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Vitellius threw upon it an indifferent glance. Mannaeus descended from the pavilion, took the charger from the woman, and exhibited the head to the Roman captains, then to all the guests on that side of the hall. They looked at it curiously. The sharp blade of the sword had cut into the jaw with a swift downward stroke. The corners of the mouth were drawn, as if by a convulsion.
Again Mannaeus left the hall, covering his face with his hands. The guests found the second delay longer than the first. It seemed tedious to every one. Presently a sound of footsteps was heard in the corridor without; then silence fell again. The suspense was becoming intolerable.
At that instant the trap-door was suddenly shut down and secured by Mannaeus, who would have liked to strangle Iaokanann then and there. Herodias glided away and disappeared within the palace. The Pharisees were scandalised at what they had heard. Antipas, standing among them, attempted to justify his past conduct and to excuse his present situation.
Then Mannaeus, having entirely regained his courage, placed the charger before Aulus, who had just awakened from a short doze; and finally he brought it again to Antipas and set it down upon the table beside him. Tears were running down the cheeks of the tetrarch. The lights began to flicker and die out.
Their temple on the Mount of Gerizim, which Moses had designed to be the centre of Israel, had been destroyed since the reign of King Hyrcanus; and the temple at Jerusalem made the Samaritans furious; they regarded its presence as an outrage against themselves, and a permanent injustice. Mannaeus, indeed, had forcibly entered it, for the purpose of defiling its altar with the bones of corpses.
This execution would be a relief, he thought. In a few moments all would be over! But for once Mannaeus did not perform a commission satisfactorily. He left the hall but soon returned, in a state of great perturbation. During forty years he had exercised the functions of the public executioner.
His eyes were heavy with sleep, but his white teeth shone, his step was light on the flagstones, and his body had the suppleness of an ape, although his countenance was as impassive as that of a mummy. "Where is he?" demanded the tetrarch of this strange being. Mannaeus made a movement over his shoulder with his thumb, saying: "Over there still there!" "I thought I heard him cry out."
Keep the gates shut and the entrance to the dungeon closed fast. It must not even be suspected that he still lives!" Mannaeus had already attended to all these details, because Iaokanann was a Jew, and, like all the Samaritans, Mannaeus hated the Jews.
Behind them came Marcellus, the proconsul's lieutenant, followed by the publicans, carrying their tablets of wood under their arms. Antipas named to Vitellius the principle personages surrounding them: Tolmai, Kanthera, Schon, Ammonius of Alexandria, who brought asphalt for Antipas; Naaman, captain of his troops of skirmishers, and Jacim, the Babylonian. Vitellius had noticed Mannaeus.
Drawn by an irresistible though terrible fascination, she made her way through the throng, and, reaching Mannaeus, she leant one hand on his shoulder and bent over to listen. The hollow voice rose again from the depths of the earth. "Woe to thee, Sadducees and Pharisees! Thy voices are like the tinkling of cymbals! O race of vipers, bursting with pride!" The voice of Iaokanann was recognised.
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