A great stir was there.

Busy workmen were digging deep holes on the top, others were preparing the stakes for the desert robbers.

Those wild creatures were already half naked, and the executioners were slinging cords round them to bind them to the wooden frame.

They were the lean, brown Barabbas and the pale, sunken-eyed Dismas.

The former gazed around him with his hawk's eyes, clenched his hands, and tried to burst his fetters.