we have not the influence at Rome nor
the force here. They will kill you if we wait. How merciful they
are, look at me and judge."

He shuddered at the terrible recollection.

"O good my master," he continued, recovering himself; "how strong
are you--in purpose, I mean?"

Ben-Hur did not understand him.

"I remember how pleasant the world was to me in my youth,"
Simonides proceeded.

"Yet," said Ben-Hur, "you were capable of a great sacrifice."

"Yes; for love."

"Has not life other motives as strong?"

Simonides shook his head.

"There is ambition."

"Ambition is forbidden a son of Israel."

"What, then, of revenge?"

The spark dropped upon the inflammable passion; the man's eyes
gleamed; his hands shook; he answered, quickly, "Revenge is a
Jew's of right; it is the law."

"A camel, even a dog, will remember a wrong," cried Ilderim.

Directly Simonides picked up the broken thread of his thought.

"There is a work, a work for the King, which should be done in
advance of his coming. We may not doubt that Israel is to be his
right hand; but, alas! it is a hand of peace, without cunning in
war. Of the millions, there is not one trained band, not a captain.
The mercenaries of the Herods I do not count, for they are kept to
crush us. The condition is as the Roman would have it; his policy
has fruited well for his tyranny; but the time of change is at
hand, when the shepherd shall put on armor, and take to spear
and sword, and the feeding flocks be turned to fighting lions.
Some one, my son, must have place next the King at his right hand.
Who shall it be if not he who does this work well?"

Ben-Hur's face flushed at the prospect, though he said, "I see;
but speak plainly. A deed to be done is one thing; how to do it
is another."

Simonides sipped the wine Esther brought him, and replied,

"The sheik, and thou, my master, shall be principals, each with a
part. I will remain here, carrying on as now, and watchful that the
spring go not dry. Thou shalt betake thee to Jerusalem, and thence
to the wilderness, and begin numbering the fighting-men of Israel,
and telling them into tens and hundreds, and choosing captains and
training them, and in secret places hoarding arms, for which I shall
keep thee supplied. Commencing over in Perea, thou shalt go then to
Galilee, whence it is but a step to Jerusalem. In Perea, the desert
will be at thy back, and Ilderim in reach of thy hand. He will keep
the roads, so