The tetrarch hesitated to obey, fearing that the Jews would discover
his secret. His reluctance to lift the cover made Vitellius impatient.

"Break it in!" he cried to his lictors. Mannaeus heard the command,
and, seeing a lictor step forward armed with a hatchet, he feared that

the man intended to behead Iaokanann. He stayed the hand of the lictor
after the first blow, and then slipped between the heavy lid and the

pavement a kind of hook. He braced his long, lean arms, raised the
cover slowly, and in a moment it lay flat upon the stones. The

bystanders admired the strength of the old man.
Under the bronze lid was a wooden trap-door of the same size. At a

blow of the fist it folded back, allowing a wide hole to be seen, the
mouth of an immense pit, with a flight of winding steps leading down

into the darkness. Those that bent over to peer into the cavern beheld
a vague and terrifying shape in its depths.

This proved to be a human being, lying on the ground. His long locks
hung over a camel's-hair robe that covered his shoulders. Slowly he

rose to his feet. His head touched a grating embedded in the wall; and
as he moved about he disappeared, from time to time, in the shadows of

his dungeon.
The rich tiaras of the Romans sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight,

and their glittering sword-hilts threw out glancing golden rays. The
doves, flying from their cotes, circled above the heads of the

multitude. It was the hour when Mannaeus was accustomed to feed them.
But now he crouched beside the tetrarch, who stood near Vitellius. The

Galileans, the priests, and the soldiers formed a group behind them;
all were silent, waiting with painfulanticipation for what might

happen.
A deep groan, hollow and startling, rose from the pit.

Herodias heard it from the farther end of the palace. Drawn by an
irresistible though terrible fascination, she made her way through the

throng, and, reaching Mannaeus, she leant one hand on his shoulder and
bent over to listen.

The hollow voice rose again from the depths of the earth.
"Woe to thee, Sadducees and Pharisees! Thy voices are like the

tinkling of cymbals! O race of vipers, bursting with pride!"
The voice of Iaokanann was recognised. His name was whispered about.

Spectators from a distance pressed closer to the open pit.
"Woe to thee, O people! Woe to the traitors of Judah, and to the

drunkards of Ephraim, who dwelt in the fertile valleys and stagger
with the fumes of wine!

"May they disappear like running water; like the slug that sinks into
the sand as it moves; like an abortion that never sees the light!

"And thou too, Moab! hide thyself in the midst of the cypress, like
the sparrow; in caverns, like the wild hare! The gates of the fortress

shall be crushed more easily than nut-shells; the walls shall crumble;
cities shall burn; and the scourge of God shall not cease! He shall

cause your bodies to be bathed in your own blood, like wool in the
dyer's vat. He shall rend you, as with a harrow; He shall scatter the

remains of your bodies from the tops of the mountains!"
Of which conqueror was he speaking? Was it Vitellius? Only the Romans

could bring about such an extermination. The people began to cry out:
"Enough! enough! let him speak no more!"

But the prisoner continued in louder tones:
"Beside the corpses of their mothers, thy little ones shall drag

themselves over the ashes of the burned cities. At night men will
creep from their hiding-places to seek a bit of food among the ruins,

even at the risk of being cut down with the sword. Jackals shall pick
thy bones in the public places, where at eventide the fathers were

wont to gather. At the bidding of Gentiles, thy maidens shall be
forced to cease their lamentations and to make music upon the zither,

and the bravest of thy sons shall learn to bend their backs, chafed
with heavy burdens."

The listeners remembered the days of exile, and all the misfortunes
and catastrophes of the past. These words were like the anathemas of

the ancient prophets. The captive thundered them forth like bolts from
heaven.

Presently his voice became almost as sweet and harmonious as if he
were uttering a chant. He spoke of the world's redemption from sin and

sorrow; of the glories of heaven; of gold in place of clay; of the
desert blossoming like the rose. "That which is now worth sixty pieces

of silver will not cost a single obol. Fountains of milk shall spring
from the rocks; men shall sleep, well satisfied, among the wine-

presses. The people shall prostrate themselves before Thee, and Thy
reign shall be eternal, O Son of David!"

The tetrarch suddenly recoiled from the opening of the pit; the
mention of the existence of a son of David seemed to him like a menace

to himself.
Iaokanann then poured forth invectives against him for presuming to

aspire to royalty.
"There is no other king than the Eternal God!" he cried; and he cursed

Antipas for his luxurious gardens, his statues, his furniture of
carved ivory and precious woods, comparing him to the impious Ahab.

Antipas broke the slender cord attached to the royal seal that he wore
around his neck, and throwing the seal into the pit, he commanded his

prisoner to be silent.
But Iaokanann replied: "I shall cry aloud like a savage bear, like the

wild ass, like a woman in travail! The punishment of heaven has
already visited itself upon thy incest! May God inflict thee with the

sterility of mules!"
At these words, a sound of suppressed laughter arose here and there

among the listeners.
Vitellius had remained close to the opening of the dungeon while

Iaokanann was speaking. His interpreter, in impassive tones,
translated into the Roman tongue all the threats and invectives that

rolled up from the depths of the gloomy prison. The tetrarch and
Herodias felt compelled to remain near at hand. Antipas listened,

breathing heavily; while the woman, with parted lips, gazed into the
darkness of the pit, her face drawn with an expression of fear and

hatred.
The terrible man now turned towards her. He grasped the bars of his

prison, pressed against them his bearded face, in which his eyes
glowed like burning coals, and cried:

"Ah! Is it thou, Jezebel? Thou hast captured thy lord's heart with the
tinkling of thy feet. Thou didst neigh to him like a mare. Thou didst

prepare thy bed on the mountain top, in order to accomplish thy
sacrifices!

"The Lord shall take from thee thy sparkling jewels, thy purple robes
and fine linen; the bracelets from thine arms, the anklets from thy

feet; the golden ornaments that dangle upon thy brow, thy mirrors of
polished silver, thy fans of ostrich plumes, thy shoes with their

heels of mother-of-pearl, that serve to increase thy stature; thy
glittering diamonds, the scent of thy hair, the tint of thy nails,--

all the artifices of thy coquetry shall disappear, and missiles shall
be found wherewith to stone the adulteress!"

Herodias looked around for some one to defend her. The Pharisees
lowered their eyes hypocritically. The Sadducees turned away their

heads, fearing to offend the proconsul should they appear to
sympathise with her. Antipas was almost in a swoon.

Louder still rose the voice from the dungeon; the neighbouring hills
gave back an echo with startling effect, and Machaerus seemed actually

surrounded and showered with curses.
"Prostrate thyself in the dust, daughter of Babylon, and scourge

thyself! Remove thy girdle and thy shoes, gather up thy garments and
walk through the flowing stream; thy shame shall follow thee, thy

disgrace shall be known to all men, thy bosom shall be rent with sobs.
God execrates the stench of thy crimes! Accursed one! die like a dog!"

At that instant the trap-door was suddenly shut down and secured by
Mannaeus, who would have liked to strangle Iaokanann then and there.