of a brother. Mattathias is
gone; Solomona and her children are all gone; Judas, with his gallant
band, is like a lion at bay with the hunters closing in an
ever-narrowing circle around him. Apollonius has been vanquished,
Seron defeated by our hero; but now Nicanor and Giorgias, with the
forces of Ptolemy, upwards of forty thousand men, are combining to
crush him by their overwhelming numbers! What can the devotion of our
patriots avail but to swell the band of martyrs who have already laid
down their lives in defence of our faith and our laws! Alas! theirs
will be a stern keeping of the holy feast; other blood will flow
besides that of the Paschal lamb! And a sad keeping of the feast will
be mine; I shall see scarce a familiar face, that of no relative save
Abishai; and I owe him but little affection. And oh! worst of all, I
fear me that I have an unholy leaven in my heart, which I in vain seek
to put entirely away. I am secretly cherishing the forbidden thing,
though not wilfully, not wilfully, as He knows to whom I constantly
pray for strength to give up all that is displeasing in His sight!"

The jar was now full; Zarah turned to raise it as the last thought
passed through her mind, and started as she did so! Lycidas, with all
his soul beaming in his eyes, was close beside her! The maiden uttered
a faint exclamation, and endeavoured to pass him, and return to the
house.

"Stay, Zarah, idol of my soul!" exclaimed the Athenian, seizing her
hand; "you must not fly me, you shall listen to me once--only once!"
and with a passionate gush of eloquence the young Greek laid his hopes,
his fortunes, his heart at her feet.

Zarah turned deadly pale; her frame trembled. "Oh, Lycidas, have mercy
upon me!" she gasped. "It is sin in me even to listen; it were cruelty
to suffer you to hope. Our law forbids a daughter of Abraham to wed a
Gentile; to return your love would be rebellion against my God,
apostasy from the faith of my fathers; better to suffer--better to
die!"--and with an effort releasing her icy-cold hand from the clasp of
the man whom she loved, Zarah sprang hurriedly past him, and with the
speed of a frightened gazelle fled up the staircase, and back into the
chamber in which she had left Hadassah.

Lycidas stood bewildered by the maiden's sudden retreat. He felt as if
the gate of a paradise had been suddenly closed against him.

CHAPTER XV.

THE TWO CAMPS.

While the scenes lately descr