Page:Lazarus, a tale of the world's great miracle.djvu/64

52 that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.' How is He glorified?"

"No, Jesus hath failed," joined in another. "I own that, for a time, I almost believed in Him myself; His presence is certainly a most majestic one, and He is some great prophet without a doubt. But Lazarus's death proveth that He is not the Son of God; still, we cannot forget His miracles, for already twenty-eight have been recorded of Him. We cannot, because one man hath died, ignore the marvellous feeding of the five thousand, the restoring of the withered hand, and the healing of the lunatic child."

"Ah," answered another, "thou, Nicodemus, wert ever a believer in the supernatural; I hear that thou hast even visited this Jesus by night, thereby putting thy life in danger, for, if Caiaphas should suspect treachery in thee, a ruler of the Synagogue, before nightfall thou wouldst be in Barabbas's place, or chained beside him. Or, wouldst thou escape by saying that thou wast in love with Martha or with Mary?"

Said another voice, scornfully: "If so, Nicodemus, thou hast but a sorry chance, for both women have, I hear, devoted themselves to the service of this Jesus; and naught but a marriage such as, it is rumoured, was his mother's, will commend itself to them. I fancy thou wouldst not care to be a second Joseph."

But Nicodemus made no answer. His eyes, uplifted towards the hills above Jerusalem, shone with a light of rapture and devotion, as though he strove to pierce the skies and gain enlightenment in its deep