Marcellus and Jacob were seated side by side. Marcellus described the
happiness he had felt under the baptism of Mithra, and Jacob made him

promise to become a follower of Jesus.
The wines of the palm and the tamarisk, those of Safed and of Byblos,

ran from the amphoras into the crateras, from the crateras into the
cups, and from the cups down the guests' throats. Every one talked,

all hearts expanding under the good cheer. Jacim, although a Jew, did
not hesitate to express his admiration of the planets. A merchant from

Aphaka amazed the nomads with his description of the marvels in the
temple of Hierapolis; and they wished to know the cost of a pilgrimage

to that place. Others held fast to the principles of their native
religion. A German, who was nearly blind, sang a hymn celebrating that

promontory in Scandinavia where the gods were wont to appear with
halos around their heads. The people from Sichem declined to eat

turtles, out of deference to the dove Azima.
Several groups stood talking near the middle of the banqueting-hall,

and the vapour of their breath, mingled with the smoke from the
candles, formed a light mist. Presently Phanuel slipped quietly into

the room, keeping close to the wall. He had been out in the open
courtyard, to make another survey of the heavens. He stopped when he

reached the pavilion of the tetrarch, fearing he would be splashed
with drops of oil if he approached the other tables, which, to an

Essene, would be a great defilement.
Suddenly violent blows resounded upon the castle gates. The news of

the imprisonment of Iaokanann had spread rapidly, and now it appeared
that the whole surrounding population was flocking to the castle. Men

with torches were hastening along the roads in all directions; a black
mass of people swarmed in the ravine; and from all throats came the

cry: "Iaokanann! Iaokanann!"
"That man will ruin everything," said Jonathas.

"We shall have no more money if this continues," said the Pharisees.
Accusations, recriminations, and pleadings were heard on all sides.

"Protect us!"
"Compel them to cease!"

"Thou didst abandon thy religion!"
"Impious as all the Herods!"

"Less impious than thou!" Antipas retorted. "Was it not my father that
erected thy Temple?"

Then the Pharisees, children of the proscribed tribes, partisans of
Mattathias, accused the tetrarch of all the crimes committed by his

family.
The Pharisees had pointed skulls, bristling beards, feeble hands, snub

noses, great round eyes, and their countenances bore a resemblance to
that of a bull-dog. A dozen of these people, scribes and attendants

upon the priests, who picked up their living from the refuse of
holocausts, rushed to the foot of the pavilion and threatened Antipas

with their knives. He attempted to speak to them, being only slightly
protected by some of the Sadducees. Suddenly he perceived Mannaeus at

a distance and made him a sign to approach. The expression on the face
of Vitellius indicated that he regarded all this turmoil as no concern

of his.
The Pharisees, leaning against the pavilion, were now beside

themselves with demoniac fury. They broke plates and dashed them upon
the floor. The attendants had served them with a ragout composed of

the flesh of the wild ass, an unclean animal, and their anger knew no
bounds. Aulus rallied them jeeringly apropos of the ass's head, which

he declared they honoured. He flung other sarcasms at them, regarding
their antipathy to the flesh of swine, intimating that no doubt their

hatred arose from the fact that that beast had killed their beloved
Bacchus, and saying it was to be feared they were too fond of wine,

since a golden vine had been discovered in the Temple.
The priests did not understand his sneers, and Phineas, of Galilean

origin, refused to translate them. Aulus suddenly became angry, the
more so because the little Asiatic, frightened at the tumult, had

disappeared. The feast no longer pleased the noble glutton; the dishes
were vulgar, and not sufficiently disguised with delicate flavourings.

After a time his displeasure abated, as he caught sight of a dish of
Syrian lambs' tails, dressed with spices, a favourite dainty.

To Vitellius the character of the Jews seemed frightful. Their God was
like Moloch, several altars to whom he had passed upon his route; and

he recalled the stories he had heard of the mysterious Jew who
fattened small children and offered them as a sacrifice. His Latin

nature was filled with disgust at their intolerance, their
iconoclastic rage, their brutal, stumbling bearing. The proconsul

wished to depart, but Aulus refused to accompany him.
The exaltation of the people increased. They abandoned themselves to

dreams of independence. They recalled the glory of Israel, and a
Syrian spoke of all the great conquerors they had vanquished,--

Antigone, Crassus, Varus.
"Miserable creatures!" cried the enraged proconsul, who had overheard

the Syrian's words.
In the midst of the uproar Antipas remembered the medallion of the

emperor that Herodias had given to him; he drew it forth and looked at
it a moment, trembling, then held it up with its face turned towards

the throng.
At the same moment, the panels of the gold-railed balcony were folded

back, and, accompanied by slaves bearing wax tapers, Herodias
appeared, her coiffure crowned with an Assyrian mitre, which was held

in place by a band passing under the chin. Her dark hair fell in
ringlets over a scarlet peplum with slashed sleeves. On either side of

the door through which one stepped into the gallery, stood a huge
stone monster, like those of Atrides; and as Herodias appeared between

them, she looked like Cybele supported by her lions. In her hands she
carried a patera, a shallowvessel of silver used by the Romans in

pouring libations; and, advancing to the front of the balcony and
pausing just above the tetrarch's chair, she cried:

"Long live Caesar!"
This homage was repeated by Vitellius, Antipas, and the priests.

But now, beginning at the farthest end of the banqueting-hall, a
murmur of surprise and admiration swept through the multitude. A

beautiful young girl had just entered the apartment, and stood
motionless for an instant, while all eyes were turned upon her.

Through a drapery of filmy blue gauze that veiled her head and throat,
her arched eyebrows, tiny ears, and ivory-white skin could be

distinguished. A scarf of shot-silk fell from her shoulders, and was
caught up at the waist by a girdle of fretted silver. Her full

trousers, of black silk, were embroidered in a pattern of silver
mandragoras, and as she moved forward with indolent grace, her little

feet were seen to be shod with slippers made of the feathers of
humming-birds.

When she arrived in front of the pavilion she removed her veil.
Behold! she seemed to be Herodias herself, as she had appeared in the

days of her blooming youth.
Immediately the damsel began to dance before the tetrarch. Her slender

feet took dainty steps to the rhythm of a flute and a pair of Indian
bells. Her round white arms seemed ever beckoning and striving to

entice to her side some youth who was fleeing from her allurements.
She appeared to pursue him, with movements light as a butterfly; her

whole mien was like that of an inquisitive Psyche, or a floating
spirit that might at any moment dissolve and disappear.

Presently the plaintive notes of the gingras, a small flute of
Phoenician origin, replaced the tinkling bells. The attitudes of the

dancing nymph now denoted overpowering lassitude. Her bosom heaved
with sighs, and her whole being expressed profound languor, although

it was not clear whether she sighed for an absent swain or was
expiring of love in his embrace. With half-closed eyes and quivering

form, she caused mysterious undulations to flow downward over her
whole body, like rippling waves, while her face remained impassive and

her twinkling feet still moved in their intricate steps.
Vitellius compared her to Mnester, the famous pantomimist. Aulus was

overcome with faintness. The tetrarch watched her, lost in a
voluptuous reverie, and thought no more of the real Herodias. In fancy

he saw her again as she appeared when she had dwelt among the
Sadducees. Then the vision faded.