ade me to live, and the pride of life was strong in my
heart and in my flesh. My vow was offered to that well-known god. I
served him in Jerusalem, in Alexandria, in Rome, for his altars are
everywhere and men worship him openly or in secret.

"My money and youth made me welcome to his followers, and I spent them
both freely as if they could never come to an end. I clothed myself in
purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. The wine of
Cyprus and the dishes of Egypt and Syria were on my table. My dwelling
was crowded with merry guests. They came for what I gave them. Their
faces were hungry and their soft touch was like the clinging of
leeches. To them I was nothing but money and youth; no longer a beast
of burden--a beast of pleasure. There was nothing in it.

"From the richest fare my heart went away empty, and after the wildest
banquet my soul fell drunk and solitary into sleep.

"Then I thought, Power is better than pleasure. If a man will feast
and revel let him do it with the great. They will favour him and
raise him up for the service that he renders them. He will obtain
place and authority in the world and gain many friends. So I joined
myself to Herod."

When the sad shepherd spoke this name his listeners drew back from him
as if it were a defilement to hear it. They spat upon the ground and
cursed the Idumean who called himself their king.

"A slave!" Jotham cried, "a bloody tyrant and a slave from Edom! A
fox, a vile beast who devours his own children! God burn him in
Gehenna."

The old Zadok picked up a stone and threw it into the darkness, saying
slowly, "I cast this stone on the grave of the Idumean, the
blasphemer, the defiler of the Temple! God send us soon the Deliverer,
the Promised One, the true King of Israel!" Ammiel made no sign, but
went on with his story.

"Herod used me well--for his own purpose. He welcomed me to his palace
and his table, and gave me a place among his favourites. He was so
much my friend that he borrowed my money. There were many of the
nobles of Jerusalem with him, Sadducees, and proselytes from Rome and
Asia, and women from everywhere. The law of Israel was observed in the
open court, when the people were watching. But in the secret feasts
there was no law but the will of Herod, and many deities were served
but no god was worshipped. There the captains and the princes of Rome
consorted with the high-priest and his sons by night; and there was
much coming