was set to 
 work to build a trench and wall round the city. 
 The work was carried on with the greatest zeal, and 
 in three days the wall, nearly five miles in circum- 
 ference, was completed. Thus there was no longer 
 any chance of escape to the inhabitants, no more 
 possibility of going out at night to search for food. 
 
 Now the misery of the siege was redoubled.
 
 380 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Thousands died daily. A mournful silence hung 
 over the city. Some died in their houses, some in 
 the streets, some crawled to the cemeteries and ex- 
 pired there, some sat upon their house-tops with 
 their eyes fixed upon the Temple until they sank 
 back dead. No one had strength to dig graves, 
 and the dead bodies were thrown from the walls 
 into the ravines below. The high-priest Matthias, 
 who had admitted Simon and his followers into the 
 city, was suspected of being in communication with 
 the Romans, and he and his three sons were led out 
 on to the wall, and executed in sight of the besieg- 
 ers, while fifteen of the members of the Sanhedrim 
 were executed at the same time. 
 
 These murders caused indignation even on the 
 part of some of Simon's men, and one Judas, with 
 ten others, agreed to deliver one of the towers to 
 the enemy, but the Romans, rendered cautious by 
 the treachery which had before been practiced, hes- 
 itated to approach ; and before they were convinced 
 that the offer was made in good faith Simon dis- 
 covered what was going on, and the eleven con- 
 spirators were executed upon the walls, and their 
 bodies thrown over. 
 
 Despair drove many again to attempt desertion. 
 Some of these, on reaching the Roman lines, were 
 spared, but many more were killed, for the sake of 
 the money supposed to be concealed upon them. 
 Up to the 1st of July it was calculated that well- 
 nigh six hundred thousand had perished, in addi- 
 tion to the vast numbers buried in the cemetery and
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 33 1 
 
 the great heaps of dead before the walls. Great 
 numbers of the houses had become tombs, the in- 
 habitants shutting themselves up and dying quietly 
 together. 
 
 But while trusting chiefly to famine, the Romans 
 had labored steadily on at their military engines, 
 although obliged to fetch the timber for ten miles, 
 and at the beginning of July the battering-rams 
 began to play against Antonia. The Jews sallied 
 out, but this time with less fury than usual, and 
 they were repulsed without much difficulty by the 
 Romans. All day long the battering-rams thun- 
 dered against the wall, while men, protected by 
 hurdles and penthouses, labored to dislodge the 
 stones at the foot of the walls, in spite of the storm 
 of missiles hurled down from above. 
 
 By nightfall they had got out four large stones. 
 It happened that these stones stood just over the 
 part under which John of Gischala had driven his 
 mine when he destroyed the Roman embankments, 
 and thus, doubly weakened, the wall fell with a 
 crash during the night. John, however, had built 
 another wall in the rear ; and when the Romans 
 rushed to the assault of the breach in the morning 
 they found a new line of defense confronting them. 
 Titus addressed the troops, and called for volunteers. 
 Sabinus, a Syrian, volunteered for the attack ano 
 eleven men followed him. 
 
 In spite of the storm of missiles he reached the 
 top of the wall. The Jews, believing that many 
 were behind him, turned to fly, but his foot slipped,
 
 382 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 and he fell, and before he could regain his feet the 
 Jews turned round upon him and slew him. Three 
 of his companions fell beside him on the top of the 
 wall, and the rest were carried back wounded to 
 camp. 
 
 Two days later, in the middle of the night, twenty 
 Roman soldiers, with a standard-bearer and trum- 
 peter, crept silently up to the breach, surprised and 
 slew the watch. The trumpeter blew the charge, 
 and the Jews, believing that the whole Roman army 
 was upon them, fled in a sudden panic. Titus at 
 once advanced with his men, stormed the new wall, 
 entered the Castle of Antonia, and then advanced 
 along the cloisters which connected it with the 
 Temple ; but John of Gischala had by this time 
 arrived at the spot and opposed a desperate resist- 
 ance to the assault, until Simon, crossing from the 
 upper city by the bridge, came to his assistance, 
 and John, finding that the Temple was attacked, 
 also led his band across. 
 
 For ten hours the struggle raged. Yast numbers 
 fell on both sides, till the dead formed a bank be- 
 tween the combatants. Titus, finding that even the 
 courage and discipline of his troops did not avail 
 against the desperate resistance of the Jews, at last 
 called them off from the assault, well satisfied with 
 having captured Antonia. During the fight the 
 Romans had several times nearly penetrated into 
 the Temple. Indeed, a centurion, named Julian, a 
 man of great strength, courage, and skill at arms, 
 had charged the Jews with such fury that he had
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 3g3 
 
 made his way alone as far as the inner court, when 
 his mailed shoes slipped on the marble pavement, 
 and he fell, and the Jews, rushing back, slew him, 
 after a desperate resistance to the end. 
 
 Titus commanded that the fortress of Antonia 
 should be leveled to the ground, and then sent 
 Josephus with a message to John of Gischala, offer- 
 ing him free egress for himself and his men if he 
 would come out to fight outside, in order that the 
 Temple might be saved further defilement. John 
 replied by curses upon Josephus, whom he de- 
 nounced as a traitor, and concluded that he feared 
 not that the city should be taken, for it was the 
 city of God. Then Titus sent for a number of per- 
 sons of distinction, who had from time to time made 
 their escape from the city, and these attempted in 
 vain to persuade the people, if not to surrender, at 
 least to spare the Temple from defilement and ruin. 
 Even the Roman soldiers were adverse to an attack 
 upon a place so long regarded as preeminently holy, 
 and Titus himself harangued the Jews. 
 
 " You have put up a barrier," he said, " to prevent 
 strangers from polluting your Temple. This the 
 Romans have always respected. We have allowed 
 you to put to death all who violated its precincts, 
 yet you defile it yourselves with blood and carnage. 
 I call on your gods I call on my whole army I 
 call upon the Jews who are with me I call on your- 
 selves to witness that I do not force you to this 
 crime. Come forth and fight in any other place, 
 and no Roman shall violet your sacred edifice."
 
 384 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 But John of Gischala and the Zealots would hear 
 of no surrender. They doubted whether Titus 
 would keep his promise, and feared to surrender the 
 stronghold which was now their last hope. Above 
 all, they still believed that God would yet interfere 
 to save his Temple. Titus, finding that the garrison 
 were obstinate, raised his voice and called out : 
 
 "John, whom I met near Hebron, if you be there 
 bear witness that I have striven to keep my oath. 
 I will strive to the end ; but blame me not if, not 
 through my fault, but by the obstinacy of these men, 
 destruction comes upon the Temple." 
 
 John, who was standing within hearing, called 
 out: 
 
 " I am here, Titus, and I bear witness, yet, I pray 
 you, strive to the end to keep the oath which you 
 swore to me." 
 
 "What is this oath, John?" Simon, who was 
 standing close by, asked. " What compact have 
 you with the Roman general ?" 
 
 " We met in battle alone," John said quietly, 
 " and it chanced that he fell. I might have slain 
 him, but it came to me that it were better to try to 
 save the Temple than to slay one of its enemies, and 
 therefore swore him to save the Temple if it lay in 
 his power. He has offered to spare it. It lay with 
 you and John of Gischala to save the Temple from 
 destruction by accepting his terms. You have not 
 done so. If the Temple is destroyed it is by the 
 obstinacy of its defenders, not by the cruelty of the 
 Romans."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 335 
 
 " It would be madness to accept his offer," Simon 
 said angrily. " Titus knows well that in the plains 
 we should be no match for his troops. Did you 
 ever hear before of a garrison giving up a position 
 BO strong that it could not be taken from them, and 
 going out to fight beyond the walls ? Besides, who 
 can tell that the Romans will keep their promises? 
 Once we are at their mercy they might level the 
 Temple." 
 
 "In that case the sin would be upon their heads. 
 Besides, there is no occasion to retire beyond the 
 walls. Why should not all the fighting men retire 
 into the upper city, and leave the Temple to God ? 
 If it is his will that the Romans should destroy it, 
 they will do so. If it is his will that they should 
 respect it, they will do so. He can save or destroy 
 at his will. If we retreat to the upper town and 
 break down the bridge after us, they could never 
 take it." 
 
 " And how long could we hold out ?" Simon said 
 with a hard laugh. " Is there a day's food left in 
 the city ? If there is my men are less sharp than I 
 give them credit for. No, we will fight here to the 
 end for the Temple, and the sooner the Romans 
 attack the better, for if they delay many days there 
 is not a single man will have strength enough to 
 lift a sword."
 
 386 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVII. 
 
 THE CAPTURE OF THE TEMPLE. 
 
 ALTHOUGH abhorring the general conduct of 
 Simon and John of Gischala, and believing that 
 conditions could be made with the Romans which 
 would save the Temple, John still retained the hope 
 cherished by every Jew that God would yet him- 
 self save Jerusalem, as in the old times. He was 
 conscious that the people had forfeited all right to 
 expect his aid ; that by their wickedness and forget- 
 fulness of him, and more especially by the frightful 
 scenes which had desecrated the city and Temple 
 during the last four years, they must have angered 
 God beyond all hope of forgiveness. Still the pun- 
 ishment which had been inflicted was already so 
 terrible that he, like others, hoped that God's anger 
 might yet relent, as it had done in old times, and 
 that a remnant might yet be spared. 
 
 But above all, their hope lay in the belief that 
 the Temple was the actual abode of the Lord, and 
 that though he might suffer the whole people to 
 perish for their sins, he would yet protect at the 
 last his own sanctuary. Surely, John thought as 
 he stood on the roof of the Temple, this glorious 
 building can never be meant to be destroyed.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 387 
 
 The Temple occupied a square six hundred feet 
 every way. The lofty rock on which it stood had 
 been cased with solid masonry, so that it rose per- 
 pendicularly from the plain. On the top of this 
 massive foundation was built a strong and lofty 
 wall round the whole area. Within this wall was a 
 spacious double cloister, fifty-two and one-half feet 
 broad, supported by one hundred and sixty-two 
 columns. On the south side the cloister was one 
 hundred and five feet wide, being a triple cloister, 
 and was here called the King's Cloister. Within 
 the area surrounded by the cloisters was an open 
 court paved with marble ; this was the Court of 
 the Gentiles, and was separated from the second 
 court, that of the Jews, by a stone railing five feet 
 high. 
 
 An ascent of fourteen steps led to a terrace sev- 
 enteen and one-half feet wide, beyond which rose 
 the wall of the inner court ; this wall was seventy 
 feet high on the outside, forty -four feet on the inside. 
 Round the inner court was another range of clois- 
 ters. There were ten gates into the inner court. 
 The doors of nine of these gateways were fifty-two 
 and one-half feet high, and half that breadth ; the 
 gateways rose to the height of seventy feet. 
 The tenth, usually called the Beautiful Gate of the 
 Temple, was larger than the rest, the gateway being 
 eighty-seven and one-half feet in height, the doors 
 seventy feet. 
 
 In the center of the inner court was the Temple 
 itself. The great porch was one hundred and
 
 388 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 seventy-five feet in width, the gateway tower one 
 hundred and thirty-two feet high and forty-three 
 feet wide, and through it was seen the Beautiful 
 Gate. The Temple itself was built of white 
 marble, and the roof was covered with sharp 
 golden spikes. 
 
 Now that it was evident that on the side of the 
 Temple alone could the enemy make an attack, the 
 division between Simon and John of Gischala'smen 
 was no longer kept up. All gathered for the de- 
 fense of the Temple. The Jews kept up a vigilant 
 watch, for the Romans could assemble in great 
 force in Antonia unseen by them, and could advance 
 under cover by the cloisters which flanked the 
 platform connecting Antonia with the Temple on 
 either side. The interval between Antonia and the 
 Temple was but three hundred feet. The cloisters 
 were considered to form part of the Temple, and 
 the Jews were therefore reluctant to destroy them, 
 although they greatly facilitated the attack of the 
 Eomans. 
 
 Finding that his offers were all rejected, Titus 
 spent seven days in the destruction of a large 
 portion of Antonia, and then prepared for a night 
 attack. As the whole army could not make the 
 assault, thirty men were picked from each hundred. 
 Tribunes were appointed over each thousand, 
 Cerealis being chosen to command the whole. 
 Titus himself mounted a watch-tower in Antonia in 
 order that he might see and reward each act of 
 bravery. The assault began between two and three
 
 FOE THE TEMPLE. 389 
 
 o'clock in the morning. The Jews were on the 
 watch, and as soon as the massive columns moved 
 forward the cries of the guards gave the alarm, and 
 the Jews sleeping in and around the Temple sei'zed 
 their arms and rushed down to the defense. 
 
 For a time the Komans had the advantage ; the 
 weight of their close formation enabled them to 
 press forward against the most obstinate resistance, 
 and even in the darkness there was no fear of mis- 
 taking friend for foe ; while the Jews, fighting in 
 small parties, often mistook each other for enemies, 
 and as many fell by the swords of their friends as 
 by those of the enemy. The loss was all the 
 greater since the troops of John of Gischala and 
 Simon had no common password, and, coming 
 suddenly upon each other, often fought desperately 
 before they discovered their mistake ; but as day- 
 light began to break these mistakes became less 
 frequent. The presence and example of their lead- 
 ers animated the Jews to the greatest exertions ; 
 while the knowledge that Titus was watching them 
 inspired the Romans with even more than their 
 usual courage and obstinacy. 
 
 For nine hours the conflict raged, and then the 
 Romans, unable to make the slightest impression 
 upon the resistance of the Jews, fell back again into 
 Antonia. Finding that in hand-to-hand conflict his 
 soldiers could not overcome the Jews, Titus ordered 
 the erection of small embankments, two on the plat- 
 form between the cloisters, the other two outside 
 the cloister walls. But the work proceeded slowly
 
 390 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 owing to the difficulty of procuring wood. The 
 Jews as usual hindered the work as much as pos- 
 sible with showers of missiles, and attempted to 
 create a diversion by a sortie and attack upon the 
 camp of the Tenth Legion on the Mount of Olives. 
 This, however, was repulsed by the Romans with- 
 out great difficulty. 
 
 As the cloisters leading to Antonia afforded great 
 assistance to the Romans in their attacks the Jews 
 set fire to the end of the cloisters touching the 
 Temple wall, and a length of from twenty to thirty 
 feet of each cloister was destroyed. The Romans 
 destroyed a further portion, so as to afford more 
 room for the men at work upon the embankments. 
 The action of the Jews was to a certain extent a 
 necessity, but it depressed the spirits of the inhab- 
 itants, for there was a prophecy, " When square the 
 walls, the Temple falls !" Hitherto Antonia and the 
 connecting cloisters had been considered as forming 
 part of the Temple and had given it an irregular 
 form, but the destruction of these cloisters left the 
 Temple standing a massive square. 
 
 The embankments presently rose above the 
 height of the wall, and it was evident that this 
 would soon be taken. The Jews retired from the 
 roof of the cloister facing the embankment as if 
 despairing of further resistance, but they had pre- 
 viously stored great quantities of combustibles in the 
 space between the cedar roof of the cloisters and 
 the upper platform. The Romans on the embank- 
 ment, seeing that the Jews had retired, without
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 391 
 
 waiting for orders ran down, and planting ladders 
 scaled the wall. 
 
 The Jews set up cries as if of despair, and the 
 Romans poured up on to the wall until a great mass 
 of men were collected on the roof of the cloister ; 
 then on a sudden flames shot up in all directions be- 
 neath their feet, and they found themselves envel- 
 oped in a sea of fire. Many were burned or 
 smothered by the smoke, some stabbed themselves 
 with their swords, some leaped down into the outer 
 court and were there killed by the Jews, many 
 jumped down outside the walls and were picked up 
 dead or with broken limbs, others ran along upon 
 the top of the walls until they were shot down by 
 the Jewish missiles. But one man seems to have 
 escaped. A soldier named Artorius, standing on 
 the wall, shouted to the Romans below, " Whoever 
 catches me shall be my heir." A soldier ran for- 
 ward to accept the terms. Artorius jumped down 
 upon him, killing him by his fall, but himself escap- 
 ing unhurt. 
 
 The fire extended along the whole of the western 
 cloister, and the northern cloister was next day 
 burned by the Romans, and thus on the west and 
 north sides the inner Temple was now exposed to 
 the invader. 
 
 All this time famine had been continuing its work. 
 The fighting men were so weakened that they had 
 scarcely strength to drag their limbs along or to hold 
 their weapons, while horrible tales are told of the 
 sufferings of such of the inhabitants who still sur-
 
 392 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 vived one woman, maddened by despair, cooking 
 and eating her own infant. Occasionally a baggage 
 animal or a Roman cavalry horse strayed near the 
 walls, when a crowd of famishing wretches would 
 pour out, kill and devour it. Titus, however, cut 
 off even this occasional supply by ordering a soldier 
 whose horse had thus fallen into the hands of the 
 Jews to be put to death for his carelessness. 
 
 John's band had been greatly diminished in number 
 in the two days they had been fighting opposite 
 Antonia. The stores they had brought to the city 
 were now exhausted, although for a long time only 
 the smallest amount had been issued daily to eke 
 out the handful of grain still served out to each of 
 the fighting men. A few only had in their suffer- 
 ings refused to obey the orders of John and their 
 officers, and had joined the bands of Simon and 
 John of Gischala in the revolting cruelties which 
 they practiced to extort food from the inhabitants. 
 These had not yet been allowed to rejoin the band, 
 which was now reduced to a little over fifty : stern, 
 gaunt, and famine-worn figures, but still unshaken 
 in their determination to fight to the end. 
 
 The Romans now pushed on a bank from the 
 western wall across the smoldering ruins of the 
 cloister and inner court, and a battering-ram began 
 to play against the inner Temple; but after six 
 days' efforts, and bringing up their heaviest batter- 
 ing-ram, the Romans gave it up in despair, for the 
 huge stones which formed the masonry of' the wall 
 defied even the ponderous machines which the
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 393 
 
 Komans brought to play against it. An embank- 
 ment from the northern side was also carried across 
 the outer court to the foot of the most easterly of 
 the four northern gates of the inner Temple. 
 
 Still anxious to save the Temple itself and its 
 cloisters if possible, Titus would not resort to the use 
 of fire, but ordered his men to force the gate with 
 crowbars and levers. After great efforts a few of 
 the stones of the threshold were removed ; but the 
 gates supported by the massive walls and the props 
 behind defied all their efforts. 
 
 Titus now ordered his soldiers to carr-y the walls by 
 storm. Ladders were brought up, and the soldiers, 
 eager for revenge upon the foe who had so long 
 baffled and humiliated them, sprang to the assault 
 with shouts of exultation. The Jews offered no 
 resistance until the Romans reached the top of 
 the wall ; but as they leaped down on to the roof of 
 the cloister they threw themselves upon them. 
 Numbers were slain as they stepped off the ladders 
 on to the wall, and many of the ladders were hurled 
 backward, crushing the soldiers crowded upon them 
 on the pavement beneath. 
 
 Then Titus ordered the standards of the legions 
 to be carried up, thinking that the soldiers would 
 rally round these, the emblems of military honor. 
 The Jews, however, permitted the standards and 
 numbers of the legionaries to ascend on to the roof 
 of the cloisters, and then again fell upon them with 
 such fury that the Romans were overpowered, the 
 standards were taken, and their defenders killed.
 
 394 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Not one of the Romans who had mounted the wall 
 retired from it. 
 
 Titus could no longer resist the appeals of his in- 
 furiated soldiers, who, maddened by the losses they 
 had suffered and the disgrace of the loss of the 
 standards, could not understand why this loss was 
 entailed upon them when such an easy way of 
 destroying the gate and entering the Temple was in 
 their power. Most reluctantly Titus gave the per- 
 mission they clamored for, and allowed his troops 
 to set fire to the gate. The dry wood-work caught 
 like tinder, and the flames mounted instantly. The 
 silver plates which covered the wood-work melted 
 and ran down in streams, and the fire at once com- 
 municated with the cloisters inside the wall. 
 
 Appalled at the sight of the inner court in flames, 
 the Jews stood despairing, while the shouts of 
 triumph of the Romans rose high in the air. During 
 the rest of the day and all through the night the 
 conflagration continued and extended all round the 
 cloisters. Thus the Temple itself was surrounded 
 by a ring of fire. 
 
 The next day, the 4th of August, Titus called a 
 council of his generals to deliberate on the fate of 
 the Temple. There were present besides Titus, 
 Tiberias Alexander, the second in command; the 
 commanders of the Fifth, Tenth, and Fifteenth 
 Legions ; Fronto, the commander of the Alexandrian 
 troops ; and Marcus Antonius Julianus, the procu- 
 rator of Judea. 
 
 Some were for leveling the Temple to the ground ;
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 395 
 
 others advised that, if abandoned by the Jews, it 
 might be preserved, but if defended as a citadel it 
 ought to be destroyed. Titus listened to the 
 opinions of the others, and then declared his own, 
 which was, that whatever the use the Jews made 
 of it, it ought to be preserved. Alexander, Cerealis, 
 and Fronto went over to the opinion of Titus, and 
 therefore by a majority of one it was agreed that 
 the Temple should be spared, however fiercely the 
 Jews might resist. Orders were given to prevent 
 the fire spreading to the Temple, and to clear the 
 ground for an assault against it. 
 
 The 5th of August broke. It was on that day 
 that the Temple of Solomon had been burned by 
 Nebuchadnezzar; but the courage of the Jews was 
 not depressed by the omen. The brief pause had 
 enabled them to recover from the despair which 
 they had felt in seeing the inner cloister in flames, 
 and at eight o'clock in the morning, sallying from 
 the Eastern Gate, they rushed down upon the 
 Romans. The latter formed in close order, and, 
 covered by their shields, received the onslaught 
 calmly. But so desperately did the Jews fight, and 
 in such numbers did they pour out from the Temple, 
 that the Romans had begun to give way, when 
 Titus arrived with great reenforceinents : but even 
 then it was not until one o'clock that the Jews 
 were driven back again into the walls of the inner 
 Temple. 
 
 Titus, having seen his troops victorious, retired to 
 his tent, and the soldiers continued their work of
 
 396 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 clearing the platform and extinguishing the smol- 
 dering fire of the cloisters. Suddenly the Jewish 
 bands burst out again, and another deadly struggle 
 commenced. Then one of the Roman soldiers, seiz- 
 ing a burning brand from the cloisters, hurled it 
 into the window of one of the side chambers that 
 inclosed the Temple on the north. 
 
 In the furious struggle that was going on none 
 noticed the action, and it was not until the flames 
 were seen rushing out of the window that the Jews 
 perceived what had happened. With a cry of an- 
 guish they discontinued the conflict, and rushed 
 back to try and extinguish the flames. But the 
 wood-work, dried by the intqnse heat of the August 
 sun, was ripe for burning, and in spite of the most 
 desperate efforts the fire spread rapidly. 
 
 The news that the Temple was on fire reached 
 Titus, and starting up, accompanied by his body- 
 guard of spearmen, commanded by Liberatus, he 
 hastened to the spot. His officers followed him, 
 and as the news spread the whole of the Roman 
 legionaries rushed with one accord to the spot. 
 Titus pushed forward into the first court of the 
 inner Temple, the Court of the Women, and then 
 into the inner court, and by shouts and gestures im- 
 plored his own soldiers and the Jews alike to assist 
 in subduing the flames. 
 
 But the clamor and din drowned his voice. The 
 legionaries, pouring in after him, added to the con- 
 fusion. So great was the crowd that many of the 
 soldiers were crushed to death, while many fell
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 397 
 
 among the ruins of the stiK smoldering cloisters 
 and were either smothered or burned. Those who 
 reached the sanctuary paid no attention to the 
 remonstrances, commands, or even threats of Titus, 
 but shouted to those in front of them to complete 
 the work of destruction. 
 
 Titus pressed forward with his guards to the vesti- 
 bule, and then entered, first the Holy, and then the 
 Holy of Holies. After one glance at the beauty 
 and magnificence of the marvelous shrine he rushed 
 back and again implored his soldiers to exert them- 
 selves to save it, and ordered Liberatus to strike 
 down any who disobeyed. But the soldiers were 
 now altogether beyond control, and were rnad with 
 triumph, fury, and hate. One of the body-guard, 
 as Titus left the sanctuary, seized a brand and ap- 
 plied it to the wood. work. The flames leaped up, 
 and soon the whole Temple was wrapped in fire. 
 
 The soldiers spread through the building, snatch- 
 ing at the golden ornaments and vessels, and slay- 
 ing all they met, unarmed men, priests in their robes, 
 women and children. Many of the Jews threw 
 themselves into the flames. Some of the priests 
 found their way on to the broad wall of the inner 
 Temple, where they remained until compelled by 
 famine to come down, when they were all executed. 
 Six thousand of the populace took refuge on the 
 roof of the Royal Cloister along the south side of 
 the outer Temple. The Romans set fire to this, 
 and every soul upon it perished. 
 
 As soon as they felt that their efforts to extin-
 
 398 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 guish the fire were vain and that the Temple was 
 indeed lost, John of Gischala, Simon, and John 
 called their men together, and issuing out, fell with 
 the fury of desperation upon the dense ranks of the 
 Roman soldiers in the inner court, and, in spite of 
 their resistance, cut their way through to the outer 
 court and gained the bridge leading from the south- 
 west corner across the Yalley of the Tyropceon to 
 the upper city, and were therefore for a time in 
 safety. 
 
 John, bewildered, exhausted, and heart-broken 
 from the terrible events of the past few days, stag- 
 gered back to his house and threw himself on his 
 couch and lay there for a long time crushed by the 
 severity of the blow. Until now he had hoped that 
 Titus would in the end spare the Temple, but he 
 recognized now that it was the obstinacy of the Jews 
 that had brought about its destruction. 
 
 " It was God's will that it should perish," he said 
 to himself ; " and Titus could no more save it than 
 I could do." After some hours he roused himself 
 and descended to the room now occupied by the 
 remnant of the band. Jonas and ten others alone 
 were gathered there. Some had thrown themselves 
 down on the ground, some sat in attitudes of utter 
 dejection ; several were bleeding from wounds 
 received in the desperate fight of the morning, others 
 were badly burned in the desperate efforts they had 
 made to extinguish the flames. Exhausted by want 
 of food, worn out by their exertions, filled with 
 despair at the failure of their last hopes, the mem-
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 399 
 
 bers of the little band scarce looked up when their 
 leader entered. 
 
 " My friends," he said, " listen to me, if but for 
 the last time. We at least have nothing to reproach 
 ourselves with. We have fought for the Temple to 
 the last ; and if we failed to save it, it is because it 
 was the will of God that it should perish. At any 
 rate, our duty is done. God has not given us our 
 lives, and preserved them through so many fights, 
 that we should throw them away. It is our duty 
 now to save our lives if we can. Now that the 
 Temple has fallen we are called upon to do no more 
 fighting. Let the bands of John of Gischala and 
 Simon fight to the last. They are as wild beasts 
 inclosed in the snare of the hunter, and they merit 
 a thousand deaths, for it is they who have brought 
 Jerusalem to this pass, they who have robbed and 
 murdered the population, they who have destroyed 
 the granaries which would have enabled the city to 
 exist for years, they who refused the terms by 
 which the Temple might have been saved, they who 
 have caused its destruction in spite of the efforts of 
 Titus to preserve it they are the authors of all this 
 ruin and woe; they have lived as wild beasts, so let 
 them die ! But there is no reason why we should 
 die with them, for their guilt is not upon our heads. 
 We have done our duty in fighting for the Temple, 
 and have robbed and injured none ; therefore, I say, 
 let us save our lives." 
 
 " Would you surrender to the Komans ?" one of 
 the band asked indignantly. " Do you, whom we 
 have followed, counsel us to become traitors 3"
 
 400 fOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " It is not treachery to surrender when one can 
 no longer resist," John said quietly. " But I am 
 not thinking of surrendering; I am thinking of 
 passing out of the city into the country around. 
 But first let us eat. I see you look surprised ; but 
 although the store we brought hither is long since 
 exhausted, there is still a last reserve. I bought it 
 with all the money that I had with me from one of 
 Simon's men upon the day when we came hither 
 from the lower town. He had gained it, doubtless, 
 in wanton robbery, for at that time the fighting 
 men had plenty of food ; but as it was his I bought 
 it, thinking that the time might come when one 
 meal might mean life to many of us. I have never 
 touched it, but it remains where I hid it in my 
 chamber. I will fetch it now." 
 
 John ascended to his chamber and brought down 
 a bag containing about fifteen pounds of flour. 
 
 " Let us make bread of this," he said. " It will 
 give us each a good meal now, and there will be 
 enough left to provide food for each during the first 
 day's journey." 
 
 The exhausted men seemed inspired with new 
 life at the sight of the food. No thought of asking 
 how they were to pass through the Roman lines oc- 
 curred to them. The idea of satisfying their hunger 
 overpowered all other feelings. The door was 
 closed to keep out intruders. Dough was made 
 and a fire kindled with pieces of wood dry as tin- 
 der, so that no smoke should attract the eye of 
 those who were constantly on the lookout for such
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 401 
 
 a sign that some family were engaged in cooking. 
 The flat dough-cakes were placed over the glowing 
 embers, the whole having been divided into twenty- 
 four portions. Some of the men would hardly 
 wait until their portions were baked, but John 
 urged upon them that, were they to eat it in a 
 half-cooked state, the consequences might be very 
 serious after their prolonged fast. Still none of 
 them could resist breaking off little pieces to stay 
 their craving. 
 
 " Let us eat slowly," John said when the food 
 was ready. " The more slowly we eat the further 
 it will go. When it is eaten we will take a sleep 
 for four hours to regain our strength. There is no 
 fear of our being called upon to aid in the defense. 
 The Romans must be as exhausted as we are ; and 
 they will need thought and preparation before 
 they attack our last stronghold, which is far 
 stronger than any they have yet taken. If we had 
 food we could hold Mount Zion against them for 
 months." 
 
 As soon as the meal was over all lay down to 
 sleep. None had asked any question as to how 
 their escape was to be effected. The unexpected 
 meal which John's forethought had prepared for 
 them had revived all their confidence in him, and 
 thev were ready to follow him wherever he might 
 take them. It was night when John called them 
 to awake, but the glare of the vast pile of the burn- 
 ing Temple lit up every object; the brightness 
 almost equaled that of day.
 
 402 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " It is time," John said as the men rose to their 
 feet and grasped their arms. " I trust that we shall 
 have no occasion to use weapons ; but we will carry 
 them, so that if we should fall into the hands of the 
 Romans we may fall fighting, and not die by the 
 torments that they inflict upon those who fall into 
 their hands. If I could obtain a hearing so as to 
 be brought before Titus he might give us our lives, 
 but I will not trust to that. In the first place, they 
 would cut us down like hunted animals did they 
 come upon us ; and in the second, I would not now 
 owe my life to the clemency of the Romans." 
 
 A fierce assent was given by his followers. 
 
 " Now," John went on, " let each take his piece 
 of bread and put it in his bosom. Leave your 
 bucklers and javelins behind you, but take your 
 swords. Jonas, bring a brand from the fire. Now 
 let us be off." 
 
 None of those with him except Jonas had the 
 least idea where he was going ; but he had instruct- 
 ed the lad in the secret of the pit, and one day had 
 taken him down the passages to the aqueduct. 
 
 " You and I found safety before, Jonas, together, 
 and I trust may do so again ; but should anything 
 happen to me, you will now have the means of 
 escape." 
 
 " If you die I will die with you, master," Jonas 
 said. And indeed in the fights he had always kept 
 close to John, following every movement and ready 
 to dash forward when his leader was attacked by 
 more than one enemy, springing upon them like a
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 403 
 
 wild cat and burying his knife in their throats. It 
 was to his watchful protection and ready aid that 
 John owed it that he had passed through so many 
 combats comparatively unharmed. 
 
 "Not so, Jonas," he said, in answer to the lad's 
 declaration that he would die with him. " It would 
 be no satisfaction to me that you should share 
 my fate, but a great one to know that you would 
 get away safely. If I fall I charge you to pass out 
 by this underground way, and to carry to my father 
 and mother and Mary the news that I have fallen 
 fighting to the last in the defense of the Temple. 
 Tell them that I thought of them to the end, and 
 that I sent you to them to be with them, and to be 
 to my father and mother a son until they shall find 
 for Mary a husband who may fill my place and be 
 the stay of their old age. My father will treat you 
 as an adopted son for my sake, and will bestow 
 upon you a portion of his lands. You have been as 
 a brother to me, Jonas ; and I pray you promise me 
 to carry out my wishes." 
 
 Jonas had reluctantly given the pledge, but from 
 that hour until John had declared that he would 
 fight no more, Jonas had been moody and silent. 
 Now, however, as he walked behind his friend, his 
 face was full of satisfaction. There was no chance 
 now that he would have to take home the news of 
 his leader's death. Whatever befell them, they 
 would share together. They soon reached the door 
 of the house in which the pit was situated. It was 
 entered and the door closed behind them. The
 
 404 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 lamps were then lit. John led the way to the cellar 
 and bade the men remove the boards. 
 
 " I will go first with one of the lamps," he said. 
 " Do you, Jonas, take the other and come last in the 
 line. Keep close together, so that the light may 
 be sufficient for all to see." 
 
 Strengthened by the meal and by their confi- 
 dence in John's promise to lead them through the 
 Romans, the band felt like new men, and followed 
 John with their usual light activ r e gait as he led the 
 way. Not a word was spoken till they reached the 
 hole leading into the aqueduct. 
 
 " This is the Conduit of King Hezekiah," John 
 said. " When we emerge at the other end we shall 
 be beyond the Roman lines. 1 " 
 
 Exclamations of satisfaction burst from the men. 
 Each had been wondering, as he walked, where 
 their leader was taking them. All knew that the 
 ground beneath Jerusalem was honeycombed by 
 caves and passages ; but that their leader could not 
 intend to hide there was evident, for they had but 
 one meal with them. But that any of these pas- 
 sages should debouch beyond the Roman lines had 
 not occurred to them. 
 
 Each had thought that the passages they were 
 following would probably lead out at the foot 
 of the wall into the Valley of Hinnoin or of 
 Jehoshaphat, and that John intended to creep with 
 them up to the foot of the Roman wall, and to trust 
 to activity and speed to climb it and make their 
 way through the guard placed there to cut off
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 405 
 
 fugitives. But none had even hoped that they 
 would be able to pass the wall of circumvallation 
 without a struggle. 
 
 An hour's walking brought them to the chamber 
 over the springs. 
 
 " Now," John said, " we will rest for half an 
 hour before we sally out. Let each man eat half 
 the food he has brought with him. The rest he 
 must keep till to-morrow, for we shall have to travel 
 many miles before we can reach a spot that the 
 Romans have not laid desolate, and where we may 
 procure food. I trust," he went on, " that we shall 
 be altogether unnoticed. The sentries may be on 
 the alert on their wall, for they will think it likely 
 that many may be trying to escape from the city, 
 but all save those on duty will be either asleep after 
 their toils or feasting in honor of their success. 
 The fact, too, of the great glare of light over Jeru- 
 salem will render the darkness more intense when 
 they look in the other direction. But if we should 
 be noticed, it is best that we should separate and 
 scatter in the darkness, each flying for his life and 
 making his way home as best he may ; if we are 
 not seen, we will keep together. There is no fear 
 of meeting with any Roman bands when we are 
 once fairly away. The parties getting wood will 
 have been warned by the smoke of what has taken 
 place, and will have hurried back to gain their share 
 of the spoil." 
 
 At the end of the half-hour John rose to his feet 
 and led the way along the passage to the entrance.
 
 406 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 When he came to the spot where it was nearly 
 blocked up he blew out his light and crawled for- 
 ward over the rubbish until he reached the open 
 air. The others followed until all were beside him, 
 then he rose to his feet. The Temple was not 
 visible, but the whole sky seemed on fire above 
 Jerusalem, and the outline of the three great 
 towers of the Palace of Herod and of the buildings 
 of the upper city stood black against the glare. 
 
 There was no sign of life or movement near as 
 with a quick, noiseless step the little party stole 
 away. None of them knew more than the general 
 direction which they had to follow, but the glare of 
 the great fire served as a guide as to their direction, 
 and even at this distance jnade objects on the 
 ground plainly visible, so that they were enabled to 
 pick their way among the stumps of the fallen 
 plantations and orchards, through gardens, and by 
 ruined villas and houses, until they reached the 
 edge of the plateau, and plunged down into the 
 valleys descending to the Dead Sea. After walk- 
 ing for two hours John called a halt. 
 
 " We can walk slowly now," he said, " and avoid 
 the risk of breaking our legs among the rocks. We 
 are safe here, and had best lie down until morning, 
 and then resume our way. There is no fear what- 
 ever of the Romans sending out parties for days. 
 They have the upper city to take yet, and the work 
 of plunder and division of the spoil to carry out. 
 We can sleep without anxiety." 
 
 It was strange to them all to lie down to sleep
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 407 
 
 among the stillness of the mountains after the din 
 and turmoil of the siege, when at any moment they 
 might be called upon to leap up to repel an attack ; 
 but few of them went off to sleep for some time. 
 The dull feeling of despair, the utter carelessness of 
 life, the desire for death and the end of trouble 
 which had so long oppressed them, these had passed 
 away now that they were free and in the open air ; 
 and the thoughts of the homes they had never 
 thought to see again, and of the loved ones who 
 would greet them on their return as men who had 
 almost come back from the dead, fell upon them. 
 They could go back with heads erect and clear con- 
 sciences. They had fought so long as the Temple 
 stood. They had over and over again faced the 
 Eomans hand to hand without giving way a foot. 
 They had taken no share in the evil deeds in the 
 city, and had wronged and plundered no one. 
 They did not return as conquerors, but that was the 
 will of God and no fault of theirs. 
 
 At daybreak they were on their feet again, and 
 now struck off more to the left, following mountain 
 paths among the hills until at last they came down 
 to the plain within half a mile of the upper end of 
 the Dead Sea. John here called his companions 
 round him. 
 
 " Here, my friends," he said, " I think it were 
 best that we separated, laying aside our swords, and 
 singly or in pairs finding the way back to our 
 homes. We know not in what towns there may be 
 Boman garrisons or where we may meet parties of
 
 408 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 their soldiers traversing the country. Alone we 
 shall attract no attention. One man may conceal 
 himself behind a tree or in the smallest bush, but 
 the sight of a party together would assuredly draw 
 them upon us, therefore it were best to separate. 
 Some of you will find it shorter to cross the ford of 
 the Jordan three miles away, while others had best 
 follow this side of the river." 
 
 All agreed that this would be the safer plan, and 
 after a short talk each took leave of his leader and 
 comrades and strode away, until Jonas alone re- 
 mained with John. 
 
 " Will you cross the river, John, or follow this 
 side ?" Jonas asked. 
 
 " I think we had best keep' on this side, Jonas ; 
 on the other the country is hilly and the villages 
 few. Here at least we can gather fruit and corn as 
 we go from the deserted gardens and fields, and 
 two days' walking will take us to Tarichea. We 
 can cross there or take a boat up the lake." 
 
 After waiting until the last of their comrades had 
 disappeared from sight John and his companion 
 continued their way, keeping about half-way be- 
 tween Jericho and the Jordan. They presently 
 bore to the left until on the great road running 
 north from Jericho. This they followed until 
 nightfall, rejoicing in the grapes and figs which 
 they picked by the roadside, where but a few 
 months since little villages had nestled thickly. 
 Just before darkness fell they came upon a village,
 
 FOB THE TEMPLE. 409 
 
 which, although deserted, had not been burned, 
 probably owing to some body of Roman soldiers 
 having taken up their post there for a time. They 
 entered one of the houses, lay down, and were soon 
 fast asleep.
 
 410 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 CHAPTEK XVIII. 
 
 SLAVES. 
 
 JOHN was roused from sleep by being roughly 
 shaken. He sprang to his feet, and found a number 
 of men, some of whom were holding torches, in the 
 room. Two of these had the appearance of mer- 
 chants. The others were armed, and by their 
 dress seemed to be Arabs. 
 
 " What are you doing here ?" one of the men 
 asked him. 
 
 " "We are peaceful travelers," John said, " in- 
 juring no one, and came in here to sleep the night." 
 
 " You look like peaceful travelers !" the man re- 
 plied. " You have two wounds yet unhealed on 
 your head. Your companion has one of his arms 
 bandaged. You are either robbers or some of the 
 cut-throats who escaped from Jerusalem. You may 
 think it lucky you have fallen into my hands in- 
 stead of that of the Romans, who would have 
 finished you off without a question. Bind them," 
 he said, turning to his men. 
 
 Resistance was useless. The hands of John and 
 Jonas were tied behind their backs, and they were 
 taken outside the house. Several fires were burn-
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 411 
 
 ing in the road, and lying down were three or four 
 hundred men and women, while several men with 
 spears and swords stood as a guard over them. 
 John saw at once that he had fallen into the hands 
 of a slave-dealer, one of the many who had come 
 from various parts to purchase the Jews whom the 
 Komans sold as slaves, and already the multitude 
 sold was so vast that it had reduced the price of 
 slaves throughout Italy, Egypt, and the East to one- 
 third of their former value. There were, however, 
 comparatively few able-bodied men among them. 
 In almost every case the Romans had put these to 
 the sword, and the slave-dealers, finding John and 
 Jonas, had congratulated themselves on the ac- 
 quisition, knowing well that no complaint that the 
 captives might make would be listened to, and that 
 their story would not be believed even if they could 
 get to tell it to any one of authority. John and 
 Jonas were ordered to lie down with the rest, and 
 were told that if they made any attempt to escape 
 they would be scourged to death. 
 
 " The villains !" Jonas muttered as they lay 
 down. " Is it not enough to drive one mad to 
 think that after having escaped the Romans we 
 should fall into the hands of these rogues !" 
 
 " We must not grumble at fate. Hitherto, Jonas, 
 we have been marvelously preserved. First of all, 
 we two were alone saved from Jotapata. then we 
 with ten others alone out of six hundred escaped 
 alive from Jerusalem. We have reason for thank- 
 fulness rather than repining. We have been de-
 
 412 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 liverc'd oat of the hands of death ; and remember 
 that I have the ring of Titus with me, and that 
 when the time comes this will avail us." 
 
 From the day the siege had begun John had 
 carried the signet-ring of Titus, wearing it on his 
 toe, concealed by the bands of his sandals. He 
 knew that were he to fall into the hands of the Ro- 
 mans he would get no opportunity of speaking, but, 
 even if not tilled at once, would be robbed of any 
 valuable he might possess, and that his assertion 
 that the ring was a signet which Titus himself had 
 given him would, even if listened to, be received 
 with incredulity. He had therefore resolved to 
 keep it concealed, ,and to produce it only when a 
 favorable opportunity seemed to offer. 
 
 " At any rate, Jonas, let us practice patience and 
 be thankful that we are still alive." 
 
 In the morning the cavalcade got into motion. 
 John found that the majority of his fellow-captives 
 were people who had been taken captive when 
 Titus for the second time obtained possession of the 
 lower city. They had been sent up to Tiberias and 
 there sold, and their purchaser was now taking 
 them down to Egypt. 
 
 The men were mostly past middle age, and would 
 have been of little value as slaves had it not been 
 that they were all craftsmen, workers in stone or 
 metal, and would therefore fetch a fair price if sold 
 to masters of these crafts. The rest were women 
 and children. The men were attached to each other 
 by cords, John and Jonas being placed at some dis
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 413 
 
 tance apart, and one of the armed guards placed 
 himself near each, as there was far more risk of 
 active and determined young men trying to make 
 their escape than of the others doing so, especially 
 after the manner in which they had been kid- 
 naped. All their clothes were taken from them 
 save their loin-cloths, and John trembled lest he 
 should be ordered also to take off his sandals, for 
 his present captors would have no idea of the value 
 of the ring, but would seize it for its setting. 
 
 Fortunately, however, this was not the case. The 
 guards all wore sandals, and had therefore no 
 motive in taking those of the captives, especially as 
 they were old and worn. The party soon turned 
 off from the main road and struck across the hills 
 to the west, and John bitterly regretted that he 
 had not halted for the night a few miles further 
 back than he did, in which case he would have 
 avoided the slave-dealers' caravan. 
 
 The heat was intense, and John pitied the women 
 and children, compelled to keep up with the rest. 
 He soon proposed to a woman who was burdened 
 with a child about two years old to place it on his 
 shoulders, and as the guard saw in this a proof that 
 their new captives had no idea of endeavoring to 
 escape they offered no objection to the arrange- 
 ment, which, indeed, seemed so good to them that 
 as the other mothers became fatigued they placed 
 the children on the shoulders of the male prisoners, 
 loosing the hands of the latter in order that they 
 might prevent the little ones from losing their 
 balance.
 
 414 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 The caravan halted for the night at Sichera, and 
 the next day crossed Mount Gerizim to Bethsalisa, 
 and then went on to Jaffa. Here the slave-dealers 
 hired a ship and embarked the slaves. They were 
 crowded closely together, but otherwise were not 
 unkindly treated, being supplied with an abundance 
 of food and water, for it was desirable that they 
 should arrive in the best possible condition at Alex- 
 andria, whither they were bound. 
 
 Fortunately the weather was fine, and in six 
 days they reached their destination. Alexandria 
 was at that time the largest city, next to Kome 
 herself, upon the shores of the Mediterranean. It 
 had contained a very large Jewish population prior 
 to the great massacre fi veyear before, and even now 
 there were a considerable number remaining. The 
 merchant had counted upon this, and, indeed, had 
 it not been for the number of Jews scattered among 
 the various cities of the East the price of slaves 
 would have fallen even lower than it did. But the 
 Jewish residents, so far as they could afford it, 
 came forward to buy their country men and women 
 in order to free them from slavery. 
 
 When, therefore, the new arrivals were exposed 
 in the market many assuring messages reached 
 them from their compatriots, telling them to keep 
 up their courage, for friends would look after them. 
 The feeling against the Jews was still too strong 
 for those who remained in Alexandria to appear 
 openly in the matter, and they therefore employed 
 intermediaries, principally Greeks and Cretans, to 
 buy up the captives..
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 415 
 
 The women with children were the first pur- 
 chased, as the value of these was not great ; then 
 some of the older men, who were unfit for much 
 work, were taken ; then there was a pause, for al- 
 ready many cargoes of captives had reached Alex- 
 andria, and the resources of their benevolent coun- 
 trymen were becoming exhausted. No one had yet 
 bid for John or Jonas, as the slave-dealers had 
 placed a high price upon them as being strong and 
 active and fitted for hard work. Their great fear 
 was that they should be separated, and John had 
 over and over again assured his companion that 
 should he, as he hoped, succeed in getting himself 
 sent to Titus, and so be freed, he would, before pro- 
 ceeding home, come to Egypt and purchase his 
 friend's freedom. 
 
 The event they feared, however, did not happen. 
 One day a Roman, evidently of high rank, came 
 into the market, and, after looking carelessly round, 
 fixed his eyes upon John and his companion and at 
 once approached their master. A few minutes were 
 spent in bargaining, then the dealer unfastened the 
 fetters which bound them, and the Eoman briefly 
 bade them follow him. He proceeded through the 
 crowded streets until they were in the country out- 
 side the town. Here villas with beautiful gardens 
 lined the roads. The Roman turned in at the en- 
 trance to one of the largest of these mansions. 
 Under a colonnade which surrounded the house a 
 lady was reclining upon a couch ; her two slave- 
 girls were fanning her.
 
 416 FOB THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " Lesbia," the Roman said, " you complained yes- 
 terday that you had not enough slaves to keep the 
 garden in proper order, so I have brought you two 
 more from the slave-market. They are Jews, that 
 obstinate race that have been giving Titus so much 
 trouble. Young as they are they seem to have 
 been fighting, for both of them are marked with 
 several scars." 
 
 " I dare say they will do," the lady said. " The 
 Jews are said to understand the culture of the vine 
 and fig better than other people, so they are prob- 
 ably accustomed to garden work." 
 
 The Koman clapped his hands, and a slave at 
 once appeared. 
 
 " Send Philo here." A minule later a Greek ap- 
 peared. " Philo, here are two slaves I have brought 
 from the market ; they are for work in the garden. 
 See that they do it, and let me know how things go 
 on. "We shall know how to treat them if they are 
 troublesome." Philo at once led the two new 
 slaves to the shed at a short distance from the 
 house where the slaves employed out of doors 
 lodged. 
 
 " Do you speak Greek ?" he asked. 
 
 " As well as my native language," John replied. 
 
 " My lord Tibellus is a just and good master," 
 Philo said, " and you are fortunate in having fallen 
 into his hands. He expects his slaves to work their 
 best, and if they do so he treats them well ; but dis- 
 obedience and laziness he punishes severely. He is 
 an officer of high rank in the government of the
 
 " LESBIA," THE ROMAN SAID, " I HAVE BROUGHT YOU TWO MORE SLAVES." Page 410.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 417 
 
 city. As you may not know the country, I warn 
 you against thinking of escape. The Lake of 
 Mareotis well-nigh surrounds the back of the city, 
 and beyond the lake the Koman authority extends 
 for a vast distance, and none would dare to conceal 
 runaway slaves." 
 
 "We shall not attempt to escape," John said 
 quietly, " and are well content that we have fallen 
 in such good hands. I am accustomed to work in a 
 garden, but my companion has not had much ex- 
 perience at such work, therefore I pray you be 
 patient with him at first." 
 
 John had agreed with Jonas that if they had the 
 good fortune to be sold to a Koman they would not 
 for a time say anything about the ring. It was 
 better, they thought, to wait until Titus returned 
 to Rome, which he would be sure to do after the 
 complete conquest of Jerusalem. 
 
 Even were they sent to him there, while he was 
 still full of wrath and bitterness against the Jews 
 for the heavy loss that they had inflicted upon his 
 army, and for the obstinacy which compelled him 
 to destroy the city which he would fain have pre- 
 served as a trophy of his victory, they might be less 
 favorably received than they would be after there 
 had been some time for the passions awakened by 
 the strife to abate, especially after the enjoyment 
 of the triumph which was sure to be accorded to 
 him on his return after his victory. 
 
 The next day the ring, the badge of slavery, was 
 fastened round the necks of the two new purchases.
 
 418 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 John had already hidden in the ground the precious 
 ring, as he rightly expected that he would have to 
 work barefooted. They were at once set to work 
 in the garden. John was surprised at the number 
 and variety of the plants and trees which filled it, 
 and at the beauty and care with which it was laid 
 out and tended. Had it not been for the thought 
 of the grief that they would be suffering at home 
 he wouk. for a time have worked contentedly. 
 The labor was no harder than that on his father's 
 farm, and as he worked well and willingly Philo, 
 who was at the head of the slaves employed in the 
 garden, which was a very extensive one, did not 
 treat him with harshness. 
 
 Jonas, although less skillful,' also gave satisfac-, 
 tion, and two months passed without any unpleas- 
 ant incident. The Roman slaves, save in exceptional 
 instances, were all well treated by their masters, 
 although these had power of life and death over 
 them. They were well fed, and generally had some 
 small money payment made them. Sometimes 
 those who were clever at a handicraft were let out 
 to other masters, receiving a portion of the wages 
 they earned, so that they were frequently able in 
 old age to purchase their freedom. 
 
 There were four other slaves who worked in the 
 garden. Two of these were Nubians, one a Parthian, 
 the other a Spaniard. The last died of home-sick- 
 ness and fever after they had been there six weeks, 
 and his place was filled up by another Jew from a 
 cargo freshly arrived.
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 419 
 
 From him John learned what had taken place 
 after he had left Jerusalem. The bands of Simon 
 and John of Gischala were so much weakened by 
 death and desertion, and were so enfeebled by fam- 
 ine, that they could not hope to withstand the 
 regular approaches of the Roman arms for any 
 length of time. The two leaders therefore invited 
 Titus to a parley, and the latter, being desirous of 
 avoiding more bloodshed, of saving the Palace of 
 Herod and the other great buildings in the upper 
 city, and of returning to Eome at once, agreed to 
 meet them. They took their places at opposite ends 
 of the bridge across the Tyropoeon Yalley. 
 
 Titus spoke first, and expostulated with them on 
 the obstinacy which had already led to the destruc- 
 tion of the Temple and the greater part of the city. 
 He said that all the world, even to the distant 
 Britons, had done homage to the Romans, and that 
 further resistance would only bring destruction upon 
 them. Finally, he offered their lives to all if they 
 would lay down their arms and surrender themselves 
 as prisoners of war. 
 
 Simon and John replied that they and their fol- 
 lowers had bound themselves by a solemn oath never 
 to surrender themselves into the hands of the Ro- 
 mans, but they expressed their willingness to retire 
 with their wives and families into the wilderness 
 and leave the Romans in possession of the city. 
 Titus considered this language for men in so des- 
 perate a position to be a mockery, and answered 
 sternly that henceforth he would receive no desert-
 
 420 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 ers and show no mercy, and that they might fight 
 their hardest. He at once ordered the destruction 
 of all the buildings standing round the Temple. 
 
 The flames spread as far as the Palace of Helena 
 on Ophel, to the south of the Temple platform. 
 Here the members of the royal family of Adiabene 
 dwelt, and also in the Palaces of Grapte and Mono- 
 bazus, and the descendants of Helena now went 
 over to the Romans, and Titus, although he had 
 declared that he would in future spare none, did not 
 take their lives, seeing that they were of royal blood. 
 Simon and John of Gischala, when they heard that 
 the Adiabene princes had gone over to the Romans, 
 rushed to the Palace of Helena, sacked it, and 
 murdered all who had taken refuge in the building, 
 seven thousand in number ; they then sacked the 
 rest of the outer lower town, and retired with their 
 booty into the high town. 
 
 Titus, furious at this conduct, ordered all the outer 
 lower town to be burned, and soon from the Temple 
 platform to the Fountain of Siloam a scene of deso- 
 lation extended. The Roman soldiers then com- 
 menced to throw up banks, the one against Herod's 
 Palace, the other near the bridge across the valley 
 close to the Palace of Agrippa. The Idumeans under 
 Simon were opposed to further resistance, and five 
 of their leaders opened communication with Titus, 
 who was disposed to treat with them, but the con- 
 spiracy was discovered by Simon and the five leaders 
 executed. Still, in spite of the watchfulness of Simon 
 and John large numbers of the inhabitants made
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 421 
 
 their escape to the Romans, who, tired of slaying, 
 spared their lives, but sold the able-bodied as slaves 
 and allowed the rest to pass through their lines. 
 
 On the 1st of September, after eighteen days' in- 
 cessant labor, the bank on the west against Herod's 
 Palace was completed and the battering-rams 
 commenced their work. The defenders were too 
 enfeebled by famine to offer any serious resistance, 
 and the next day a long line of the wall fell to the 
 ground. 
 
 Simon and John at first thought of cutting their 
 way through the Roman ranks, but when they saw 
 how small was the bod} 7 of followers gathered 
 round them they gave up the attempt. They 
 hesitated for a moment whether they should throw 
 themselves into the three great towers and fight to 
 the last, or endeavor to fight their way through the 
 wall of circumvallation. 
 
 They chose the latter course, hurried down to 
 the lower end of the upper city, and sallying out 
 from the gate they rushed at the Roman wall ; but 
 they had no engines of war to batter it, they were 
 few in number and weakened by famine, and when 
 they tried to scale the wall the Roman guards, as- 
 sembling in haste, beat them back, and they 
 returned into the city and, scattering, hid them- 
 selves in the underground caves. 
 
 The Romans advanced to the great towers and 
 found them deserted. Titus stood amazed at their 
 strength and solidity, and exclaimed that God 
 indeed was on their side, for that by man alon<
 
 422 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 these impregnable towers could never have been 
 taken. 
 
 All resistance having now ceased, the Romans 
 spread themselves through the city, slaughtering 
 all whom they met without distinction of age or 
 sex. They were, however, aghast at the spectacle 
 which the houses into which they burst presented. 
 Some of these had been used as charnel-houses, and 
 had been tilled with dead bodies. In others were 
 found the remains of whole families who with their 
 servants had shut themselves up to die of hunger. 
 Everywhere the dead far outnumbered the living. 
 
 The next day Titus issued an order that only such 
 as possessed arms should be slain, and that all 
 others should be taken prisoners ; but the Roman 
 soldiers were too infuriated at the losses and de- 
 feats they had suffered even to obey the orders of 
 Titus, and all save the able-bodied who would be of 
 value as slaves were slaughtered. A vast number 
 of those fit for slaves were confined in the charred 
 remains of the Women's Court, and so weakened 
 were these by the ravages of famine that eleven 
 thousand of them are said to have perished. 
 
 Of the survivors some were selected to grace the 
 triumphal procession at Rome ; of the remainder, 
 all under the age of seventeen were sold as slaves ; 
 a part of those above that age were distributed 
 among the amphitheaters of Syria to fight as 
 gladiators against the wild beasts; and the rest 
 were condemned to labor in the public works in 
 Egypt for the rest of their lives. When all above
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 433 
 
 the surface had been slain or made prisoners, the 
 Komans set to work methodically to search the 
 conduits, sewers, and passages under the city. 
 Multitudes of fugitives were found here, and all 
 were slain as soon as discovered. Then the army 
 was set to work to raze the city to the ground. 
 Every building and wall was thrown down, the 
 only exception being a great barrack adjoining 
 Herod's Palace, which was left for the use of one 
 of the legions which was to be quartered there for 
 a time, and the three great towers, Hippicus, 
 Phasaelus, and Mariamne, which were left standing 
 in order that they might show to future genera 
 tions how vast had been the strength of the forti- 
 fications which Roman valor had captured. 
 
 John of Gischala and Simon had both so effect- 
 ually concealed themselves that for a time they 
 escaped the Roman searchers. At the end of some 
 days, however, John was compelled by famine to 
 come out and surrender. Simon was much longer 
 before he made his appearance. He had taken 
 with him into his hiding-place a few of his followers 
 and some stone masons with their tools, and an 
 effort was made to drive a mine beyond the Roman 
 outposts. The rock, however, was hard and the 
 men enfeebled by famine, and the consequence was 
 that Simon, like his fellow-leader, was compelled 
 to make his way to the surface. 
 
 The spot where he appeared was on the platform 
 of the Temple far from the shaft by which he had 
 entered the underground galleries. He appeared at
 
 4JJ4 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 night clad in white, and the Roman guards at first 
 took him for a specter, and he thus escaped instant 
 death and had time to declare who he was. Titus 
 had already left, but Terentius Rufus, who com- 
 manded the Tenth Legion, which had been left be- 
 hind, sent Simon in chains to Titus at Csesarea, and 
 he as well as John of Gischala were taken by the 
 latter to Rome to grace his triumph. 
 
 " It is strange," John said when he heard the 
 story, " that the two men who have brought all 
 these woes upon Jerusalem should have both 
 escaped with their lives. The innocent have fallen 
 and the guilty escaped, yet not escaped, for it would 
 have been better for them to have died fighting in 
 the court of the Temple than to live as slaves in the 
 hands of the Romans." 
 
 A month later John learned the fate that had be- 
 fallen the two Jewish leaders. Both were dragged 
 in the triumphal procession of Titus through the 
 streets of Rome ; then, according to the cruel 
 Roman custom, Simon was first scourged and then 
 executed as the bravest of the enemies of Rome, 
 while John of Gischala was sentenced to imprison- 
 ment for life. 
 
 The day after the news of the return to Rome 
 and triumph of Titus arrived John asked Philo to 
 tell Tibellus that he prayed that he would hear him, 
 as he wished to speak to him on a subject connected 
 with Titus. 
 
 Wondering what his Jewish slave could have to 
 say about the son of the emperor, Tibellus upon
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE, 435 
 
 hearing from Philo of the request at once ordered 
 John to be brought to him. 
 
 " Let me bring my companion also with me," 
 John said to Philo. " He is my adopted brother, 
 and can bear evidence to the truth of my state- 
 ments." 
 
 When they reached the colonnade Philo told 
 them to stop there, and a minute later Tibellus 
 came out. 
 
 " Philo tells me that you have something to say 
 to me concerning Titus." 
 
 " I have, my lord," John said, and he advanced 
 and held out the ring. 
 
 The" Roman took it and examined it. 
 
 " It is a signet-ring of Titus !" he said in surprise. 
 " Ho\v came you by this ? This is a grave matter, 
 slave ; and if you cannot account satisfactority as 
 to how you came possessed of this signet, you had 
 better have thrown yourself into the sea, or 
 swallowed poison, than have spoken of your posses- 
 sion of this signet." 
 
 " It was given to me by Titus himself," John 
 said. 
 
 The Roman made a gesture of anger. 
 
 "It is ill jesting with the name of Caesar," he 
 said sternly. " This is Caesar's ring. Doubtless it 
 was stolen from him. You may have taken it from 
 the robber by force or fraud, or as a gift, I know 
 not which, but do not mock me with such a tale as 
 that Caesar gave one of his signets to you, a Jew." 
 
 "It is as I said, " John replied calmly. ''Titus
 
 426 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 himself bestowed that ring upon me, and said that 
 if I desired to come to him at any time and showed 
 it to a Roman it would open all doors and bring me 
 to his presence." 
 
 " You do not speak as if you were mad, " Tibellus 
 said, " and yet your tale is not credible. Are you 
 weary of life, Jew ? do you long to die by torture ? 
 Philo has spoken well to me of you and your young 
 companion. You have labored well and cheerfully, 
 he tells me, and are skilled at your work. Do you 
 find your lot so hard that you would die to escape 
 it, and so tell me this impossible story ? for death, 
 and a horrible death, will assuredly be your por- 
 tion. If you persist in this tale, and, showing me 
 this ring, say, I demand that you send me and my 
 companion to Titus, I should be bound to do so, and 
 then torture and death will be your portion for 
 mocking the name of Cassar." 
 
 " My lord," John said calmly, " I repeat that I 
 mock not the name of Cassar, and that what I have 
 told you is true. I am not weary of life or discontent- 
 ed with my station. I have been kindly treated by 
 Philo, and work no harder than I should work at 
 my father's farm in Galilee ; but I naturally long 
 to return home. I have abstained from showing 
 you this ring before, because Titus had not as yet 
 conquered Jerusalem ; but now that I hear he has 
 been received in triumph in Rome he would have 
 time to give me an audience, and therefore I pray 
 that I may be sent to him." 
 
 "But how is it possible that Titus could have
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 4i{? 
 
 given you this ring ?" Tibellus asked, impressed by 
 the calmness of John's manner, and yet still unable 
 to believe a statement which appeared to him alto- 
 gether incredible. 
 
 " I will tell you, my lord, but I will tell you alone ; 
 for although Titus made no secret of it at the time, 
 he might not care for the story to be generally 
 told." 
 
 Tibellus waved his hand to Philo, who at once 
 withdrew. 
 
 " You have found it hard to believe what I have 
 told you, my lord," John went on. " You will find 
 it harder still to believe what I now tell you ; but 
 if it is your command, I am bound to do so." 
 
 "It is my command," Tibellus said shortly. "I 
 would fain know the whole of this monstrous tale." 
 
 " I must first tell you, my lord, that though as 
 yet but twenty one } 7 ears old, I have for four years 
 fought with my countrymen against the Romans. 
 You see," he said, pointing to the scars on his head, 
 arms, and body, " I have been wounded often, and, 
 as you may see for yourself, some of these scars are 
 yet unhealed, others are so old that you can scarce 
 see their traces. This is a proof of so much at least 
 of my story. My companion here and I were, by 
 the protection of our God, enabled to escape from 
 Jotapata when all else save Josephus perished there. 
 This was regarded by my countrymen as well-nigh 
 a miracle, and as a proof that I had divine favor. 
 In consequence a number of young men, when they 
 took up arms, elected me as their leader, and for
 
 428 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 three years we did what we could to oppose the 
 progress of the Roman arms. It was as if a fly 
 should try to stop a camel. Still we did what we 
 could, and any of the Roman officers who served 
 under Titus would tell you that of those who op- 
 posed them in the field there was no more active 
 partisan than the leader, who was generally known 
 as John of Gamala." 
 
 " You John .of Gamala !" Tibellus exclaimed. 
 "In frequent letters from my friends with the army 
 I have read thatname,and heard how incessant was 
 the watchfulness required to resist his attacks, and 
 how often small garrisons and parties were cut off 
 by him. It was he, too, who burned Vespasian's 
 camp before Gamala ; and you tell me, young man, 
 that you *are that Jewish hero, for hero he was, 
 though it was against Rome he fought ?" 
 
 " I tell you so, my lord ; and my adopted brother 
 here, who was with me through these campaigns, 
 will confirm what I say. I say it not boastingly, 
 for my leadership was due to no special bravery on 
 my part, but simply because the young men of the 
 band thought that God had specially chosen me to 
 lead them." 
 
 " And now about Titus," Tibellus said briefly, 
 more and more convinced that his slave was auda- 
 ciously inventing this story. 
 
 " Once near Hebron," John said, " I was passing 
 through a valley alone, when Titus, who was riding 
 from Carmelia in obedience to a summons from 
 Yespasian, who was at Hebron, came upon me. He 
 attacked me and we fought "
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 439 
 
 " You and Titus hand to hand ?" Tibellus asked, 
 with a short laugh. 
 
 " Titus and I hand to hand," John repeated 
 quietly ; " he had wounded me twice, when 1 sprang 
 within his guard and closed with him. His foot 
 slipped and he fell ; for a moment I could have slain 
 him if I would, but 1 did not ; then I fainted from 
 loss of blood. Titus was shortly joined by some of 
 his men, and he had me carried down to his camp, 
 where I was kindly nursed for a week, he himself 
 visiting me several times. At the end of that time 
 he dismissed me, giving me his signet-ring, and tell- 
 ing me that if ever again I fell into the hands of 
 the Romans and wished to see him, I had but to 
 show the ring to a Roman and that he would send 
 me to him." 
 
 " And to him you shall go," Tibellus said sternly ; 
 " and better would it have been that you had never 
 been born than that I should send you to him with 
 such a tale as this." 
 
 So saying he turned away, while John and his 
 companion returned to their work. The Roman 
 officer was absolutely incredulous as to the story he 
 had heard, and indignant in the extreme at what he 
 considered the audacity of the falsehood. Still he 
 could not but be struck by the calmness with which 
 John told the story, nor could he see what motive 
 he could have in inventing it. Its falsity would of 
 course be made apparent the instant he arrived in 
 Rome, whereas had he said, as was doubtless the 
 truth, that he had obtained the ring from one who
 
 430 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 had stolen it from Titus, he might have obtained 
 his freedom and a reward for its restoration. 
 
 After thinking the matter over for a time he or- 
 dered his horse and rode into the city. One of the 
 legions from Palestine had returned there, while 
 two had accompanied Titus to Rome, and a fourth 
 had remained in Judea. Tibellus rode at once to 
 the headquarters of the commander of the legion. 
 He had just returned with some of his officers from 
 a parade of the troops. They had taken off their 
 armor, and a slave was pouring wine into goblets 
 for them. 
 
 " Ah, Tibellus !" he said, " is it you ? Drink, my 
 friend, and tell us what ails you, for in truth you 
 look angered and hot." 
 
 "I have been angered by one of my slaves," 
 Tibellus said. 
 
 "Then there is no trouble in that," the Roman 
 said with a smile ; " throw him to the fishes and 
 buy another ; they are cheap enough, for we have 
 flooded the world with slaves, and as we know to 
 our cost they are scarce salable. We have brought 
 two or three thousand with us and can get no bid 
 for them." 
 
 "Yes, but this matter can't be settled so," Tibel- 
 lus said ; " but first I want to ask you a question or 
 two. You heard, of course, of John of Gamala in 
 your wars in Judea ?" 
 
 There was a chorus of assent. 
 
 " That did we, indeed, to our cost," the general 
 said ; " save the two leaders in Jerusalem he was
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 431 
 
 the most dangerous, and was by far the most trouble- 
 some of our foes. Many a score of sleepless nights 
 has that fellow caused us ; from the time he well- 
 nigh burned all our camp before Gamala, he was a 
 thorn in our side. One never knew where he was 
 or when to expect him. One day we heard of him 
 attacking a garrison at the other end of the country, 
 and the next night he would fall upon our camp. 
 We never marched through a ravine without expect- 
 ing to see him and his men appearing on the hills 
 and sending the rocks thundering down among us ; 
 and the worst of it was, do what we would we could 
 never get to close quarters with him. His men could 
 march three miles to our one ; and as for our Arabs, 
 if we sent them in pursuit they would soon come 
 flying back to us, leaving a goodly portion of their 
 numbers dead behind them. He was the most 
 formidable enemy we had outside Jerusalem, and 
 had all the Jews fought as he did, instead of shut- 
 ting themselves up in their walled towns, we might 
 have been years before we subdued that pestilent 
 country." 
 
 " Did you ever see this John of Gamala ? Do you 
 know what he was like personally ? Was he another 
 giant like this Simon who was executed at the 
 triumph the other day ?" 
 
 " None of us ever saw him, that is, to know which 
 was he, though doubtless we ma} 7 have seen him in 
 the fights ; but all the country people we questioned, 
 and such wounded men as fell into cur hands, for 
 we never once captured one of his band unharmed,
 
 432 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 all asserted that he was little more than a lad. He 
 was strong and skillful in arms, but in years a youth. 
 They all believed that he was a sort of prophet, one 
 who had a mission from their God. But why are 
 3 r ou asking ?" 
 
 " I will tell you presently," Tibellus said ; " but 
 first answer me another question. Was it not your 
 legion that was at Carmelia with Titus when Ves- 
 pasian lay at Hebron ?" 
 
 There was a general assent. 
 
 " Did you ever hear of a wounded Jew being 
 brought in and tended there by order of Titus ?" 
 
 " We did," the general said ; " and here is Plancus, 
 who was in command of that part of the horse of 
 the legion which formed the 'body-guard of Titus, 
 and who brought him into the camp ; he will tell 
 you about it." 
 
 "Titus had received a message from Vespasian 
 that he wished to see him," the officer signified by 
 the general said, " and rode off at once, telling us to 
 follow him. We armed and mounted as soon as we 
 could, but Titus was well mounted and had a con- 
 siderable start. We came up to him in a vtille} 7 . 
 he was standing by the side of his dead horse. He 
 was slightly wounded, and his dirtied armor 
 showed that he had had a sharp fight. Close by lay 
 a Jew who seemed to be dead. Titus ordered him 
 to be carried back to the camp and cared for by his 
 own leech. That is all I know about it." 
 
 " I can tell you more," the general said, " for 
 Titns himself told me that he had had a desperate
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 433 
 
 fight with the Jew, that he had wounded him 
 severely, and was on the point of finishing him when 
 the ^ew sprang at him suddenly, and the sudden 
 shock threw him to the ground, and that, strange as 
 it might seem, although knowing who he was, the 
 Jew spared his life. It was a strange story, and 
 any one besides Titus would have kept it to himself, 
 and run his sword through the body of the Jew to 
 make sure of his silence ; but Titus has notions of 
 his own, and he is as generous as he is brave. By 
 what he said I gathered that the Jew abstained 
 from striking, believing, as was truly the case, that 
 Titus was more merciful than Yespasian, and that 
 he would spare Jerusalem and their Temple if he 
 could. And now, why all these questions ?" 
 
 " One more on rny part first : what became of the 
 Jew, and what was he like ?" 
 
 "That is two questions," the general replied; 
 "however, I will answer them. Titus let him go 
 free when he was recovered from his wounds. He 
 was a young man of some twenty years old." 
 
 " And do you know his name ?" 
 
 " I know his name was John, for so he told Titus, 
 but as every other Jew one comes across is John 
 that does not tell much." 
 
 " I can tell you his other name," Tibellus said. 
 " It was John of Gamala." 
 
 An exclamation of astonishment broke from the 
 officers. 
 
 " So that was John of Gamala himself !" the 
 general said. " None of us ever dreamed of it, and
 
 434 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 yet it might well have been, for, now I think of it, 
 the young fellow I saw lying wounded in the tent 
 next to that of Titus answered exactly to the de- 
 scription we have heard of him, and the fact that he 
 overcame Titus in itself shows that he had unusual 
 strength and bravery. But how do you know about 
 this ?" 
 
 " Simply because John of Gamala is at present 
 working as a slave in my garden." 
 
 " You do not say so !" the general exclaimed. 
 ""We have often wondered what became of him. 
 We learned from the deserters that he had entered 
 into Jerusalem and was fighting there against us. 
 They all agreed that the men he had brought with 
 him took no part in the atrocities of the soldiers of 
 Simon and John of Gischala, but that they kept 
 together and lived quietly and harmed no man. 
 It was they, we heard, who did the chief part in 
 the three days' fighting at the breach of the lower 
 town ; but we never heard what became of him, and 
 supposed that he must have fallen in the fighting 
 round the Temple. And so he is your slave, Tibel- 
 lus ! How did you know it was he, and what are 
 you going to do ? The war is over now, and there 
 has been bloodshed enough, and after all he was a 
 gallant enemy, who fought us fairly and well." 
 
 " He told me himself who he was," Tibellus said; 
 " but I believed that he was lying to me. I had 
 heard often of John of Gamala, and deemed that 
 he was a brave and skillful warrior, and it seemed 
 impossible that young man could be he. As to
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 435 
 
 what I am going to do with him, I have nothing 
 to do but what he has himself demanded, namely, 
 to be sent to Titus. He produced the signet-ring of 
 Caesar, said that it was given to him by the general 
 himself, and that he told him that if he presented it 
 to a Kornan at any time he would lead him to his 
 presence. I believed that he had stolen the ring, 
 or had got it from somebody that had stolen it ; 
 and he then told me of the story very much as you 
 have told it, save that he said that when he was 
 well-nigh conquered by Titus, and sprang upon him, 
 Caesar's foot slipped, and he fell, hinting that his 
 success was the result of accident rather than his 
 own effort. He spoke by no means boastingly of 
 it, but as if it was the most natural thing in the 
 world." 
 
 " There he showed discretion and wisdom," the 
 general said ; " but truly this is a marvelous story. 
 If he had not appealed to Caesar, I should have said, 
 Give him his freedom. You can buy a new slave 
 for a few sesterces. This young fellow is too good 
 to be a slave, and now that Judea is finally crushed 
 he could never become dangerous ; but as he has 
 demanded to be sent to Caesar, you must, of course, 
 send him there ; besides, with the ideas that Titus 
 has, he may be really glad to see the youth again. 
 But we shall like to see him also. We all honor a 
 brave adversary, and I should like to see him who 
 so long set us at defiance." 
 
 " I will bring him down to-morrow at this hour," 
 Tibellus said, and then, taking leave of the officers, 
 he mounted and rode back.
 
 436 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 On reaching home he at once sent for John. " I 
 doubted your story when you told it to me," he 
 said, "and deemed it impossible; but I have been 
 down to the officers of the legion which arrived 
 last week from Judea. It chances to be the very 
 one which was at Carraelia when Vespasian lay at 
 Hebron, and I find that your story is fully con- 
 firmed ; although, indeed, they did not know that 
 the wounded man Titus sent in was John of 
 Gamala ; but as they admit that he answered 
 exactly to the description which they have heard of 
 that leader, they doubt not that it was he. How- 
 ever, be assured that your request is granted, and 
 that you shall be sent to Rome by the next ship 
 that goes thither."
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE, 437 
 
 OHAPTEK XIX. 
 
 AT ROME. 
 
 TIBELLUS at once ordered John to be released 
 from all further work, the badge of slavery to be 
 removed, and that he should be supplied with hand- 
 some garments, removed into the house, and as- 
 signed an apartment with the freedmen. The 
 bearer of the signet of Titus, now that it was 
 ascertained that the signet had been really given to 
 him by Caesar, was an important person, and was to 
 be received with consideration if not honor. When 
 these changes had been made, John was again 
 brought before Tibellus. 
 
 "Is there anything else that I can do for your 
 comfort as one who has been honored by Titus him- 
 self, our future emperor ? You have but to express 
 your wishes and I shall be glad to carry them 
 out." 
 
 " I would ask, then," John said, " that my friend 
 and companion may be set free and allowed to ac- 
 company me to Rome. He is my adopted brother. 
 He has fought and slept by my side for the last 
 four years, and your bounty to me gives me no 
 pleasure so long as he is laboring as a slave."
 
 438 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Tibellus at once sent for Philo, and ordered the 
 collar to be filed from the neck of Jonas, and for 
 him to be treated in the same manner as John. 
 
 The next day Tibellus invited John to accompany 
 him to the barracks, and as he would take no ex- 
 cuses he was obliged to dp so. 
 
 Tibellus presented him to the general and his 
 officers, who received him very cordially, and were 
 much struck with his quiet demeanor and the 
 nobility of his bearing. John had for four years 
 been accustomed to command, and the belief enter- 
 tained by his followers in his special mission had 
 had its effect upon his manner. Although simple 
 and unassuming in mind, and always ready on his 
 return to the farm to become again the simple 
 worker upon his father's farm, he had yet insensibly 
 acquired the bearing of one born to position and 
 authority. He was much above the ordinary 
 height ; and although his figure was slight, it 
 showed signs, which could well be appreciated by 
 the Romans, of great activity and unusual strength. 
 His face was handsome, his forehead lofty, his eyes 
 large and soft, and in the extreme firmness of his 
 mouth and his square chin and jaw were there alone 
 signs of the determination and steadfastness which 
 had made him so formidable a foe to the Romans. 
 
 u So you are John of Gamala!" the general said. 
 " We have doubtless nearly crossed swords more 
 than once. You have caused us many a sleepless 
 night, and it seemed to us that you and your bands 
 were ubiquitous. I am glad to meet you, as are we
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 439 
 
 all. A Roman cherishes no malice against an hon 
 orable foe, and such we always found you, and I 
 trust you have no malice for the past." 
 
 " None," John said. " I regard you as the in- 
 struments of God for the punishment of my people. 
 We brought our misfortunes upon ourselves by the 
 rebellion, which would have seemed madness had it 
 not doubtless been the will of God that we should 
 so provoke you and perish. All I ask now is to re- 
 turn to my father's farm and to resume my life 
 there. If I could do that without going to Konie I 
 would gladly do so." 
 
 " That can hardly be," Tibellus said. " The rule 
 is that when one appeals to Caesar, to Cassar he 
 must go. The case is at once taken out of our 
 hands. Besides, I should have to report the fact to 
 Rome, and Titus may wish to see you, and might 
 be ill-pleased at hearing that you had returned to 
 Galilee without going to see him. Besides, it may 
 be some time before all animosity between the two 
 peoples dies out there, and you might obtain from 
 him an imperial order which would prove a protec- 
 tion to yourself and family against any who might 
 desire to molest you. If for this reason alone it 
 would be well worth your while for you to pro- 
 ceed to Rome." 
 
 Three days later Tibellus told John that a ship 
 would sail next morning, and that a centurion ih 
 charge of some invalided soldiers would go in her. 
 
 " I have arranged for you to go in his charge, 
 and have instructed him to accompany you to the
 
 440 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 palace of Titus and facilitate your having an inter- 
 view with him. I have given him a letter to pre- 
 sent to Titus with greetings, saying why I have sent 
 you to him. Here is a purse of money to pay for 
 what you may require on the voyage, and to keep 
 you, if need be. at Rome until } 7 ou can see Titus, 
 who may possibly be absent. You owe me no 
 thanks," he said as John was about to speak. 
 "Titus would be justly offended were the bearer of 
 his signet-ring sent to him without due care and 
 honor." 
 
 That evening Tibellus gave a banquet, at which 
 the general and several officers were present. The 
 total number present was nine, including John and 
 the host, this being the favorite number for what 
 they regarded as small private entertainments. At 
 large banquets hundreds of persons were frequently 
 entertained. After the meal John, at the request 
 of Tibellus, related to the officers the manner of his 
 escapes from Jotapata and Jerusalem, and several 
 of the incidents of the struggle in which he had 
 taken part. 
 
 The next morning he and Jonas took their places 
 on board the ship and sailed for Rome. 
 
 It was now far in November, and the passage was 
 a boisterous one, and the size of the waves aston- 
 ished John, accustomed as he was only to the short 
 choppy seas of the Lake of Galilee. Jonas made 
 up his mind that they were lost, and indeed for 
 some days the vessel was in imminent danger. In- 
 stead of passing through the straits between Sicily
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 441 
 
 and the mainland of Italy, they were blown far to 
 the west, and finally took shelter in the harbor of 
 Caralis in Sardinia. Here they remained for a 
 week to refit and repair damages, and then sailed 
 across to Po-rtus Augusti and then up the Tiber. 
 
 The centurion had done his best to make the 
 voyage a pleasant one to John and his companion. 
 Having been informed that the former was the 
 bearer of a signet-ring of Titus, and would have an 
 audience with him, he was anxious to create as good 
 an impression as possible; but it was not until 
 Caralis was reached that John recovered sufficiently 
 from sea-sickness to take much interest in what 
 was passing round him. The travelers were 
 greatly struck with the quantity of shipping enter- 
 ing and leaving the mouth of the Tiber, the sea 
 being dotted with the sails of the vessels bearing 
 corn from Sardinia, Sicily, and Africa, and products 
 of all kinds from every port in the world. 
 
 The sight of Rome impressed him less than he 
 had expected. Of its vast ness he could form no 
 opinion ; but in strength and beauty it appeared to 
 him inferior to Jerusalem. When he landed he saw 
 how many were the stately palaces and temples; 
 but of the former none were more magnificent than 
 that of Herod. Nor was there one of the temples 
 to be compared for a moment with that which had 
 so lately stood, the wonder and admiration of the 
 world, upon Mount Moriah. 
 
 The centurion procured a commodious lodging for 
 him, and finding that Titus was still in Rome accom-
 
 443 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 panied him the next day to the palace. Upon say- 
 ing that he was the bearer of a letter to Titus the 
 centurion was shown into the inner apartments, 
 John being left in the great antechamber, which 
 was crowded with officers waiting to see Titus when 
 he came out, to receive orders, pay their respects, 
 or present petitions to him. The centurion soon 
 returned and told John to follow him. 
 
 " Titus was very pleased," he whispered, " when 
 he read the letter I brought him, and begged me 
 bring you at once to his presence." 
 
 Titus was alone in a small chamber, whose sim- 
 plicity contrasted strangely with the magnificence 
 of those through which he had passed. He rose 
 from a table at which he had been writing. 
 
 " Ah, my good friend," he said, " I am truly glad 
 to see you! I made sure that you were dead. You 
 were not among those who came out and gave 
 themselves up, or among those who were captured 
 when the city was taken, for I had careful inquiry 
 made, thinking it possible that you might have lost 
 my ring, and been unable to obtain access to me ; 
 then at last I made sure that you had fallen. I am 
 truly glad to see that it is not so." 
 
 " I was marvelously preserved then, as at Jota- 
 pata," John said, " and escaped, after the Temple 
 had fallen, by a secret passage leading out beyond 
 the wall of circumvallation. As I made my way 
 home I fell into the hands of some slave dealers, 
 who seized me and my companion, who is my 
 adopted brother, and carried us away to Alexandria,
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 443 
 
 where I was sold. As you had not yet returned 
 to Rome, I thought it better not to produce 
 your signet, which I had fortunately managed to 
 conceal. 
 
 " When I heard that you had reached Rome, and 
 had received your triumph, I produced the ring to 
 my master Tibellus, and prayed him to send me 
 and my companion here to you, in order that I 
 might ask for liberty and leave to return to my 
 home. He treated me with the greatest kindness, 
 and but that I had appealed to you would of him- 
 self have set us free. It is for this alone that I have 
 come here, to ask you to confirm the freedom he 
 has given me, and to permit me to return to Gali- 
 lee. Further, if you will give me your order that I 
 and mine may live peacefully without molestation 
 from any, it would add to your favors." 
 
 " I will do these certainly," Titus said, "and far 
 more, if you will let me. I shall never forget that 
 you saved my life ; and believe me I did my best to 
 save the Temple, which was what I promised you. 
 I did not say that I would save it, merely that 1 
 would do my best; but your obstinate countrymen 
 insisted in bringing destruction upon it." 
 
 " I know that you did all that was possible," 
 John said, " and that the blame lies with them, and 
 not with you in any way. However, it was the 
 will of God that it should be destroyed, and they 
 were the instruments of his will, while they thought 
 they were tr\'ing to preserve it." 
 
 " But now," Titus said, " you must let me do
 
 444 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 more for you. Have you ambition ? I will push 
 you forward to high position and dignity. Do you 
 care for wealth ? I have the treasures of Rome in 
 my gift. Would you serve in the army ? Many of 
 the Alexandrian Jews had high rank in the army 
 of Anthony. Two of Cleopatra's best generals were 
 your countrymen. I know your bravery and your 
 military talents, and will gladly push you forward." 
 
 " I thank you, Caesar, for your offers," John said, 
 " which far exceed my deserts, but 1 would rather 
 pass my life as a tiller of the soil in Galilee. The 
 very name of a Jew at present is hateful in the ear 
 of a Roman. All men who succeed by the favor of 
 a great prince are hated. I should be still more so 
 as a Jew. I should be hated v by my own country- 
 men, as well as yours, for they would regard me as 
 a traitor. There would be no happiness in such a 
 life. A thousand times better a home by the Lake 
 of Galilee with a wife and children." 
 
 " If such be your determination I will say naught 
 against it," Titus said ; " but remember, if at any 
 time you tire of such a life, come to me and I will 
 give you a post of high honor and dignity. There 
 are glorious opportunities for talent and upright- 
 ness in our distant dependencies east and west 
 where there will be no prejudices against the name 
 of a Jew. However, for the present let that be. 
 To-morrow I will have prepared for you an imperial 
 order to all Roman officers, civil and military, of 
 Galilee and Judea to treat you as the friend of 
 Titus; also the appointmen as procurator of the
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 445 
 
 district lying north of the river Hieromax up to the 
 boundary of Chorazin, for a distance of ten miles 
 back from the lake. 
 
 " You will not refuse that office, for it will enable 
 you to protect your country people from oppression, 
 and to bring prosperity upon the whole district. 
 Lastly, you will receive with the documents a sum 
 of money. I know that you will not use it on your- 
 self, but it will be long before the land recovers 
 from its wounds. There will be terrible misery 
 and distress, and I should like to think that in the 
 district at least of my friend there are peace and 
 contentment. Less than this Caesar cannot give to 
 the man who spared his life." 
 
 John thanked Titus most heartily for his favors, 
 which would, he saw, insure his family and neigh- 
 bors from the oppression and tyranny to which a 
 conquered people are exposed at the hands of a 
 rough soldiery. Titus ordered an apartment to be 
 prepared for him in the palace, and begged him to 
 take up his abode there until a vessel should be 
 sailing for Caesarea. Slaves were told off to attend 
 upon him and to escort him in the city, and every- 
 thing was done to show the esteem and friendship 
 in which Titus held him. Titus had several inter- 
 views with him, and learned now for the first time 
 that he was the John of Gamala who had so long 
 and stoutly opposed the Romans. 
 
 " If I had known that," Titus said with a smile, 
 " when you were in my hands, I do not think I 
 should have let you go free, though your captivity
 
 446 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 would have been an honorable one. When you said 
 that you would not promise to desist from opposing 
 our arms, I thought that one man more or less in 
 the ranks of the enemy would make little difference ; 
 but had I known that it was the redoubtable John 
 of Gamala who was in my hands I should hardly 
 have thought myself justified in letting you go 
 free." 
 
 John, at the request of Titus, gave him a sketch 
 of the incidents of his life and of the campaign. 
 
 " So you have already a lady-love," Titus said 
 when he had finished. " "What shall I send her ? 
 Better nothing at present," he said, after a mo- 
 ment's thought and a smile, " beyond yourself. 
 That will be the best and most acceptable gift I 
 could send her. Time and your good report may 
 soften the feelings with which doubtless she, like all 
 the rest of your countrywomen, must regard me ; 
 though the gods know I would gladly have spared 
 Galilee and Judea from the ruin which has fallen 
 upon them." 
 
 In addition to the two documents which he had 
 promised him, Titus thoughtfully gave him another, 
 intended for the perusal of his own countrymen 
 only. It was in the form of a letter, saying to 
 John that he had appointed him procurator of the 
 strip of territory bordering the Lake of Galilee on 
 the east, not from any submission on his part, still 
 less at his request, but solely as a proof of his 
 admiration for the stubborn and determined man- 
 ner in which he had fought throughout the war,
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 447 
 
 the absence of any cruelty practiced upon Eomans 
 who fell into his hands, of his esteem for his 
 character, and as a remembrance of the occasion 
 when they two had fought hand to hand alone in 
 the valley going down from Hebron. 
 
 The gold was sent directly on board a ship. It 
 was in a box which required four strong men to 
 lift. A centurion, with twenty men, was put on 
 board the ship, with orders to land with John at 
 Caesarea, and to escort him to his own home, or as 
 near as he might choose to take them. Titus took 
 a cordial leave of him, and expressed a hope that 
 John would some day change his mind and accept 
 his offer of a post, and that at any rate he hoped 
 that he would from time to time come to Rome to 
 see him. 
 
 The voyage to Caesarea was performed without 
 accident. 
 
 " I shall look back at our visit to Rome as a 
 dream," Jonas said one evening as they sat together 
 on the deck of the ship. " To think that I, the 
 goatherd of Jotapata, should have been living in 
 the palace of Cassar at Rome, with you, the friend 
 of Titus himself ! It seems marvelous ; but I am 
 weary of the crowded streets, of the noise and 
 bustle, and wealth and color. I long to get rid of 
 this dress, in which I feel as if I were acting a part 
 in a play. Do not you, John ?" 
 
 " I do, indeed," John replied. " I should never 
 accustom myself to such a life as that. I am long- 
 ing for a sight of the lake and my dear home, and
 
 448 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 of those I love, who must be mourning for me as 
 dead." 
 
 At Caesarea a vehicle was procured for the car- 
 riage of the chest, and the party then journeyed 
 until they were within sight of Tarichea. John 
 then dismissed his escort with thanks for their 
 attention during the journey, and begged them to 
 go on to the city by themselves. When they were 
 out of sight he and Jonas took off their Roman 
 garments, and put on others they had purchased at 
 Caesarea, similar to those they were accustomed to 
 wear at home. Then they proceeded with the cart 
 and its driver into Tarichea, and hired a boat to 
 take them up the lake. The boatmen were as- 
 tonished at the weight of 'John's chest, and 
 thought that it must contain lead for making into 
 missiles for slingers. It was evening when the boat 
 approached the well-known spot, and John and his 
 companion sprang out on the beach. 
 
 "What shall we do with the chest?" one of the 
 boatmen asked. 
 
 " We will carry it to that clump of bushes, and 
 pitch it in among them until we want it. None 
 will run off with it, and they certainly would not 
 find it easy to break it open." 
 
 This reply confirmed the men in their idea that it 
 could contain nothing of value ; and after helping 
 John and Jonas to carry the chest to the point 
 indicated, they returned to their boat and rowed 
 away down the lake. 
 
 "Now, Jonas, we must be careful," John said,
 
 FOR THE TEMPLK. 449 
 
 " how we approach the house. It would give them 
 a terrible shock if I came upon them suddenly. I 
 think you had better go up alone and see Isaac, and 
 bring him to me ; then we can talk over the best 
 way of breaking it to the others." 
 
 It was nearly an hour before Jonas brought 
 Isaac down to the spot where John was standing, a 
 hundred yards away from the house, for he had to 
 wait some time before he could find an opportunity 
 of speaking to him. Jonas had but just broken the 
 news that John was at hand when they reached the 
 spot where he was standing. 
 
 " Is it indeed you, my dear young master ?" the 
 old man said, falling on John's neck. " This is un- 
 looked for joy indeed. The Lord be praised for his 
 mercies ! What will your parents say, they who 
 have wept for you for months as dead !" 
 
 "They are well, I hope, Isaac?" 
 
 " They are shaken, greatly shaken," old Isaac 
 said. " The tempest has passed over them ; the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem, the woes of our people, and 
 your loss have smitten them to the ground ; but 
 now that you have returned it will give them new 
 life." 
 
 " And Mary, she is well, I hope, too ?" John 
 asked. 
 
 " The maiden is not ill, though I cannot say that 
 she is well," Isaac said. " Long after your father 
 and mother and all of us had given up hope she 
 refused to believe that you were dead ; even when 
 the others put on mourning she would not do so;
 
 450 FOB THE TEMPLE. 
 
 but of late I know that though she has never said 
 so, hope has died in her too ; her cheeks have 
 grown pale and her eyes heavy, but she still keeps 
 up for the sake of your parents, and we often look 
 and wonder how she can bear herself so bravely." 
 
 " And how are we to break it to the old people ?" 
 John asked. 
 
 Isaac shook his head ; the matter was beyond 
 him. 
 
 " I should think," Jonas suggested, " that Isaac 
 should go back and break it to them first that I 
 have returned ; that I have been a slave among the 
 Romans, and have escaped from them. He might 
 say that he has questioned me, and that I said that 
 you certainly did not fall at the siege of Jerusalem, 
 and that I believe that you, like me, were sold as a 
 slave by the Romans. Then you can take me in and 
 let them question me. I will stick to that story for 
 a time, raising some hopes in their breasts, till at last 
 I can signify to Mary that you are alive, and leave 
 it to her to break it to the others." 
 
 " That will be the best way by far," John said. 
 "Yes, that will do excellently well. Now, Isaac, 
 do you go on and do your part. Tell them gently 
 that Jonas has returned, that he has been a slave, 
 and escaped from the Romans, and that, as far 
 as he knows, I am yet alive. Then, when they are 
 prepared, bring him in and let him answer their 
 questions." 
 
 The evening meal had been ended before Isaac 
 had left the room to feed with some warm milk a
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 451 
 
 kid whose dam had died. It was while he was en- 
 gaged upon this duty that Jonas had come upon 
 him. When he entered the room Simon was sitting 
 with the open Bible before him at the head of the 
 table, waiting his return to commence the evening 
 prayers. 
 
 "What has detained you, Isaac?" he asked. 
 " Surely it is not after all these years you would 
 forget our evening prayers ?" 
 
 " I was detained," the old man said unsteadily ; 
 and at the sound of his voice, and the sight of his 
 face as it came within the circle of the light from 
 the lamp, Mary rose suddenly to her feet and stood 
 looking at him. 
 
 " What is it ?" she asked in a low voice. 
 
 " W hy," Simon asked calmly, " what has detained 
 you, Isaac ?" 
 
 " A strange thing has happened," the old man 
 said. " One of our wanderers has returned, not he 
 whom we have hoped and prayed for most, but 
 Jonas. He has been a slave, but escaped and come 
 back to us." 
 
 " And what is his news ?" Simon asked, rising to 
 his feet ; but even more imperative was the un- 
 spoken question on Mary's white face and parted 
 lips. 
 
 " He gives us hope," Isaac said to her. " So far 
 as he knows John may yet be alive." 
 
 "I knew it, I knew it!" Mary said in a voice 
 scarcely above a whisper. " O Lord, I thank thee ; 
 why have I doubted thy mercy !" And she stood
 
 452 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 for a moment with head thrown back and eyes up- 
 raised ; then she swayed suddenly, and would have 
 fallen had not Isaac ran forward and supported her, 
 until at Martha's cry two of the maids hastened up 
 and placed her on a seat. Some water was held to 
 her lips ; she drank a little, and then said faintly, 
 " Tell us more, Isaac." 
 
 " I have not much more to tell," he replied. " Jo- 
 nas says that John certainly did not fall in Jeru- 
 salem, as indeed we were told by the young man of 
 his band who returned, and that he believes that, 
 like himself, he was sold as a slave. But Jonas is 
 outside. I thought it better to tell you first ; now 
 I will call him in to speak for himself." 
 
 When Jonas entered, Martha and Mary were 
 clasped in each other's arms. Miriam, with the 
 tears streaming down her cheeks, was repeating 
 aloud one of the Psalms of thanksgiving ; while Si- 
 mon stood with head bent low, and his hands grasp- 
 ing the table, upon which the tears were raining 
 down in heavy drops. It was some little time be- 
 fore they could question Jonas further. Martha 
 and Mary had embraced him as if he had been the 
 son of one, the brother of the other. Simon sol- 
 emnly blessed him, and welcomed him as one from 
 the dead. Then they gathered round to hear his 
 story. 
 
 " John and I both escaped all the dangers of the 
 siege," he said ; " we were wounded several times, 
 but never seriously. God seemed to watch over 
 us, and although at the last, of the six hundred men
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 453 
 
 with which we entered Jerusalem there were but 
 twelve who remained alive; we were among them." 
 
 " Yes, yes, we knew that," Martha said. " News 
 was brought by a young man of his band who be- 
 longed to a village on the lake that twelve of vou 
 had escaped together on the day the Temple fell. 
 The others all returned to their homes, but no news 
 ever came of you, and they said that some party of 
 Romans must have killed you ; what else could have 
 befallen you ? And now we are in February 
 nearly six months have passed and no word of 
 you !" 
 
 " We were carried off as slaves," Jonas said, " and 
 taken, like Joseph, to be sold in Egypt." 
 
 " And have you seen him since ?" Simon asked. 
 
 " Yes, I saw him in Egypt." 
 
 " And he was well then ?" 
 
 " Quite well," Jonas replied. " I was sent to 
 Rome, and thence managed to make my way back 
 by ship." 
 
 " We must purchase him back," Simon said. 
 " Surely that must be possible ! I have money 
 still. I will make the journey myself and buy him." 
 
 And he rose to his feet as if to start at once. 
 
 " Well, not now," he went on in answer to the 
 hand which Martha laid on his shoulder, " but to- 
 morrow." 
 
 While he was speaking Mary had touched Jonas, 
 gazing into his face with the same eager question 
 her eyes had asked Isaac. The thought that Jonas 
 was not alone had flashed across her. He nodded
 
 454 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 slightly and looked toward the door. In a moment 
 she was gone. 
 
 "John !" she cried as she ran out of the house, at 
 first in a low tone, but louder and louder as she ran 
 on. " John ! John ! where are you ?" 
 
 A figure stepped out from among the trees, and 
 Mary fell into his arms. A few minutes later she 
 reentered the room. 
 
 " Father," she said, going up to Simon, while she 
 took Martha's hand in hers, "do you remember 
 you told me once that when you were a young 
 man you went to hear the preaching of a teacher 
 of the sect of the Essenes, whom they afterward 
 slew? You thought he was a good man and a 
 great teacher, and you said he told a parable, and 
 you remembered the very words. I think I remem- 
 ber them now: 'And his father saw him and ran 
 and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and said, Let 
 us be merry, for this my son was dead and is alive 
 again ; he was lost and is found.' And so, father, 
 is it even unto us." 
 
 Martha gave a loud cry and turned to the door, 
 and in another moment was clasped in John's arms. 
 Then his father fell on his neck. 
 
 There was no happier household in the land than 
 that which joined in the Psalms of thanksgiving 
 that night. The news spread quickly to the fisher- 
 men's cottages, and the neighbors flocked in to con- 
 gratulate Simon and Martha on the return of their 
 son ; and it was long since the strains of the songs 
 of joy had floated out so clear and strong over the
 
 THE RETURN OF JOHN TO His HOME ON THE LAJ&E. Page 454,
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 455 
 
 water of Galilee, for, for years strains of lamenta- 
 tion and humiliation alone had been on the lips of 
 the Jewish maidens. 
 
 After the service of song was over Miriam and 
 the maids loaded the table, while Isaac fetched a 
 skin of the oldest wine from the cellar, and all who 
 had assembled were invited to join the feast. 
 
 When the neighbors had retired John asked his 
 father and Isaac to come down with him and Jonas 
 to the side of the lake, to bring up a cnest that was 
 lying there. " It is rather too heavy lor Jonas and 
 me to carry alone." 
 
 " It would have been better, my son, to have 
 asked some of our neighbors ; they would gladly 
 have assisted you, and Isaac and I have not between 
 us the strength of one man." 
 
 " I know it, father, but I do not wish that any 
 besides ourselves should know that the box is here. 
 We will take a pole and a rope with us, and can ad- 
 just the weight so that your portion shall not be 
 beyond your strength." 
 
 On arriving at the spot Simon was surprised at 
 seeing a small box, which it would be thought a 
 woman could have lifted with ease. 
 
 "Is this the box of which you spoke,, John? 
 Surely you want no aid to carry this up ?" 
 
 " We do indeed, father, as you will see." 
 
 With the assistance of Jonas John put the rope 
 round the box and slung it to the pole near one end. 
 He and Jonas then took this end ; Simon and Isaac 
 lifted that furthest from the box, so that but a small
 
 456 FOR THE TEMPLW. 
 
 share of the weight rested upon them. So the chest 
 was carried up to the house. 
 
 " What is this you have brought home ?" Martha 
 asked as they laid the box down in the principal 
 room. 
 
 " It is gold, mother gold to be used for the relief 
 of the poor and distressed, for those who have been 
 made homeless and fatherless in this war. It was a 
 gift to me, as I will tell you to-morrow ; but I need 
 not say that I would not touch one penny of it, for 
 it is Roman gold. But it will place it in our power to 
 do immense good among the poor. We had best 
 bury it just beneath the floor, so that we can readily 
 get at it when we have need." 
 
 " It is a great responsibility, my son," Simon said ; 
 " but truly there are thousands of homeless and 
 starving families who sought refuge among the hills 
 when their towns and villages were destroyed by 
 the Romans ; and with this store of gold, which 
 must be of great- value, truly great things can be 
 done toward relieving their necessities." 
 
 The next morning John related to his family the 
 various incidents which had befallen him and Jonas 
 since they had last parted ; and their surprise was 
 unbounded when he produced the three documents 
 with which he had been furnished by Titus. The 
 letters saying that the favor of Caesar had been be 
 stowed upon John as a token of admiration only for 
 the bravery with which he had fought, and ordering 
 that all Romans should treat him as one having the 
 favor and friendship of Titus, gave them unbounded
 
 FOB THE TEMPLE. 457 
 
 satisfaction. That appointing him procurator of 
 the whole district bordering the lake to the east 
 surprised and almost bewildered them. 
 
 "But what are you going to do, my son? Are 
 you going to leave us and live in a palace, and 
 appear as a Roman officer ?" 
 
 " I am not thinking of doing that, father," John 
 said with a smile. "For myself I would much 
 rather that this dignity had not been conferred on 
 me by Titus, and I would gladly put this commis- 
 sion with its imperial seal into the fire ; but I feel 
 that I cannot do this, for it gives me great power of 
 doing good to our neighbors. I shall be able to 
 protect them from all oppression by Roman soldiers 
 or by tax-gatherers. There is no occasion for me to 
 live in a palace or to wear the garments of a Roman, 
 official. The letter of Titus shows that it is to a 
 Jew that he has given this power, and as a Jew I 
 shall use it. While journeying here from Rome 
 I have thought much over the matter. At first I 
 thought of suppressing the order. Then I felt that 
 a power of good had been given into my hands, and 
 that I had no right from selfish reasons to shrink 
 from its execution. Doubtless at first I shall be 
 misunderstood. They will say that I, like Josephus, 
 have turned traitor, and have gone over to the 
 Romans. Even were it so, I should have done no 
 more than all the people of Tiberias, Sepphoris, and 
 other cities which submitted to them. But I do 
 not think this feeling will last long. All those who 
 fought with me outside Jerusalem against the Ro-
 
 458 FOB THE TKMPLE. 
 
 mans know that I was faithful to the cause of my 
 country. The few survivors of the band I led into 
 Jerusalem can testify that I fought until the Temple 
 fell, and that I escaped by my own devices and not 
 from any agreement with the Romans. Moreover, 
 they will in time judge me by my acts. I shall 
 rule, as I said, as a Jew and not as a Roman rule 
 as did the judges in the old times, sitting under my 
 own fig-tree here and listening to the complaints 
 that may be brought to me, and I trust that wisdom 
 will be given to me by the Lord to judge wisely and 
 justly among them." 
 
 " You have decided well, my son/' Simon said. 
 " May God's blessing be upon you ! What think 
 you, little Mary ? How do you like the prospect of 
 being the wife of the ruler of this district ?" 
 
 "I would rather that he had been the ruler only 
 of this farm," Mary said ; "but I see that a great 
 power of good has been given into his hands, and it 
 is not for me to complain." 
 
 " That reminds me," Simon said, " of what Martha 
 and I were speaking together last night. You have 
 both waited long ; there is no occasion for longer 
 tarrying ; the marriage-feast will be prepared, and 
 we will summon our neighbors and friends to as- 
 semble here this day week. And now, John, what 
 are you going to do ?" 
 
 " I am going, father, at once to Hippos, the chief 
 town in the district. I shall see the authorities of 
 the town and the captain of the Roman garrison 
 and lay before them the commission of Cassar, I
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 459 
 
 shall then issue a proclamation announcing to all 
 people within the limits of the district that have 
 been marked out that I have authority from Eome 
 to judge all matters that may come before me in 
 the district, and that all who have causes of com- 
 plaint or who have been wronged by any will find 
 me here, ready to hear their cause and to order jus- 
 tice to be rendered to them. I shall also say that I 
 shall shortly make a tour through the district to see 
 for myself into the condition of things and to give 
 aid to such as need it." 
 
 Great was the surprise of the Roman and Jewish 
 authorities in Hippos when John produced the im- 
 perial commission. There was, however, no doubt- 
 ing or disputing it. The Roman officers at once 
 placed themselves under his orders, and issued 
 proclamations of their own in addition to that of 
 John, notify ing the fact to all the inhabitants of the 
 district. Among the Jewish authorities there was 
 at first some feeling of jealousy that this young man 
 should be placed over them ; but they felt never- 
 theless the great benefits that would arise from the 
 protection which one of their own countrymen high 
 in the favor of Titus would be able to afford them. 
 When showing his commission John had also pro- 
 duced the letter of Titus giving his reasons for the 
 nomination, and, indeed, the younger men in the 
 district, many of whom had followed John in his 
 first campaigns, and who had hitherto, in accord- 
 ance with the oath of secrecy taken on enrollment, 
 concealed their knowledge that John of Gamala
 
 460 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 was the son of Simon, now proclaimed the fact and 
 hailed his appointment with joy. 
 
 On the appointed day the marriage of John and 
 Mary took place ; and as the news had spread 
 through the country a vast gathering assembled, 
 and it was made the occasion of a public demonstra- 
 tion. The preparations which Martha and Mary 
 .had made for the feast, ample as they had been, 
 would have availed but little among such a multi- 
 tude ; but Isaac and the men-servants drove in and 
 slaughtered several cattle, and as those who came 
 for the most part bore presents of wine, oil, bread, 
 goats, and other articles, and the neighbors lent 
 their assistance in preparing a feast at the great 
 fires which were lighted along the shore, while 
 Simon contributed all the contents of his wine store, 
 the feast proved ample for all assembled. John and 
 his wife moved among the throng receiving con- 
 gratulations and good wishes; Mary blushing and 
 tearful with happiness and pride in the honor paid 
 to John ; John himself radiant with pleasure and 
 with satisfaction at the thought of the good which 
 the power so strangely conferred upon him would 
 enable him to effect for his neighbors. 
 
 After that things went on in their ordinary rou- 
 tine at the farm, save that John was frequently 
 away visiting among the villages of the district, 
 which was some thirty miles long by ten wide. 
 The northern portion was thinly inhabited, but in 
 the south the villages were thick, and the people 
 had suffered greatly from the excursions of the Ko-
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 461 
 
 man foragers at the time of the siege of Gamala. 
 Many of the villages had been rebuilt since that 
 time, but there was still great distress, heightened 
 by the number of fugitives from the other side of 
 Jordan. 
 
 The aid which John gave enabled most of the 
 fugitives in his district to return to their distant 
 villages and to rebuild their homes, where there was 
 now little fear of their being again disturbed. The 
 distress in his own district was also relieved. In 
 some cases money was given, in others lent, to en- 
 able the cultivators to till their fields, to replant 
 vineyards, and to purchase flocks. So that in the 
 course of a year the whole district was restored to 
 its normal appearance, and the signs of the destruc- 
 tive war were almost entirely effaced. 
 
 Then John was able to settle down in his quiet 
 home. In the morning he worked with his father ; 
 in the afternoon he listened to the complaints or 
 petitions of those who came before him, settling 
 disputes between neighbors, hearing the stories of 
 those who considered that they were too hardly 
 pressed upon by the tax-collector, and doing justice 
 to those who were wronged. 
 
 Soon after he married, mindful of the doctrines 
 he had heard during his visit among the community 
 of Nazarites by the Dead Sea, John made inquiries, 
 and found that many of the sect who had left the 
 land when the troubles with the Romans com- 
 menced had now returned, and were preaching 
 their doctrines more openly than before, now that
 
 462 FOR TEE TEMPLE. 
 
 those of the ancient religion could no longer perse- 
 cute them. 
 
 At Tiberias a considerable community of the sect 
 soon established themselves ; and John, going over 5 
 persuaded ons of their teachers to take up his abode 
 with him for a time and to expound their doctrines 
 to him and his family. He was astonished at the 
 spirit of love, charity, and good-will which ani- 
 mated the teaching of the Christians still more at 
 the divine spirit that breathed in the utterances and 
 animated the life of their Master. 
 
 The central idea, that God was the God of the 
 whole world, and not, as the Jews had hitherto sup- 
 posed, a special deity of their own, struck John 
 particularly, and explained many things which had 
 hitherto been difficult for him to understand. It 
 would have been galling t- atlmit as much in the 
 days of Jewish pride and stubbornness; but their 
 spirit was broken now ; and John could understand 
 that ' though a ; long as the nation had believed in 
 hin. and s'U've.i Mm God had taken a peculiar in- 
 terest in them and had revealed : - them much of 
 his np/ure and attributes, while the rest of the 
 world had been left to worship false gods, he 
 yet loved all the world, and was now about to ex- 
 tend to all men that knowledge of him hitherto 
 confined to the Jews. Above all, John saw how 
 vastly higher was the idea of God as revealed in 
 the new teaching than that which the Jews had 
 hitherto entertained regarding him. 
 
 A month after the arrival of the teacher John
 
 FOR THE TEMPLE. 4^3 
 
 and Mary were baptized into the new faith ; and a 
 few months later Simon and Martha, who had been 
 harder to convince, also became converts. 
 
 When Titus was raised to the imperial throne, 
 John, in compliance with the request he had made 
 him, journeyed to Kome and remained there for a 
 short time as his guest. Titus received him with 
 affection. 
 
 " I shall not try to tempt you with fresh offers of 
 honors," he said, " though I regret that you should 
 refuse to accept a sphere of wider usefulness. 
 From time to time I have heard of you from the 
 reports of my governors, who say that the district 
 under your charge is the most prosperous and 
 contented in all Palestine, that there is neitner 
 dispute nor litigation there, that there are no poor, 
 that the taxes are collected without difficulty, and 
 that, save only that you do not keep up the state 
 and dignity which a Koman official should occupy, 
 you are in all respects a model ruler." 
 
 " I have every reason to be thankful," John said. 
 "I have been blessed in everyway. My parents 
 still survive. I am happy with my wife and chil- 
 dren. Your bounty has enabled me to bind up the 
 wounds and relieve the distress caused by the war. 
 My mind has been opened to heavenly teaching, 
 and I try humbly to follow in the steps of that 
 divine teacher, Jesus of Nazareth." 
 
 "Ah, you have come to believe in him !" Titus 
 said. " There are many ot his creed here in Rome, 
 and they say that they are even on the increase.
 
 464 FOR THE TEMPLE. 
 
 I would gladly hear from you something of him. I 
 have heard somewhat of him from Josephus, who 
 for three years dwelt among the Essenes, and who 
 has spoken to me very highly of the purity of life, 
 the enlightenment, and religious fervor of that sect, 
 to which, I believe, he himself secretly inclines, 
 although, from the desire not to offend his country- 
 men, he makes no open confession of his faith." 
 
 John, before he left, explained to the emperor 
 the teachings of his Master, and it may be that the 
 wisdom, humanity, and mildness which Titus dis- 
 played in the course of his reign was in no small 
 degree the result of the lessons which he learned 
 from John. 
 
 The latter came no more to Kome, but to the end 
 of his life dwelt on the shore of Galilee, wisely 
 governing his little district after the manner of the 
 judges of old. 
 
 Jonas never left his friend. He married the 
 daughter of one of the fishermen, and lived in a 
 small house which Simon built for him close to his 
 own. At the death of the latter he became John's 
 right hand on the farm, and remained his friend 
 and brother to the end. 
 
 THE END.
 
 A. L. Burt's Catalogue of Books for 
 Young People by Popular Writers, 52- 
 58 Duane Street, New York ^ X x 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 Joe's Luck: A Boy's Adventures in California. By 
 
 HORATIO ALGER, JR. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 The story Is chock full of stirring incidents, while the amusing situ- 
 ations are furnished by Joshua Bickford, from Pumpkin Hollow, and the 
 fellow who modestly styles himself the "Rip-tail Roarer, from Pike Co., 
 Missouri." Mr. Alger never writes a poor book, and "Joe's Luck" is cer- 
 tainly one of his best. 
 
 Tom the Bootblack; or, The Road to Success. By 
 
 HORATIO ALOBR, JR. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 A bright, enterprising lad was Tom the Bootblack. He was not at all 
 ashamed of his humble calling:, though always on the lookout to better 
 himself. The lad started for Cincinnati to look up his heritage. Mr. 
 Grey, tlw uncle, did not hesitate to employ a ruffian to kill the lad. The 
 plan failed, and Gilbert Grey, once Tom the bootblack, came into a com- 
 fortable fortune. This is one of Mr. Alger's best stories. 
 
 Dan the Newsboy. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 12mo, 
 
 cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 Dan Mordaunt and his mother live in a poor tenement, and the lad is 
 pluckily trying to make ends meet by selling papers in the streets of New 
 York. A little heiress of six years is confided to the care of the Mor- 
 daunts. The child is kidnapped and Dan tracks the child to the house 
 where she is hidden, and rescues her. The wealthy aunt of the little 
 heiress is so delighted with Dan's courage and many good qualities 
 that she adopts him as her heir. 
 
 Tony the Hero: A Brave Boy's Adventure with a 
 
 Tramp. By HORATIO ALGBR, JK. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 Tony, a sturdy bright-eyed boy of fourteen, is under the control of 
 Rudolph Rugg, a thorough rascal. After much abuse Tony runs away 
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 him down a deep well. Of course Tony escapes from the fate provided 
 for him, and by a brave act, a rich friend secures his rights and Tony 
 Is prosperous. A very entertaining book. 
 
 The Errand Boy; or, How Phil Brent Won Success. 
 
 By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 12mo, cloth illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 The career of "The Errand Boy" embraces the city adventures of a 
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 subsequent troubles. A retired merchant in New York secures him the 
 situation of errand boy, and thereafter stands as his friend. 
 
 Tom Temple's Career. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 12mo, 
 
 cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 Tom Temple is a bright, self-reliant lad. He leaves Plympton village 
 to seek work in New York, whence he undertakes an important mission 
 to California. Some of his adventures in the far west are so startling that 
 the reader will scarcely close the book until the last page shall have been 
 reached. The tale is written in Mr. Alger's most fascinating style. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. BURT, 58-68 Du&ne Street, New York.
 
 2 A. L. HURT'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 Frank Fowler, the Cash Boy. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 
 
 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 Frank Fowler, a poor boy. bravely determines to make a living for 
 himself and his footer-sister Grace. Going to New York he obtains a 
 situation as cash boy In a dry goods store. He renders a service to a 
 wealthy old gentleman who takes a fancy to the lad, and thereafter 
 helps the lad to gain success and fortune. 
 
 Tom Thatcher's Fortune. By HORATIO ALGER, JB. 
 
 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 Tom Thatcher Is a brave, ambitious, unselfish boy. He supports his 
 mother and sister on meagre wages earned as a shoe-pegger In John 
 Simpson's factory. Tom is discharged from the factory and starts over- 
 land for California. He meets with many adventures. The story Is told 
 In a way which has made Mr. Alger's name a household word In so many 
 homes. 
 
 The Train Boy. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 12mo, 
 
 cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 Paul Palmer was a wide-awake boy of sixteen who supported his mother 
 and sister by selling books and papers on the Chicago and Milwaukee 
 Railroad. He detects a young man in the act of picking the pocket of a 
 young lady. In a railway accident many passengers are killed, but Paul 
 is fortunate enough to assist a Chicago merchant, who out of gratitude 
 takes him Into his employ. Paul succeeds with tact and judgment and 
 is well started on the road to business prominence. 
 
 Mark Mason's Victory. The Trials and Triumphs of 
 
 a Telegraph Boy. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 
 
 $1.00. 
 
 Mark Mason, the telegraph boy, was a sturdy, honest lad, who plucklly 
 won his way to .success by his honest manly efforts under many diffi- 
 culties. This story will please the very large class of boys who regard 
 Mr. Alger as a favorite author. 
 
 A Debt of Honor. The Story of Gerald Lane's Success 
 
 in the Far West. By HORATIO ALGER, JR. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 
 
 $1.00. 
 
 The story of Gerald Lane and the account of the many trials and dis- 
 appointments which he passed through befor_ he attained success, will 
 Interest all boys who have read the previous stories of this delightful 
 author. 
 
 Ben Bruce. Scenes in the Life of a Bowery Newsboy. 
 
 By HORATIO ALOER, JR. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 Ben Bruce was a brave, manly, generous boy. The story of his efforts, 
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 most interesting to all readers. The tale is written in Mr. Alger'e 
 most fascinating style. 
 
 The Castaways; or, On the Florida Eeefs. By JAMES 
 
 OTIS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 This tale smacks of the salt sea. From the moment that the Sea 
 Queen leaves lower New York bay till the breeze leaves her becalmed off 
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 the leeward. The adventures of Ben Clark, the hero of the storv and 
 Jake the cook, cnnnot fnil to charm the reader. As a writer for young 
 people Mr. Otis Is a prime favorite. _ 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. BUST, 52-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 A. L. HURT'S BOOKS FOE YOUNG PEOPLE. 3 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 Wrecked on Spider Island; or, How Ned Rogers Found 
 
 the Treasure. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price fl.OO. 
 , Ned Rogers, a "down-east" plucky lad ships as cabin boy to earn 
 a livelihood. Ned Is marooned on Spider Island, and while there dis- 
 covers a wreck submerged In the sand, and finds a considerable amount 
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 voyage serve to make us entertaining a story of sea-life as the most 
 captious boy could desire. 
 
 The Search for the Silver City : A Tale of Adventure in 
 
 Yucatan. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 Two lads, Teddy Wright and Neal Emery, embark on the steam 
 yacht Day Dream for a cruise to the tropics. The yacht Is destroyed 
 by fire, and then the boat Is cast upon the coast of Yucatan. They 
 tear of the wonderful Silver City, of the Chan Santa Cruz Indians, 
 aud with the help of a faithful Indian ally carry off a number of the 
 golden images from the temples. Pursued with relentless vigor at last 
 their escape is effected in an astonishing manner. The story Is so 
 full of exciting Incidents that the reader Is quite carried away with 
 the novelty and realism of the narrative. 
 
 A Bunaway Brig; or, An Accidental Cruise. By 
 
 JAMES OTIS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 This is a sea tale, and the reader can look out upon the wide shimmer- 
 ing sea as it flashes back the sunlight, and imagine himself afloat with 
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 The Treasure Finders: A Boy's Adventures in 
 
 Nicaragua. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price Jl.OO. 
 
 Roy and Dean Coloney, with their guide Tongla, leave their father's 
 indigo plantation to visit the wonderful ruins of an ancient city. The 
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 golden images cunningly hidden away. They escape with the createst 
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 doubt if there ever was written a more entertaining story than "The 
 Treasure Finders." 
 
 Jack, the Hunchback. A Story of tLe Coast of Maine. 
 
 By JAMES OTIS. Price $1.00. 
 
 This is the story of a little hunchback who lived on Cape Elizabeth, 
 on the coast of Maine. His trials and successor are most Interesting. 
 From first to last nothing stays the Interest of the narrative. It bears us 
 along as on a stream whose current varies In direction, but never loses 
 its force. 
 
 With Washington at Monmouth: A Story of Three 
 
 Philadelphia Boys. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo, ornamental cloth, ollvine 
 
 edges, illustrated, price $1.50. 
 
 Three Philadelphia lads assist the American spies and make regular 
 and frequent visits to Valley Forge In the Winter while the British 
 occupied the city. The story abounds with pictures of Colonial life 
 skillfully drawn, and the glimpses of Washington's soldiers which are 
 given shown that the work has not been hastily done, or without con- 
 siderable study. The story is wholesome and patriotic In tone, as are 
 all of Mr. Otis' works. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. BUET, 52-58 Duane Street, New York,
 
 4 A. L. HURT'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 With Lafayette at Yorktown: A Story of How Two 
 
 Boys Joined the Continental Army. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo, ornamental 
 
 cloth, olivine edges, illustrated, price $1.50. 
 
 Two lads from Portmouth, N. H., attempt to enlist In the Colonial 
 Army, and are given employment as spies. There Is no lack of exciting 
 Incidents which the youthful reader craves, but It is healthful excite- 
 ment brimming with facts which every boy should be familiar with, 
 and while the reader is following the adventures of Ben Jaffrays and 
 Ned Allen he is acquiring a fund of historical lore which will remain 
 In his memory long after that which he has memorized from text- 
 books has been forgotten. 
 
 At tihe Siege of Havana. Being the Experiences of 
 
 Three Boys Serving under Israel Putnam in 1762. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo, 
 
 ornamental cloth, olivine edges, illustrated, price $1.50. 
 "At the Siege of Havana" deals with that portion of the Island's 
 history when the English king captured the capital, thanks to the 
 assistance given by the troops from New England, led In part by Col. 
 Israel Putnam. 
 
 The principal characters are Darius Lunt, the lad who, represented as 
 telling the story, and his comrades, Robert Clement and Nicholas 
 Vallet. Colonel Putnam also figures to considerable extent, necessarily, 
 In the tale, and the whole forms one of the most readable stories founded on 
 historical , facts. 
 
 The Defense of Fort Henry. A Story of Wheeling 
 
 Creek in 1777. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo, ornamental cloth, olivine edges, 
 
 illustrated, price $1.50. 
 
 Nowhere in the history of our country can be found more heroic or 
 thrilling incidents than In the story of those brave men and women 
 who founded the settlement of Wheeling In the Colony of Virginia. The 
 recital of what Elizabeth Zane did is in itself as heroic a story as can 
 be imagined. The wondrous bravery displayed by Major McCulloch 
 and bis gallant comrades, the sufferings of the colonists and their sacrifice 
 of blood and life, stir the blood of old as well as young readers. 
 
 The Capture of the Laughing Mary. A Story of Three 
 
 New York Boys in 1776. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo, ornamental cloth, olivine 
 
 edges, price $1.50. 
 
 "Daring the British occupancy of New York, at the outbreak of the 
 Revolution, a Yankee lad hears of the plot to take General Washington's 
 person, and calls in two companions to assist the patriot cause. They 
 do some astonishing things, and, Incidentally, lay the way for an 
 American navy later, by the exploit which gives its name to the 
 work. Mr. Otis' books are too well known to require any particular 
 commendation to the young." Evening Post. 
 
 With Warren at Bunker Hill. A Story of the Siege of 
 
 Boston. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo, ornametnal cloth, olivine edges, illus 
 
 trated, price $1.50. 
 
 "This Is a tale of the eiege of Boston, which opens on the day after 
 the doings at Lexington and Concord, with a description of home life 
 In Boston, introduces the reader to the British camp at Cbarlestown, 
 shows Gen. Warren at home, describes what a boy thought of the 
 battle of Bunker Hill, and closes with the raising of the siege. The 
 three heroes, George Wentworth. Ben Scarlett and an old ropemaker, 
 Incur the enmity of a young Tory, who causes them many adventures 
 the boys will like to read." Detroit Free Press. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher. A. L. HURT, 52-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 A. L. BERT'S BOOKS FOE XOUNG PEOPLE. 5 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 With the Swamp Fox. The Story of General Marion's 
 
 Spies. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 This story deals with General Francis Marion's heroic struggle in the 
 Carolines. General Marion's arrival to take command of these brave 
 men and rough riders is pictured as a boy might have seen it, and 
 although the story is devoted to what the lads did, the Swamp Fox 
 Is ever present in the mind of the reader. 
 
 On the Kentucky Frontier. A Story of the Fighting 
 
 Pioneers of the West. By JAMES OTIS. 12ruo, cloth, illustrated, price $1. 
 
 In the history of our country there is no more thrilling story than 
 that of the work done on the Mississippi river by a handful of frontiers- 
 men. Mr. Otis takes the reader ou that famous expedition from the 
 arrival of Major Clarke's force at Corn Island, until Kaskaskia was 
 captured. He relates that part of Simon Kenton's life history whicu 
 is not usually touched upon either by the historian or the story teller. 
 This is one of the most entertaining books for young people which Lus 
 been published. 
 
 Sarah Dillard's Ride. A Story of South Carolina in 
 
 in 1780. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1. 00. 
 
 "This book deals with the Carolinas in 1780, giving a wealth of detail of 
 the Mountain Men who struggled so valiantly against the king's troops. 
 Major Ferguson is the prominent British officer of the story, which is 
 told as though coming from a youth who experienced these adventures. 
 In this way the famous ride of Sarah Dillard is brought out as an 
 incident of the plot." Boston Journal. 
 
 A Tory Plot. A Story of the Attempt to Kill General 
 
 Washington. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 " 'A Tory Plot' is the story of two lads who overhear something 
 of the plot originated during the Revolution by Gov. Tryon to capture 
 or murder Washington. They communicate their knowledge to Gen. 
 Putnam and are commissioned by him to play the role of detectives 
 in the matter. They do so, and meet with many adventures and hair- 
 breadth escapes. The boys are, of course, mythical, but they serve to en- 
 able the author to put into very attractive shape much valuable knowledge 
 concerning one phase of the Revolution." Pittsburgh Times. 
 
 A Traitor's Escape. A Story of the Attempt to Seize 
 
 Benedict Arnold. By JAMES OTIS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 81.00. 
 
 "This is a tale with stirring scenes depicted in each chapter, bringing 
 clearly before the mind the glorious deeds of the early settlers in this 
 country. In an historical work dealing with this country's past, no 
 plot can hold the attention closer than this one, which describes the 
 attempt and partial success of Benedict Arnold's escape to New York, 
 where he remained as the guest of Sir Henry Clinton. All those who 
 actually figured in the arrest of the traitor, as well as Gen. Washing- 
 ton, are included as characters." Albany Union. 
 
 A Cruise with Paul Jones. A Story of Naval Warfare 
 
 in 1776. By JAMES OTIS. ISrno, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 "This story takes up that portion of Paul Jones' adventurous life 
 when he was hovering off the British coast, watching for an oppor- 
 tunity to strike the enemy a blow. It deals more particularly with 
 bis descent upon Whitehaven, the seizure of Lady Selkirk's plate, and 
 the famous battle with the Drake. The boy who figures in the tale 
 Is one who was taken from a derelict by Paul Jones shortly after this 
 particular cruise was begun." Chicago Inter-Ocean. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price By the 
 publisher. A. L. HURT, 62-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 6 A. L. HURT'S BOOKS FOR YOLNG PEOPLE. 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 Corporal Lige's Becruit. A Story of Crown Point and 
 
 Ticonderoga. By JAMES OTIS. I2mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1,00. 
 
 "In 'Corporal Lige's Recruit,' Mr. Otis tells the amusing story of an 
 old soldier, proud of his record, who had served the king in '58, and who 
 takes the lad, Isaac Rice, as his 'personal recruit.' The lad acquits 
 himself superbly. Col. Ethan Allen 'in the name of God and the con- 
 tinental congress,' infuses much martial spirit into the narrative, which 
 will arouse the keenest interest as it proceeds. Crown Point. Ticon- 
 deroga, Benedict Arnold and numerous other famous historical names 
 appear in this dramatic tale." Boston Globe. 
 
 Morgan, the Jersey Spy. A Story of the Siege of York- 
 town in 1781. By JAMES OTIS, 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $ 1.00. 
 "The two lads who are utilized by the author to emphasize the details 
 of the work done during that memorable time were real boys who lived 
 on the banks of the York river, and who aided the Jersey spy in his 
 dangerous occupation. In the guise of fishermen the lads visit York- 
 town, are suspected of being spies, and put under arrest. Morgan risks 
 his life to save them. The final escape, the thrilling encounter with a 
 squad of red coats, when they are exposed equally to the bullets of 
 friends and foes, told in a masterly fashion, makes of this volume one 
 of the most entertaining books of the year." Inter-Ocean. 
 
 The Young Scout: The Story of a West Point Lieu- 
 tenant. By EDWARD S. ELLIS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 The crafty Apache chief Geronimo but a few years ago was the 
 most terrible scourge of the southwest border. The author has woven, 
 in a tale of thrilling interest, all the incidents of Geronimo's last raid. 
 The hero is Lieutenant James Decker, a recent graduate of West Point. 
 Ambitious to distinguish himself the young man takes many a desperate 
 chance against the enemy and on more than one occasion narrowly 
 escapes with his life. In our opinion Mr. Ellis is the best writer of 
 Indian stories now before the public. 
 
 Adrift in the Wilds: The Adventures of Two Ship- 
 wrecked Boys. By EDWARD S. ELLIS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 Elwood Brandon and Howard Lawrence are en route for San Fran- 
 cisco. Oft th coast of California the steamer takes fire. The two boys 
 reach the shore with several of the passengers. Young Brandon be- 
 comes separated from his party and Is captured by hostile Indians, 
 but is afterwards rescued. This is a very entertaining narrative of 
 Southern California. 
 
 A Young Hero; or, Fighting to Win. By EDWARD S. 
 
 ELLIS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 This story tells bow a valuable solid silver service was stolen from 
 the Misses Perkinpine, two very old and simple minded ladies. Fred 
 Sheldon, the hero of this story, undertakes to discover the thieves and 
 have them arrested. After much time spent in detective work, he 
 succeeds in discovering the silver plate and winning the reward. The 
 story is told In Mr. Ellis' most fascinating style. Every boy will be 
 glad to read this delightful book. 
 
 Lost in the Eockies. A Story of Adventure in the 
 
 Rocky Mountains. By EDWARD S. ELLIS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1. 
 
 Incident succeeds Incident, and adventure is piled upon adventure, 
 and at the end the reader, be he boy or man, will have experienced 
 breathless enjoyment In this romantic story describing many adventures in 
 the Rockies and among the Indians. 
 
 For sale by <11 booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. JU JJ'JRT, G2-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 A. L. BUET^S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 7 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 A Jaunt Through Java: The Story of a Journey to 
 
 the Sacred Mountain. By EDWARD S. ELLIS I2mo, clotb, illustrated, 
 
 price $1.00. 
 
 The interest of this story is found in the thrilling adventures ot 
 two cousins, Hormon and Eustace Hadley, on their trip acrosss the Island 
 of Java, from Samarang to the Sacred Mountain. In a land where the 
 Royal Bengal tiger, the rhinoceros, and other fierce 1 sasts are to be 
 met with, it is but natural that the heroes of this book should have a 
 lively experience. There is not a dull page in the- book. 
 
 The Boy Patriot. A Story of Jack, the Young Friend 
 
 of Washington. By EDWARD S. ELLIS. 12ino, cloth, oliviue edges, illus- 
 trated, price $1.50. 
 
 "There are adventures of all kinds for the hero and his friends, whose 
 pluck and ingenuity in extricating themselves from awkward fixes aro 
 always equal to the occasion. It is an excellent story full of honest, 
 manly, patriotic efforts on the part of the hero. A very vivid description 
 of the battle of Treuton is also found iu this story." Journal of 
 Education. 
 
 A Yankee Lad's Pluck. How Bert Larkin Saved his 
 
 Father's Ranch in Pono Eico. By WM. P. CHIPMAN. 12mo, cloth, illus- 
 trated, price $1.00. 
 
 "Bert Larkin, the hero of the story, early excites our admiration, 
 and is altogether a fine character such as boys will delight in, whilst 
 the story of his numerous adventures is very graphically told. This 
 will, we think, prove one of the most popular boys' books this season." 
 Gazette. 
 
 A Brave Defense. A Story of the Massacre at Fort 
 
 Griswold in 1781. By WILLIAM P. CHIPMAN. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 
 
 $1.00. 
 
 Perhaps no more gallant fight against fearful odds took place during 
 the Revolutionary War than that at Fort Griswold, Groton Heights, Conn., 
 in 1781. The boys are real boys who were actually on the muster rolls, 
 either at Fort Trumbull on the New London side, or of .Fort Griswold on 
 the Groton side of the Thames. The youthful reader who follows Halsey 
 Sanford and Lev! Dart and Tom Malleson, and their equally brave com- 
 rades, through their thrilling adventures will be learning something more 
 than historical facts; they will be imbibing lessons of fidelity, of bravery, 
 of heroism, and of manliness, which must prove serviceable in the arena 
 of life. 
 
 The Young Minuteman. A Story of the Capture of 
 
 General Prescott in 1777. By WILLIAM P. CHIPMAN. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, 
 
 price $1.00. 
 
 This story is based upon actual events which occurred during the British 
 
 For the Temple: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem. 
 
 By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by S. J. SOLOMON. 12mo, cloth, olivine 
 edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "Mr. Henty's graphic prose picture of the hopeless Jewish resistance 
 to Roman sway adds another leaf to his record of the famous wars of 
 the world. The book is one of Mr. Henty's cleverest efforts." Graphic. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. BUKT, 52-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 8 A. L. BURT'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 Roy Gilbert's Search : A Tale of the Great Lakes. By 
 
 WM. P. CHIPMAN. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 A deep mystery hangs over the parentage of Roy Gilbert. He arranges 
 with two schoolmates to make a tour of the Great Lakes on a steam 
 launch. The three boys visit many points of interest on the lakes. 
 Afterwards the lads rescue an elderly gentleman and a lady from a sink- 
 ing yacht. Later on the boys narrowly escape with their lives. The 
 hero is a manly, self-reliant boy, whose adventures will be followed 
 with interest. 
 
 The Slate Picker: The Story of a Boy's Life in the 
 
 Coal Mines. By HARRY PRENTICE. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 This is a story of a boy's life in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. 
 Ben Burton, the hero, had a hard road to travel, but by grit and energy 
 he advanced step by step until he found himself called upon to fill the 
 position of chief engineer of the Kohinoor Coal Company. This is a 
 book of extreme interest to every boy reader. 
 
 The Boy Cruisers; or, Paddling in Florida. By ST. 
 
 GEORGE RATHBORNB. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00 
 Andrew George and Rowland Carter start on a canoe trip along the 
 Gulf coast, from Key West to Tampa, Florida. Their first adventure 
 is with a pair of rascals who steal their boats. Next they run into 
 a gale in the Gulf. After that they have a lively time with alli- 
 gators and Andrew gets into trouble with a band of Seminole Indians. 
 Mr. Rathborne knows just how to interest the boys, and lads who are 
 in search of a rare treat will do well to read this entertaining story. 
 
 Captured by Zulus: A Story of' Trapping in Africa. 
 
 By HARRY PRENTICE. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 This story details the adventures of two lads, Dick Elsworth and Bob 
 Harvey, in the wilds of South Africa. By stratagem the Zulus capture 
 Dick and Bob and take them to their principal kraal or village. The 
 lads escape death by dig ing their way out of the prison hut by night. 
 They are pursued, but the Zulus finally give up pursuit. Mr. Prentice 
 tells exactly how wild-beast collectors secure specimens on their native 
 stamping grounds, and these descriptions make very entertaining reading. 
 
 Tom the Ready; or, Up from the Lowest. By RAN- 
 DOLPH HILL. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 This is a dramatic narrative of the unaided rise of a fearless, ambi- 
 tious boy from the lowest round of fortune's ladder to wealth and the 
 governorship of his native State. Tom Seacomb begins life with a pur- 
 pose, and eventually overcomes those who oppose him. How he manages 
 to win the battle is told by Mr. Hill in a masterful way that thrills 
 the reader and holds his attention and sympathy to the end. 
 
 Captain Kidd's Gold: The True Story of an Adven- 
 turous Sailor Boy. By JAMES FRANKLIN FITTS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, 
 price $1.00. 
 
 There is something fascinating to the average youth in the very idea 
 of buried treasure. A vision arises before his eyes of swarthy Portu- 
 guese and Spanish rascals, with black beards and gleaming eyes. There 
 were many famous sea rovers, but none more celebrated than Capt. Kidd. 
 Paul Jones Garry inherits a document which locates a considerable 
 treasure buried by two of Kidd's crew. The hero of this book is an 
 ambitious, persevering lad, of salt-water New England ancestry, and his 
 efforts to reach the island and secure the money form one of the most 
 absorbing tales for our youth that has come from the press. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. BUST, 52-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 A. L. HURT'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 9 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 The Boy Explorers: The Adventures of Two Boys in 
 
 Alaska. By HARRY PRENTICE. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 Two boys, Raymond and Spencer Manning, travel to Alaska to Join 
 their father In search of their uncle. On their arrival at Sltka the boys 
 with an Indian guide set off across the mountains. The trip is fraught 
 with perils that test the lads' courarro to the utmost. All through their 
 exciting adventures the lads demonstrate what can be accomplished by 
 pluck and resolution, and their experience makes one of the most In- 
 teresting tal^s ever written. 
 
 The Island Treasure; or, Harry Barrel's Fortune. 
 
 By FRANK H. CONVERSE. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 Harry Darrel, having received a nautical training on a school-ship, la 
 bent on going to sea. A runaway horse changes his prospects. Harry 
 saves Dr. Gregg from drowning and afterward becomes sailing-master 
 of a sloop yacht. Mr. Converse's stories possess a charm of their own 
 which is appreciated by lads who delight in good healthy tales that 
 smack of salt water. 
 
 Guy Harris: The Eunaway. By HARRY CASTLEMON. 
 
 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 Guy Harris lived In a small city on the shore of one of the Great 
 Lakes. He is persuaded to go to sea, and gets a glimpse of the rough 
 side of life in a sailor's boarding house. He ships on a vessel and for 
 five months leads a hard life. The book will interest boys generally 
 on account of Its graphic style. This Is one of Castlemon's most attract- 
 ive stories. 
 
 Julian Mortimer: A Brave Boy's Struggle for Home 
 
 and Fortune. By HARRY CASTLEMON. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1. 
 
 The scene of the story lies west of the Mississippi River, in the days 
 when emigrants made their perilous way across the great plains to the 
 land of gold. There is an attack upon the wagon train by a large party 
 of Indians. Our hero is a ?ad of uncommon nerve and pluck. Befriended 
 by a stalwart trapper, a real rough diamond, our hero achieves the most 
 happy results. 
 
 By Pike and Dyke : A Tale of the Else of the Dutch 
 
 Republic. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by MAYNARD BROWN. 
 
 12mo, cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "Boys with a turn for historical research will be enchanted with the 
 book, while the rest who only care for adventure will be students in spite 
 of themselves." St. James's Gazette. 
 
 St. George for England: A Tale of Cressy and Poi- 
 tiers. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by GORDON JROWNE. 12mo, 
 cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "A story of very great interest for boys. In his own forcible style 
 the author has endeavored to show that determination and enthusiasm 
 can accomplish marvellous results; and that courage is generally accom- 
 panied by magnanimity and gentleness." Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 Captain Bayley's Heir: A Tale of the Gold Fields of 
 
 California. By . A. HENTY. With illustrations by H. M. PAGET. 12mo ; 
 cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 tian Leader. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. BUKT, 52-68 Duane Street, New York,
 
 10 A. L. BURT'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 BOOKS FOR BOYST 
 
 Budd Boyd's Triumph; or, The Boy Firm of Fox Island. 
 
 By WILLIAM P. CHIPMAN. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price {1.00. 
 
 The scene of this story Is laid on the upper part of Narragansett Bay, 
 and the leading incidents have a strong salt-water flavor. The two 
 boys, Budd Bojd and Judd Floyd, being ambitious and clear sighted, 
 form a partnership to catch and sell fish. Budd's pluck and good sense 
 carry him through many troubles. In following the career of the boy 
 firm of Boyd & Floyd, the youthful reader will find a useful lesson 
 that industry and perseverance are bound to lead to ultimate success. 
 
 Lost in the Canyon : Sam Willett's Adventures on the 
 
 Great Colorado. By ALFRED R. CALHOUN. 12nio, cloth, illustrated, price $1, 
 This story hinges on a fortune left to Sam Willett. the hero, and the 
 fact that it will pass to a disreputable relative if the lad dies before 
 he shall have reached his majority. The story of his father's peril and 
 of Sam's desperate trip down the great canyon on a raft, and how the 
 party finally escape from their perils is described in a graphic style 
 that stamps Mr. Calhoun as a master of his art. 
 
 Captured by Apes: The Wonderful Adventures of a 
 
 Young Animal Trainer. By HARRY PRENTICE. 12mo, cloth, illustrated. 
 
 price $1.00. 
 
 Philip Garland, a young animal collector and trainer, sets sail for 
 Eastern seas in quest of a new stock of living curiosities. The vessel 
 is wrecked off the coast of Borneo, and young Garland is cast ashore 
 on a small island, aud captured by the apes that overrun the place. 
 Very novel indeed is the way by which the young man escapes death. 
 Mr. Prentice is a writer of undoubted skill. 
 
 Under Drake's Flag: A Tale of the Spanish Main. 
 
 By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, 
 
 oliviue edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "There is not a dull chapter, nor, Indeed, a dull page in the book; but 
 the author has so carefully worked up his subject that the exciting 
 deeds of his heroes are never incongruous nor absurd." Observer. 
 
 By Sheer Pluck: A Tale of the Ashanti War. By 
 
 G. A. HENTT. With illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, olivine 
 
 edges, price $1.00. 
 
 The author has woven, in a tale of thrilling interest, all the details 
 of the Ashanti campaign, of which he was himself a witness. 
 
 "Mr. Henty keeps up his reputation as a writer of boys' stories. 'By 
 Sheer Pluck' will be eagerly read." Athenaeum. 
 
 With Lee in Virginia: A Story of the American Civil 
 
 War. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by GORDON BROWNE 12mo, 
 
 cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "One of the best stories for lads which Mr. Henty has yet written. 
 The picture is full of life and color, and the stirring and romantic inci- 
 dents are skillfully blended with the personal interest and charm of the 
 story ." Standard. 
 
 By England's Aid; or, The Freeing of the Netherlands 
 
 (1585-1604). ByG. A. HENTY. With illustrations by ALFRED PEARSE. 12mo, 
 
 cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "It is an admirable book for youngsters. It overflows with stirring 
 incident and exciting adventure, and the color of the era and of the 
 scene are finely reproduced. The illustrations add to its attractiveness." 
 Boston Gazette. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sont postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. BURT, 52-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 A. L. BUR^S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 11 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 By Bight of Conquest; or, With Cortez in Mexico. 
 
 By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by W. S. STACEY. 12mo, cloth, 
 
 ouvine edges, price $1.50. 
 
 "The conquest of Mexico by a small band of resolute men under the 
 magnuicent leadership of Cortez Is always rightfully ranked among the most 
 romantic and daring exploits in history. 'By Right of Conquest* Is the 
 neaiest approach to a perfectly successful historical tale that Mr. Henty 
 has yet published." Academy. 
 
 For Name and Fame; or, Through Afghan Passes. 
 
 By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by GORDON BROWNK. 12mo, cloth, 
 
 oh' vine edges, price $1 .00. 
 
 "Not only a rousing story, replete with all the varied forms of excite- 
 ment of a campaign, but, what is still more useful, an account of a 
 territory and its inhabitants which must for a long time possess a supreme 
 Interest for Englishmen, as being' the key to our Luuian Empire." 
 Glasgow Herald. 
 
 The Bravest of the Brave; or, With Peterborough in 
 
 Spain. By Q. A. HENTY. With illustrations by H. M. PAOET. 12mo 
 
 cloth, olivine edges, price 81-00. 
 
 "Mr. Henty never loses sight of the moral purpose of his work to 
 enforce the doctrine of courage and truth, mercy and loving kindness, 
 as Indispensable to the making of a gentleman. Boys will read 'The 
 Bravest of the Brave' with pleasure and prolit; of that we are Quite 
 sure." Daily Telegraph. 
 
 The Cat of Bubastes : A Story of Ancient Egypt. By 
 
 G. A. HENTY. With illustrations. 12mo, cloth, olivine edges, price 81-00. 
 
 "The story, from the critical moment of the killing of the sacred cat 
 to the perilous exodus into Asia with which it closes, is very skillfully 
 constructed and full of exciting adventures. It is admirably illustrated." 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 Bonnie Prince Charlie: A Tale of Fontenoy and Cul- 
 
 loden. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by GORDON BROWE. 12mo, 
 
 cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "Ronald, the hero, is very like the hero of 'Quentln Durward.' Th 
 lad's Journey across France, and his hairbreadth escapes, makes up as 
 good a narrative of the kind as we have ever read. For freshness of 
 treatment and variety of incident Mr. Henty has surpassed himself." 
 Spectator. 
 
 With Clive in India; or, The Beginnings of an Empire. 
 
 By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, 
 
 ouvine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "He has taken a period of Indian history of the most vital impor- 
 tance, and he has embroidered on the historical facts a story which of 
 Itself is deeply interesting. Young people assuredly will be delighted 
 with the volume." Scotsman. 
 
 In the Reign of Terror: The Adventures of a West- 
 minster Boy. By G. A.. HENTY. With illustrations by J. SCHSNBKRQ. 
 12nio, cloth, oliviue edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "Harrv Sandwlth, the Westminster boy, may fairly be said to beat 
 Mr. Heuty's record. His adventures will delight boys by the audacity 
 and peril they depict. The story is one of Mr. Henty'a best." Saturday 
 
 Review. _^ 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L, BVBT, 62-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 12 A. L. BURIES BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 The Lion of the North : A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus 
 
 and the Wars of Religion. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by JOHN 
 
 SCHONBERG. 12mo, cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "A praiseworthy attempt to interest British youth In the great deeds 
 of the Scotch Brigade in the wars of Gustavus Adolphus. Mackey, Hep- 
 burn, and Munro live again in Mr. Henty's pages, as those deserve to 
 live whose disciplined bands formed really the germ of the modern 
 British army." Athenaeum. 
 
 The Dragon and the Raven; or, The Days of King 
 
 Alfred. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by C. J. STANILAND. 12mo, 
 
 cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 In this story the author gives an account of the fierce struggle be- 
 tween Saxon and Dane for supremacy in England, and presents a vivid 
 picture of the misery and ruin to which the country was reduced by the 
 ravages of the sea-wolves. The story is treated in a manner most at- 
 tractive to the boyish reader." Athenaeum. 
 
 The Young Carthaginian: A Story of the Times of 
 
 Hannibal. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by C. J. STANILAND. 12mo, 
 
 cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "Well constructed and vividly told. From first to last nothing stays 
 the interest of the narrative. It bears us along as on a stream whose 
 current varies in direction, but never loses Its force." Saturday Review. 
 
 In Freedom's Canse: A Story of Wallace and Bruce. 
 
 By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by GbRDON BROWNE. 12mo, cloth, 
 
 olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "It is written In the author's best style. Pull of the wildest and most 
 remarkable achievements, it is a tale of great interest, which a boy, once 
 he has begun it, will not willingly put one side." The Schoolmaster. 
 
 With Wolfe in Canada; or, The Winning of a Con- 
 tinent. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, 
 cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "A model of what a boys' story-book should be. Mr. Henty has a 
 great power of infusing into the dead facts of history new life, and as 
 no pains are spared by him to ensure accuracy in historic details, his 
 books supply useful aids to study as well as amusement." School Guard- 
 ian. 
 
 Tme to the Old Flag: A Tale of the American War of 
 
 Independence. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 
 
 12mo, cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "Does jmstice to the pluck and determination of the British sollders 
 during the unfortunate struggle against American emancipation. The eon 
 of an American loyalist, who remains true to our flag, falls among the 
 hostile red-skins in that very Huron country which has been endeared 
 to us by the exploits of Hawkeye and Chlngachgook." The Times. 
 
 A Final Reckoning: A Tale of Bush Life in Aus- 
 tralia. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by W. B. WOLLEN. 12mo, 
 cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "All boys will read this story with eager and unflagging Interest. The 
 episodes are in Mr. Henty's very best vein graphic, exciting, realistic: 
 and, as in all Mr. Henty's books, the tendency is to the formation of an 
 honorable, manly, and even heroic character." Birmingham Post. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. BTJBT, 52-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 HURT'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 13 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 The Lion of St. Mark: A Tale of Venice in the Four- 
 teenth Century. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by GORDON BROWNE 
 12mo, cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 "Every boy should read 'The Lion of St. Mark." Mr. Henty has never 
 
 produced a story more delightful, more wholesome, or more vivacious." 
 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 Facing Death; or, The Hero of the Vaughan Pit. A 
 
 Tale of the Coal Mines. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by GORDON 
 
 BROWNE. 12mc, cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "The tale Is well written and well Illustrated, and there is much 
 reality in the characters. If any father, clergyman, or schoolmaster 
 Is on the lookout for a good book to give as a present to a boy who is 
 worth his salt, this is the book we would recommend." Standard. 
 
 Maori and Settler: A Story of the New Zealand War. 
 
 By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by ALFRED PEARSE. 12mo, cloth, 
 olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "In the adventures among the Maoris, there are many breathless 
 moments in which the odds seem hopelessly against the party, but they 
 succeed In establishing themselves happily In one of the pleasant New 
 Zealand valleys. It is brimful of adventure, of humorous and interesting 
 conversation, and vivid pictures of colonial life." Schoolmaster. 
 
 One of the 28th: A Tale of Waterloo. By G. A. 
 
 HENTY. With illustrations by W. H. OVBREND. 12mo, cloth, olivine 
 
 edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "Written with Homeric vigor and heroic Inspiration. It Is graphic, 
 picturesque, and dramatically effective . . . shows us Mr. Henty at 
 his best and brightest. The adventures will hold a boy enthralled as he 
 rushes through them with breathless interest 'from cover to cover.* " 
 Observer. 
 
 Orange and Green : A Tale of the Boyne and Limer- 
 ick. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations by GORDON BROWNE. 12mo, 
 cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 "The narrative Is free from the vice of prejudice, and ripples with 
 
 life as If what Is being described were really passing before the eye." 
 
 Belfast News-Letter. 
 
 Through the Fray: A Story of the Luddite Riots. 
 
 SG. A. HENTY. With illustrations by H. M. PAOET. 12mo, cloth, olivine 
 jes, price $1.00. 
 
 "Mr. Henty inspires a love and admiration for straightforwardness, truth 
 and courage. This is one of the best of the many good books Mr. 
 Henty has produced, and deserves to be classed with his 'Facing Death.' " 
 Standard. 
 
 The Young Midshipman: A Story of the Bombard- 
 ment of Alexandria. With illustrations. 12mo, cloth, olivine edges, 
 price $1.00. 
 
 A coast fishing lad, by an act of heroism, secures the Interest of 
 a shipowner, who places him as an apprentice on board one of his ships. 
 In company with two of his fellow-apprentices he Is left behind, at 
 Alexandria, In the hands of the revolted Egyptian troops, and is present 
 through the bombardment and the scenes of riot and bloodshed which 
 accompanied it. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. BURT, 52-68 Duane Street, New York.
 
 11 A. L. HURT'S BOOKS FOE YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 In Times of Peril. A Tale of India. By G. A. 
 
 HKNTY. With illustrations. 12mo, cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 The hero of the story early excites our admiration, and is altogether 
 a fine character such as boys will delight in, whilst the Story of the 
 campaign is very graphically told." St. James's Gazette, 
 
 The Cornet of Horse : A Tale of Marlborough's Wars. 
 
 By Q. A. HENTY. With illustrations. 12mo, cloth, olivine edges, price $1. 
 
 "Mr. Henty not only concocts a thrilling tale, he weaves fact and fiction 
 together with so skillful a hand that the reader cannot help acquiring a 
 Just and clear view of that fierce and terrible struggle known as the 
 Crimean War." Athenaeum. 
 
 The Young Franc-Tireurs : Their Adventures in the 
 
 Franco-Prussian War. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations. 12mo, cloth, 
 
 olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "A capital book for boys. It is bright and readable, and full of good 
 sense and manliness. It teaches pluck and patience in adversity, and 
 shows that right living leads to success." Observer. 
 
 The Young Colonists: A Story of Life and War in 
 
 South Africa. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations. 12mo, cloth, olivine 
 
 edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "No boy needs to have any story of Henty's recommended to him, and 
 parents who do not know and buy them for their boys should be ashamed 
 of themselves. Those to whom he is yet unknown could not make a 
 better beginning than with this book. i 
 
 The Young Buglers. A Tale of the Peninsular War. 
 
 By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations. 12mo, cloth, olivine edges, price $1. 
 
 "Mr. Henty is a giant among boys* writers, and his books are suffi- 
 ciently popular to be sure of a welcome anywhere. In stirring interest, 
 this is quite up to the level of Mr. Henty's former historical tales." 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 Sturdy and Strong; or, How George Andrews Made his 
 
 Way. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations. 12mo. cloth, olivine edges, 
 
 price $1.00. 
 
 "The history of a bero of everyday life, whose love of tr tb, clothing of 
 modesty, and innate pluck, carry him, naturally, from poverty to afflu- 
 ence. George Andrews is an example of character with nothing to cavil 
 at, and stands as a good instance of chivalry in domestic life." The 
 Empire. 
 
 Among Malay Pirates. A Story of Adventure and 
 
 Peril. By G. A. HENTY. With illustrations. 12nio, cloth, olivine edges, 
 
 price $1.00. 
 
 "Incident succeeds incident, and adventure is piled upon adventure, 
 and at the end the reader, be he boy or man, will have experienced 
 breathless enjoyment in a romantic story that must have taught him 
 much at its close." Army and Navy Gazstte. 
 
 Jack Archer. A Tale of the Crimea. BY G. A. 
 
 HENTY. With illustrations. 12mo, cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "Mr. Henty not only concocts a thrilling !_:>, he weaves fact and fiction 
 together with so skillful a hand that the reader cannot help acquiring a 
 Just and clear view of that fierce and terrible struggle." Athensum. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. HURT, 62-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 A. L. HURT'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 15 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 Friends, Though Divided. A Tale of the Civil War. 
 
 By G. A. HENTT. With illustrations. 12mo, cloth, olivine edges, price 81. 
 
 "It has a good plot; it abounds in action; the scenes are equally spirited 
 and realistic, and we can only say we have read It with much pleasure 
 from first to last." Times. 
 
 Out on the Pampas; or, The Young Settlers. By 
 
 Q. A. HENTT. With illustrations. 12mo, cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "A really noble story, which adult readers will find to the full as satis- 
 fying as tbe boys. Lucky boys! to have such a caterer as Mr. G. A. 
 Henty." Black and White. 
 
 The Boy Knight: A Tale of the Crusades. By G. A. 
 
 HENTY. With illustrations. 12mo, cloth, olivine edges, price $1.00. 
 
 "Of stirring episode there Is no lack. The book, with Its careful accu- 
 racy and its descriptions of all the chief battles, will give many a school- 
 boy his first real understanding of a very important period of history." 
 St. James's Gazette. 
 
 The Wreck of the Golden Fleece. The Story of a North 
 
 Sea Fisher Boy. By ROBERT LEIGHTON. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price Jl. 
 
 A description of life on the wild North Sea. the hero being a parson's 
 son who is appreciated on board a Lowestoft fishing lugger. The lad has 
 te suffer many buffets from his shipmates, while the storms and dangers 
 which he braved on board the "North Star" are set forth with minute 
 knowledge and intense power. The wreck of the "Golden Fleece" forms 
 the climax to a thrilling series of desperate mischances. 
 
 Olaf the Glorious. A Story of the Viking Age. By 
 
 ROBERT LEIGHTON. ISrno, cloth, illustrated, price $1 .00. 
 
 This story of Olaf the Glorious, King of Norway, opens with the Incident 
 of his being found by bis uncle living as a bond-slave In Esthonia: thn 
 come his adventures as a Viking and his raids upon the coasts of Scot- 
 land and England, his victorious battle against the English at Maldon In 
 Essex, his being bought off by Ethelred the Unready, and his conversion 
 to Christianity. He then returns to Pagan Norway, is accepted as king, 
 and converts his people to the Christian faith. 
 
 To Greenland and the Pole. A story of Adventure in 
 
 the Arctic Regions. By GORDON STABLES. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 81. 
 
 The unfailing fascination of Arctic venturing Is presented In this s^ory 
 with new vividness. It deals with skilobning In the north of Scotland, 
 deer-hunting in Norway, sealing in the Arctic Seas, bear-stalking on the 
 lee-floes, the hardships of a journey across Greenland, and a successful 
 voyage to the back of the North Pole. This is. Indeed, a real sea-yarn 
 by a real sailor, and the tone Is as bright and wholesome as the adventures 
 are numerous. 
 
 Yussuf the Guide. A Story of Adventure in Asia 
 
 Minor. By GEORGE MANVITXE FENN. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 This story deals with the stirring incidents In the career of a lad who has 
 been almost given over by tbe doctors, but who rapidly recovers health 
 and strength in a journey through Asia Minor. The adventures are many, 
 and culminate In the travellers being snowed up for the winter in the 
 mountains, from which they escape while their captors are waiting for 
 the ransom that does not come. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A, L. BUBT, 62-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 16 A. L. HURT'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 Grettir the Outlaw. A Story of Iceland. By S. BAR- 
 
 iNG-GooLD. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 "This is the boys' book of the year. That is. of course, as much as 
 to say that it will do for men grown as well as juniors. It is told in 
 simple, straightforward English, as all stories should be, and it has a 
 freshness and freedom which make it irresistible." National Observer. 
 
 Two Thousand Years Ago. The Adventures of a 
 
 Roman Boy. By A. J. CHURCH. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price fl.OO. 
 
 "Prof. Church has in this story sought to revivify that most interesting 
 period, the last days of the Roman Republic. The book is extremely en- 
 tertaining as well as useful; there is a wonderful freshness in the Roman 
 scenes and characters." Times. 
 
 Nat the Naturalist. A Boy's Adventure in the East- 
 ern Seas. By GEORGE MANVILLE FKNN. ISmo, cloth, illustrated, price $1. 
 Nat and his uncle Dick go on a voyage to the remoter islands of the 
 Eastern seas, and their adventures are told in a truthful and vastly in- 
 teresting fashion. The descriptions of Mr. Ebony, their black comrade, 
 and of the scenes of savage life, are full of genuine humor. 
 
 The Log of the Flying Fish. A Story of Peril and 
 
 Adventure. By HARRY COLLINGWOOD. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1. 
 
 "This story is full of even more vividly recounted adventures than those 
 whiclJ charmed so many boy readers in 'Pirate Island* and 'Congo Rovers.' 
 . . . There is a thrilling adventure on the precipices of Mount Everest, 
 when the ship floats off and providentially returns by force of 'gravita- 
 tion.' " Academy. 
 
 The Congo Hovers. A Story of the Slave Squadron. 
 
 By HARRY COLLINGWOOD. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price fl.OO. 
 
 "The scene of this tale is laid on the west coast of Africa, and in the 
 lower reaches of the Congo; the characteristic scenery of the great river 
 being delineated with wonderful accuracy. Mr. Collingwood carries us off 
 for another cruise at sea, in 'The Congo Hovers,' and boys will need no 
 pressing to join the daring crew, which seeks adventures and meets with 
 any number of them." The Times. 
 
 Boris the Bear Hunter. A Tale of Peter the Great and 
 
 His Times. By FRED WISHAW. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 "This is a capital story. The characters are marked and lifelike, and it 
 is full of incident and adventure." Standard. 
 
 Michael Strogoff ; or, The Courier of the Czar. By 
 
 JULES VERNE. I2mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 "The story is full of originality and vigor. The characters are lifelike, 
 there is plenty of stirring incident, the interest is sustained throughout, 
 and every boy will enjoy following the fortunes of the hero." Journal of 
 Education. 
 
 Mother Carey's Chicken. Her Voyage to the Unknown 
 
 Isle. By GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price fl.OO. 
 
 "Undoubtedly one of the best Mr. Fenn has written. The incidents are 
 of thrilling Interest, while the characters are drawn with a care and com- 
 pleteness rarely found in a boy's book." Literary World. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. BUBT, 52-58 Duane Street, Tfew York.
 
 A. L. BURT^S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 17 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 Dick Sand; or, A Captain at Fifteen. By JULES 
 
 VERNE. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 "Jules Verne himself never constructed a more marvellous tale. It con- 
 tains the strongly marked features that are always conspicuous In his 
 stories a racy humor, the manly vigor of his sentiment, and wholesome 
 moral lessons." Christian Leader. 
 
 Erling the Bold. A Tale of the Norse Sea Kings. 
 
 By R. M. BALLANTYNE. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 "This volume makes a really fascinating book, worthy of Its telling 
 title. There is, we venture to say, not a dull chapter in the book, not 
 a page which will not bear a second reading." Guardian. 
 
 Mastennan Heady; or, The Wreck of the Pacific. By 
 
 CAPTAIN MARRYAT. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 "As racy a tale of life at sea and adventure as we have met with for 
 some time. . . . Altogether the sort of book that boys will revel In." 
 
 Athenaeum. 
 
 The Green Mountain Boys. A Tale of the Early Set- 
 tlement of Vermont. By D. P. THOMPSON. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1. 
 A story of very great interest for boys. In his own forcible style the 
 author has endeavored .to show that determination and patriotic enthu- 
 siasm can accomplish marvellous results. This story gives a graphic ac- 
 count of the early settlers of Vermont, and their patriotic efforts in da- 
 fending their homes from the invasions of enemies. 
 
 Every Inch a Sailor. By GORDON STABLES. 12mo, 
 
 cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 "A story which is quite as good in its way as 'Treasure Island," and is 
 full of adventure of a stirring yet most natural kind. Although It is 
 primarily a boys' book, It is a real godsend to the elderly reader." 
 Evening Times, 
 
 The Golden Galleon. A Narrative of Adventure on 
 
 Her Majesty's Ship the Revenge. By ROBERT LEIGHTON. 12mo, cloth, 
 
 illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 "This story should add considerably to Mr. Leighton's high reputation. 
 Excellent in every respect, it contains every variety of incident. The plot 
 is very cleverly devised, and the types of the North Sea sailors are 
 capital." The Times. 
 
 The Gorilla Hunters. A Tale of the Wilds of Africa. 
 
 By R. M. BALLANTYNE. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 "We conscientiously belive that boys will find it capital reading. It IB 
 full of incident and mystery, and the mystery is kept up to the last 
 moment. It is full of stirring adventure, daring and many escapes: and 
 it has a historical interest." Times. 
 
 Gascoyne the Sandalwood Trader. By K. M. BAL- 
 LANTYNE. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, prie $1.00. 
 
 "One of the best stories of seafaring life and adventure which have 
 appeared this season. Entertaining in the highest degree from beginning 
 to end, and full of adventure which is all the livelier for Its close con- 
 nection with history." Spectator. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. BTTBT, 62-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 18 A. L. HURT'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 Two Years Before the Mast. A Personal Narrative of 
 
 Life at Sea. By R. H. DANA, JR. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 "One of the very best books for boys that we have seen for a long time: 
 Its author stands far -in advance of any other writer for boys as a teller 
 of stories of the sea." The Standard. 
 
 The Young Bajah. A Story of Indian Life. By W. 
 
 H. G. KINGSTON. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price fl.OO. 
 
 "This story will place the author at once in the front rank. It is full 
 of life and adventure, and the interest is sustained without a break from 
 first to last." Standard. 
 
 How Jack Mackenzie Won His Epaulettes. A Story 
 
 of the Crimean War. By GORDON STABLES. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, 
 
 price $1.00. 
 
 "This must rank among the few undeniably good boys' books. He 
 will be a very dull boy indeed who lays it down without wishing that 
 it had gone on for at least 100 pages more." Mail. 
 
 The King's Pardon. A Story of Land and Sea. By 
 
 EGBERT OVKRTON. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 "An excellent story, the interest being sustained from first to last. 
 This is, both in its intention and the way the story is told, one of the 
 best books of its kind which has come before us this year." Saturday 
 Be view. 
 
 TTnder the Lone Star. A Story of the Eevolution in 
 
 Nicaragua. By HERBERT HAYNES. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 "We have not of late come across a historical fiction, whether intended 
 for boys or for men, which deserves to be so heartily and unreservedly 
 praised as regards plot, incidents, and spirit as this book. It is its au- 
 thor's masterpiece as yet." Spectator. 
 
 Geoff and Jim: A Story of School Life. By ISMAY 
 
 THORN. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "This is a prettily told story of the life spent by two motherless bairns 
 at a small preparatory school. Both Geoff and Jim are very lovable char- 
 acters, only Jim is the more so; and the scrapes he gets into and the 
 trials he endures will, no doubt, interest a large circle of young readers." 
 Church Times. 
 
 Jack: A Topsy Turvy Story. By C. M. CRAWLEY- 
 
 BOEVEY. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "The illustrations deserve particular mention, as they add largely to 
 the interest of this amusing volume for children. Jack falls asleep with 
 his mind full of the subject of the fishpond, and is very much surprised 
 presently to find himself an inhabitant of Waterworld, where he goes 
 through wonderful and edifying adventures. A handsome and pleasant 
 book." Literary World. 
 
 Black Beauty. The Autobiography of a Horse. By 
 
 ANNA SEWELL. l2mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 This is the life story of a horse; how he was ill treated and well 
 cared for. The experiences of Black Beauty, Ginger, and Merrylegs are 
 extremely interesting. Wherever children are, whether boys or girls, there 
 this Autobiography should be. It inculcates habits of kindness to all mem- 
 bers of the animal creation. The literary merit of the book is excellent. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by tha 
 publisher, A. L. BUKT, 52-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 A. L. BTJRT'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 19 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 Mopsa the Fairy. By JEAN INGELOW. 12mo, cloth, 
 
 illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "Mrs. Ingelow is, to our mind, the most charming of all Hying -writers 
 for children, and 'Mopsa' alone ought to give her a kind of pre-emptive 
 right to the love and gratitude of our young folks. It requires genius 
 to conceive a purely imaginary work which must of necessity deal with 
 the supernatural, without running into a mere riot of fantastic absurdity; 
 but genius Mrs. Ingelow has, and the story of 'Jack' is as careless and 
 Joyous, but as delicate as a picture of childhood." Eclectic. 
 
 Carrots: Just a Little Boy. By MRS. MOLESWORTH. 
 
 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "One of the cleverest and most pleasing stories It has been our good 
 fortune to meet with for some time. Carrots and his sister are delight- 
 ful little beings, whom to read about is at once to become very fond of. 
 A genuine children's book; we've seen "em seize it, and read it greedily. 
 Children are first-rate critics, and thoroughly appreciate Walter Crane"'s 
 Illustrations. ' ' Punch. 
 
 Larry's Luck. By the author of "Miss Toosey's Mis- 
 sion. 1 ' 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "It is believed that this story, by this favorably known author of 
 'Miss Toosey's Mission,' will be found both highly interesting and instruc- 
 tive to the young. Whether the readers are nine years old, or twice as 
 old, they must enjoy this pretty volume." The Examiner. 
 
 A Child's Christmas: A Sketch of Boy Life. By MRS. 
 
 MOLESWORTH. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "This is another of those delightful juvenile stories of which this author 
 has written so many. It is a fascinating little book, with a charming 
 plot, a sweet, pure atmosphere, and teaches a wholesome moral in the 
 most winning manner." Gazette. 
 
 Chunk, Fusky and Snout. A Story of Wild Pigs for 
 
 Little People. By GERALD YOUNG. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "The story Is an extremely interesting one, full of incident, told in a 
 quiet, healthful way, and with a great deal of pleasantly Interfused 
 Information about wild pigs and their ways. It is sure to Interest both 
 boys and girls." Christian Union. 
 
 Daddy's Boy. By L. T. MEADE. 12mo, cloth, illus- 
 trated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "A charming story of child life. Little Sir Rowland is one of the 
 most fascinating of the misunderstood child heroes of the day. The quaint 
 doings and imaginings of this gentle, lovable, but highly original child are 
 Introduced by Mrs. Meade, with all her accustomed pathos." Guardian, 
 
 Adventures of Prince Prigio. BY ANDREW LANG. 
 
 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "This book has so much charm of style and good writing that It will be 
 eagerly read by many other than the young folk for whom it is Intended." 
 Black and White. 
 
 A Flock of Four. A Story for Boys and Girls. By 
 
 ISMAY THORN. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 "As a gift book for boys It is among the best new books of the kind. 
 The story is interesting and natural, from first to last." Gazette. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. BUKT, 52-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 20 A. L. HURT'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 A Flat Iron for a Farthing. The Story of an Only 
 
 Son. By JULIANA HORATIA EWINQ. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "A very good book it is, full of adventure, graphically told. The style 
 
 Is just what it should be; simple but not bold, full of pleasant humor, 
 
 and with some pretty touches of feeling. Like all Mrs. Ewing's tales, 
 
 it is sound, sensible, and wholesome." Times. 
 
 The Greek Heroes. Fairy Tales for My Children. By 
 
 CHARLES KINGSLEY. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "We do not think these heroic stories have ever been more attractively 
 told. . . There is a deep under-current of religious feeling traceable 
 throughout its pages which is sure to influence young readers power- 
 fully. One of the children's books that will surely become a classic." 
 London Review. 
 
 Jackanapes. BY JULIANA HORATIA EWING. 12mo, 
 
 cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "This is one of Mrs. Ewing's charming little stories for young children. 
 The narrative ... is full of interest for its real grace and delicacy, 
 and the exquisiteness and purity of the English in which it is written." 
 Boston Advertiser. 
 
 Princess and Curdie. By GEORGE MACDONALD. 12mo, 
 
 cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "One of the cleverest and most pleasing stories it has been our good 
 fortune to meet with for some time. The Princess and Curdie are delight- 
 ful Httle beings, whom to read about is at once to become very fond of." 
 Examiner. ' l ; 
 
 Peter the Pilgrim. The Story of a Boy and His Pet 
 
 Rabbit. By L. T. MEADE. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "Little Peter, with his soft heart, clever head, and brave spirit is no 
 morbid presentment of the angelic child 'too good to live,' and who is 
 certainly a nuisance on earth, but a charming creature, if not a por- 
 trait, whom it is a privilege to meet even in fiction." The Academy. 
 
 We and the World. A Story for Boys. By JULIANA 
 
 HORATIA EWINO. 12mo, cloth, Illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "The author has evidently studied the ways and tastes of children and 
 got at the secret of amusing them; and has succeeded in what is not 
 so easy a task as it may seem in producing a really good children's 
 book." Daily Telegraph. 
 
 Little Ivan's Hero. A Story of Child Life. By 
 
 HELEN MILMAN. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "We should imagine those queer folk indeed who could not read this 
 story with eager interest and pleasure, be they boys or girls, young or 
 old. We highly commend the style in which the book is written, and the 
 spirit which pervades it." World. 
 
 Dick, Marjorie and Fidge. The Wonderful Adventures 
 
 of Three Little People. By G. E. FARROW. 12mo, cloth, illust'd, price 75c. 
 
 " . . . To the young, for whom it is especially intended, this is a 
 
 most interesting book of adventures, well told, *nd a pleasant book to 
 
 take up when their wish is to while away a weary half-hour. We have 
 
 seen no prettier gift-book for a long time." Athenaeum. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. BTJET, 62-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 A. L. BURT^S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 21 
 
 BOOKS FOR BOYS. 
 
 A Wonder Book: For Boys and Girls. Comprising 
 
 itao, cloth, 
 
 wlth delight by every 
 
 My Dog Plato: Eis Adventures and Impressions. By 
 
 H. M. CORNWALL LEGH. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents 
 
 gentfe a a n P d e7'-G n uar ^u We ^""^ C mmend tO ^ reader8 ' 
 
 Squib and His Friends. A Story for Children. By 
 
 ELLKN EVERETT GREEN. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 "This book will please by its simplicity, its tenderness, and its healthy 
 Interesting motive. It is admirably written." Scotsman. 
 
 Tom's Opinion. The Story of a Boys' School. By 
 
 the author of "Miss Toosey's Mission." 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75c. 
 "A beautiful little story. ... It will be read with delight by 
 every boy into whose hands it is placed." Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 Robin's Bide. A Story for Children. By ELLINOR 
 
 D. ADAMS. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "It is a first-rate boys' book. It is a capital story; the characters arc 
 well drawn, and the incidents are perfectly natural." Times. 
 
 Peter and Tom. A Story for Boys. By BELLE S. 
 
 CRAGIN. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 Peter and Tom were unlikely heroes, particularly in the direction of 
 heroism, but the proper chord was touched in each of their lives, and 
 through many trials and adventures they developed Christian principles and 
 successful business traits. 
 
 Nurse Heatherdale's Story. By MRS. MOLESWORTH. 
 
 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 " 'Nurse Heatherdale's Story" is all about a small boy, who was got j 
 enough, yet was always getting into some trouble through complication* 
 in which he was not to blame. He is an orphan, though he is cared for in 
 a way by relations, who are not so very rich, yet are looked on as well 
 fixed. After many youthful trials and disappointments he falls into a 
 big stroke of good luck, which lifts him and goes to make other* happy." 
 
 Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 The Last of the Huggermuggers. A Giant Story. By 
 
 CHRISTOPHER P. CRAUCH. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "Fresh and charming in style, with fun that is never forced, pathos 
 that is always genuine, and with a distinctly wholesome purpose. This is 
 certain to be a favorite with boys." Literary World. 
 
 The Hunting of the Snark. By LEWIS CARROLL, 
 
 author of "Alice in Wonderland." 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "Whether as regarding author or illustrator, this book is a Jewel 
 rarely to be found nowadays. Not a whit inferior to its predecessor in 
 grand extravagance of imagination, and delicious allegorical nonsense." 
 
 Quarterly Review. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A. L. BtTRT, 52-58 Duane Street, New York.
 
 2 A. L. BURT VS DOOKS FOii YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 BOOKS FOR GIRLS. 
 
 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. By LEWIS CARROLL, 
 
 ISmo, cloth, 42 illustrations, price 75 cents. 
 
 "From first to last, almost without exception, this story Is delightfully 
 droll, humorous and illustrated in harmony with the story." Mow York 
 Express. 
 
 Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found 
 
 There. By LKYTTS CARROLL. 12nio, cloth, 50 illustrations, price 75 cents. 
 "A delight alike to the young people and their elders, extremely funny 
 both in text and illustrations." Boston Express. 
 
 Little Lucy's Wonderful Globe. By CHARLOTTE M. 
 
 YONGE. 12ino, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "This story is unique among tales intended for children, alike for pleas- 
 ant instruction, quaintness of humor, gentle pathos, and the subtlety with 
 which lessons moral and otherwise are conveyed to children, and perhaps 
 to their seniors as well." The Spectator. 
 
 Joan's Adventures at the North Pole and Elsewhere. 
 
 BY ALICE CORKRAN. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 
 "Wonderful as the adventures of Joan are. it must be admitted that 
 they are very naturally worked out and very plausibly presented. Alto- 
 gether this is an excellent story for girls." Saturday Review. 
 
 Count Up the Sunny Days : A Story for Girls and Boys. 
 
 By C. A. JOKES. 12mo,- cloth, illustrated, price 75 cents. 
 "An unusually good children's story." Glasgow Herald. 
 
 The Heir of Redelyffe. By CHARLOTTE M. YONGE. 
 
 32mo, cloth, illustrated, price SI. 00. 
 
 "A narrative full of interest from first to last. It is told clearly and in 
 a straightforward manner, and arrests the attention of the reader at once, 
 so that one feels afresh the unspeakable pathos of the story to the end." 
 London Graphic, 
 
 The Dove in the Eagle's Nest. By CHARLOTTE M. 
 
 YONGE. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price gl.OO. 
 
 "Among all the modern writers we believe Miss Yonge first, not in 
 genius, but In this, that she employs her great abilities for a high and 
 noble purpose. We know of few modern writers whose works may be so 
 safely commended as hers." Cleveland Times. 
 
 Jan of the Windmill. A Story of the Plains. By MRS. 
 
 J. H. EWING. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 "Never has Mrs. Ewing published a more charming volume, and that 
 is saying a very great deal. From the first to the last the book over- 
 flows with the strange knowledge of child-nature which so rarely sur- 
 vives childhood: and moreover, with inexhaustible quiet humor, which 
 is never anything but innocent and well-bred, never priggish, and never 
 clumsy. ' ' Academy. 
 
 A Sweet Girl Graduate. By L. T. MEADE. 12mo, cloth, 
 
 illustrated, price $1.00. 
 
 "One of this popular author's best. The characters are well imagined 
 and drawn. The story moves with plenty of spirit and the interest does 
 not flag until the end too quickly comes." Providence Journal. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the 
 publisher, A, L. BURT, 52-58 Duane Street, New York,
 
 University of California 
 
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