“I shall try to find him out and warn him!”
“It would be well for thee, Rebecca, to leave the Holy City, and seek thy home in Tarsus!”
Saulus petulantly turned away, and passed out of the court-yard.
Cassia was waiting in the passage, and sped to give him congratulation.
“O Saulus! thou art noble and brave!” she exclaimed, embracing him. “I glory in thy courage and service. Behold I love thee even more than I was wont!”
Saulus returned the warm greeting.
“Cassia, love, I have great joy in thy favor. I live for thee!” Then grasping her small hand he gave it a warm kiss, and hastened to his chamber.
In the solitude of his room and stillness of the night, he sat down to review the events of the day. His exhil[pg 175]aration, and even the indorsement and congratulation of his friends, gradually seemed to vanish, and he was almost forced to look within and become more familiar with himself. He was surprised at the clearness and depth of the picture of the scene of the day which seemed to be burnt into his very soul. The tragedy beyond the city wall stood out before him in every detail. The throng, the shouts, his own share, the murderous act of the witnesses, the kneeling victim, his entreaty of pardon for his slayers, all riveted his attention as keenly as when they were taking place. It was as though his mind had been a tablet of stone, with the whole scene deeply chiselled in characters which could never be erased or hidden.
“The duty of the day is done, and well done,” he said to himself; “and now I will have rest. I bid farewell to this event, that I may be well prepared to continue the warfare to-morrow.”
But it would not depart.