he deceived?"

She closed her lips and looked at him perplexed. Certainly this was
the companion of Philadelphus, who had told her freely half of her
husband's ambitions, long before he had come to Jerusalem. She could
not have betrayed her husband in thus mentioning his name.

"Your companion of the journey hither--whom you even now
accused--Philadelphus Maccabaeus."

There was a dead pause in which his fingers still held her wrist and
his deep eyes were fixed on her face. He was recalling by immense
mental bounds all the evidence that would tend to confirm the
suspicion in his brain. He had told her his own story but had invested
it in Julian of Ephesus. His wallet, with all its proofs, was gone;
the Ephesian had examined him carefully to know if any one in
Jerusalem would recognize him; and lastly, without cause, Julian had
stabbed him in the back. Could it be possible that Julian of Ephesus,
believing that he had made way with the Maccabee, had come to
Jerusalem, masquerading under his name?

While he stood thus gazing, hardly seeing the face that looked up at
him with such troubled wonder, he saw her turn her eyes quickly,
shrink; and then wrenching her hands from his, she fled.

He looked up. Two women were standing before him.

"I seek Amaryllis, the Seleucid," he said, recovering himself.

"I am she," the Greek said, stepping forward.

"Thou entertainest Laodice, daughter of Costobarus of Ascalon?" he
added.

The Greek bowed.

"I would see her," he said bluntly.

Amaryllis signed to the woman at her side.

"This is she," she said simply.

The Maccabee looked quickly at the woman. After his close
communication with the beautiful girl for whom his heart warmed as it
had never done before, he was instantly aware of an immense contrast
between her and the woman who had been introduced to him at that
moment. They were both Jewesses; both were beautiful, each in her own
way; both appeared intelligent and winsome. But he loved the girl, and
this woman stood in the way of that love. Therefore her charms were
nullified; her latent faults intensified; all in all she repelled him
because she was an obstacle.

The injustice in his feelings toward her did not occur to him. He was
angry because she had come; he hated her for her stateliness; he found
himself looking for defects in her and belittling her undeniable
graces. Confused and for the moment without plan, he looked at her
frowning, and with cold ast