e than of pain,' continued Genevieve,
overcome by the grief of her mistress; 'but your kind words console me!'

'Listen, Genevieve, I am not here simply to console you; you can fly
from this house and render a great service to the young man of Nazareth,
perhaps even save his life.'

'What say you, my dear mistress?' exclaimed Genevieve; thinking less of
her liberty than of the service she might render to the Nazarene.

'Oh! speak; my life, if necessary, for him who said that "one day the
chains of the slave shall be broken!"'

'Since the night we passed listening to the predictions of Jesus, Jane
and I have not met; the Seigneur Chusa had prevented her from leaving
her house to come here; to-night, however, yielding to her prayer, he
brought her here, and whilst he was conversing with my husband, do you
know what Jane told me?'

'About the young man of Nazareth?'

'Yes.'

'Alas! some new persecution!'

'He is betrayed! They will arrest him this very night, and kill him!'

'Betrayed! he! and by whom?'

'By one of his disciples.'

'Ah! the infamous wretch!'

'Then Chusa, already triumphing in the death of this poor Nazarene, has
revealed every thing this evening to Jane, to enjoy maliciously the
affliction this sad news will cause her; this then is what passed; the
pharisees, doctors of law, senators, and high priests, all exasperated
by the last (those we heard), assembled at the house of the high priest
Caiphus, and sought for means to surprise the Nazarene; but fearing a
popular rising if they arrested him yesterday, a holiday in Jerusalem,
they have deferred till to-night the execution of their wicked designs.'

'What! to-night? This very night?'

'Yes, a traitor, one of his disciples, named Judas, is to betray him
into their hands.'

'One of those who, the other night, accompanied him to the tavern of the
"Wild Ass."'

'The one whose gloomy and treacherous figure you remarked. Judas then
went to the high priests and the doctors of law, and said to them: "Give
me money, and I will deliver the Nazarene to you."'

'The wretch!'

'He has agreed for thirty pieces of silver from the pharisees; and at
the present moment perhaps the poor young man, who suspects nothing, is
a victim of the treason.'

'Alas! if such is the case, what service can I render him?'

'Listen again, this is what Jane said to me to-night: "It was whilst
repairing to your house, dear Aurelia, that my husband informed me, with