expected to reap the bitter fruits of his treason even before it was
accomplished, but he had gone so far with these men that he was in
their power, and escape was no longer possible. They watched him
carefully, and would not let him leave their presence, until he had
shown them exactly what steps were to be taken in order to secure the
person of Jesus. Three Pharisees accompanied him when he went down into
a room where the soldiers of the Temple (some only of whom were Jews,
and the rest of various nations) were assembled. When everything was
settled, and the necessary number of soldiers gathered together, Judas
hastened first to the supper-room, accompanied by a servant of the
Pharisees, for the purpose of ascertaining whether Jesus had left, as
they would have seized his person there without difficulty, if once
they had secured the doors. He agreed to send them a messenger with the
required information.

A short time before when Judas had received the price of this
treason, a Pharisee had gone out, and sent seven slaves to fetch wood
with which to prepare the Cross for our Saviour, in case he should be
judged, because the next day there would not be sufficient time on
account of the commencement of the Paschal festivity. They procured
this wood from a spot about three-quarters of a mile distant, near a
high wall, where there was a great quantity of other wood belonging to
the Temple, and dragged it to a square situated behind the tribunal of
Caiphas. The principal piece of the Cross came from a tree formerly
growing in the Valley of Josaphat, near the torrent of Cedron, and
which, having fallen across the stream, had been used as a sort of
bridge. When Nehemias hid the sacred fire and the holy vessels in the
pool of Bethsaida, it had been thrown over the spot, together with
other pieces of wood,--then later taken away, and left on one side. The
Cross was prepared in a very peculiar manner, either with the object of