THE GOLD

His first step off the pedestal lands his foot on a rotund piece of a rubble that almost rolls him down to his knees. It had seemed to him as though the lost souls had joined in the service, throwing every fiery dart in protest against the purging of the city of their blood that cried vengeance. 'Woe unto you,' he cried, 'ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but Whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind:for whether is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifieth the gold'.