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AT THE THREE FOUNTAINS 555
full of silver and gold, yet cannot I go beyond the word of the
Lord ;
and the Lord has not bidden me to speak to thee. And
what were wealth, and what were all the Empire to me ?
Thinkest thou, Emperor, that I fear death ? To us Christians
to die is to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better ;
and Christ hath conquered death.'
'
Wilt thou not even tell me whether I shall be killed ? I
adjure thee by thy Christ, or thy lao, or whatever thou boldest
'
most sacred, tell me !
The Emperor was trembling and weeping.
Another might have scorned his uumanliness, or rejoiced
with malignant triumph over the disgrace of the enemy of all
the good. But Paul knew too much of human weakness to
indulge in scorn. He felt for him a sincere, a trembling, a
yearning pity. He uplifted his eyes to heaven, paused for
a moment, during which the Emperor's eager and almost
imploring gaze was fixed upon his face, and then solemnly
replied
'Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die and not
live.'
'
Tell me more,' said Nero passionately.
'
I may not tell thee more. Only,' he continued, raising his
chained hand, ' I say to thee, repent
!
Eepent of thy life of
crime and infamy
!
Repent of thy many murders the murder
of thy brother, the murder of '
thy mother, of
'
'
Accursed Jew, darest thou revile me ? said Nero, leaping
up from his gilded chair, his face burning with fury.
The Apostle remained unmoved. Onesimus told afterwards
that he had not felt the tremor of a single muscle
as the storm of the Emperor's rage burst over him. Nero
stood amazed his wrath stilled before so majestic an
indifference.
'
Tell me more,' he said again, in a voice of entreaty.
'
'
Think, rather,' said the Apostle, that thy hour of
judgment is nigh at hand yea, it standeth at the door.
The blood of the innocent, slain by thee, cries against thee
from the ground. I pity thee Paul the prisoner, Paul the
aged, pities thee, and he will pray for thee if haply the
thoughts of thy heart, and the shames of thy wickedness, may
be forgiven.'
'
Dismiss this man,' whispered Phaon to the Emperor, im-