g of the hyena about him, nor of the prophet either.
Evidently he was but a harmless vagabond, skilled in simples, if report
were true; perhaps a thaumaturge. And it was he whom he had feared and
fancied might be that Son of David for whom a star was created, whom the
magi had visited, whom his father had sought to destroy, and whom now from
his father's own throne he himself was called upon to judge! He shook his
head, and in the sunlight the indigo with which his hair was powdered made
bright blue motes.

"I say----"

Just beyond, where the assessors stood, Mary suddenly appeared. He stopped
abruptly; for more than a year he had not seen her. Pahul had told him she
had gone to Rome. If she had, he reflected, the journey had not improved
her appearance. Then for the moment he dismissed her, and returned to the
Christ.

"See here: somebody the other day told me you worked miracles. I have
wanted to see one all my life. Gratify me, won't you? Oh, something very
easy to begin with. Send one of the guards up in the air, or turn your
bonds into bracelets."

The Christ did not seem to hear. Pahul laughed and held to the throne for
support. Antipas shrugged his shoulders.

"He looks harmless enough," he said. "Why not let him go?"

Caiaphas glowered, and his fingers twitched. "He claims to be king!"

At this statement the tetrarch laughed too. He gave an order to Pahul, who
vanished with a grin.

"He has jeered at the Temple your father built," Caiaphas continued. "He
has declared he could destroy it and rebuild a better one, in three days
at that."

"He is king, then, but of fools."

"And he has called you a fox," Caiaphas added, significantly.

"He doesn't claim to be one himself, does he?"

"He is guilty of treason, and it is for you, his ruler, to sentence him."

"Not I. The blood of kings is sacred. Pahul, make haste!"

The butler, reappearing, held in his hand the glittering white vestment of
a candidate. The tetrarch took it and held it in air.

"Here, put this on him, and let his subjects admire him to their hearts'
content."

"Antipas, you disgrace your purple!"

At the exclamation, the Sanhedrim, the guards, the assessors, the
officials, Pilate himself, everyone save the prisoner, turned and looked.
On the colored pavement Mary stood, her face very pale.

The tetrarch flushed mightily; anger mounted into his shifting eyes. For a
moment the sky was blood-red; then he recovered himself and answer