sound that the last turn of the rack could not have forced
from the breast that uttered it now! It was the expression of an agony
which few hearts have affections strong enough to feel, fewer still
could have fortitude to sustain. No death-wail, no cry of woe, no
shriek of pain that Zarah had ever listened to, smote on her soul like
that sound! She heard it but once--it was never heard but once--and
before she had recovered from the shock which it gave her, Judas had
rushed forth from the hut. He was as one possessed; so fierce were the
demons of jealousy and hatred that for a space held reason, conscience,
every power of mind and soul in subjection. One wild desire to kill
his rival, to tear him limb from limb, seemed all that had any definite
form in that fearful chaos of passion. It was well for Lycidas that he
did not then cross the path of the lion!

Maccabeus plunged into the depths of a wood that was near, seeking
instinctively the thickest shade afforded by evergreen trees. He would
fain have buried his anguish from the sight of man in the darkest
cavern--in the deepest grave! The very sunlight was oppressive!

All lost--all rent away from him for ever! What hope had clung to,
what love had treasured through the long, long years of waiting, giving
new courage to the brave, new energy to the weary! Youth, happiness,
the cup of joy just filled to the brim by the coming of Zarah, without
one moment's warning dashed from the lips of him who loved her, and the
last drops sucked up by the thirsty sand! The miseries of a long life
seemed to be crowded into the few minutes during which the leader of
the Hebrews, the hope of Judah, lay prostrate on the earth, clinching
the dust in his despair.

Hatred and jealousy raged within; and a yet darker demon had joined
them, one whose presence, above all others, makes the soul as a hell!
Like burning venom-drops fell the suggestions of rebellious unbelief
upon the spirit of the disappointed man. "Is it for this that you have
washed your hands in innocency, and kept your feet in the paths of
truth? Is it for this that you have devoted all your powers to God and
your country, have shrunk from no toil, and dreaded no danger? He whom
you were faithfully serving hath not watched over your peace, nor
guarded for you that treasure which you had confided to his care. What
profit is there in obedience, what benefit in devotion? Prayer has
been but vanity, and faith but