Page:Lazarus, a tale of the world's great miracle.djvu/106

94 of the surroundings: the superb hangings and costly adornments of the house, and the humble, mean attire of many of the mourners. Last, but not least, their dignity was offended by the presence of the Magdalene.

"What doth this sinner here?" said one or two, albeit with bated breath, not to wound the susceptibilities of the owners of the house.

"She loved Lazarus," said one.

"Methinks the ruler had good taste," put in another with a jeering laugh, suppressed at the remembrance that a corpse lay in the adjacent chamber; "for she is the comeliest woman in Judæa."

"Methought the righteous Lazarus took no heed to any woman," said a third.

"Tush," said Nicodemus. "'T is not as ye do think, ye foul-hearted, foul-mouthed generation. This woman was purified by the Nazarene. He cast forth seven devils from her, and Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who is ever kind, doth help her much to lead a better life."

This statement was met with a shrugging of the shoulders and an upraising of the eyebrows; and one bolder than the rest remarked: "Perchance, if Lazarus had lived, he would have taken her to wife. The followers of the Nazarene do strange things, I 'm told."

But the conversation was interrupted by the voice of a servant crying out: "Make way, make way. Simon the Leper doth come this way."

As though one smitten with the plague came in their midst, the whole crowd dispersed, jostling and