Page:Lazarus, a tale of the world's great miracle.djvu/264

252 "Art thou indeed Lazarus?" cried they. "Wert really dead?"

And with these and like inquiries were mingled ribaldry and jeers; for when the common people congregate, there are always those who think to show their humour with obscene and scoffing oaths.

"Wast so fond of earth thou couldst not stay away?"

Then, when the crowd continued to vociferate and clamour, Lazarus quickly mounted a little hillock on the roadside, and, facing them, cried out in the deep voice that had been wont to stir men in the Sanhedrim: "Men of Israel, hear ye me; if I tell ye the truth will ye believe me?"

Cries rose from the multitude: "We will believe, we will believe."

"Nay, I ask yet more; will ye believe that Jesus is the Christ? for I am here to-day to testify of Him."

Cries rose again: "Art thou indeed Lazarus?"

"How can I convince ye?" answered Lazarus in tones despondent at his inability to prove his personality, if his simple presence should not suffice.

"Ye have known me from my childhood upwards. Many are here to-day with whom I went to school. Behold yonder the sons of Zebedee; they will bear witness that I am the same Lazarus. Simon the Leper, to whom I now go, is my father, and these two noble ladies are my sisters. Thou knowest them well, for they have tended many of the sick and poor in Bethany. What more can I tell ye to make ye believe that I am the Lazarus ye have known? Behold my hands and the features of my