the defiler of the Temple! God send us soon the Deliverer, the Promised
One, the true King of Israel!" Ammiel made no sign, but went on with
his story.

"Herod used me well,-for his own purpose. He welcomed me to his palace
and his table, and gave me a place among his favorites. He was so much
my friend that he borrowed my money. There were many of the nobles of
Jerusalem with him, Sadducees, and proselytes from Rome and Asia, and
women from everywhere. The law of Israel was observed in the open
court, when the people were watching. But in the secret feasts there
was no law but the will of Herod, and many deities were served but no
god was worshipped. There the captains and the princes of Rome
consorted with the high-priest and his sons by night; and there was
much coming and going by hidden ways. Everybody was a borrower or a
lender, a buyer or a seller of favors. It was a house of diligent
madness. There was nothing in it.

"In the midst of this whirling life a great need of love came upon me
and I wished to hold some one in my inmost heart.

"At a certain place in the city, within closed doors, I saw a young
slave-girl dancing. She was about fifteen years old, thin and supple;
she danced like a reed in the wind; but her eyes were weary as death,
and her white body was marked with bruises. She stumbled, and the men
laughed at her. She fell, and her mistress beat her, crying out that
she would fain be rid of such a heavy-footed slave. I paid the price
and took her to my dwelling.

"Her name was Tamar. She was a daughter of Lebanon. I robed her in silk
and broidered linen. I nourished her with tender care so that beauty