peace! but now they are hidden from thine eyes!"

Jesus wept.

His disciples beholding him weep were amazed. At last Peter ventured to say, "Master, why grievest thou so sorely?"

Jesus answered, "My Peter, the fate of this unhappy city goes to my heart."

Then said John, "Lord, tell us what shall this fate be?"

Jesus answered and said unto them, "The days will come when her enemies will make a trench about her walls and close her in on every side, and lay her even with the ground. She and her children within her walls will be dashed to the earth, and not one stone will be left upon another."

Andrew, giving expression to the general consternation, asked, "Wherefore shall the city have so sad a doom?"

Jesus said, "Because she hath not known the day of her visitation. Alas! she who hath slain the prophets will kill the Messiah himself."

Then spoke all the disciples together, "What a terrible deed!"

James, the elder, said, "God forbid that the city of Jehovah should bring such a curse upon herself."

And John with pleading voice added, "Dearest master, for the sake of the holy city and the temple, I beg of thee go not thither, so that the opportunity may be wanting to those evil men to do the worst."

"Or," said Peter, "go thither and display thyself in all thy majesty, so that the good may rejoice and the evil tremble."

"Yes," cried all the twelve eagerly, "do that."

Philip said, "Strike down thine enemies!" and all added earnestly, "And set up the kingdom of God among men!"

Jesus answered, "Children, that which you desire shall come to pass in due time, but my ways are appointed to me by my father, and thus saith the Lord, 'My thoughts are not as your thoughts, and my ways are not as your ways.'"

Then, as if to cut short a useless discussion, he said, "Peter!" Peter replied, "What wilt thou, Lord?" and the Lord continued, "It is now the first day of unleavened bread, in which the law commands that we should eat the Passover; you, both Peter and John, go forward and prepare the Passover that we may eat it in the evening."

Peter and John, who stood the one on the left and the other on the right, asked, "Where wilt thou, Lord, that we prepare the Passover?"

Jesus said, "When you come into the city there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water, follow ye him and wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the good man of the house, 'The master says, Where is the guest-chamber that I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' and he will show you a large upper chamber furnished and prepared; there make ready the Passover."

"Thy blessing, O best of masters!" said Peter. He and John knelt on either side of their Lord, Jesus placed his right hand on the head of John and his left hand on the head of Peter, exclaiming, "God's blessing be with you!"

Peter and John having departed, Jesus said to the others, "Accompany me for the last time to the house of my Father."

Then Judas, who had for some time past stood apart, came forward and said, "But, master, allow me; if thou wilt really leave us, make some arrangement for our future support. Look here," he added, pointing to the small bag almost empty of coin, which he carried in his girdle, "there is not enough here for one day more."

Jesus looked upon him and said, "Judas, do not be more anxious than is needful."

But Judas went on muttering and looking not at his Lord, but at the bag, "How well the value of that uselessly wasted ointment would have lain therein! how long we could have lived on it without care!"

Jesus reproved him, saying, "You have never lacked anything hitherto and, believe me, that what is necessary will not fail you in time to come."

Judas said, "But, master, when thou art no longer with us our good friends will soon draw back, and then we shall be left in sore distress."

Jesus said unto him, "Friend Judas, beware lest thou fall into temptation."

The other disciples who had listened to this conversation then interrupted, saying altogether, "Judas, trouble not the master so much."

Judas retorted, "Who will take thought if I do not? Have I not been appointed by the master to carry the bag?"

"Thou hast," said Jesus, "but I fear——"

"And I also fear," interrupted Judas, "that soon it will be empty and remain so."

Then Jesus went close up to him and said gravely and gently, "Judas, forget not thy warning. Arise, now let us go hence, I desire to be in the house of my Father."

Jesus then, followed by his disciples, excepting Judas, passed on to the city.

Judas, being left alone, said to himself, "Shall I follow him any longer. I do not much care to do so. The master's conduct to me is very inexplicable. His great deeds allowed us to hope that he would restore again the kingdom to Israel. But he does not seize the opportunities that offer themselves, and now he constantly talks of parting and dying, and puts us off with mysterious words about a future which lies too far off in the dim distance for me. I am tired of hoping and waiting. I can see very well, that with him there is no prospect of anything but continued poverty and humiliation,—and instead of the sharing, as we expected, in his glorious kingdom, we shall perhaps be persecuted and thrown into prison with him. I will draw back. It was a good thing that I was always prudent and cautious, and have now and then laid aside a trifle out of the bag in case of need. How useful I should find those 300 pence now which the foolish woman threw away on a useless mark of respect. If, as seems likely, the society is about to dissolve, they would have remained in my hands—then I should have been safe for a long while to come. As it is, I must consider the question, where and how I can find subsistence."

As he stood alone under the trees, perplexed and troubled, Dathan appeared in the distance, and, spying Judas, said to himself, "The occasion is favorable. He is alone and seems much perplexed. I must try everything in order to secure him."

Then stepping forward he laid his hand upon the shoulder of Judas, exclaiming, "Friend Judas!"

Judas started as if a serpent had stung him and striking his head with his hand cried, "Who calls?"

"A friend," said Dathan; "has anything sad happened to thee? Thou art so absorbed in thought?"

Judas, staring wildly, asked, "Who art thou?"

"Thy friend, thy brother," cried Dathan.

Judas, staring backward, exclaimed: "Thou art my friend, my brother?"

"At least," said Dathan, "I wish to be so. How is it with the master? I also would like to become one of his disciples."

Judas said, "One of his disciples?"

"Why?" said Dathan, "hast thou then forsaken him? Are things not well with him? Tell me that I may know how to act."

Then Judas said unto him, "Canst thou keep silence?"

"Be assured of that," said Dathan.

"Then," answered Judas, "it is no longer going well with him. He says himself his last hour has come." And then Judas rapidly ran over the various predictions of disaster which he had heard from the lips of Jesus. "I intend to forsake him, for he will yet bring us all to ruin. See here," said he, producing the almost empty purse, "I am treasurer, see how it stands with us."

"Friend," said Dathan, shrugging his shoulders, "I shall remain as I am." At this moment six of Dathan's companions came up.

Judas, alarmed, asked, "Who are these? I will not say another word."

"Stay, friend," said one of the newcomers, "you will not regret it."

"Why have you come here?" asked Judas.

"We were going back to Jerusalem and we will bear thee company if it please thee."

Judas, suspiciously eyeing them, asked, "Do you also perhaps wish to go after the master?"

Then said the traders, "Has he gone to Jerusalem?"

"For the last time," said Judas, "so he says."

"What!" said they, "for the last time? Is he then never going to leave the land of Judea again?"

"Why