then pursued their way to Jerusalem. The
horseman, who carried Genevieve behind, following close upon Gremion
and Chusa, the slave heard the latter harshly scolding their wives.

'No, by Hercules!' exclaimed the Roman; 'to find my wife disguised as a
man in the midst of this band of ragged beggars and seditious
wretches!--'Tis incredible; no, by Hercules! till I came to Judea I
never heard of such an enormity.'

'And I, who am of Judea, seigneur,' observed Chusa, 'I am no more than
yourself, accustomed to these enormities. I knew well that beggars,
thieves, and abandoned women followed this cursed Nazarene. But may the
wrath of God strike me on the instant, if I have ever heard of the
indignity to mix themselves with the vile populace that this man drags
after him in every country; a vile populace that would just now have
stoned us, but for the valor of our attitude,' added Chusa with a
victorious air.

'Yes, luckily, we imposed on these wretches by our courage,' replied
Gremion, 'otherwise there would have been an end of us. Ah! you said
true, this is another proof of the hatred and resentments produced by
the incendiary predictions of the Nazarene; he dreams of nothing but
exciting the poor against the rich.'

'Did not the young master, on the contrary, appease the fury of the
crowd?' said the gentle but firm voice of Jane. 'Did he not say: 'Let
these men go in peace, and let them sin no more.'

'What think you of such audacity?' exclaimed Chusa, addressing Gremion.
'You heard my wife? Will it not be now said that we cannot go along the
roads but with the permission of the Nazarene, of that son of
Beelzebub! and that if we escaped the fury of those wretches, 'twas
owing to the promise he made them that we should sin no more. By the
pillars of the temple! is this impudence enough?'

'The young man of Nazareth,' resumed Jane, 'cannot answer for what is
said and done in his name. The crowd was unjustly excited against you,
when by a word he appeased it. What more could he do?'

'There again!' exclaimed Chusa. 'And by what right does this Nazarene
calm or excite the popular will as he chooses? Do you know why we are
returning to Jerusalem? It is because we are assured that in consequence
of the abominable predictions of this man, the mountaineers of Judea and
the laborers of the plain of Saron, would stone us if we presented
ourselves to collect the taxes.'

'The young man has said: 'Render unto Caesar that which