1Three Roman soldiers are in a drinking-place at eleven o’clock at night. There are barrels around the wall. Behind the wooden counter is a Hebrew wine-seller. The three Roman soldiers are a little cock-eyed.

21st Roman Soldier—You tried the red?

32d Soldier—No, I ain’t tried it.

41st Soldier—You better try it.

52d Soldier—All right, George, we’ll have a round of the red.

6Hebrew Wine-seller—Here you are, gentlemen. You’ll like that. [He sets down an earthenware pitcher that he has filled from one of the casks.] That’s a nice little wine.

71st Soldier—Have a drink of it yourself. [He turns to the third Roman soldier who is leaning on a barrel.] What’s the matter with you?

83d Roman Soldier—I got a gut-ache.

92d Soldier—You’ve been drinking water.

101st Soldier—Try some of the red.

113d Soldier—I can’t drink the damn stuff. It makes my gut sour.

121st Soldier—You been out here too long.

133d Soldier—Hell, don’t I know it?

141st Soldier—Say, George, can’t you give this gentleman something to fix up his stomach?

15Hebrew Wine-seller—I got it right here.

16[The third Roman soldier tastes the cup that the wine-seller has mixed for him.]

173d Soldier—Hey, what you put in that, camel chips?

18Wine-seller—You drink that right down, Lootenant. That’ll fix you up right.

193d Soldier—Well, I couldn’t feel any worse.

201st Soldier—Take a chance on it. George fixed me up fine the other day.

21Wine-seller—You were in bad shape, Lootenant. I know what fixes up a bad stomach.

22[The third Roman soldier drinks the cup down.]

233d Roman Soldier—Jesus Christ. [He makes a face.]

242d Soldier—That false alarm!

251st Soldier—Oh, I don’t know. He was pretty good in there to-day.

262d Soldier—Why didn’t he come down off the cross?

271st Soldier—He didn’t want to come down off the cross. That’s not his play.

282d Soldier—Show me a guy that doesn’t want to come down off the cross.

291st Soldier—Aw, hell, you don’t know anything about it. Ask George there. Did he want to come down off the cross, George?

30Wine-seller—I’ll tell you, gentlemen, I wasn’t out there. It’s a thing I haven’t taken any interest in.

312d Soldier—Listen, I seen a lot of them—here and plenty of other places. Any time you show me one that doesn’t want to get down off the cross when the time comes—when the time comes, I mean—I’ll climb right up with him.

321st Soldier—I thought he was pretty good in there to-day.

333d Soldier—He was all right.

342d Roman Soldier—You guys don’t know what I’m talking about. I’m not saying whether he was good or not. What I mean is, when the time comes. When they first start nailing him, there isn’t none of them wouldn’t stop it if they could.

351st Soldier—Didn’t you follow it, George?

36Wine-seller—No, I didn’t take any interest in it, Lootenant.

371st Soldier—I was surprised how he acted.

383d Soldier—The part I don’t like is the nailing them on. You know, that must get to you pretty bad.

392d Soldier—It isn’t that that’s so bad, as when they first lift ’em up. [He makes a lifting gesture with his two palms together.] When the weight starts to pull on ’em. That’s when it gets ’em.

403d Roman Soldier—It takes some of them pretty bad.

411st Soldier—Ain’t I seen ’em? I seen plenty of them. I tell you, he was pretty good in there to-day.

42[The second Roman soldier smiles at the Hebrew wine-seller.]

432d Soldier—You’re a regular Christer, big boy.

441st Soldier—Sure, go on and kid him. But listen while I tell you something. He was pretty good in there to-day.

452d Soldier—What about some more wine?

46[The wine-seller looks up expectantly. The third Roman soldier is sitting with his head down. He does not look well.]

473d Soldier—I don’t want any more.

482d Soldier—Just for two, George.

49[The wine-seller puts out a pitcher of wine, a size smaller than the last one. He leans forward on the wooden counter.]

501st Roman Soldier—You see his girl?

512d Soldier—Wasn’t I standing right by her?

521st Soldier—She’s a nice-looker.

532d Soldier—I knew her before he did. [He winks at the wine-seller.]

541st Soldier—I used to see her around the town.

552d Soldier—She used to have a lot of stuff. He never brought her no good luck.

561st Soldier—Oh, he ain’t lucky. But he looked pretty good to me in there to-day.

572d Soldier—What become of his gang?

581st Soldier—Oh, they faded out. Just the women stuck by him.

592d Roman Soldier—They were a pretty yellow crowd. When they seen him go up there they didn’t want any of it.

601st Soldier—The women stuck all right.

612d Soldier—Sure, they stuck all right.

621st Roman Soldier—You see me slip the old spear into him?

632d Roman Soldier—You’ll get into trouble doing that some day.

641st Soldier—It was the least I could do for him. I’ll tell you he looked pretty good to me in there to-day.

65Hebrew Wine-seller—Gentlemen, you know I got to close.

661st Roman Soldier—We’ll have one more round.

672d Roman Soldier—What’s the use? This stuff don’t get you anywhere. Come on, let’s go.

681st Soldier—Just another round.

693d Roman Soldier—[Getting up from the barrel.] No, come on. Let’s go. I feel like hell to-night.

701st Soldier—Just one more.

712d Soldier—No, come on. We’re going to go. Good-night, George. Put it on the bill.

72Wine-seller—Good-night, gentlemen. [He looks a little worried.] You couldn’t let me have a little something on account, Lootenant?

732d Roman Soldier—What the hell, George! Wednesday’s pay-day.

74Wine-seller—It’s all right, Lootenant. Good-night, gentlemen.

75[The three Roman soldiers go out the door into the street.]

76[Outside in the street.]

772d Roman Soldier—George is a kike just like all the rest of them.

781st Roman Soldier—Oh, George is a nice fella.

792d Soldier—Everybody’s a nice fella to you to-night.

803d Roman Soldier—Come on, let’s go up to the barracks. I feel like hell to-night.

812d Soldier—You been out here too long.

823d Roman Soldier—No, it ain’t just that. I feel like hell.

832d Soldier—You been out here too long. That’s all.