nto the interior of the
palace.

Already did the emperor know who Lazarus was, and prepared to meet him.
But the monarch was a brave man, and felt his own tremendous,
unconquerable power, and in his fatal duel with him who had miraculously
risen from the dead he wanted not to invoke human help. And so he met
Lazarus face to face:

"Lift not thine eyes upon me, Lazarus," he ordered. "I heard thy face is
like that of Medusa and turns into stone whomsoever thou lookest at.
Now, I wish to see thee and to have a talk with thee, before I turn into
stone,"--added he in a tone of kingly jesting, not devoid of fear.

Coming close to him, he carefully examined Lazarus' face and his strange
festal garments. And although he had a keen eye, he was deceived by his
appearance.

"So. Thou dost not appear terrible, my venerable old man. But the worse
for us, if horror assumes such a respectable and pleasant air. Now let
us have a talk."

Augustus sat, and questioning Lazarus with his eye as much as with
words, started the conversation:

"Why didst thou not greet me as thou enteredst?"

Lazarus answered indifferent:

"I knew not it was necessary."

"Art thou a Christian?"

"No."

Augustus approvingly shook his head.

"That is good. I do not like Christians. They shake the tree of life
before it is covered with fruit, and disperse its odorous bloom to the
winds. But who art thou?"

With a visible effort Lazarus answered:

"I was dead."

"I had heard that. But who art thou now?"

Lazarus was silent, but at last repeated in a tone of weary apathy:

"I was dead."

"Listen to me, stranger," said the emperor, distinctly and severely
giving utterance to the thought that had come to him at the beginning,
"my realm is the realm of Life, my people are of the living, not of the
dead. Thou art here one too many. I know not who thou art and what thou
sawest there; but, if thou liest, I hate thy lies, and if thou tellst
the truth, I hate thy truth. In my bosom I feel the throb of life; I
feel strength in my arm, and my proud thoughts, like eagles, pierce the
space. And yonder in the shelter of my rule, under the protection of
laws created by me, people live and toil and rejoice. Dost thou hear the
battle-cry, the challenge men throw into the face of the future?"

Augustus, as in prayer, stretched forth his arms and exclaimed
solemnly:

"Be blessed, O great and divine Life!"

Lazarus was silent, and with growing sternness