ear,
the saying of the Nazarene,

"I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE."

And the words repeated themselves over and over, and took form,
and the dawn touched them with its light, and filled them with
a new meaning. And as men repeat a question to grasp and fix the
meaning, he asked, gazing at the figure on the hill fainting under
its crown, Who the Resurrection? and who the Life?

"I AM,"

the figure seemed to say--and say it for him; for instantly he was
sensible of a peace such as he had never known--the peace which is
the end of doubt and mystery, and the beginning of faith and love
and clear understanding.

From this dreamy state Ben-Hur was aroused by the sound of hammering.
On the summit of the knoll he observed then what had escaped him
before--some soldiers and workmen preparing the crosses. The holes
for planting the trees were ready, and now the transverse beams
were being fitted to their places.

"Bid the men make haste," said the high-priest to the centurion.
"These"--and he pointed to the Nazarene--"must be dead by the
going-down of the sun, and buried that the land may not be defiled.
Such is the Law."

With a better mind, a soldier went to the Nazarene and offered
him something to drink, but he refused the cup. Then another went
to him and took from his neck the board with the inscription upon
it, which he nailed to the tree of the cross--and the preparation
was complete.

"The crosses are ready," said the centurion to the pontiff,
who received the report with a wave of the hand and the reply,

"Let the blasphemer go first. The Son of God should be able to
save himself. We will see."

The people to whom the preparation in its several stages was visible,
and who to this time had assailed the hill with incessant cries of
impatience, permitted a lull which directly became a universal hush.
The part of the infliction most shocking, at least to the thought,
was reached--the men were to be nailed to their crosses. When for
that purpose the soldiers laid their hands upon the Nazarene first,
a shudder passed through the great concourse; the most brutalized
shrank with dread. Afterwards there were those who said the air
suddenly chilled and made them shiver.

"How very still it is!" Esther said, as she put her arm about her
father's neck.

And remembering the torture he himself had suffered, he drew her
face down upon his breast, and sat trembling.

"Avoid it, Esther, avoid it!" he said. "I kno