And in the
vision the scene changed. The chamber with its flickering lamp and its
black table and all the men who were in it grew dim and faded away, and
in its place there was a dim inner court between high houses, upon which
only the windows of the house of Lazarus opened. There, upon the ground,
stood a lantern of horn, and the soft yellow light of it fell upon two
pieces of wood, nailed one upon the other to form a small cross--small,
indeed, but yet tall enough and broad enough and strong enough to bear
the slight burden of the boy's frail body. And beside it stood Lazarus
and Levi, the Short-handed, the strong rabbi, holding Simon Abeles
between them. On the ground lay pieces of cord, ready, wherewith to bind
him to the cross, for they held it unlawful to shed his blood.
It was soon done. The two men took up the cross and set it, with the
body hanging thereon, against the wall of the narrow court, over against
the house of Lazarus.
"Thou mayest still repent--during this night," said the father, holding
up the horn lantern and looking into his son's tortured face.
"Ay--there is yet time," said Levi, brutally. "He will not die so soon."
"Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit," said the weak voice once
more.
Then Lazarus raised his hand and struck him once more on the mouth, as
he had done on that first night when he had seized him near the church.
But Levi, the Short-handed, as though in wrath at seeing all his
torments fail, dealt him one heavy blow just where the ear joins the
neck, and it was over at last.
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