annas sat quite alone in the council chamber of the sanhedrim. he had come early in order that he might set in order certain papers, and also that he might with due deliberation determine the course of procedure for the morning's session. but this was not easy; things looked dubious for the success of his enterprise; he was forced to acknowledge as much to himself.

"this miracle now," he thought, stroking his hoary beard reflectively, "was a most unfortunate thing--most untimely. the multitude seem quite carried away by it. should we adopt violent measures with these pernicious persons it would, i fear, fail to commend itself to the populace."

at this point in his cogitations he was disturbed by the sound of a slow heavy step ascending the stair; the door opened and caiaphas entered. annas looked at him in surprise, noting with cold disapproval his haggard face, his disordered apparel, his shaking hands.

"i am astonished," he said, bringing his critical gaze to a standstill upon the uneasy eyes of his son-in-law, "astonished, indeed i may say that i am not well pleased to see thee here this morning, my son. thou hast the look of a man who should be within the walls of his sick chamber. the ministrations of my daughter's skilful hand will surely prove more acceptable to thee in thy present state than the deliberations of statecraft. i pray thee let me command for thee a litter."

"hold!" said caiaphas, grasping the old man by the arm. "hear what i have to say to thee first," and he lowered his voice to a husky whisper. "thy daughter is no longer my wife."

"what dost thou mean, man? thou art mad!"

"nay, i am not mad; would that i were!" said the other faintly.

"i repeat that thou art mad," cried annas, his eyes blazing with a scornful fire. "what! my daughter repudiated by thee?"

"she hath become a follower of the nazarene," said caiaphas dully. "could she longer be wife of mine?"

"where is she?"

"she hath gone to them."

annas was silent for a time. "if what thou sayest be no figment of a disordered brain," he said deliberately, "then i say thou hast done well. no longer wife of thine, she shall be no longer daughter of mine. she is henceforth one of the followers of him whom we hanged upon the accursed tree. as for them, shall i tell thee what shall shortly come to pass?"

the younger man made no reply.

"when men would plant grain in a field which hath been a wilderness," continued annas, still in the same icy, deliberate tones, "they root up the tares and utterly destroy them with fire. this shall we do with these mischievous and deadly weeds that be winding their poisonous roots about the only props that remain to our suffering nation, the temple and the home. but let not this thing be spoken of--the matter of the woman, i mean. there is no need to make our name a byword and a hissing; she hath for the present gone to pay a visit; later we shall, perhaps, devise a way to secretly rid ourselves----"

"what!" cried caiaphas, starting up. "wouldst thou----?"

"hist, man, the others are coming!--wilt thou remain? we shall this morning concern ourselves with this very matter."

"i will remain."

and when presently the council was convened, he took his old place upon the right hand of annas. in his sick heart he wished for death, yet there burned within him the miserable desire to avenge himself upon them at whose door he laid the loss of both his wife and his son.

"thou mayest fetch hither the two men whom ye put in hold," commanded annas, "likewise the beggar."

"ye behold in these," he continued, fixing his piercing gaze upon peter and john, as they stood before the semicircle of their august judges, "two men who were prominent followers of the nazarene, who was recently put to death because of his crimes against church and state. wise men would have taken a wholesome warning from the fate of their false teacher, but these follow in the footsteps of him who was crucified, not remembering apparently that those footsteps led to the cross. yesterday there was a tumult raised in the holy temple, a beggar whom god had justly afflicted because of the sins of his fathers was, forsooth, healed; healed by these men. it is not meet that such things be permitted. i therefore command that ye tell us straightway by what means and by what name ye have done this thing?"

"ye rulers of the people, and elders of israel," said peter, and at the sound of his voice the beggar who had involuntarily shrunken back abashed stood boldly forth. "if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, and if ye will inquire by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all and to all the people of israel, that by the name of jesus the nazarene, the messiah, whom ye crucified but whom god raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. this is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved."

something of the same feeling which had overwhelmed annas on the night when he had essayed to question the man of nazareth came upon him. he tried to speak, and his voice failed him. meantime a murmur of surprise ran about the circle.

"how is it," whispered one to his neighbor, "that these ignorant men can speak in such a manner?"

"they have learned it in the company of the galilean," replied the other. "dost thou not remember his sayings?"

"what shall we say?" queried a third. "the man there will spread the thing far and wide."

"remove the prisoners," commanded annas, somewhat recovering himself. "we must confer in private concerning this thing. this is a most untoward happening," he added, when they were alone, looking about him at the circle of attentive faces. "what now shall we do with these men?"

"let them be stoned for blasphemy," said alexander, drawing his heavy brows together. "did they not call the crucified galilean the messiah, and declare that god had raised him from the dead? this also they preach openly to the people. for myself i am of the opinion that our case is worse than before; the galilean himself was but one man, and could be in but one place, now, forsooth, we have a thousand men in his stead, all haranguing, healing and creating a very fire of heresy amongst the populace. the thing must be stopped, else will our power be short-lived. these men be worse than the romans, for they at least suffer us to be in peace."

"suppose that we stone them," remarked one of the sons of annas with a sneer. "how then are we bettered? the whole city would take up the cry against us, more especially the lower classes who envy us our wealth. 'these holy men have wrought a notable miracle,' they would howl, 'and the sanhedrists have stoned them for it.' could we crush the whole mob of the so-called disciples with a single stone, and perform the deed quietly, then should i cry with a good will, 'let them be stoned.' as it is, such a course would only add fuel to the flame."

"thou hast spoken wisely, my son," said annas. "the miracle is a notable one; all jerusalem knows it, and we cannot deny it. but that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. fetch now the men," he added, turning to the temple police who waited their pleasure.

"we have considered the matter of your doings with care," he continued with portentous solemnity, when the prisoners had again been set in his presence. "the matter of the healing we are disposed to overlook, though it is not seemly for children of dust to assume the prerogatives of the almighty; by his hand hath this man been laid low, he should have remained as he was. it is not our custom to heal beggars, nor should it be yours; it savoreth of a compact with the evil one. the matter of your speaking to the people is far more serious. dost thou know that thou hast laid thyself open to a death by stoning? for verily thou hast blasphemed foully; our ears and the ears of them that have heard thee are polluted by the unholy words which thou hast spoken. yet are we merciful and inclined to pardon even this iniquity, on the one condition that from henceforth ye speak to no man in this name of jesus--a name i like not to utter. if now ye are ready to comply with this our reasonable request, ye shall at once be released."

then did john, the beloved disciple, fix his calm eyes on the man who had spoken; with something of the divine prescience of the master did he read the false soul behind the lying lips. "whether it be right in the sight of god," he said solemnly, "to obey you rather than god, judge ye. for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."

"continue to speak them," cried caiaphas in a fury, as he thought of his lost wife, "and a fate more terrible than stoning shall befall thee. shall we endure to see----"

but annas laid a warning hand upon his arm. "remove these men," he said hastily to the temple guard. "let them go."

"and the beggar, my lord?"

"release him also, but bid him hold his peace concerning his healing, both in the temple and elsewhere, lest a worse thing than lameness come upon him."

but the beggar followed after the disciples as they went away, and when they saw him they said, "dost thou join thyself to us because thou believest on the name of jesus?"

and he answered them humbly, "by the name of jesus was i healed of mine infirmity, how then can i help but believe?"

and they suffered him gladly because of that word. and when they were come to the place wherein were gathered many others that believed, they told all that the chief priests and elders had said to them, and they lifted up their voice to god in one accord and said:

"o lord, thou that didst make the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all that in them is, by the mouth of david thy servant thou didst say:

"'why did the nations rage,

and the people meditate vain things?

the kings of the earth set themselves in array,

and the rulers were gathered together

against the lord, and against his anointed.'

"for of a truth, in this city were gathered together against thy holy servant jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both herod and pontius pilate, with the nations and the peoples of israel. and they did what thy hand and thy counsel had determined should come to pass. and now, lord, look upon their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness, and stretch forth thy hand to heal, that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy servant jesus."

and when they had thus prayed, behold the place where they were assembled was shaken and they were all filled with the spirit, so that they had no fear in their hearts of what might befall them at the hands of their enemies. and on that day and every day they continued to speak the words which god gave them with great joy and confidence.