ands of his men into the hills to hunt down the
survivors. One morning there was a blare of trumpets and a group of
Roman soldiers came marching down the street. From the roof of the house
where I stayed with my parents we saw Judah of Galilee being prodded
along by guards in armor. He was hurt but he walked proudly.

"I began to cry. Even my father had tears in his eyes. Although I was
only a young boy, I knew that Judah would be killed for fighting the
Romans. But I did not know how terrible it would be.

"The Romans made all Jews who did not live in Jerusalem leave within two
days. It was a sad time. We had come in joy, remembering how at the
first Passover Feast God had protected us from the Egyptians. We left
sorrowing. We saw a dreadful sight when we went out of the city gate."

The fishermen had finished their food and sat with their eyes fixed on
Simon. James and Andrew had heard bits of this story before, but
listened eagerly for details as Simon talked. John's eyes seemed to be
saying: "Go on! Go on!" Zebedee was older and knew the story well.
Already his face showed pain and sorrow.

"Judah had been condemned to die as a criminal. All criminals were
crucified. He was thrown to the ground and his body was spread on a
wooden cross. His hands were nailed to the crossbeam. His feet were
nailed also. The cross was set upright beside the road from Jerusalem to
Galilee. All the Zealots who had been hiding in the hills of Judea were
crucified with him.

"When my father and mother took me out through the city gate, I saw
hundreds of crosses on both sides of the road. On each cross hung a
brave Galilean. When I saw that Judah was dead, my boyhood dream
crumbled. I have never forgotten."

The fire had burned out while Simon talked. The morning sun glared on
the gray ashes. Lost in thought, the men gazed at the dead fire. Finally
Simon said: "It seems that every time we fight for the Kingdom of God we
suffer all the more. How does John the Baptizer explain that, Andrew?"

"He didn't say anything about it that I remember," Andrew admitted.

People were hurrying along the road back of the beach.

"Come along, men," said Zebedee briskly. "We must clean the nets."

"I think I'll try my luck in the shallow water," said Andrew. He picked
up a circular net with weights around the edges. He waded to his knees
and threw the net. It fell flat on the water and sank, trapping a small
fish under it.

The others began to w