In the Xystus that faced the half-burned palace of Agrippa she came upon a group of men, all bearing the signet-mark of famine--the skeleton limbs, the dark complexion, the sunken eyes of unnatural luster with the scared look in them. Leaning upon staves they were listening to one of those self-deluded fanatics, so numerous at that time in Jerusalem--fanatics whose dream no reverses could destroy, the dream namely of a coming universal empire for the Jews; the darker and the more hopeless the situation seemed, the more fervent and enthusiastic became the faith of these false prophets, who did not relinquish their hopes till they saw the temple sink into everlasting night, and the plow drawn over the soil where once the palace of Zion had stood. Vashti paused for a moment to listen to his wild harangue. “Think you that Jehovah will let the place in which He has chosen to put His name fall into the hands of the uncircumcized heathen? Men, brethren, there is no contradiction in the Divine nature, and therefore He who decreed that the temple should be built can never decree that it shall be destroyed. Take heart and rejoice! The time foretold by the prophets is at hand: the heavens shall open, and the Messiah shall descend therefrom--yea! it is but a matter of a few hours now--to avenge His people. His feet shall stand upon Olivet, and with the breath of His mouth will He slay the host of Titus even as He slew the host of Sennacherib.” And so speciously did he argue by texts drawn from the prophetical scriptures that his famishing auditors, with scarcely strength to stand, became as hopeful as the orator himself; they forgot their present sufferings; their faces brightened, and they turned their glance upward to the comet gleaming red in the sky, half-expecting to see it launch forth fiery death at the girdling hostile line that, “hushed in grim repose,” was patiently waiting the slow but certain doom of the city. With a sigh Vashti passed on, and coming to a street corner beheld the emaciated figure of a man kneeling, in his hand a drawn bow with an arrow fitted thereto. Never had she seen eyes so fiercely wild, or an expression so painfully eager and expectant. Following the direction of his glance she saw that he was aiming at a pigeon which had just alighted upon the ground only a few yards distant. “Food, food! Life, life!” was the thought that frenzied his brain. But Vashti could see what he could not, namely, that much nearer to the bird, and crouching down within a gateway was the skeleton figure of a woman, whose manner showed that she was waiting to snatch the prize from the archer. And so it proved. As the shaft flew true to the mark the woman tottered feebly from her hiding-place; her eyes sparkled with wild glee; she gave a demoniacal chuckle as she pounced upon the slain pigeon, and ghoul-like tore greedily at the raw flesh with her teeth.