“Jared! Well would I have served those guilty dogs, if I had given orders to have their heads taken off. What sayest thou, Jared?”
“They richly deserved it, O king,” answered Jared, with his face in another direction, on which played a suppressed smile.
“Let them beware how they insult the King of Judah! Jared! hast thou learned aught of Sherakim’s whereabouts?”
“Naught, O king.”
“Ungrateful dog! Cowardly fool! Miserable brawler!—Sherakim! Bah! Jared, order more wine. Whom should Jehoiakim fear? Jared! what trouble is there in the porch? Haste thee and see.”
Jared hastened to obey the commands of his drunken sovereign, and presently returned.
“The same messenger from the King of the Chaldeans demands an interview with the King of Judah.”
“Let him be admitted. Ha! ha! What next?”
Balphoras, with a firm, dignified step, walked into the presence of Jehoiakim, who, in spite of his wine-propped courage, almost trembled beneath the Chaldean’s penetrating glance.