Page:Lazarus, a tale of the world's great miracle.djvu/299

Rh "Dost wish speech of me?" asked Lazarus sternly. "Then prithee, lady, be brief; for the Master is already on His way, and I must follow Him."

"Listen, then," she answered quickly; "I will strike a bargain with thee. If thou wilt love me and take me to be thy wife, then will I go to my father and entreat of him the life of the Nazarene; nay more, I will see to it that an order be sent throughout the country that any who shall lay hands on Him or on His followers shall be condemned; but, if thou shouldst deny me this, ere this bright moon doth unveil herself again, the Nazarene shall hang upon the cross on yonder mount; and mayhap thou too wilt die."

"The cross? The sign of shame?" gasped Lazarus, laying his hand on her arm, forgetful of all else but that the death they planned for his Master was a shameful and degrading one. "The cross!" Rebekah said again, "and thy great Friend, thy Nazarene, thy Christ, will hang affixed with cruel nails from hour to hour, and all the multitude will revile and scoff at Him."

"Hold thy peace, woman," cried Lazarus sharply, shading with his hand his eyes as if to shut out the dreadful picture from his mind. "Peace, be still! Hast thou no heart, that thou canst pierce mine so deeply?

"Hast thou not pierced mine" returned Rebekah.

"O woman, canst thou not understand that that short grief of thine, that fancy of thy maddening brain, is naught, naught compared with this worlds sin, if it should crucify the Lord?"