"'Deny thee, Lord!' repeated Peter, with amazed grief and horror in his looks.
"'Yes, Peter,' answered Jesus, firmly but kindly, 'deny that thou ever knewest me; for the time draweth near when there shall be safety only in confessing ignorance of Jesus the Nazarene. And all ye,' he added, while his voice grew tremulous, and tears glistened in his eyes, 'all ye shall be offended because of me this night; ye shall be ashamed that ye are my disciples, and ye will think me a deceiver and will be displeased at me. Yea, every one of you shall desert me; for thus it is written: "The shepherd shall be smitten, and the sheep shall be scattered!"'
"When he saw that our hearts were troubled and that we were sad, and that the faithful Philip sobbed aloud at being supposed capable of abandoning his Master, he added, 'Let not your hearts be troubled; I go to prepare a place for you in my Father's house!'
"'Thy father, Lord, no longer liveth in Nazareth; and, were he alive, there are but two small apartments in his humble house,' said Thomas. 'How sayest thou that we are all to lodge there?'
"'Thomas, thou canst understand only what thine eyes see. I speak of my Father who is in heaven. In his house are many mansions.'
"Jesus then, as we drew near Cedron, began plainly to tell us that he was to die, and that by his death we should be admitted into a heavenly paradise and live forever. We could not understand all he said, but we knew that he was soon to be taken from us and sorrow filled all our hearts. After discoursing with us in the most touching words, he at length said:
"'Come, let us go over Cedron to the side of Olivet, into the garden we so much love to walk in.'
"We went with him, inclosing him as a guard, to conceal his person from the Jewish spies, as well as to defend him. Peter and James went before. The full moon shone brightly, and by its light glancing on the face of Jesus, by whom I walked, I saw that it was sadder than its wont, while he spoke but little.
"We at length crossed the brook and entered the dark groves of Olivet. Familiar with all the paths, we advanced to a central group of venerable olive trees, beneath which, tradition says, Abraham used to sit; and there Jesus, turning to us, said in a voice of the deepest woe: