ll, Judas, moving as
one distracted, came down the street in front of the high priest's
palace; as he went he muttered to himself: "Fearful forebodings drive
me hither and thither. That word of Annas' 'He must die!' Oh, that
word pursues me everywhere." Then, as if he remembered all that had
happened, Judas cried, "No, it cannot come to that; they will not carry
things so far! That would be too terrible if my Master--no!--and
I--guilty of it? No! Here in the house of Caiaphas, I will inquire
how things stand. Shall I go in? I can no longer bear this
uncertainty, and it terrifies me to ascertain the certainty. My heart
throbs with terror--surely I shall not have to hear the worst. Yet it
must come some time." And thereupon he went into the house of the high
priest.

Meanwhile in the hall of Caiaphas the Temple Watch was standing waiting
the result of the examination of Jesus before Caiaphas. In the hall
were the servant maids, Sarah and Hagar, who seeing the soldiers
standing outside, went to the door, and said, "You may come in here."
It was Hagar who spoke first, and Sarah added, "It is more comfortable
in here."

"True for you, good people," said Melchi, one of the soldiers. Then
calling out, "Ho, comrades, come in! It is better for us to lie down
in the hall."

Then said a soldier named Arphaxad, "I like this; I wish we had come in
long ago; how stupid we are, always standing outside in the open air
and shivering. But where is there any fire?"

"Sarah," added another soldier, "go and bring us fire, also wood to lay
thereon."

"Willingly," said Hagar.

"That you shall have," said Sarah. They went out together to comply
with the soldier's wish.

"Will the trial soon come to an end?" asked several of the soldiers.

"It will last," said Melchi, "until all the witnesses are examined."

"And," added Panther, "the accused will also use all his eloquence to
get himself out of the scrape."

"That will help him nothing," said Arphaxad; "he has offended the
priests too much." Then returned the serving maids with a brazier in
which there was a little fire and some wood, which they placed thereon,
making a great smoke.

"Here is your fire," said Hagar, "wood and fire tongs."

Then cried the soldiers together, "Thanks, you good girls."

"Yes," said Panther, stooping down over the brazier, "that is good.
Now take care that the fire does not go out." Several of the soldiers
stooped over the fire,