“There, you see.” And Pahul dandled himself with the air of one who is master of logic. “That’s what I said myself. I said this: ‘If he can raise the dead, he can raise himself.’ ”
“It is John,” the tetrarch repeated.
“I am sure of it,” the butler continued. “But he did not say so. Judas didn’t either. On the contrary, he declared he was not. He said John was not good enough to carry his shoes. I saw through that, though,” and Pahul leered; “he knew whom I was, and he lied to protect his friend. I of course pretended to believe him.”
“Quite right,” said the tetrarch.
“Yes, I played the fool. H’m, where was I? Oh, I asked Judas who then his friend was, but he went over to where a woman stood; he spoke to her; she moved away. Some of the others seemed to reprove him. I would have followed, but at that moment his friend stood up; a khazzan offered him a scroll, but he waved it aside; then some one asked him a question which I did not catch; another spoke to him; a third interrupted; he seemed to be arguing with them. I was too far away to hear well, and I got nearer; then I heard him say, ‘I am the bread of life.’ Now, what did he mean by that?”
Antipas had no explanation to offer.
“Then,” Pahul continued, “he said he had come down from heaven. A man near me exclaimed, ‘He is the Messiah;’ but others——”
“The Messiah!” echoed the tetrarch. For a moment his thoughts stammered, then at once he was back in the citadel. On one side was the procurator, on the other the emir of Tadmor. In front of him was a drunken rabble, wrangling Pharisees, and one man dominating the din with an announcement of the Messiah’s approach. The murmur of lutes threaded through it all; and now, as his thoughts deviated, he wondered could that announcement have been the truth.
“But others,” Pahul continued, “objected loudly. For a little I could not catch a word. At last they became quieter, and I heard him repeat that he was the bread of life, adding, ‘Your fathers ate manna and are dead, but this bread a man may eat of and never die.’ At this there was new contention. A woman fainted—the one to whom Judas had [pg 101]spoken. They carried her out. As she passed I could see her face. It was Mary of Magdala. Judas held her by the waist, another her feet.”
Antipas drew a hand across his face. “It is impossible,” he muttered.