Peter raised both hands and shouted: 

“Get out of here, Traitor!  Get out, or I will kill you.”

But the others looked more carefully at the face and eyes of the Traitor, and said nothing, merely whispering in terror: 

“Leave him alone, leave him alone!  He is possessed with a devil.”

Judas waited until they had quite done, and then cried out in a loud voice: 

“Hail, ye eyes of Judas Iscariot!  Ye have just seen the cold-blooded murderers.  Lo!  Where is Jesus?  I ask you, where is Jesus?”

There was something compelling in the hoarse voice of Judas, and Thomas replied obediently—­

“You know yourself, Judas, that our Master was crucified yesterday.”

“But how came you to permit it?  Where was your love?  Thou, Beloved Disciple, and thou, Rock, where were you all when they were crucifying your Friend on the tree?”

“What could we do, judge thou?” said Thomas, with a gesture of protest.

“Thou asketh that, Thomas?  Very well!” and Judas threw his head back, and fell upon him angrily.  “He who loves does not ask what can be done—­he goes and does it—­he weeps, he bites, he throttles the enemy, and breaks his bones!  He, that is, who loves!  If your son were drowning would you go into the city and inquire of the passers by:  ‘What must I do?  My son is drowning!’ No, you would rather throw yourself into the water and drown with him.  One who loved would!”

Peter replied grimly to the violent speech of Judas: 

“I drew a sword, but He Himself forbade.”

“Forbade?  And you obeyed!” jeered Judas.  “Peter, Peter, how could you listen to Him?  Does He know anything of men, and of fighting?”

“He who does not submit to Him goes to hell fire.”

“Then why did you not go, Peter?  Hell fire!  What’s that?  Now, supposing you had gone—­what good’s your soul to you, if you dare not throw it into the fire, if you want to?”

“Silence!” cried John, rising.  “He Himself willed this sacrifice.  His sacrifice is beautiful!”

“Is a sacrifice ever beautiful, Beloved Disciple?  Wherever there is a sacrifice, then there is an executioner, and there traitors!  Sacrifice—­that is suffering for one and disgrace for all the others!  Traitors, traitors, what have ye done with the world?  Now they look at it from above and below, and laugh and cry:  ’Look at that world, upon it they crucified Jesus!’ And they spit on it—­as I do!”

Judas angrily spat on the ground.

“He took upon Him the sin of all mankind.  His sacrifice is beautiful,” John insisted.

“No! you have taken all sin upon yourselves.  You, Beloved Disciple, will not a race of traitors take their beginning from you, a pusillanimous and lying breed?  O blind men, what have ye done with the earth?  You have done your best to destroy it, ye will soon be kissing the cross on which ye crucified Jesus!  Yes, yes, Judas gives ye his word that ye will kiss the cross!”