leap and rage, the flames they are
flinging will consume us. Rabbi, Rabbi, call upon the Hosts of the Lord!
God of the just! The gate has given way. Lord! Lord! Lord!"

The terrified wretch's teeth chattered and he covered his eyes with his
hands, groaning and howling.

Ben Jochai had remained perfectly calm, but he was quivering with rage.
His prayer was ended, and turning to Gamaliel he said in deep tones:

"I knew that this would happen, I warned you. Our evil star rose when we
set forth on our wanderings.

"Now we must abide patiently what the Lord hath determined. He will be
our Avenger."

"Vengeance is His!" echoed the old man, and he covered his head with his
white mantle.

"In the sleeping-room--follow me! we can hide under the beds!" shrieked
Apollodorus; he kicked away the slave who was embracing the Rabbi's
feet, and seized the old man by the shoulder to drag him away with him.
But it was too late, for the door of the antechamber had burst open and
they could hear the clatter of weapons. "Lost, lost, all is lost!" cried
Apollodorus.

"Adonai! help us Adonai!" murmured the old man and he clung more closely
to his nephew, who overtopped him by a head and who held him clasped in
his right arm as if to protect him.

The danger which threatened Apollodorus and his guests was indeed
imminent, and it had been provoked solely by the indignation of the
excited mob at seeing the wealthy Israelite's house unadorned for the
feast.

A thousand times had it occurred that a single word had proved
sufficient to inflame the hot blood of the Alexandrians to prompt them
to break the laws and seize the sword. Bloody frays between the heathen
inhabitants and the Jews, who were equally numerous in the city, were
quite the order of the day, and one party was as often to blame as the
other for disturbing the peace and having recourse to the sword. Since
the Israelites had risen in several provinces--particularly in Cyrenaica
and Cyprus--and had fallen with cruel fury on their fellow-inhabitants
who were their oppressors, the suspicion and aversion of the
Alexandrians of other beliefs had grown more intense than in former
times. Besides this, the prosperous circumstances of many Jews, and the
enormous riches of a few, had filled the less wealthy heathen with envy
and roused the wish to snatch the possessions of those who, it cannot be
denied, had not unfrequently treated their gods with open contumely.

It happened that