one am
Benoni stroked his white beard before he answered . `` You talk proudly , '' he said . `` Did I shut my eyes I might fancy that this voice was the voice of a Roman procurator speaking the decrees of Cæsar . Still , I am ready to believe that what you promise you can perform , since I for one am sure that you Essenes are not mere harmless heretics who worship angels and demons , see visions , prophesy things to come by the help of your familiars , and adore the sun in huts upon the desert . '' He paused , but the President , without taking the slightest notice of his insults or sarcasms , repeated merely : `` We have spoken , '' and as with one voice , like some great echo , the whole hundred of them cried , `` We have spoken ! '' `` Do you hear them , master ? '' said Nehushta in the silence that followed .