Then the queen spake unto the Hebrews and asked them, their hearts sorely burdened, how once the 560 prophets, holy men, sang in the world concerning the Son of God; and where the Lord suffered, true Son of the Creator, for the love of souls. But they were obdurate and mute as stones, nor would they 565 show forth the true secret, nor in the hardness of their hearts would they give any answer to what she sought of them, but, set in purpose, they withstood each word that she asked, and said that never 570 in their lives had they heard, before nor since, one whit of any such thing.

Then Elene spake and answered them in anger:—'I shall say unto you truly, and never in your life will this be false, that if ye who stand before me 575 persist long in this falsehood with lying craft, ye shall be burned upon the hill in the hottest fury of fire, and leaping flames shall consume your flesh, so that for you this lie shall be changed into utter destruction. 580 Nor can ye prove those words which now in your guile ye cover up under the cloak of evil. Ye cannot hide the deed, nor conceal its mystic power.'

10. ELENE AND JUDAS.

Then were they in the fear of death, of the funeral-pyre, and the end of life; and there they 585 thrust forth one of exceeding wisdom in the lore of old, whose name was Judas, sprung from noble lineage; and they gave him up unto the queen, and called him a man of wondrous learning: 'He can show forth to thee the truth, unlock the secret of the fates, expound the just law from the beginning 590 even to the end, according as thou dost ask him. He is of noble race in the world, wise in speech, the son of a prophet, outspoken in council. And it is his nature to have sage answers and wisdom of soul. He shall show forth to thee before 595 the multitude with his great power the gift of wisdom, even as thy heart desireth.'

Then she let each man seek his own home in peace, and took Judas alone as hostage. And she earnestly 600 bade him tell the truth concerning the cross, which had been long buried in a secret place. Then Elene, the glorious queen, drew him aside by himself, and thus spake to the lonely man:—'Two ways 650 are ready for thee, either life or death, whichsoever thou shalt please to choose. Declare quickly now which one thou wilt accept.'

And Judas made answer unto her—nor could he rid himself of sorrow and turn away the wrath of his ruler, but he was in the power of the queen—: 610 'How shall it be with him who treadeth the moor in a desert, weary, without food, and tortured with hunger, if before his eyes a loaf and a stone together seem hard and soft, and he knoweth them not apart, but taketh the stone to ward off his 615 hunger, and marketh not the loaf, turneth to want and forsaketh the food, refuseth the better when he hath the choice of both?'

Then openly before the people the blessed Elene gave him answer:—'If thou wouldst have thy life 620 in the world and a home with the angels in the kingdom of heaven, the reward of victory in the sky, tell me straightway where the holy rood of the King of glory lieth under the earth, which ye 625 have hid now for a while from men because of the unrighteous murder.'

Judas answered, and his heart was heavy within him; there was grief in his soul, and woe either way, whether thus he forsook the joy of the 630 heavenly realm and this present kingdom beneath the skies, or disclosed the rood:—'How can I reveal that which came to pass so long ago in the course of years? Two hundred or more in number are now vanished away—I know not the sum of 635 them, and I cannot declare the event. Many of wisdom, of virtue, and of learning, who were before our time, are told among the dead. In days long after was I born, and in my childhood, and in my youth. I may not discover in my heart that which 640 I know not, and which came to pass so long ago.'

Then Elene bespake him in answer:—'Whence cometh it that ye bear in mind so many things, every wondrous deed, such as those which the Trojans 645 wrought in battle? That far-famed war of old was further in the course of years than this holy event, and yet ye know that fully, how to declare at once the number of all that were slain 650 there, and of the spearmen who fell in death beneath their shields. Ye set forth in writing the tombs beneath the rocky cliffs, and likewise the places and the tale of years.'

Then Judas answered—he suffered bitter grief:—'We 655 are mindful of that war from very need, my dear lady, and we set forth in writing the fierce strife and the deeds of the nations, but never have we heard this declared unto men from the mouth 660 of any save here and now.'