A ROLL OF PARCHMENT.
"Thou canst hear for thyself how Jerusalem is on an uproar; the
credulous and ignorant from all the country round about are crowding
into the city bringing their sick with them."
"'Tis worse even than when the man himself was alive; but what can we
do?"
"Shorn of our powers as we be, what indeed? But shall we then sit
quietly down and allow these men to snatch from us the little that
remains?" Annas arose from his place as he spoke and opening a small
receptacle of carved ivory, removed from it a roll of parchment. "Let
us now consider this matter between ourselves; later it must be
presented before the council, but I tell you plainly that in the council
itself there be them that are of two minds. I have written here," he
continued, "the names of them that are principally concerned in the
present disturbances; let these be either slain or forced into
banishment, and the thousands who now claim to believe will quickly lose
their fervor--which is after all simply a frenzy of excitement,
skilfully produced by these apt pupils of the man from Galilee."
He was deliberately unrolling the parchment as he spoke. "I have
prepared this list after most careful inquiry and investigation," he
went on, looking keenly from one to the other of the two attentive faces
before him. "To thee, Saul of Tarsus, this information should prove
most useful. Other names may be added from time to time as shall appear
necessary, but at present I have set down only some seventeen names,
including the twelve who companied with the Nazarene. These are now I am
told known as apostles; and it is they who are the principal inciters of
the unseemly gatherings which daily take place within the confines of
our Holy Temple, and which as yet we have not been able to put a stop
to. To our shame be it said!"
"The names! the names!" cried Caiaphas impatiently; "read them, I pray
thee, without further delay."
Annas frowned. "Thou art zealous in the cause, my son," he said with a
warning gesture. "I commend thy diligence; would that all the Sanhedrim
were of like mind with thyself. The names of the twelve who must be
crushed at any cost are as follows:
"The first is Simon, also called Peter--without question the most
dangerous of them all, in that he is absolutely unbridled of tongue and
apparently without fear of God or man. He is an ignorant fellow, having
been taken from his fishing boat on Gennesaret by the Nazarene, as one
well fitted to become his disciple."
"Was he not the one who declared with curses that he never knew the
Nazarene, on the night when the man was so cleverly given over to us by
that other follower of his, Judas?" said Caiaphas.
"Thou art in the right, my son," replied Annas, stroking his beard
thoughtfully, "though I had entirely forgotten the circumstance; indeed
all of his followers forsook the man and fled at the time of his
arrest."
"Didst thou say that this Peter denied his Master?" asked Saul.
"He not only denied knowing him, but cursed and blasphemed foully in the
faces of them that inquired of him concerning the matter, and that
without provocation, since there was no effort made to molest the
followers of the Nazarene, it being deemed sufficient by us at the time
to put an end to the man himself--a mistake in judgment which we are
like to repent bitterly."
"Then the man is a coward!" exclaimed Saul contemptuously, "a
loud-mouthed braggart; doubtless a Roman scourging will suffice to close
his mouth for the future."
"The suggestion is a good one," said Annas approvingly, "it can be
brought about with ease; though for myself I am in favor of measures
which shall entirely rid our city of the whole, blasphemous brood. The
second name I have set down is that of John, he is always to be found
with the man Peter, of whom we have just been speaking. He is, in his
way, quite as dangerous, since in common with the other he possesses
some means of deluding the multitudes into supposing that he hath
healing power."
"There is a way provided by the law for dealing with such as have
familiar spirits and by means of them work deeds of darkness," growled
Caiaphas.
"Quite right," assented Annas, "we shall come to that presently; of the
others I need say nothing except that they follow the same practices as
the first two named, and are occupied night and day in spreading the
pernicious teachings of what they are pleased to call the good tidings.
I will name them in order, commencing at the beginning once more.
Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, brother of the same; John and
James, sons of Zebedee; Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, a tax
gatherer; James Ben Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, surnamed Thaddeus; another
Simon, who is a Canaanite, and Matthias, whom I find they have chosen to
take the place of the man Judas, who served us well and cheaply you will
remember in the capture of the Nazarene, but committed the incredible
folly of hanging himself immediately afterward; a pity, since we might
have found him useful now. To these twelve names I have also added
Mary, the mother of the Nazarene, she had best be made an example of,
together with some of the other women, who consort with the men and brew
mischief among them as only women are able."
Caiaphas started up. "Thou hast rightly said," he cried in a hoarse
shaking voice, "the devil led captive the first woman, and they all do
follow him to this day if he but put on the guise of a fair youth. I
pray thee to add yet another name, the name of Stephen. Murderer and
thief! I will kill him with my hands--I hate him--I----"
"My son," said Annas soothingly, "thou must not over-agitate thyself;
thy zeal for the holy temple hath quite caused thee to overlook the
frailty of thy body, weakened by recent illness. The name Stephen is
also written here, since I found that he was capable of leading away
much people after him. He hath a nimble tongue and a fair countenance,
together with a knowledge of the lower Gentile class from which he also
hath sprung, being, as his name indicates, of Greek parentage."
"He is the son of a murderous thief," shrieked Caiaphas, "and I will
have his blood. I----"
"Assuredly; all whose names are written here are under sentence of
death," said Annas, laying a warning hand on the speaker's arm; "but I
pray thee, attend me while I finish the reading of the parchment, after
that must we take immediate action. I have here further set down for
your consideration the apostates, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea,
formerly members of the Sanhedrim, but now delivered over unto ungodly
lusts and blasphemies in the company of the Galileans. Of Joseph it is
further known that he openly begged the body of the Nazarene from Pilate
and made a great ado over its sepulture, buying spices and fine linen as
if for a rich man, and laying the fruit of the accursed tree in his own
new tomb, from whence it also disappeared on the third day through the
further machinations of these same apostles."
"I once knew Joseph of Arimathaea," remarked Saul thoughtfully; "he was
a fair-minded man, I will speak with him concerning the matter----"
"Not so, my son!" cried Annas hastily. "I forbid it in the name of the
holy council; it is not meet for one that is sanctified to the service
of Jehovah to consort with them over whom Satan hath gotten the victory.
But hold! I hear some one at the door; it may be news of some fresh
disturbance, I ordered the captain of the temple police to bring me word
should such occur. Enter, I pray thee, Caleb. What is it that hath
befallen?"
"A great tumult, my good lords," said the man, bowing himself reverently
before them. "The men have wrought many wonderful cures upon the halt,
the maimed, and the blind; the whole city is at the doors to see them.
They are bringing out their sick and laying them on the stones of the
street, crying out that if only the shadow of Peter fall on them they
shall be healed."
"This is monstrous!" cried Annas, starting up. "Do thou, Saul of Tarsus,
go with this man and see to it that these fellows are put in hold; their
shadows will go with them. Thrust them into the common prison, and let
the jailer look to it that they escape not. Take with thee a sufficient
number for thy security, and accomplish the matter quietly but with all
speed. To-morrow we will consider their case."
Saul of Tarsus was already girding himself. "Thy commands, my lord,
shall be obeyed," he said, bending his haughty head, "and I rejoice that
I am counted worthy to be of service in bringing to naught these workers
of iniquity. If it meets with thy approval I shall also put in hold any
others whom I shall find engaged in this blasphemous wickedness."
"Go forth, my son," quoth Annas, rolling up his eyes, and spreading
abroad his jewelled fingers, "and take with thee a High-Priestly
blessing, may it enable thee to prevail gloriously. Deal with the men
as thou wilt; only remember that we must be prudent, and that too great
zeal in the beginning oftentimes cripples an enterprise which would
otherwise have grown mighty and irresistible, therefore temper thy
burning zeal with all caution and diligence as befits a truly wise man."
He rubbed his hands together with an air of satisfaction as the door
closed after the young Pharisee. "A most admirable man for the
occasion!" he exclaimed, turning to Caiaphas. "Most admirable! Full of
courage, full of determination, withal easy to be controlled; but I
would not that he talk much of the matter with any other save ourselves.
If he should hear the talk of Nicodemus, Joseph, or Barsabas, I fear me
that he might receive an impetus in the wrong direction; and once
started, there would be no halfway measures with him. He would speedily
develop into another Peter on our hands."
"Dost thou in truth believe that these men are of the devil?"
Annas started, the self-satisfied smile faded; he looked sharply into
the worn face before him, at the eyes with their feverish glitter, at
the thin, nerveless hands, at the bowed shoulders; then he frowned.
"Thou had best go to thy chamber--" he began irritably, but Caiaphas
checked him with an impatient gesture.
"Prate not to me of my chamber! I am sick, yes, but it is a sickness of
the soul. Thou dost not know all, I have not told thee; but hear now
that my son, my son David, was crucified as a thief at the right hand of
the Nazarene." His voice rose almost to a shriek at the last word and
he tore at his hair as one in uncontrollable agony.
Annas started to his feet. "Thou art mad!" he cried. "For God's sake,
do not shriek forth such foul ravings, lest it come to the ears of them
without."
"Nay, I am not mad," said Caiaphas. "If I were mad, I might sometimes
forget. Thou knowest how we lost him," he continued, sinking his voice
to a husky whisper. "He was stolen by a thief who bred him to his own
damnable trade, and who also was crucified. This Stephen, who preaches
to the people of the Nazarene, is his son. It was Stephen who taught the
woman who was my wife to believe that the Nazarene was the Messiah of
Israel. What if it were true! My God, if it were true!"
"Fool!" cried Annas, clenching his hands. "Breathe to another human soul
what thou hast told me and I will thrust thee into a dungeon where thou
shalt cool thy hot brain to eternity. Wilt thou drag our ancient name in
the foul mud of the streets and make it a by-word and a hissing? This
fellow Stephen shall die, and that speedily; now look to it that thy
tongue is forevermore silent in the matter! Dost thou hear me?"
Caiaphas cowered beneath the murderous eyes of the old man. "It shall
be as thou hast said," he faltered weakly. Then he burst into a passion
of sobbing like a sick child.