The greater part of these schemes Javan kept profoundly secret; and after he had lauded the courage and the zeal of Simon, and expatiated on his patriotism and his fitness to take the command of the Jewish forces, as successor to the captive Josephus, he turned the conversation to his own personal adventures and dangers, since he had escaped from the Roman camp. His sufferings and privations had frequently been very severe, as he was compelled to lurk among rocks and uninhabited wildernesses for several days together, for fear of falling into the hands of his enemies. In the village of Bethezob, in Peræa, he had found a refuge for some time, at the dwelling of Mary, the daughter of Eleazar, who was a near relation of his mother's, and with whom he had become acquainted during her temporary residence in Jerusalem some years before. She was a woman of great wealth, and lived on the estates which she had inherited from her father, in a style of magnificence and luxury. Her attendants and domestics formed a numerous retinue; and her influence in the neighbourhood was so great, that when Placidus, shortly after Javan's visit to his relative, ravaged the district of Peræa, he deemed it prudent to leave the noble lady unmolested, in the hope that his moderation might induce her to favour the Roman party. Javan informed his parents that he had endeavoured to persuade Mary to remove, with her only child and all her movable wealth, to the metropolis for security, before the Roman army should enter Peræa; but she had refused to do so at that time, as she felt convinced that with the comparatively small body of troops which Placidus had under his command, he would not attempt the subjugation of the province. Her conjectures had proved false, and the Roman general had not long afterwards carried his conquering arms through the whole region. Mary had however remained in safety on her own territory; and when, some time subsequent to his first visit, Javan had again found it necessary to retreat to Peræa, to avoid the wild bands who, under their leader Simon, were ravaging Idumea, he found her meadows and orchards as fertile and uninjured as when he saw them before the descent of Placidus. The lady of Bethezob had, however, been so much alarmed at the destruction which the Romans had effected in the surrounding country, that she told Javan she had resolved to abandon her estates and retire with her family into Jerusalem, to await in the security of its walls and battlements, the termination of the war. Better had it been for the wealthy daughter of Eleazar to have remained near her native village, subject to all the chances and the dangers of an invading army, than to join the inhabitants of Zion, and share in all the sorrows and sufferings and revolting crimes to which the long-protracted siege at length drove this most desperate and enduring people! [Illustration: Convent at Santa Saba] CHAPTER XI.