oy or from despair.

'Come,' cried the cheerful voice of Synesius, 'come, Aben-Ezra; you have
knelt for Augustine's blessing already, and now you must enter into the
fruition of it. Come, you two philosophers must know each other. Most
holy, I entreat you to preach to this friend of mine, at once the wisest
and the foolishest of men.'

'Only the latter,' said Raphael; 'but open to any speech of Augustine's,
at least when we are safe home, and game enough for Synesius's new
guests killed.'

And turning away, he rode silent and sullen by the side of his
companions, who began at once to consult together as to the plans of
Majoricus and his soldiers.

In spite of himself, Raphael soon became interested in Augustine's
conversation. He entered into the subject of Cyrenian misrule and ruin
as heartily and shrewdly as any man of the world; and when all the
rest were at a loss, the prompt practical hint which cleared up the
difficulty was certain to come from him. It was by his advice that
Majoricus had brought his soldiery hither; it was his proposal that they
should be employed for a fixed period in defending these remote southern
boundaries of the province; he checked the impetuosity of Synesius,
cheered the despair of Majoricus, appealed to the honour and the
Christianity of the soldiers, and seemed to have a word--and that the
right word--for every man; and after a while, Aben-Ezra quite forgot
the stiffness and deliberation of his manner, and the quaint use of
Scripture texts in far-fetched illustrations of every opinion which he
propounded. It had seemed at first a mere affectation; but the arguments
which it was employed to enforce were in themselves so moderate and so
rational that Raphael began to feel, little by little, that his apparent
pedantry was only the result of a wish to refer every matter, even the
most vulgar, to some deep and divine rule of right and wrong.

'But you forget all this while, my friends,' said Majoricus at last,
'the danger which you incur by sheltering proclaimed rebels.'

'The King of kings has forgiven your rebellion, in that while He has
punished you by the loss of your lands and honours, He has given you
your life for a prey in this city of refuge. It remains for you to bring
forth worthy fruits of penitence; of which I know none better than those
which John the Baptist commanded to the soldiery of old, "Do no violence
to any man, and be content with your wages."'

'As for rebels