Page:Lazarus, a tale of the world's great miracle.djvu/72

60 have again. Now the Nazarene must be put an end to; His seditious preaching hushed for ever; His bold denouncing of the Pharisees and the scribes avenged. But it would be a difficult task, he knew. Pontius Pilate was under the influence of his wife, who, it was known, favoured the belief in the Nazarene, if not as the Son of God, at least as a great prophet and a good man come from God. Pilate was difficult to approach upon the subject. Then about Nicodemus, one of the most powerful rulers of the Synagogue, there were strange rumours. How could he, Caiaphas, get at him by stealth? To make use of Nicodemus himself, nay more, to approach the Nazarene, unseen, and to hear His blasphemous words, and out of His own mouth convict Him, making Nicodemus a party to the destruction of this Man who dared to set Himself up in defiance of the High Priest; oh, it would be a master-stroke, one that his base, intriguing soul would glory in. It whetted his thirst for vengeance, while, at the same time, it intoxicated him to foresee that proud soul abased, that majestic presence on the cross, blood flowing from the fair side, and all the humiliations of an ignominious death heaped on the shoulders of the Man whom even Caiaphas, deep down in his heart, admired, at the same time that he feared Him as a supernatural being. For had He not held His own, unsupported either by wealth or position, by party or by followers? How could Caiaphas have played that part? No, the wily High Priest knew full well that his own position was maintained only by his arrogance, and that it was by the fear of himself he had built up his successes on the