earest thou
nothing?" and shook him violently by the shoulders. "Art thou asleep?"
Then turning to his comrades he exclaimed, "He is deaf and dumb; a fine
prophet indeed." And thereupon he roughly pushed Jesus forward so that
he fell from the stool upon the ground upon his face.

"Alas! alas!" they cried. "Our king has fallen from his throne. What
is to be done now? We have no longer any king. Thou art to be pitied,
such a great magician and now so weak and weary! Come, help us to put
him again upon his throne."

And then they seized him where he lay on the ground with his eyes
bandaged and his hands tied, and lifted him again upon his seat.
"Raise thyself, O mighty king; receive anew our homage."

As they were kneeling around him in scorn a messenger of Caiaphas
entered saying, "How goes it now with the king?" and the band shouted,
"He speaks and prophesies not; we can do nothing with him."

"Then," said the messenger, "the high priest and Pilate will soon make
him speak. Caiaphas sends me to bring him."

"Up, comrades," said Selpha.

Thereupon, taking Jesus again by the cords which bound his hands, they
led him off, saying, "Stand up; thou hast been king long enough." And
all shouted, "Away with thee. Thy kingdom has come to an end."

CHAPTER VI.

JUDAS HANGS HIMSELF.

The guilty deed fails not to win its wages,
The guiltless blood he sold cries from the ground;
Driven to madness by the worm that rages
And scourged by furies, Judas ranges round
Wildly, and finds no rest
From the fire in his breast,
Till swept away by bitterest despair
He flings away in reckless haste
The load of life he can no longer bear.

When Jesus was being mocked and ill-treated by the soldiers in the
guardroom of Caiaphas' palace, Judas wandered to and fro in despair.
"Now my fearful foreboding has become a terrible certainty. Caiaphas
has sentenced the Master to death, and the council has concurred in his
sentence. All is over. There is no hope, no way of escape. Had the
Master wished to save himself he would have made them feel his might a
second time in the garden. As he did not do it then, he will now do so
no more. What can I do for him, I, a miserable wretch who have
delivered him into their hands? They shall have the money back, that
blood money. They must give me my Master back again. I will go at
once and make the demand. But, oh, will he be saved by that? Oh,
vain