itus, himself."

"Doubtless the Lord put it into his heart to spare me," John said.
"Titus only said that he preserved my life as that of a brave foe.
The Romans esteem bravery and, as I had withstood Titus for some
time, he was pleased to think that I had done well."

"Ah, if you had killed him, what rejoicings there would have been
in the land!"

"No," John said earnestly, "there would have been mourning. You may
be sure that Vespasian would have avenged his blood upon all the
people. It would have been a misfortune, indeed, had Titus fallen.
It is well that it ended as it did."

John was, however, far too weak to be able to accompany his band
upon its rapid marches; and therefore, for a time, resigned its
command to one of his captains. He determined to go, until his
strength returned to him, to a small community of which he had
heard as dwelling in an almost inaccessible valley on the shore of
the Dead Sea. He was told that they took no part in the commotion
of the times, and that they lived in such poverty that even the
robbers of Simon had not cared to interfere with them. They
practiced hospitality to strangers, and spent their lives in
religious observances. As John had often heard from his father of
this sect--which was at one time numerous in the land, but had been
sorely persecuted by the priests and Pharisees--he determined to
stop for a time among them, and learn somewhat of their doctrines.

Accompanied by Jonas, he made his way across the mountains to the
valley where they dwelt. As wounded, and a stranger, he was
received without question among them; and a little hut, similar to
that in which they all lived, was placed at his disposal. These
huts were ranged in a square, in the center of which stood a larger
building, used as their synagogue. Here John remained nearly a
month; and was greatly struck by their religious fervor, the
simplicity and austerity of their lives, and the doctrines which
they held. He learned that the more rigorous of the sect abstained,
altogether, from the use of meat and wine; and that celibacy was
strictly enjoined. Those who married did not separate themselves
from the sect, but were considered as occupying an inferior
position in it. Their food was of the simplest kind, and only
sufficient to sustain life. The community raised the grain and
vegetables necessary for their use.

But it was the religious doctrines which they held which most
greatly surprised John. They