The whole of
mad Jerusalem had ranged itself with her to protect it. And Laodice
was not yet found.
Chapter XX
AS THE FOAM UPON WATER
The madness on Jerusalem poured like an overwhelming flood into the
cavern under the ruin of the Herodian palaces. There was Hesper, with
most of his Gibborim gathered, preparing to proceed to the defense of
the First Wall in Akra against which the Roman would hurl himself in
the morning.
For days he had controlled his men only by the force of his fierce
will. Restlessness, little short of turbulence, had changed his six
hundred from earnest recruits to bright-eyed, contentious,
irresponsible enthusiasts whom only intimidation could manage. They
seemed to be balanced, prepared, ready at the least whisper in the
wind to scatter madly, each in his own direction, after a vagary,
albeit the end were destruction.
Throughout these latter days the Maccabee had become strained and
unnatural in his manner. There was a vehemence in all he did which
seemed to be a final resolution against despair. His decisions were
arbitrary; his methods extreme. Laodice, sensing something climacteric
in his atmosphere, kept aloof from him, and regarded him from the dusk
of her corner with wonder and a pity that she could not explain. The
Christian on the other hand seemed always in an unobtrusive way to be
at the Maccabee's elbow.
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