Now the newly-purchased kitchen-slave—­the Jew to whom the keeping of the Dionysian feast was an abomination—­rushed into the room shrieking out, as he plucked at his hair and beard: 

“The Philistines are upon us! save us Rabbi, great Rabbi!  Cry for us to the Lord, oh! man of God!  They are coming with staves and spears and they will tread us down as grass and burn us in this house like the locusts cast into the oven.”

In deadly terror he threw himself at Gamaliel’s feet and clasped them in his hands, but Apollodorus exclaimed:  “Follow me, follow me up on to the roof.”

“No, no,” howled the slave, “Amalek is making ready the firebrand to fling among our tents.  The heathen leap and rage, the flames they are flinging will consume us.  Rabbi, Rabbi, call upon the Hosts of the Lord!  God of the just!  The gate has given way.  Lord!  Lord!  Lord!”

The terrified wretch’s teeth chattered and he covered his eyes with his hands, groaning and howling.

Ben Jochai had remained perfectly calm, but he was quivering with rage.  His prayer was ended, and turning to Gamaliel he said in deep tones: 

“I knew that this would happen, I warned you.  Our evil star rose when we set forth on our wanderings.

“Now we must abide patiently what the Lord hath determined.  He will be our Avenger.”

“Vengeance is His!” echoed the old man, and he covered his head with his white mantle.

“In the sleeping-room—­follow me! we can hide under the beds!” shrieked Apollodorus; he kicked away the slave who was embracing the Rabbi’s feet, and seized the old man by the shoulder to drag him away with him.  But it was too late, for the door of the antechamber had burst open and they could hear the clatter of weapons.  “Lost, lost, all is lost!” cried Apollodorus.

“Adonai! help us Adonai!” murmured the old man and he clung more closely to his nephew, who overtopped him by a head and who held him clasped in his right arm as if to protect him.

The danger which threatened Apollodorus and his guests was indeed imminent, and it had been provoked solely by the indignation of the excited mob at seeing the wealthy Israelite’s house unadorned for the feast.

A thousand times had it occurred that a single word had proved sufficient to inflame the hot blood of the Alexandrians to prompt them to break the laws and seize the sword.  Bloody frays between the heathen inhabitants and the Jews, who were equally numerous in the city, were quite the order of the day, and one party was as often to blame as the other for disturbing the peace and having recourse to the sword.  Since the Israelites had risen in several provinces—­particularly in Cyrenaica and Cyprus—­and had fallen with cruel fury on their fellow-inhabitants who were their oppressors, the suspicion and aversion of the Alexandrians of other beliefs had grown more intense than in former times.  Besides this, the prosperous circumstances of many Jews, and the enormous riches of a few, had filled the less wealthy heathen with envy and roused the wish to snatch the possessions of those who, it cannot be denied, had not unfrequently treated their gods with open contumely.