"Nothing human!" she repeated quickly. "Seest not that this is the time of the Messiah? Be ready to be helped of God!"
Philadelphus drew away from her uneasily and looked at her from under lowered brows.
"They say," he said in a suppressed voice, as fearing his own words, "that He has come and gone!"
She looked at him blankly. He was glad he had thought of this; it would divert her from a discourse momently growing unpleasant for him. And yet he was afraid of the thing he had said.
"What dost thou say?" she asked.
"He is come and gone–they say."
"Come and gone!"
He nodded irritably. It made him nervous to dwell on the subject.
"Who say?" she demanded.
"Many! Many!" he whispered.