ched 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."

Turning aside, they rode towards some gardens and orchards at no
great distance but, before they reached them, two Roman soldiers
separated themselves from the rest, and galloped after them.

"Fly, John!" Martha said, hurriedly. "You and Jonas can escape."

"It would only ensure 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, my lord."

"You are all the same," the Roman said, scowling. "You speak us
fair one day, and stab us in the back the next.

"Pomponius," he said 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 anyone."

Illustration: Mary and the Hebrew Women in the Hands of the Romans.

Martha threw her arms round Mary; and would 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 so