Volume 2

168
Life of Jesus Christ
for it was already known there that John had been arrested,
and the people were gathering together in groups.
The soldiers who had charge of John seemed to be a kind
of bodyguard to Herod. They wore helmets, their breasts
and shoulders protected by armor formed of metal plates
and rings, and they bore long lances in their hands.
The people of Hesebon gathered in crowds before
John's prison, and the guards had enough to do to drive
them off. The upper part of the tower had several exterior
openings. John stood in his prison crying in a voice loud
enough to be heard without. His words were to this effect,
that he had prepared the ways, had broken rocks, had
directed streams, had dug fountains, had built bridges; he
had had to cope with obstacles the most adverse and contradictory,
and it was owing to the obstinacy of those
whom he now addressed that he had been arrested. But
they should turn to Him whom he had announced, to Him
who would soon come by the paths he himself had made
straight. When the Master approached, then should they
who had prepared His way withdraw, and all should turn
to Jesus, the latchets of whose shoes he himself was not
worthy to loose. HJesus," he continued, "is the Light, the
Truth, and the Son of the Father," etc. He called upon his
disciples to visit him in his confinement, for no one would
yet venture to lay hands upon him, his hour was not yet
come. John uttered the above in a voice as loud and distinct
as if he were addressing the multitude from an orator's
stand. Again and again the guard dispersed the
crowd, but the throng soon reassembled, and John's instructions
recommenced.
He was afterward led by the soldiers from Hesebon to
the prison of Machaerus, the access to which was up a
high and steep mountain. He rode with several in a low,
narrow, covered chariot like a box, drawn by asses. Arrived
at Machaerus, the soldiers conducted hinl up the
steep mountain path to the fortress. But they did not enter