Athenian lord," she faltered; "he whom
you spared by the martyrs' tomb. He has well requited your mercy. He
protected and aided Hadassah to the end, and paid the last honours to
her dear remains; he struck down the Syrian who slew my father.
Lycidas has embraced the Hebrew faith, and has come to fight, and, if
need be, to die in the Hebrew cause!"

The maiden spoke rapidly, and with a good deal of nervous excitement.
She did not venture to glance up again into the face of her kinsman to
see the effect of her explanation, for all the false hopes regarding
his indifference with which she had buoyed herself, had vanished like a
bubble at a touch. Maccabeus did not at once reply. Silently he led
Zarah back into the hut, and motioned to her to take her seat upon a
low heap of cushions which Anna had removed from the litter, and placed
on the earthen floor for the accommodation of her young mistress. He
then dismissed the attendant by a wave of his hand. The profound
gloomy silence of her kinsman was by no means re-assuring to Zarah, who
felt much as a criminal might feel in presence of a judge--albeit in
regard to her conduct towards Lycidas her conscience was clear.

Maccabeus stood before Zarah, the shadow of his form falling upon the
maiden, as he towered tween her and the light, gloomily gazing down
upon her.

"Zarah," he said at last, "there must be no concealment between us.
You know in what relation we stand to each other. You have told me
what that Gentile has been to Hadassah, and to Abner your father; tell
me now, What is he to _you_?"

Zarah struggled to regain her courage, though she knew not how deeply
her evident fear of him wounded the spirit of her kinsman. She did not
dare to answer his question directly. "Lycidas is not a Gentile," she
said; "he is, as you are, a servant of God, a true believer; he has
been fully admitted into all the privileges held by our race."

"Even the privilege of wedding a Hebrew maiden?" inquired Maccabeus
with slow deliberation.

Zarah fancied that his tone was less stern, and was thankful that Judas
had been the one to break ground upon so delicate a subject.

"Hadassah would not have blamed us," she said simply, blushing deeply
as she spoke.

Notwithstanding what had just passed, Zarah was utterly unprepared for
the effect of what was in fact an artless confession. It was not a
groan nor a cry that she heard, but a sound that partook of the nature
of both; a