ly turn the conversation to
Galilee, strange to himself but dear to Jesus, with its still waters
and green banks. And he would jog the heavy Peter till his dulled memory
awoke, and in clear pictures in which everything was loud, distinct,
full of colour, and solid, there arose before his eyes and ears the dear
Galilean life. With eager attention, with half-open mouth in child-like
fashion, and with eyes laughing in anticipation, Jesus would listen to
his gusty, resonant, cheerful utterance, and sometimes laughed so at his
jokes, that it was necessary to interrupt the story for some minutes.
But John told tales even better than Peter. There was nothing ludicrous,
nor startling, about his stories, but everything seemed so pensive,
unusual, and beautiful, that tears would appear in Jesus' eyes, and
He would sigh softly, while Judas nudged Mary Magdalene and excitedly
whispered to her--

"What a narrator he is! Do you hear?"

"Yes, certainly."

"No, be more attentive. You women never make good listeners."

Then they would all quietly disperse to bed, and Jesus would kiss His
thanks to John, and stroke kindly the shoulder of the tall Peter.

And without envy, but with a condescending contempt, Judas would witness
these caresses. Of what importance were these tales and kisses and sighs
compared with what he, Judas Iscariot, the red-haired, misshapen Judas,
begotten among the rocks, could tell them if he chose?

CHAPTER VI

With one hand betraying Jesus, Judas tried hard with the other to
frustrate his own plans. He did not indeed endeavour to dissuade Jesus
from the last dangerous journey to Jerusalem, as did the women; he even
inclined rather to the side of the relatives of Jesus, and of those
amongst His disciples who looked for a victory over Jerusalem as
indispensable to the full triumph of His cause. But he kept continually
and obstinately warning them of the danger, and in lively colours
depicted the threatening hatred of the Pharisees for Jesus, and their
readiness to commit any crime if, either secretly or openly, they might
make an end of the Prophet of Galilee. Each day and every hour he kept
talking of this, and there was not one of the believers before whom
Judas had not stood with uplifted finger and uttered this serious
warning:

"We must look after Jesus. We must defend for Jesus, when the hour
comes."

But whether it was the unlimited faith which the disciples had in the
miracle-working power