"Time is passing," he replied with dignity. "I await a reply."
"Let us all waken him!" the second guard suggested.
So they advanced to the curtains that hung over Pilate's door and shouted together as they beat the floor, "Awake! Arise, my Lord Pilate!"
"Is the house falling?" The voice was that of Pilate. A moment later he stuck his head from between the curtains shouting, "To the fires of Pluto with you! What meaneth this disturbance?"
"A message for my Lord Pilate," the messenger replied, handing him a tablet. "From the Tower of Antonio, a message."
Claudia stepped behind Pilate and looked over his shoulder. "What is it?" she asked.
"The hiding-place of a Jew who hath not regard for the Law of Moses has been discovered. This is a request for soldiers to go out against him."
"A Jew? Who is he?" and Claudia's voice bespoke deep interest.
"What matter?" Pilate replied, yawning. "A Jew is a Jew. Let them go out against him. My tablets!" he shouted to a servant. After hastily writing, he gave the messenger a tablet saying, "Depart! One Jew is not worth the asking, but take him." Before the feet of the messenger had crossed the threshold Pilate was ready to return to his sleep. "Get thou on guard," he commanded his Legion soldiers, "and let none less than Caesar pass my threshold."
For a few hours the long corridors and empty chambers of the palace were quiet. Then again there came the sound of approaching feet, followed by knocking and a heavy voice calling the Procurator.