trumpeted:--'O ye counselors, the queen doth summon
you unto the royal hall, that ye may show
forth rightly the judgments of your synod. Ye
have need of prudence in the council, of wisdom in
mind.' And they, the leaders of the people, grieved 555
in soul, were ready as they were summoned by the
bitter edict, and went unto the palace to show forth
the power of craft.

Then the queen spake unto the Hebrews and asked
them, their hearts sorely burdened, how once the 560
prophets, holy men, sang in the world concerning
the Son of God; and where the Lord suffered, true
Son of the Creator, for the love of souls. But they
were obdurate and mute as stones, nor would they 565
show forth the true secret, nor in the hardness of
their hearts would they give any answer to what
she sought of them, but, set in purpose, they withstood
each word that she asked, and said that never 570
in their lives had they heard, before nor since, one
whit of any such thing.

Then Elene spake and answered them in anger:--'I
shall say unto you truly, and never in your life
will this be false, that if ye who stand before me 575
persist long in this falsehood with lying craft, ye
shall be burned upon the hill in the hottest fury of
fire, and leaping flames shall consume your flesh, so
that for you this lie shall be changed into utter destruction. 580
Nor can ye prove those words which now