egone."

The wretched Caleb ground his teeth. "It was to the death!" he said, "it
was to the death! You have conquered, kill me," and with his bloody hand
he tore open his robe to make a path for the sword.

"Leave such talk to play-actors," answered Marcus. "Begone, and be sure
of this--that if ever you try to bring treachery on me, or trouble on
the lady Miriam, I will kill you sure enough."

Then with a sound that was half curse and half sob, Caleb turned and
slunk away. With a shrug of the shoulder Marcus also turned to go, when
he felt a shadow fall upon him, and swung round, to find Nehushta at his
side.

"And pray where did you come from, my Libyan friend?" he asked.

"Out of that pomegranate fence, my Roman lord, whence I have seen and
heard all that passed."

"Indeed. Then I hope that you give me credit for good sword-play and
good temper."

"The sword-play was well enough, though nothing to boast of with such a
madman for a foe. As for the temper, it was that of a fool."

"Such," soliloquised Marcus, "is the reward of virtue. But I am curious.
Why?"

"Because, my lord Marcus, this Caleb will grow into the most dangerous
man in Judaea, and to none more dangerous than to my lady Miriam and
yourself. You should have killed him while you had the chance, before
his turn comes to kill you."

"Perhaps," answered Marcus with a yawn; "but, friend Nehushta, I have
been associating with a Christian and have caught something of her
doctrines. That seems a fine sword. You had better keep it. Good-night."

CHAPTER IX

THE JUSTICE OF FLORUS

On the following morning, when the roll of the neophytes of the Essenes
was called, Caleb did not appear. Nor did he answer to his name on the
next day, or indeed ever again. None knew what had become of him until
a while after a letter was received addressed to the Curators of the
Court, in which he announced that, finding he had no vocation for an
Essenic career, he had taken refuge with friends of his late father, in
some place not stated. There, so far as the Essenes were concerned, the
matter ended. Indeed, as the peasant who was concealed in the gully when
the Jew was murdered had talked of what he had witnessed, even the most
simple-minded of the Essenes could suggest a reason for this sudden
departure. Nor did they altogether regret it, inasmuch as in many ways
Caleb had proved himself but an unsatisfactory disciple, and already
they were discussing the exped