This appeared a wanton indignity; but Javan urged that it was necessary, in order to prevent the friends of the criminals obtaining possession of their carcasses and performing their idolatrous rites at their burial. A shudder of disgust and dread might have been perceived to run through the line of prisoners as they heard their hasty doom announced, and thought of the loathsome place to which their bodies would so soon be consigned; but they spoke not to plead for a reversal of this cruel decree. They knew that their fate was decided, and they did not wish their crown of martyrdom to be delayed, or to be kept longer from the place of their rest. Theophilus turned his calm and steadfast eye on Javan when he heard him propose that one of his own kinsmen should be treated with an indignity which would not have been offered to the meanest Jewish beggar; and he met the gaze of his cousin fixed on him with an expression of concern and interest that only surprised him the more. Javan had attained the object for which he had been labouring and intriguing so long; and now that Theophilus was in his power, he almost regretted that his principles compelled him to complete his revenge. He hastily desired that the prisoners might be removed, and all placed in separate cells. No sooner was this order obeyed, than the fierceness of his countenance returned; and rising from his seat he began to denounce Isaac as a traitor to his religion and his party, and proceeded to state all the particulars which he had heard from Reuben of his double-dealing and his conspiracy with Amaziah for the rescue of an accursed apostate. Javan spoke with violence, as if to work up his own feelings of anger against Theophilus and all who wished to save his life; and he succeeded in exciting those of his colleagues. Isaac would have denied the charge brought against him; but Javan compelled his informer unwillingly to appear and swear to the truth of his statement, when he detailed so minutely the conversation which he had overheard between Amaziah and the President, and also the orders which he had himself received from Isaac to procure the services of some men on whom he could depend, and conduct them to Amaziah on the appointed morning, that no doubt remained of his guilt. He saw that his reputation and influence were gone, and after a sharp altercation with Javan, he left his seat and hurried from the hall. A short time he was shut up in a private room in his own house, while his servants guarded the door, and then he delivered a letter to his most confidential attendant, and gave orders for the removal of all his valuable goods to a place of security which he pointed out. This done, he armed himself completely, and, followed by such of his domestics as had consented to accompany him, he left the house, and pursued the most obscure and unfrequented paths that led to the temple. In this holy edifice the