their discussion Jesus ben Sapphia set fire to the palace and divided the spoil amongst his followers. This displeased Josephus, who hastened into the town of Tiberias, and gathering up what remained of the plunder, handed it over into the custody of King Agrippa's officers. Peculiarly repugnant to Josephus was John of Gischala; his untiring energy and intellectual superiority were enough to awaken the jealousy of the former, although Josephus, as the representative of the Synhedrion, assumed the higher position of the two. He took pains to place obstacles in the way of the patriot. Thus John was at first not permitted to carry off and sell the large quantity of corn stored by the Romans in Upper Galilee, the sale of which was to have enabled him to complete the fortification of his own city. Joaser and Judah finally extorted from Josephus the requisite authorization. It was on this occasion that John of Gischala was made painfully aware of the duplicity of the governor, which for the future he determined to baffle. Certain youths of a village called Dabaritta, near Mount Tabor, had waylaid and plundered the wife of one of the king's agents who was traveling through the land, and they brought the precious metals and rich garments which they had taken from her to Josephus, then at Tarichea. Out of too great a regard for the king, Josephus undertook to return this booty to him, at the same time falsely pretending that he had sent it to Jerusalem for the national treasury. The inhabitants of the neighboring villages, roused to angry displeasure at the news of Josephus' treachery, assembled at Tarichea in crowds. They were led by Jesus ben Sapphia, who came with the holy Book of the Law in his hand, charging the people, if not for their own sakes, at least for the honor of their sacred writings, to punish the traitor. Josephus' house was surrounded at daybreak by a furious throng, who would have burnt it down over his head had he not saved himself by one of his ingenious falsehoods. He rent his clothes, poured ashes upon his head, hung a sword round his neck, and appeared as a suppliant in the arena of Tarichea. As soon as he could gain a hearing he made the Taricheans believe that he was not keeping the spoil, either for the use of Agrippa or for the advantage of Jerusalem, but that it was to enable him to fortify the walls of their own city. The credulous Taricheans, who readily believed this explanation, now declared themselves in favor of Josephus, and turned their weapons upon the discontented strangers. The governor meanwhile, under cover of the tumult, crept back to his own house, where, however, he was soon roused by some hundreds of the infuriated crowd (not Taricheans), who were utterly intractable, and were bent upon the destruction of his dwelling-place. Nothing daunted, Josephus appeared upon the roof, and begged of the ringleaders to enter and give him some reason for their conduct.