ow, rabbi, that years
seem to have rolled over your head since we last met."

The others rose. Mary, as she passed John, laid her hands on his
shoulder with a caressing action--which was very rare to her, for
she generally behaved to him as to a brother, holding any
exhibition of greater affection unmaidenly, until the days of
betrothal were ended. The action seemed to recall John from his
gloomy thought, and he smiled down at her anxious face; then, when
the others went off to their apartments, he went out into the night
air and stood for hours, nearly immovable, with his eyes fixed on
the stars.

In the morning, Mary joined him in the garden; as had come to be
their custom, this being the only time in the day when they were
alone together.

"Well, John?" she asked.

He understood her question.

"I have thought it over, Mary, in every way; but I cannot see that
my duty is changed by what we heard last night. Affection for you,
and my parents, would keep me here; and I wish that I could see
that my duty could go hand in hand with my wishes. I have been
sorely tempted to yield--to resign the struggle, to remain here in
peace and quiet--but I should never be happy. I do not believe that
I am, as so many think, specially called to be a deliverer--though
God has assuredly specially protected and aided me--but, did I draw
back now, it would be a grievous discouragement to many. I have put
my hand to the plow, and cannot look back.

"God has permitted these miseries to fall upon Jerusalem,
doubtless, as a punishment for the sins of the people. It may be
yet that his wrath will be abated, and that he will remember the
mercies of old. He has suffered his Temple to be profaned, but it
may not be his purpose to allow it to be destroyed, utterly. The
evil doings, therefore, of evil men do not release us from our
duty; and it has always been held the chief duty of all Jews to
die, if need be, in defense of the Temple. Never, so long as that
stands, can we say that the Lord has wholly turned his face from
us--that he purposes another period of exile, and captivity, to
befall his people.

"Therefore, Mary, I shall go on as I have intended; warring against
the Romans, and doing what I can to hinder their advance against
Jerusalem. I think that the war may last longer than I had
expected. Vespasian will have heard--from those who, like the
rabbi, have escaped from Jerusalem--what is going on within the
city; and knowing the