“Beloved! How camest thou here in such a time as this?”
“O Serenus! my father hath commanded me to renounce thee and the New Faith, or leave his house. Behold my choice!”
“Amabel! thou hast given up all for me!”
“Nay! say rather for my soul’s freedom!”
“Daughter of Gamaliel, and Light of my soul! I am powerless to protect thee from the persecutors that are at the door. But have faith in God! All things will work together for good. Doubt not!”
“I have no fear! Peace, love, and courage possess my soul.”
The tramp of the fierce host as it burst up the stairways was like the noise of thunder.
With glaring eyes and panting breath Saulus bounded into the room, closely followed by his comrades, with the mob at their heels. Not one of the assembly raised a hand in defence.
The utter peacefulness and non-resistance of the little band was so strange that for a moment Saulus was astounded. He had expected a strong fight, or at least a desperate attempt to escape, but found neither. But in a moment he regained command of himself, and there was no wavering in his purpose.
“Heretics and blasphemers!” he cried. “We have caught you in the very exercise of your seditious and profane worship, and ye yourselves are witnesses to your own criminality. I have full authority, as a loyal Hebrew, to mete out punishment to every one of you, men and women, and to crush this mockery of our holy religion. Ha! a little trial by scourging, and some acquaintance with stocks and prisons, will restore your [pg 210]minds. And if these fail, I wot that the treatment administered to Stephanos will be found effectual.”