d and started to speak, but each time he could scarcely hear his own
voice. The leader of the palace guard glanced anxiously at Pilate and
waved to a group of soldiers waiting inside the fort. They made a tight
circle around Jesus.

Pilate dropped his hand limply and turned to the priest. "Do with him
whatever you want." The bloodthirsty mob surged toward the guards, but
could not break through the line of soldiers, which stood like a steel
wall until the door of the fort had slammed shut behind Jesus.

Peter made no attempt to follow. He took little notice of the men around
him, who gave him curious stares. Peter walked to the place where Jesus
had stood. He looked down and read the words which were written on the
pavement in front of the judgment seat:

JUSTICE AND MERCY.

Pilate too had betrayed the Christ!

[Illustration]

18. THE ROCK OF FAITH

The Passover Feast was ended, and the pilgrims from Galilee were leaving
Jerusalem. The friends of Jesus, and especially the eleven disciples,
were dazed by the death of their Master. In the blackest discouragement,
wondering what they should do, they gathered at the house where Jesus
had eaten his last meal. They repeated over and over again the story of
the things that had happened. Some talked about returning to Galilee.
Two followers who lived in Emmaus, a town several miles west of
Jerusalem, decided to go back to their homes.

The two men took the road that led over the hill of Calvary where Jesus
had died. The cross still stood. Moving in the breeze was the sign which
Pilate had ordered tacked to the very top: THE KING OF THE JEWS. At the
hour of Jesus' death this hill had trembled as a storm thundered through
the sky. But now Calvary was quiet. In the bright morning the two men
could hardly believe that here they had heard the death cry of their
Master: "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

When the men came near the cross, they stood silent for many minutes.
Finally Cleopas, the older of the two remarked, "They haven't taken the
sign down yet."

"Do you think others will be crucified on his cross, Cleopas?" asked the
other.

"Perhaps." After a long silence, Cleopas added: "Do you remember the
centurion who was in charge of the soldiers? Just after Jesus died, I
heard him say, 'This man truly was a son of God!'"

"Do you think any of the others believed?" mused the other man.

"Most of them scoffed!" answered Cleopas bitterly. "One priest said