ut having fear of me.' Has not the Lord again said, 'There is a
race whose teeth are thorns, and who use them as knives to devour those
who have nothing on the earth, and who are poor amongst men?'

'If this race has knives for teeth,' said Banaias, placing his hand on
his cutlass, 'we will bite with ours!'

'Oh, may the day come when those shall be judged who oppress the workman
in his wages, and I will denounce to the vengeance of the Lord the
banker Jonas!' said a workman.

'He made me work secretly on the panels of the Chamber of Festivals on
the Sabbath days, and he withheld my wages on those days. I determined
to complain. He threatened to denounce me to the high priest as a
profaner of the holy days, and to have me thrown into prison!'

'And why did the banker Jonas unjustly withhold your salary?' continued
Peter; 'because, as the prophet again says, 'Avarice is like the
horse-leech; it hath two daughters, crying, 'give! give!'

'And these great bloodsuckers,' exclaimed Banaias, 'shall they not one
day disgorge all the blood they have sucked from the poor workmen,
widows and orphans?'

'Yes, yes,' replied the disciple, 'our prophets and Jesus have
announced, 'For them shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth; but when
once the tares, which stifle the grain, is separated, the wicked kings,
the avaricious, and the usurers extirpated from the earth, all the
juices of which they suck out, then shall come the day of happiness for
all, justice for all; and this day arrived,' say the prophets, 'people
shall no longer arm themselves against each other; their swords shall
be turned into reaping hooks, their lances into spades; one nation shall
no longer declare war against another nation; they shall no longer make
war, but each shall sit beneath his own fig-tree or his vine, without
fear of any one; the work of justice shall be the security, the peace
and the happiness of every one. At that time, lastly, the wolf shall
dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the
lion and the sheep shall rest together, and a little child shall lead
them all.'

This charming picture of universal peace and happiness appeared to make
a deep impression on Peter's auditory. Many voices exclaimed:

'Oh! may these times come! for where is the use of people murdering
people?'

'What bloodshed!'

'And who profits by it? The conquering Pharaohs! Men of blood, of
battle, and of rapine.'

'Oh! may the time of happ