“Bring water.”

“Water?  What water?  What for?”

Ah, lo! he washes his hands.  Why does he wash his clean white hands all adorned with rings?  He lifts them and cries angrily to the people, whom surprise holds in silence: 

“I am innocent of the blood of this Just Person.  See ye to it.”

While the water is still dripping from his fingers on to the marble pavement, something soft prostrates itself at his feet, and sharp, burning lips kiss his hand, which he is powerless to withdraw, glue themselves to it like tentacles, almost bite and draw blood.  He looks down in disgust and fear, and sees a great squirming body, a strangely twofold face, and two immense eyes so queerly diverse from one another that, as it were, not one being but a number of them clung to his hands and feet.  He heard a broken, burning whisper: 

“O wise and noble... wise and noble.”

And with such a truly satanic joy did that wild face blaze, that, with a cry, Pilate kicked him away, and Judas fell backwards.  And there he lay upon the stone flags like an overthrown demon, still stretching out his hand to the departing Pilate, and crying as one passionately enamoured: 

“O wise, O wise and noble....”

Then he gathered himself up with agility, and ran away followed by the laughter of the soldiery.  Evidently there was yet hope.  When they come to see the cross, and the nails, then they will understand, and then....  What then?  He catches sight of the panic-stricken Thomas in passing, and for some reason or other reassuringly nods to him; he overtakes Jesus being led to execution.  The walking is difficult, small stones roll under the feet, and suddenly Judas feels that he is tired.  He gives himself up wholly to the trouble of deciding where best to plant his feet, he looks dully around, and sees Mary Magdalene weeping, and a number of women weeping—­hair dishevelled, eyes red, lips distorted—­all the excessive grief of a tender woman’s soul when submitted to outrage.  Suddenly he revives, and seizing the moment, runs up to Jesus: 

“I go with Thee,” he hurriedly whispers.

The soldiers drive him away with blows of their whips, and squirming so as to avoid the blows, and showing his teeth at the soldiers, he explains hurriedly: 

“I go with Thee.  Thither.  Thou understandest whither.”

He wipes the blood from his face, shakes his fist at one of the soldiers, who turns round and smiles, and points him out to the others.  Then he looks for Thomas, but neither he nor any of the disciples are in the crowd that accompanies Jesus.  Again he is conscious of fatigue, and drags one foot with difficulty after the other, as he attentively looks out for the sharp, white, scattered pebbles.

When the hammer was uplifted to nail Jesus’ left hand to the tree, Judas closed his eyes, and for a whole age neither breathed, nor saw, nor lived, but only listened.