ace!' And when the
people saw Judas do that, they took hold of Jesus and held Him fast.
They took Jesus first to the house of a priest called Annas, and then
to the palace of Caiaphas the high priest; and John, who knew somebody
in that house, was allowed to come in. Peter was left outside; but
soon John asked the girl at the door to let Peter in too. Peter was
glad to come in to see what was being done to his dear Master.

The houses in the East are built round a great square court, like a big
hall, only it has no roof. It was the middle of the night, and the
cold air blew into that court. But the servants had made a great fire
of coals in the middle of the court, and while Jesus was standing
before Caiaphas and the other priests, the servants sat round that fire
waiting, and warming themselves. Peter came and sat down with the
servants, and warmed himself too.

Presently the girl who attended to the door came up to the fire, and
she had a good look at Peter, and said, 'And you were with Jesus of
Nazareth. Are you not one of His disciples?' Then Peter told a lie
before all the servants, and said, 'Woman, I am not. I do not know
Him, and I do not know what you mean.' And he went on warming himself,
and tried to look as though he knew nothing in the world about Jesus.
But Peter loved Jesus too much to be able to do this well. He was
unhappy, he could not sit still; he got up, and went away into a place
near the door, called the porch, and when he was in the porch he heard
a cock crow. Perhaps he went into the porch because he thought that it
would be dark there and that nobody would see him. But the girl who
kept the door told another woman to look at him, and that woman said to
the people who stood by, 'This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth, and
is one of His disciples.' Then a man who stood there said to Peter,
'Are you not one of His disciples?' And again Peter told a lie, and
said, 'Man, I am not. I do not know the Man.'

An hour passed by, and then some of the people near said, 'You must be
one of the disciples of Jesus. The way that you speak shows that you
come from Galilee.' While Peter was again denying him, Jesus turned
round, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered what Jesus had said
to him, 'Before the cock crow twice, you will say three times you do
not know Me.' And when he thought about what he had done, he was very,
very sorry; and he went out of the high priest's palace, and w