Ben-Hur; a tale of the Christ

h mixed with the odor of cedar-wood aflame and smoking loaded the air; and as this was the occasion when every son of Israel was full brother to every othe

thanks to them he hurried on, intending to take hor

es in motion streaming out like pennons; then he observed that the singing ceased where the torches came. His wonder rose to its highest, however, when he became certain that amidst the smoke and dancing sparks he saw the keener

so close to the line of march as to bring every one of the company under view while passing. The torches and the lanterns were being borne by servants, each of whom was armed with a bludgeon or a sharpened stave. Their present duty seemed to be to pick out the smoothest paths among the rocks in the street for certain dignitaries among them--eld

ead so low upon his breast as to hide his face. His appearance was that of a prisoner not yet recovered from the fright of arrest, or being taken to something dreadful--to torture or death. The dignitaries helping him on the right and left, and the attention they gave him, made it clear that if he were not himself the object moving the party, he was at least in some way connected with the object--a witness or a guide, possibly an informer. So if it could be found who he was the business in han

'Scar

settled upon Ben-Hur, and his lips moved as if

e!" he said to Ben-H

ssively along down the street, through the crowded lowlands between the hill Bezetha and the Castle of Antonia, and on by the B

ivet beyond, its dressing of cedar and olive trees darker of the moonlight silvering all the heavens. Two roads met and merged into the street at the gate--one from the northeast, the other from Beth

d enclosed by a stone wall in view from the road. Ben-Hur knew there was nothing in the place but old gnarled trees, the grass, and a trough hewn out of a rock for the treading of oil after the fashion of the country. While, yet more wonder-struck, he was thinking what could bring

ob and run forward. There he found a gateway without a gate

rance, his hands crossed before him--a slender, stooping figure, wit

the N

ever calmer than he. The torchlight beat redly upon him, giving his hair a tint ruddier than

nd from him to them--then at Judas, conspicuous in their midst--Ben-Hur looked--one quick glance, and the object of the visit lay open to h

he Christ before the Gate Beautiful as it had been given by the Egyptian; and, besides that, the very calmness with which the mysterious person confronted the mob held him in restraint by suggesting the possession of a power in reserve more than sufficient for the peril. Peace and good-will, and love and non-resistance, had been the burden of the Nazarene's teaching; would he put his preaching into practice

lear voice of t

seek

areth," the p

am

fell back several steps, the timid among them cowering to the ground; and

, mas

endly speech,

"betrayest thou the Son of man wit

, the Master spoke

seek

of Na

he. If, therefore, you seek

off a man's ear, but without saving the Master from being taken. And yet Ben-Hur stood still! Nay, while the officers were making ready with their ropes th

aid to the wounded man, an

side that he could do such a thing, the othe

l not allow th

ought B

g follower, the Nazarene turned to his captors. "Are you come out as against a thief, with swords and staves to ta

t him; and when Ben-Hur looked for the faith

, Ben-Hur caught momentary glimpses of the prisoner. Never had anything struck him as so piteous, so unfriended, so forsaken! Yet, he thought, the man could have defended himself--he could

; he was not satisfied with himself. Where the torches were in the midst of the rabble he knew t

wall, and started after the posse, which he boldly joined. Through the stragglers he made way, and by

ual; apparently he was oblivious to all going on around him. In advance a few steps were priests and elders talking and occasionally looking

ing close to the Nazarene's ear. "Dost thou

m he had taken the

nued, "goest thou with t

and in his own ears asking

p with anxiety, "I am thy friend and lover. Tell me,

ing it to such as look at us, though they be strangers, failed not now. "Let him alone," it seemed to say; "he has been abandoned by his friends;

e upon him, and from all sides there was shouting, "H

k the hands off, and rushed through the circle which was fast hemming him in. The hands snatching at him as he passed tore his garments fro

followed back to the city gate; thence he went to the khan, and on the

rrow--promised it, not knowing that the unfriended man was ta

es of the fall die away; but when they go altogether--go as ships sink, as houses tumble in earthquakes--the spirits which endure it calmly are made of stuffs sterner than common, and Ben-Hur's was not of them. Through vistas in the future, he began to catch glimpses of a life serenely beautiful, with a home instead of a

on a crisis with which to-morrow and t