“Yes, we will come.”
“Then bring with you this sword and shield that I may know you.”
Pushing brusquely through the increasing crowd, he speedily disappeared.
At the instance of Pilate, the people went up from the city, and carried off their dead and wounded, and there was much mourning for them; but the grief was greatly lightened by the victory of the unknown champion, who was everywhere sought, and by every one extolled. The fainting spirit of the nation was revived by the brave deed; insomuch that in the streets and up in the Temple even, amidst the solemnities of the feast, old tales of the Maccabees were told again, and thousands shook their heads whispering wisely,
“A little longer, only a little longer, brethren, and Israel will come to her own. Let there be faith in the Lord, and patience.”
In such manner Ben-Hur obtained hold on Galilee, and paved the way to greater services in the cause of the King Who Was Coming.
And with what result we shall see.
BOOK SEVENTH
“And, waking, I beheld her there
Sea-dreaming in the moted air,
A siren lithe and debonair,
With wristlets woven of scarlet weeds,
And oblong lucent amber beads
Of sea-kelp shining in her hair.”
THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH.