Suddenly, from the earth where she had been lying, a woman arose and started swiftly back to the gate. Some of the guards reached out to seize her, and a great shout followed their failure. She ran to Judah, and, dropping down, clasped his knees, the coarse black hair powdered with dust veiling her eyes.
“O Amrah, good Amrah,” he said to her, “God help you; I cannot.”
She could not speak.
He bent down, and whispered, “Live, Amrah, for Tirzah and my mother. They will come back, and—”
A soldier drew her away; whereupon she sprang up and rushed through the gateway and passage into the vacant court-yard.
“Let her go,” the officer shouted. “We will seal the house, and she will starve.”
The men resumed their work, and, when it was finished there, passed round to the west side. That gate was also secured, after which the palace of the Hurs was lost to use.
The cohort at length marched back to the Tower, where the procurator stayed to recover from his hurts and dispose of his prisoners. On the tenth day following, he visited the Market-place.
CHAPTER VII
Next day a detachment of legionaries went to the desolated palace, and, closing the gates permanently, plastered the corners with wax, and at the sides nailed a notice in Latin: