Page:Lazarus, a tale of the world's great miracle.djvu/200

188 Pilate, that a man in so high a position as thyself should listen thus to servants' tattling."

"Trouble not thyself, good Caiaphas," laughed Pilate. "Thou shouldst have bidden me to share it with thee. But, to return to this question of the Passover, what sayest thou? Shall we execute Barabbas, if needs be that one must die to satisfy the people?"

Caiaphas was silent; then, diplomatically, he answered: "Shall I consult with Annas, and send thee word?"

"Nay, nay," said the outspoken Roman, laughing, "we want not the opinion of deposed high priests, nor of the fathers of our wives! I shall consult no father-in-law, nor shalt thou. Speak, whom shall we release unto the people?"

Then, looking shiftily at Pilate, Caiaphas answered: "Myself, I would release Barabbas, for he hath lain long in prison."

A spasm, as of pain or grief, shot across the face of Pilate, and there was a moment's silence, in which the two men seemed to be measuring their moral strength, like two duellists with their swords. The Roman was the weaker, for, in a disappointed voice, already feeling the battle partly lost, yet still resolved to make a fight of it before he yielded, Pilate said: "And whom wouldst thou sacrifice for the people?"

And Caiaphas, knowing that he was the stronger, with devilish intention, answered: "The Nazarene."

Oh, what a multitude of reflections coursed through the brain of Pontius Pilate, as he once more looked forth from the window on to the shining