in the wilderness cry that a man
whom God had damned could be saved by repentance. Your damnation,
Barabbas, never! No Almighty God! Everything a dry, swarming
dust-heap, and no escape! Frightful, frightful!"

"Do you know, Dismas, your lamentations don't amuse me?" said the
other, supporting himself on his hands and knees like a four-footed
beast. "I have a more important matter on hand. I'm hungry."

Dismas jumped on his stone, and made ready for flight. "If he's
hungry, he's capable of killing and eating me."

Barabbas had assumed a listening attitude, and his eagle eyes stared
out into the desert. A red banner was visible between the rocks and
stones; it moved and came nearer. It was a woman's red garment. She
rode on an ass, and seen closer, carried a child in her arms. A man,
tired out, limped beside her, leading the ass.

"Dismas, there's someone," whispered Barabbas, grasping the handle of
his weapon. "Come, let's hide behind the stone until they come up."

"You'll fall on those defenceless folk from an ambush?"

"And you're going to help me," said Barabbas coolly.

"We'll take what we need for to-day, no more. I'll only help you so
far, mark that."

The little group came nearer. The man and the ass waded deep in the
sand, which in some places lay scantily over the rough stones, and in
others had drifted into high heaps. The guide was leading the animal
quickly, for during this sunless day he had lost his bearings, but said
nothing about it, in order not to make his wife anxious. His eyes
sought the right road. They ought to reach the oasis of Descheme that
day. Now he saw two men standing on blocks of stone which reached up
into the sky.

"Praised be God!" said Joseph of Nazareth, "these men will put me
right."

Before he had time to frame his question, they quickly descended. One
seized the ass's bridle, the other grasped Joseph's arm, and said:
"Give us what you have with you."

The pale woman on the ass sent an imploring glance to Heaven. The
little child in her lap looked straight out of his clear eyes, and was
not afraid.

"If you've bread with you, give it us," said Dismas, who was holding
the ass.

"Fool!" shouted Barabbas of the snub-nose, "everything they have
belongs to us. Whether we will give anything, that's the question. I
will give you the most precious thing--life. Such a beautiful woman
without life would be a horror."

Dismas reached at the sack.

"W