Evening star., 1926-12-05

Lies. Lies"' Antonius pounded
his fist upon his knee. This whole
trouble is made of lies. Those villagers
did not seek Herods life. I know it,
because I know the whole tale"
He stopped and looked toward the
path that he had guarded. THE VIII
layers are still in peril" he said.
Certainly" the officer returned.
comfortably. Doubtless Herod's 8
guards will kill or capture them before
long"
But" Antonius began. But
His brow was clouded. A Roma n
centurion would care little what hap
pened to a group of Galileeans, unless
Rome was involved.
He began again. "The Arabian
chief, and perhaps his tribesmen,
could: give testimony of a plan to
bring an army against Caesars do.
minions here" he said. And 1t may
be that some of the men Of Jezreel
could lead us to Omar, who caused
all the turmoil He looked hopefully
at his superior
Who is Omar?" demanded the GEN.
turion.
II do not know" returned Anto-
MUS. except that he calls himself a
Persian, and offered me great riches
and a girl to be my slave, If I went
into Arabia with him. He contrived
the difficulties into which these poor
villagers have fallen"
He must be the man whom your
Laila mentioned said the officer.
''She called him a spirit of evil"
Antonius nodded. He is pleasant
man." he said, but he has brought
much trouble. A strange being-clad
always in golden breastplate, with
a large emerald above his forehead,
and
"A golden breastplate! An emer-
ald"' cried the officer. why, it was
such a man who coaxed my amulet
my ivory charm-away from me and
gave me instead token that brought
me nothing but i'll fortune
Antonius' face was eager. "He told
me he had seen you" he said, land
he showed me your amulet and gave
me a message from you. It was the
day I first had speech with him"
II sent no message" the centurion
exclaimed. I'VE were marching back
to Jezreel a few days after you were
hurt. and we met this man and his
party. and he entertained us at an
inn, and l became drunk"
''But he told me you were returning
TO Rome"' cried Antonius.
L
to Rome"' the centurion responded
'He offered me a charm that he said
had great power in exchange for my
little ivory medal, and being confused
with wine l agreed. Next day I was
stricken Of fever. When I was able
TO march again the rains had closed
the road. Finally, the way became
passable, and 1 had just reached
Tiberias with my men when the Ara
bian woman found me-" He swore a
round oath. IF l could catch that
man"-he snatched his dagger from
his belt and whipped it through the
air. 1T was only as we were reaching
Tiberias that l bethought me to throw
away his wicked charm"
Antonius' expression was joyful
"Then we must save the men of
Jezreel and one of the women from
the cave-they all have seen this
Omar and can help you find him."
The centurion sprang to his feet
and shouted Two Of his underoff1cers
came running.
Take word to the commander of
Herods guards" he ordered, ito bring
his men away from the Jezreelites
The villagers shall be prisoners of
Caesars army"
Antonius pointed. "a file of SOL
diers. following that path, can reach
the cave where the Jews are fighting
In less than half an hour" he said.
The officer barked another order,
and dozen Romans started at once
along the route that Antonius had de-
Tended
They are brave men hack there at
the cave" the soldier volunteered "It
may be that they will resist even our
comrades unless they receive token.
They all have seen and admired nv
dagger with the ruby hilt"
The centurion picked up the weapon
where ii lay on the ground with An
tonius' other arms and sent it after
the marching column to be shown to
the defenders of the cave.