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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/39231-8.txt b/39231-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3a4318f --- /dev/null +++ b/39231-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7054 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Joel: A Boy of Galilee, by Annie Fellows Johnston + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Joel: A Boy of Galilee + +Author: Annie Fellows Johnston + +Illustrator: L. J. Bridgman + +Release Date: March 23, 2012 [EBook #39231] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover] + + + + +JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE. + + + + +Works of + +ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON + + +The Little Colonel Series + +(_Trade Mark, Reg. U. S. Pat. Of._) + +Each one vol., large 12mo, cloth, illustrated + + The Little Colonel Stories $1.50 + (Containing in one volume the three + stories, "The Little Colonel," "The + Giant Scissors," and "Two Little + Knights of Kentucky.") + The Little Colonel's House Party 1.50 + The Little Colonel's Holidays 1.50 + The Little Colonel's Hero 1.50 + The Little Colonel at Boarding-School 1.50 + The Little Colonel in Arizona 1.50 + The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation 1.50 + The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor 1.50 + The Little Colonel's Knight Comes Riding 1.50 + Mary Ware: The Little Colonel's Chum 1.50 + Mary Ware in Texas 1.50 + Mary Ware's Promised Land 1.50 + The above 12 vols., _boxed_, as a set 18.00 + + * * * * * + + The Little Colonel Good Times Book 1.50 + The Little Colonel Doll Book--First Series 1.50 + The Little Colonel Doll Book--Second Series 1.50 + + +Illustrated Holiday Editions + +Each one vol., small quarto, cloth, illustrated, and printed in color + + The Little Colonel $1.25 + The Giant Scissors 1.25 + Two Little Knights of Kentucky 1.25 + Big Brother 1.25 + + +Cosy Corner Series + +Each one vol., thin 12mo, cloth, illustrated + + The Little Colonel $.50 + The Giant Scissors .50 + Two Little Knights of Kentucky .50 + Big Brother .50 + Ole Mammy's Torment .50 + The Story of Dago .50 + Cicely .50 + Aunt 'Liza's Hero .50 + The Quilt that Jack Built .50 + Flip's "Islands of Providence" .50 + Mildred's Inheritance .50 + + +Other Books + + Joel: A Boy of Galilee $1.50 + In the Desert of Waiting Net .50 + The Three Weavers Net .50 + Keeping Tryst Net .50 + The Legend of the Bleeding Heart Net .50 + The Rescue of the Princess Winsome Net .50 + The Jester's Sword Net .50 + Asa Holmes 1.00 + Travelers Five Along Life's Highway 1.25 + + THE PAGE COMPANY + 53 Beacon Street Boston, Mass. + +[Illustration: "'THEN TAKE YOURSELF OUT OF MY SIGHT FOR EVER'" + + (_See page 96_)] + + + + +_NEW ILLUSTRATED EDITION_ + +JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE + +By + +ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON + + Author of "The Little Colonel Series," "Big Brother," + "Ole Mammy's Torment," "Asa Holmes," etc. + + With Pictures by L. J. BRIDGMAN + + [Illustration] + + BOSTON + THE PAGE COMPANY + PUBLISHERS + + + + + _Copyright, 1895_ + BY ROBERTS BROTHERS + + _Copyright, 1904_ + BY THE PAGE COMPANY + + _All rights reserved_ + + Eleventh Impression, October, 1910 + Twelfth Impression, March, 1915 + Thirteenth Impression, March, 1918 + + THE COLONIAL PRESS + C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. + + + + +PUBLISHER'S PREFACE + + +IN this volume, it has been the purpose of the author to present to +children, through "Joel," as accurate a picture of the times of the +Christ as has been given to older readers through "Ben Hur." With this +in view, the customs of the private and public life of the Jews, the +temple service with its sacerdotal rites, and the minute observances of +the numerous holidays have been studied so carefully that the +descriptions have passed the test of the most critical inspection. An +eminent rabbi pronounces them correct in every detail. + +While the story is that of an ordinary boy, living among shepherds and +fishermen, it touches at every point the gospel narrative, making Joel, +in a natural and interesting way, a witness to the miracles, the death, +and the resurrection of the Nazarene. + +It was with the deepest reverence that the task was undertaken, and the +fact that the little book is accomplishing its mission is evinced not +only by the approval accorded its first editions by so many, from Bible +students to bishops, but by the boys and girls here and in distant +lands. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + + "'THEN TAKE YOURSELF OUT OF MY SIGHT FOR + EVER'" (_See page 96_) _Frontispiece_ + + "HE LOOKED DOWN AT PHINEAS, AND SMILED + BLISSFULLY" 34 + + "'I PEEPED OUT 'TWEEN 'E WOSE-VINES'" 82 + + "NOT A WORD WAS SAID" 104 + + "'WE TALKED LATE'" 139 + + "'YOU BUT MOCK ME, BOY'" 184 + + "A DARK FIGURE WENT SKULKING OUT INTO THE + NIGHT" 203 + + "'THE STONE IS GONE!'" 233 + + + + +JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +IT was market day in Capernaum. Country people were coming in from the +little villages among the hills of Galilee, with fresh butter and eggs. +Fishermen held out great strings of shining perch and carp, just dipped +up from the lake beside the town. Vine-dressers piled their baskets with +tempting grapes, and boys lazily brushed the flies from the dishes of +wild honey, that they had gone into the country before day-break to +find. + +A ten-year-old girl pushed her way through the crowded market-place, +carrying her baby brother in her arms, and scolding another child, who +clung to her skirts. + +"Hurry, you little snail!" she said to him. "There's a camel caravan +just stopped by the custom-house. Make haste, if you want to see it!" + +Their bare feet picked their way quickly over the stones, down to the +hot sand of the lake shore. The children crept close to the shaggy +camels, curious to see what they carried in their huge packs. But before +they were made to kneel, so that the custom-house officials could +examine the loads, the boy gave an exclamation of surprise. + +"Look, Jerusha! Look!" he cried, tugging at her skirts. "What's that?" + +Farther down the line, came several men carrying litters. On each one +was a man badly wounded, judging by the many bandages that wrapped him. + +Jerusha pushed ahead to hear what had happened. One of the drivers was +telling a tax-gatherer. + +"In that last rocky gorge after leaving Samaria," said the man, "we were +set upon by robbers. They swarmed down the cliffs, and fought as +fiercely as eagles. These men, who were going on ahead, had much gold +with them. They lost it all, and might have been killed, if we had not +come up behind in such numbers. That poor fellow there can hardly live, +I think, he was beaten so badly." + +The children edged up closer to the motionless form on the litter. It +was badly bruised and blood-stained, and looked already lifeless. + +"Let's go, Jerusha," whispered the boy, whimpering and pulling at her +hand. "I don't like to look at him." + +With the heavy baby still in her arms, and the other child tagging +after, she started slowly back towards the market-place. + +"I'll tell you what we'll do," she exclaimed. "Let's go up and get the +other children, and play robbers. We never did do that before. It will +be lots of fun." + +There was a cry of welcome as Jerusha appeared again in the +market-place, where a crowd of children were playing tag, regardless of +the men and beasts they bumped against. They were all younger than +herself, and did not resent her important air when she called, "Come +here! I know a better game than that!" + +She told them what she had just seen and heard down at the beach, and +drew such a vivid picture of the attack, that the children were ready +for anything she might propose. + +"Now we'll choose sides," she said. "I'll be a rich merchant coming up +from Jerusalem with my family and servants, and the rest of you can be +robbers. We'll go along with our goods, and you pounce out on us as we +go by. You may take the baby as a prisoner if you like," she added, with +a mischievous grin. "I'm tired of carrying him." + +A boy sitting near by on a door-step, jumped up eagerly. "Let me play, +too, Jerusha!" he cried. "I'll be one of the robbers. I know just the +best places to hide!" + +The girl paused an instant in her choosing to say impatiently, although +not meaning to be unkind, "Oh, no, Joel! We do not want you. You're too +lame to run. You can't play with us!" + +The bright, eager look died out of the boy's face, and an angry light +shone in his eyes. He pressed his lips together hard, and sat down again +on the step. + +There was a patter of many bare feet as the children raced away. Their +voices sounded fainter and fainter, till they were lost entirely in the +noise of the busy street. + +Usually, Joel found plenty to amuse and interest him here. He liked to +watch the sleepy donkeys with their loads of fresh fruit and vegetables. +He liked to listen to the men as they cried their wares, or chatted over +the bargains with their customers. There was always something new to be +seen in the stalls and booths. There was always something new to be +heard in the scraps of conversation that came to him where he sat. + +Down this street there sometimes came long caravans; for this was "the +highway to the sea,"--the road that led from Egypt to Syria. Strange, +dusky faces sometimes passed this way; richly dressed merchant princes +with their priceless stuffs from beyond the Nile; heavy loads of +Babylonian carpets; pearls from Ceylon, and rich silks for the court of +the wicked Herodias, in the town beyond. Fisherman and sailor, rabbi and +busy workman passed in an endless procession. + +Sometimes a Roman soldier from the garrison came by with ringing step +and clanking sword. Then Joel would start up to look after the erect +figure, with a longing gaze that told more plainly than words, his +admiration of such strength and symmetry. + +But this morning the crowd gave him a strange, lonely feeling,--a hungry +longing for companionship. + +Two half-grown boys passed by on their way to the lake, with fish nets +slung over their shoulders. He knew the larger one,--a rough, +kind-hearted fellow who had once taken him in his boat across the lake. +He gave Joel a careless, good-natured nod as he passed. A moment after +he felt a timid pull at the fish net he was carrying, and turned to see +the little cripple's appealing face. + +"Oh, Dan!" he cried eagerly. "Are you going out on the lake this +morning? Could you take me with you?" + +The boy hesitated. Whatever kindly answer he may have given, was rudely +interrupted by his companion, whom Joel had never seen before. + +"Oh, no!" he said roughly. "We don't want anybody limping along after +us. You can't come, Jonah; you would bring us bad luck." + +"My name isn't Jonah!" screamed the boy, angrily clinching his fists. +"It's Joel!" + +"Well, it is all the same," his tormentor called back, with a coarse +laugh. "You're a Jonah, any way." + +There were tears in the boy's eyes this time, as he dragged himself back +again to the step. + +"I hate everybody in the world!" he said in a hissing sort of whisper. +"I hate'm! I hate'm!" + +A stranger passing by turned for a second look at the little cripple's +sensitive, refined face. A girlishly beautiful face it would have been, +were it not for the heavy scowl that darkened it. + +Joel pulled the ends of his head-dress round to hide his crooked back, +and drew the loose robe he wore over his twisted leg. + +Life seemed very bitter to him just then. He would gladly have changed +places with the heavily laden donkey going by. + +"I wish I were dead," he thought moodily. "Then I would not ache any +more, and I could not hear when people call me names!" + +Beside the door where he sat was a stand where tools and hardware were +offered for sale. A man who had been standing there for some time, +selecting nails from the boxes placed before him, and had heard all that +passed, spoke to him. + +"Joel, my lad, may I ask your help for a little while?" The friendly +question seemed to change the whole atmosphere. + +Joel drew his hands across his eyes to clear them of the blur of tears +he was too proud to let fall, and then stood up respectfully. "Yes, +Rabbi Phineas, what would you have me to do?" + +The carpenter gathered up some strips of lumber in one hand, and his +hammer and saws in the other. + +"I have my hands too full to carry these nails," he answered. "If you +could bring them for me, it would be a great service." + +If the man had offered him pity, Joel would have fiercely resented it. +His sensitive nature appreciated the unspoken sympathy, the fine tact +that soothed his pride by asking a service of him, instead of seeking to +render one. + +He could not define the feeling, but he gratefully took up the bag of +nails, and limped along beside his friend to the carpenter's house at +the edge of the town. He had never been there before, although he met +the man daily in the market-place, and long ago had learned to look +forward to his pleasant greeting; it was so different from most +people's. Somehow the morning always seemed brighter after he had met +him. + +The little whitewashed house stood in the shade of two great fig-trees +near the beach. A cool breeze from the Galilee lifted the leaves, and +swayed the vines growing around the low door. + +Joel, tired by the long walk, was glad to throw himself on the grass in +the shade. It was so still and quiet here, after the noise of the street +he had just left. + +An old hen clucked around the door-step with a brood of downy, yellow +chickens. Doves cooed softly, somewhere out of sight. The carpenter's +bench stood under one of the trees, with shavings and chips all around +it. Two children were playing near it, building houses of the scattered +blocks; one of them, a black-eyed, sturdy boy of five, kept on playing. +The other, a little girl, not yet three, jumped up and followed her +father into the house. Her curls gleamed like gold as she ran through +the sunshine. She glanced at the stranger with deep-blue eyes so like +her father's that Joel held out his hand. + +"Come and tell me your name," he said coaxingly. But she only shook the +curls all over her dimpled face, and hurried into the house. + +"It's Ruth," said the boy, deigning to look up. "And mine is Jesse, and +my mother's is Abigail, and my father's is Phineas, and my grandfather's +is--" + +How far back he would have gone in his genealogy, Joel could not guess; +for just then his father came out with a cool, juicy melon, and Jesse +hurried forward to get his share. + +"How good it is!" sighed Joel, as the first refreshing mouthful slipped +down his thirsty throat. "And how cool and pleasant it is out here. I +did not know there was such a peaceful spot in all Capernaum." + +"Didn't you always live here?" asked the inquisitive Jesse. + +"No, I was born in Jerusalem. I was to have been a priest," he said +sadly. + +"Well, why didn't you be one then," persisted the child, with his mouth +full of melon. + +Joel glanced down at his twisted leg, and said nothing. + +"Why?" repeated the boy. + +Phineas, who had gone back to his work-bench, looked up kindly. "You ask +too many questions, my son. No one can be a priest who is maimed or +blemished in any way. Some sad accident must have befallen our little +friend, and it may be painful for him to talk about it." + +Jesse asked no more questions with his tongue; but his sharp, black eyes +were fixed on Joel like two interrogation points. + +"I do not mind telling about it," said Joel, sitting up straighter. +"Once when I was not much older than you, just after my mother died, my +father brought me up to this country from Jerusalem, to visit my Aunt +Leah. + +"I used to play down here by the lake, with my cousins, in the +fishermen's boats. There was a boy that came to the beach sometimes, a +great deal larger than I,--a dog of a Samaritan,--who pulled my hair +and threw sand in my eyes. He was so much stronger than I, that I could +not do anything to him but call him names. But early one morning he was +swimming in the lake. I hid his clothes in the oleander bushes that +fringe the water. Oh, but he was angry! I wanted him to be. But I had to +keep away from the lake after that. + +"One day some older children took me to the hills back of the town to +gather almonds. This Rehum followed us. I had strayed away from the +others a little distance, and was stooping to put the nuts in my basket, +when he slipped up behind me. How he beat me! I screamed so that the +other children came running back to me. When he saw them coming, he gave +me a great push that sent me rolling over a rocky bank. It was not very +high, but there were sharp stones below. + +"They thought I was dead when they picked me up. It was months before I +could walk at all; and I can never be any better than I am now. Just as +my father was about to take me back to Jerusalem, he took a sudden +fever, and died. So I was left, a poor helpless burden for my aunt to +take care of. It has been six years since then." + +Joel threw himself full length on the grass, and scowled up at the sky. + +"Where is that boy that hurt you," asked Jesse. + +"Rehum?" questioned Joel. "I wish I knew," he muttered fiercely. "Oh, +how I hate him! I can never be a priest as my father intended. I can +never serve in the beautiful temple with the white pillars and golden +gates. I can never be like other people, but must drag along, deformed +and full of pain as long as I live. And it's all his fault!" + +A sudden gleam lit up the boy's eyes, as lightning darts through a +storm-cloud. + +"But I shall have my revenge!" he added, clinching his fists. "I cannot +die till I have made him feel at least a tithe of what I have suffered. +'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth!' That is the least that can +satisfy me. Oh, you cannot know how I long for that time! Often I lie +awake late into the night, planning my revenge. Then I forget how my +back hurts and my leg pains; then I forget all the names I have been +called, and the taunts that make my life a burden. But they all come +back with the daylight; and I store them up and add them to his account. +For everything he has made me suffer, I swear he shall pay for it +four-fold in his own sufferings!" + +Ruth shrank away, frightened by the wild, impassioned boy who sat up, +angrily staring in front of him with eyes that saw nothing of the sweet, +green-clad world around him. The face of his enemy blotted out all the +sunny landscape. One murderous purpose filled him, mind and soul. + +Nothing was said for a little while. The doves as before cooed of peace, +and Phineas began a steady tap-tap with his hammer. + +A pleasant-faced woman came out of the door with a water-jar on her +head, and passed down the path to the public well. She gave Joel a +friendly greeting in passing. + +"Wait, mother!" lisped Ruth, as she ran after her. The woman turned to +smile at the little one, and held out her hand. Her dress, of some soft, +cotton material, hung in long flowing folds. It was a rich blue color, +caught at the waist with a white girdle. The turban wound around her +dark hair was white also, and so was the veil she pushed aside far +enough to show a glimpse of brown eyes and red cheeks. She wore a broad +silver bracelet on the bare arm which was raised to hold the water-jar, +and the rings in her ears and talismans on her neck were of quaintly +wrought silver. + +"I did not know it was so late," said Joel, rising to his feet. "Time +passes so fast here." + +"Nay, do not go," said Phineas. "It is a long walk back to your home, +and the sun is very hot. Stay and eat dinner with us." + +Joel hesitated; but the invitation was repeated so cordially, that he +let Jesse pull him down on the grass again. + +"Now I'll tickle your lips with this blade of grass," said the child. +"See how long you can keep from laughing." + +When Abigail came back with the water, both the boys were laughing as +heartily as if there had never been an ache or pain in the world. She +smiled at them approvingly, as she led the way into the house. + +Joel looked around with much curiosity. It was like most of the other +houses of its kind in the town. There was only one large square room, in +which the family cooked, ate, and slept; but on every side it showed +that Phineas had left traces of his skilful hands. + +There was a tiny window cut in one wall; most of the houses of this +description had none, but depended on the doorway for light and air. +Several shelves around the walls held the lamp and the earthenware +dishes. The chest made to hold the rugs and cushions which they spread +down at night to sleep on, was unusually large and ornamental. A broom, +a handmill, and a bushel stood in one corner. + +Near the door, a table which Phineas had made, stood spread for the +mid-day meal. + +There was broiled fish on one of the platters, beans and barley bread, a +dish of honey, and a pitcher of milk. The fare was just the same that +Joel was accustomed to in his uncle's house; but something made the +simple meal seem like a banquet. It may have been that the long walk had +made him hungrier than usual, or it may have been because he was treated +as the honored guest, instead of a child tolerated through charity. + +He watched his host carefully, as he poured the water over his hands +before eating, and asked a blessing on the food. + +"He does not keep the law as strictly as my Uncle Laban," was his inward +comment. "He asked only one blessing, and Uncle Laban blesses every kind +of food separately. But he must be a good man, even if he is not so +strict a Pharisee as my uncle, for he is kinder than any one I ever knew +before." + +It was wonderful how much Joel had learned, in his eleven short years, +of the Law. His aunt's husband had grown to manhood in Jerusalem, and, +unlike the simple Galileans among whom he now lived, tried to observe +its most detailed rules. + +The child heard them discussed continually, till he felt he could +neither eat, drink, nor dress, except by these set rules. He could not +play like other children, and being so much with older people had made +him thoughtful and observant. + +He had learned to read very early; and hour after hour he spent in the +house of Rabbi Amos, the most learned man of the town, poring over his +rolls of scriptures. Think of a childhood without a picture, or a +story-book! All that there was to read were these old records of Jewish +history. + +The old man had taken a fancy to him, finding him an appreciative +listener and an apt pupil. So Joel was allowed to come whenever he +pleased, and take out the yellow rolls of parchment from their velvet +covers. + +He was never perfectly happy except at these times, when he was reading +these old histories of his country's greatness. How he enjoyed chasing +the armies of the Philistines, and fighting over again the battles of +Israel's kings! Many a tale he stored away in his busy brain to be +repeated to the children gathered around the public fountain in the cool +of the evening. + +It mattered not what character he told them of,--priest or prophet, +judge or king,--the picture was painted in life-like colors by this +patriotic little hero-worshipper. + +Here and at home he heard so many discussions about what was lawful and +what was not, that he was constantly in fear of breaking one of the many +rules, even in as simple a duty as washing a cup. + +So he watched his host closely till the meal was over, finding that in +the observance of many customs, he failed to measure up to his uncle's +strict standard. + +Phineas went back to his work after dinner. He was greatly interested in +Joel, and, while he sawed and hammered, kept a watchful eye on him. He +was surprised at the boy's knowledge. More than once he caught himself +standing with an idle tool in hand, as he listened to some story that +Joel was telling to Jesse. + +After a while he laid down his work and leaned against the bench. "What +do you find to do all day, my lad?" he asked, abruptly. + +"Nothing," answered Joel, "after I have recited my lessons to Rabbi +Amos." + +"Does your aunt never give you any tasks to do at home?" + +"No. I think she does not like to have me in her sight any more than she +is obliged to. She is always kind to me, but she doesn't love me. She +only pities me. I hate to be pitied. There is not a single one in the +world who really loves me." + +His lips quivered, but he winked back the tears. Phineas seemed lost in +thought a few minutes; then he looked up. "You are a Levite," he said +slowly, "so of course you could always be supported without needing to +learn a trade. Still you would be a great deal happier, in my opinion, +if you had something to keep you busy. If you like, I will teach you to +be a carpenter. There are a great many things you might learn to make +well, and, by and by, it would be a source of profit to you. There is no +bread so bitter as the bread of dependence, as you may learn when you +are older." + +"Oh, Rabbi Phineas!" cried Joel. "Do you mean that I may come here every +day? It is too good to be true!" + +"Yes; if you will promise to stick to it until you have mastered the +trade. If you are as quick to learn with your hands as you have been +with your head, I shall have reason to be proud of such a pupil." + +Joel's face flushed with pleasure, and he sprang up quickly, saying, +"May I begin right now? Oh, I'll try _so_ hard to please you!" + +Phineas laid a soft pine board on the bench, and began to mark a line +across it with a piece of red chalk. + +"Well, you may see how straight a cut you can make through this plank." + +He picked up a saw, and ran his fingers lightly along its sharp teeth. +But he paused in the act of handing it to Joel, to ask, "You are sure, +now, that your uncle and aunt will consent to such an arrangement?" + +"Yes indeed!" was the emphatic answer. "They will be glad enough to have +me out of the way, and learning something useful." + +The saw cut slowly through the wood; for the weak little hand was a +careful one, and the boy was determined not to swerve once from the +line. He smiled with satisfaction as the pieces fell apart, showing a +clean, straight edge. + +"Well done!" said Phineas, kindly. "Now let me see you drive a nail." +Made bold by his first success, Joel pounded away vigorously, but the +hammer slipped more than once, and his unpractised fingers ached with +the blows that he had aimed at the nail's head. + +"You'll soon learn," said Phineas, with an encouraging pat on the boy's +shoulder. "Gather up those odds and ends under the bench. When you've +sawed them into equal lengths, I'll show you how to make a box." + +Joel bent over his work with almost painful intensity. He fairly held +his breath, as he made the measurements. He gripped the saw as if his +life depended on the strength of his hold. Phineas smiled at his +earnestness. + +"Be careful, my lad," he said. "You will soon wear out at that rate." + +It seemed to Joel that there never had been such a short afternoon. He +had stopped to rest several times, when Phineas had insisted upon it; +but this new work had all the fascination of an interesting game. The +trees threw giant shadows across the grass, when he finally laid his +tools aside. His back ached with so much unusual exercise, and he was +very tired. + +"Rabbi Phineas," he asked gently, after a long pause, "what makes you so +good to me? What makes you so different from other people? While I am +with you, I feel like I want to be good. Other people seem to rub me the +wrong way, and make me cross and hateful; then I feel like I'd rather +be wicked than not. Why this afternoon, I've scarcely thought of Rehum +at all. I forgot at times that I am lame. When you talk to me, I feel +like I did that day Dan took me out on the lake. It seemed a different +kind of a world,--all blue sky and smooth water. I felt if I could stay +out there all the time, where it was so quiet and comforting, that I +could not even hate Rehum as much as I do." + +A surprised, pleased look passed over the man's face. "Do I really make +you feel that way, little one? Then I am indeed glad. Once when I was a +young boy living in Nazareth, I had a playmate who had that influence +over me and all the boys he played with. I never could be selfish and +impatient when he was with me. His very presence rebuked such +thoughts,--when we were children playing together, like my own two +little ones there, and when we were older grown, working at the same +bench. It has been many a long year since I left Nazareth, but I think +of him daily. Even now, after our long separation, the thought of his +blameless life inspires me to a higher living. Yes," he went on +musingly, more to himself than the boy, "it was like music. Surely no +white-robed priest in the holy temple ever offered up more acceptable +praise than the perfect harmony of his daily life." + +Joel's lips trembled. "If I had ever had one real friend to care for +me--not just pity me, you know--maybe I would have been different. But I +have never had a single one since my father died." + +Phineas smiled, and held out his hand. "You have one now, my lad, never +forget that." + +The strong brown hand closed in a warm grasp, and Joel drew it, with a +grateful impulse, to his lips. Ruth came up with wondering eyes. She +could not understand what had passed; but Joel's eyes were full of +tears, and she vaguely felt that he needed comfort. She had a pet pigeon +in her arms, that she carried everywhere with her. + +"Here," she lisped, holding out the snowy winged bird. "Boy, take it! +Boy, keep it!" + +Joel looked up inquiringly at Phineas. "Take it," he said, in a low +tone. "Let it be the omen of a happier life commencing for you." + +"I never had a pet of any kind before," said Joel, in delight, smoothing +the white wings folded contentedly against his breast. "But she loves +it so, I dislike to take it from her. How beautiful it is!" + +"My little Ruth is a born comforter," said Phineas, tossing her up in +his arms. "Shall Joel take the pigeon home with him, little daughter?" + +"Yes," she answered, nodding her head. "Boy cried." + +"I'll name it 'Little Friend,'" said Joel, rising with it in his arms. +"I'll take it home with me, and keep it until after the Sabbath, to make +me feel sure that this day has not been just a dream; but I will bring +it back next time I come. I can see it here every day, and it will be +happier here. Oh, Rabbi Phineas, I can never thank you enough for this +day!" + +It was a pitiful little figure that limped away homeward in the fading +light, with the white pigeon in his arms. + +Looking anxiously up in the sky, Joel saw one star come twinkling out. +The Sabbath would soon begin, and then he must not be found carrying +even so much as this one poor little pigeon. The slightest burden would +be unlawful. + +As he hurried on, the loud blast of a trumpet, blown from the roof of +the synagogue, signalled the laborers in the fields to stop all work. +He knew that very soon it would sound again, to call the town people +from their tasks; and at the third blast, the Sabbath lamp would be +lighted in every home. + +Fearful of his uncle's displeasure at his tardiness, he hurried +painfully onward, to provide food and a resting-place for his "little +friend" before the second sounding of the trumpet. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +EARLY in the morning after the Sabbath, Joel was in his accustomed place +in the market, waiting for his friend Phineas. His uncle had given a +gruff assent, when he timidly asked his approval of the plan. + +The good Rabbi Amos was much pleased when he heard of the arrangement. +"Thou hast been a faithful student," he said, kindly. "Thou knowest +already more of the Law than many of thy elders. Now it will do thee +good to learn the handicraft of Phineas. Remember, my son, 'the balm was +created by God before the wound.' Work, that is as old as Eden, has been +given us that we might forget the afflictions of this life that fleeth +like a shadow. May the God of thy fathers give thee peace!" + +With the old man's benediction repeating itself like a solemn refrain in +all his thoughts, Joel stood smoothing the pigeon in his arms, until +Phineas had made his daily purchases. Then they walked on together in +the cool of the morning, to the little white house under the fig-trees. +Phineas was surprised at his pupil's progress. To be sure, the weak arms +could lift little, the slender hands could attempt no large tasks. But +the painstaking care he bestowed on everything he attempted, resulted in +beautifully finished work. If there was an extra smooth polish to be put +on some wood, or a delicate piece of joining to do, Joel's deft fingers +seemed exactly suited to the task. + +Before the winter was over, he had made many pretty little articles of +furniture for Abigail's use. + +"May I have these pieces of fine wood to use as I please?" he asked of +Phineas, one day. + +"All but that largest strip," he answered. "What are you going to make?" + +"Something for Ruth's birthday. She will be three years old in a few +weeks, Jesse says, and I want to make something for her to play with." + +"What are you going to make her?" inquired Jesse, from under the +work-bench. "Let me see too." + +"Oh, I didn't know you were anywhere near," answered Joel, with a start +of alarm. + +"Tell me!" begged Jesse. + +"Well, if you will promise to keep her out of the way while I am +finishing it, and never say a word about it--" + +"I'll promise," said the child, solemnly. He had to clap his hand over +his mouth a great many times in the next few weeks, to keep his secret +from telling itself, and he watched admiringly while Joel carved and +polished and cut. + +One of the neighbors had come in to talk with Abigail the day he +finished it, and as the children were down on the beach, playing in the +sand, he took it in the house to show to the women. It was a little +table set with toy dishes, that he had carved out of wood,--plates and +cups and platters, all complete. + +The visitor held up her hands with an exclamation of delight. After +taking up each little highly polished dish to admire it separately, she +said, "I know where you might get a great deal of money for such work. +There is a rich Roman living near the garrison, who spends money like a +lord. No price is too great for him to pay for anything that pleases his +fancy. Why don't you take some up there, and offer them for sale?" + +"I believe I will," said Joel, after considering the matter. "I'll go +just as soon as I can get them made." + +Ruth spread many a little feast under the fig-trees; but after the first +birthday banquet, Jesse was her only guest. Joel was too busy making +more dishes and another little table, to partake of them. + +The whole family were interested in his success. The day he went up to +the great house near the garrison to offer them for sale, they waited +anxiously for his return. + +"He's sold them! He's sold them!" cried Jesse, hopping from one foot to +the other, as he saw Joel coming down the street empty-handed. Joel was +hobbling along as fast as he could, his face beaming. + +"See how much money!" he cried, as he opened his hand to show a shining +coin, stamped with the head of Cæsar. "And I have an order for two more. +I'll soon have a fortune! The children liked the dishes so much, +although they had the most beautiful toys I ever saw. They had images +they called dolls. Some of them had white-kid faces, and were dressed as +richly as queens. I wish Ruth had one." + +"The law forbids!" exclaimed Phineas. "Have you forgotten that it is +written, 'Thou shalt not make any likeness of anything in the heavens +above or the earth beneath, or the waters under the earth'? She is happy +with what she has, and needs no strange idols of the heathen to play +with." + +Joel made no answer; but he thought of the merry group of Roman children +seated around the little table he had made, and wished again that Ruth +had one of those gorgeously dressed dolls. + +Skill and strength were not all he gained by his winter's work; for some +of the broad charity that made continual summer in the heart of Phineas +crept into his own embittered nature. He grew less suspicious of those +around him, and smiles came more easily now to his face than scowls. + +But the strong ambition of his life never left him for an instant. To +all the rest of the world he might be a friend; to Rehum he could only +be the most unforgiving of enemies. + +The thought that had given him most pleasure when the wealthy Roman had +tossed him his first earnings, was not that his work could bring him +money, but that the money could open the way for his revenge. + +That thought, like a dark undercurrent, gained depth and force as the +days went by. As he saw how much he could do in spite of his lameness, +he thought of how much more he might have accomplished, if he had been +like other boys. It was a constant spur to his desire for revenge. + +One day Phineas laid aside his tools much earlier than usual, and +without any explanation to his wondering pupil, went up into the town. + +When he returned, he nodded to his wife, who sat in the doorway +spinning, and who had looked up inquiringly as he approached. + +"Yes, it's all arranged," he said to her. Then he turned to Joel to ask, +"Did you ever ride on a camel, my boy?" + +"No, Rabbi," answered the boy, in surprise, wondering what was coming +next. + +"Well, I have a day's journey to make to the hills in Upper Galilee. A +camel caravan passes near the place where my business calls me, as it +goes to Damascus. I seek to accompany it for protection. I go on foot, +but I have made arrangements for you to ride one of the camels." + +"Oh, am I really to go, too?" gasped Joel, in delighted astonishment. +"Oh, Rabbi Phineas! How did you ever think of asking me?" + +"You have not seemed entirely well, of late," was the answer. "I thought +the change would do you good. I said nothing about it before, for I had +no opportunity to see your uncle until this afternoon; and I did not +want to disappoint you, in case he refused his permission." + +"And he really says I may go?" demanded the boy, eagerly. + +"Yes, the caravan moves in the morning, and we will go with it." + +There was little more work done that day. Joel was so full of +anticipations of his journey that he scarcely knew what he was doing. +Phineas was busy with preparations for the comfort of his little family +during his absence, and went into town again. + +On his return he seemed strangely excited. Abigail, seeing something was +amiss, watched him carefully, but asked no questions. He took a piece of +timber that had been laid away for some especial purpose, and began +sawing it into small bits. + +"Rabbi Phineas," ventured Joel, respectfully, "is that not the wood you +charged me to save so carefully?" + +Phineas gave a start as he saw what he had done, and threw down his saw. + +"Truly," he said, smiling, "I am beside myself with the news I have +heard. I just now walked ten cubits past my own house, unknowing where I +was, so deeply was I thinking upon it. Abigail," he asked, "do you +remember my friend in Nazareth whom I so often speak of,--the son of +Joseph the carpenter? Last week he was bidden to a marriage in Cana. It +happened, before the feasting was over, the supply of wine was +exhausted, and the mortified host knew not what to do. Six great jars of +stone had been placed in the room, to supply the guests with water for +washing. _He changed that water into wine!_" + +"I cannot believe it!" answered Abigail, simply. + +"But Ezra ben Jared told me so. He was there, and drank of the wine," +insisted Phineas. + +"He could not have done it," said Abigail, "unless he were helped by the +evil one, or unless he were a prophet. He is too good a man to ask help +of the powers of darkness; and it is beyond belief that a son of Joseph +should be a prophet." + +To this Phineas made no answer. His quiet thoughts were shaken out of +their usual routine as violently as if by an earthquake. + +Joel thought more of the journey than he did of the miracle. It seemed +to the impatient boy that the next day never would dawn. Many times in +the night he wakened to hear the distant crowing of cocks. At last, by +straining his eyes he could distinguish the green leaves of the vine on +the lattice from the blue of the half-opened blossoms. By that token he +knew it was near enough the morning for him to commence saying his first +prayers. + +Dressing noiselessly, so as not to disturb the sleeping family, he +slipped out of the house and down to the well outside the city-gate. +Here he washed, and then ate the little lunch he had wrapped up the +night before. A meagre little breakfast,--only a hard-boiled egg, a bit +of fish, and some black bread. But the early hour and his excitement +took away his appetite for even that little. + +Soon all was confusion around the well, as the noisy drivers gathered to +water their camels, and make their preparations for the start. + +Joel shrunk away timidly to the edge of the crowd, fearful that his +friend Phineas had overslept himself. + +In a few minutes he saw him coming with a staff in one hand, and a small +bundle swinging from the other. + +Joel had one breathless moment of suspense as he was helped on to the +back of the kneeling camel; one desperate clutch at the saddle as the +huge animal plunged about and rose to its feet. Then he looked down at +Phineas, and smiled blissfully. + +[Illustration: "HE LOOKED DOWN AT PHINEAS, AND SMILED BLISSFULLY"] + +Oh, the delight of that slow easy motion! The joy of being carried along +without pain or effort! Who could realize how much it meant to the +little fellow whose halting steps had so long been taken in weariness +and suffering? + +Swinging along in the cool air, so far above the foot-passengers, it +seemed to him that he looked down upon a new earth. Blackbirds flew +along the roads, startled by their passing. High overhead, a lark had +not yet finished her morning song. Lambs bleated in the pastures, and +the lowing of herds sounded on every hill-side. + +Not a sight or sound escaped the boy; and all the morning he rode on +without speaking, not a care in his heart, not a cloud on his horizon. + +At noon they stopped in a little grove of olive-trees where a cool +spring gurgled out from the rocks. + +Phineas spread out their lunch at a little distance from the others; and +they ate it quickly, with appetites sharpened by the morning's travel. +Afterwards Joel stretched himself out on the ground to rest, and was +asleep almost as soon as his eyelids could shut out the noontide glare +of the sun from his tired eyes. + +When he awoke, nearly an hour afterward, he heard voices near him in +earnest conversation. Raising himself on his elbow, he saw Phineas at a +little distance, talking to an old man who had ridden one of the +foremost camels. + +They must have been talking of the miracle, for the old man, as he +stroked his long white beard, was saying, "But men are more wont to be +astonished at the sun's eclipse, than at his daily rising. Look, my +friend!" + +He pointed to a wild grape-vine clinging to a tree near by. "Do you see +those bunches of half-grown grapes? There is a constant miracle. Day by +day, the water of the dew and rain is being changed into the wine of the +grape. Soil and sunshine are turning into fragrant juices. Yet you feel +no astonishment." + +"No," assented Phineas; "for it is by the hand of God it is done." + +"Why may not this be also?" said the old man. "Even this miracle at the +marriage feast in Cana?" + +Phineas started violently. "What!" he cried. "Do you think it possible +that this friend of mine is the One to be sent of God?" + +"Is not this the accepted time for the coming of Israel's Messiah?" +answered the old man, solemnly. "Is it not meet that he should herald +his presence by miracles and signs and wonders?" + +Joel lay down again to think over what he had just heard. Like every +other Israelite in the whole world, he knew that a deliverer had been +promised his people. + +Time and again he had read the prophecies that foretold the coming of a +king through the royal line of David; time and again he had pictured to +himself the mighty battles to take place between his down-trodden race +and the haughty hordes of Cæsar. Sometime, somewhere, a universal +dominion awaited them. He firmly believed that the day was near at hand; +but not even in his wildest dreams had he ever dared to hope that it +might come in his own lifetime. + +He raised himself on his elbow again, for the old man was speaking. + +"About thirty years ago," he said slowly, "I went up to Jerusalem to be +registered for taxation, for the emperor's decree had gone forth and no +one could escape enrolment. You are too young to remember the taking of +that census, my friend; but you have doubtless heard of it." + +"Yes," assented Phineas, respectfully. + +"I was standing just outside the Joppa gate, bargaining with a man for a +cage of gold finches he had for sale, which I wished to take to my +daughter, when we heard some one speaking to us. Looking up we saw +several strange men on camels, who were inquiring their way. They were +richly dressed. The trappings and silver bells on their camels, as well +as their own attire, spoke of wealth. Their faces showed that they were +wise and learned men from far countries. + +"We greeted them respectfully, but could not speak for astonishment when +we heard their question: + +"'Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star +in the East, and have come to worship him.' The bird-seller looked at +me, and I looked at him in open-mouthed wonder. The men rode on before +we could find words wherewith to answer them. + +"All sorts of rumors were afloat, and everywhere we went next day, +throughout Jerusalem, knots of people stood talking of the mysterious +men, and their strange question. Even the king was interested, and +sought audience with them." + +"Could any one answer them?" asked Phineas. + +"Nay! but it was then impressed on me so surely that the Christ was +born, that I have asked myself all these thirty years, 'Where is he that +is born king of the Jews?' For I too would fain follow on to find and +worship him. As soon as I return from Damascus, I shall go at once to +Cana, and search for this miracle-worker." + +The old man's earnest words made a wonderful impression on Joel. All the +afternoon, as they rose higher among the hills, the thought took +stronger possession of him. He might yet live, helpless little cripple +as he was, to see the dawn of Israel's deliverance, and a son of David +once more on its throne. + +Ride on, little pilgrim, happy in thy day-dreams! The time is coming; +but weary ways and hopeless heart-aches lie between thee and that +to-morrow. The king is on his way to his coronation, but it will be with +thorns. + +Ride on, little pilgrim, be happy whilst thou can! + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +IT was nearly the close of the day when the long caravan halted, and +tents were pitched for the night near a little brook that came splashing +down from a cold mountain-spring. + +Joel, exhausted by the long day's travel, crowded so full of new +experiences, was glad to stretch his cramped limbs on a blanket that +Phineas took from the camel's back. + +Here, through half-shut eyes, he watched the building of the camp-fire, +and the preparations for the evening meal. + +"I wonder what Uncle Laban would do if he were here!" he said to +Phineas, with an amused smile. "Look at those dirty drivers with their +unwashed hands and unblessed food. How little regard they have for the +Law. Uncle Laban would fast a lifetime rather than taste anything that +had even been passed over a fire of their building. I can imagine I see +him now, gathering up his skirts and walking on the tips of his sandals +for fear of being touched by anything unclean." + +"Your Uncle Laban is a good man," answered Phineas, "one careful not to +transgress the Law." + +"Yes," said the boy. "But I like your way better. You keep the fasts, +and repeat the prayers, and love God and your neighbors. Uncle Laban is +careful to do the first two things; I am not so sure about the others. +Life is too short to be always washing one's hands." + +Phineas looked at the little fellow sharply. How shrewd and old he +seemed for one of his years! Such independence of thought was unusual in +a child trained as he had been. He scarcely knew how to answer him, so +he turned his attention to spreading out the fruits and bread he had +brought for their supper. + +Next morning, after the caravan had gone on without them, they started +up a narrow bridle-path, that led through hillside-pastures where flocks +of sheep and goats were feeding. + +The dew was still on the grass, and the air was so fresh and sweet in +this higher altitude that Joel walked on with a feeling of strength and +vigor unknown to him before. + +"Oh, look!" he cried, clasping his hands in delight, as a sudden turn +brought them to the upper course of the brook whose waters, falling far +below, had refreshed them the night before. + +The poetry of the Psalms came as naturally to the lips of this +beauty-loving little Israelite as the breath he drew. + +Now he repeated, in a low, reverent voice, "'The Lord is my shepherd; I +shall not want.' Oh, Rabbi Phineas, did you ever know before that there +could be such green pastures and still waters?" + +The man smiled at the boy's radiant, upturned face. "'Yea, the earth is +the Lord's and the fulness thereof,'" he murmured. "We have indeed a +goodly heritage." + +Hushed into silence by the voice of the hills and the beauty on every +side, they walked on till the road turned again. + +Just ahead stood a house unusually large for a country district; +everything about it bore an air of wealth and comfort. + +"Our journey is at an end now," said Phineas. "Yonder lies the house of +Nathan ben Obed. He owns all those flocks and herds we have seen in +passing this last half hour. It is with him that I have business; and we +will tarry with him until after the Sabbath." + +They were evidently expected, for a servant came running out to meet +them. He opened the gate and conducted them into a shaded court-yard. +Here another servant took off their dusty sandals, and gave them water +to wash their feet. + +They had barely finished, when an old man appeared in the doorway; his +long beard and hair were white as the abba he wore. + +Phineas would have bowed himself to the ground before him, but the old +man prevented it, by hurrying to take both hands in his, and kiss him on +each cheek. + +"Peace be to thee, thou son of my good friend Jesse!" he said. "Thou art +indeed most welcome." + +Joel lagged behind. He was always sensitive about meeting strangers; but +the man's cordial welcome soon put him at his ease. + +He was left to himself a great deal during the few days following. The +business on which the old man had summoned Phineas required long +consultations. + +One day they rode away together to some outlying pastures, and were gone +until night-fall. Joel did not miss them. He was spending long happy +hours in the country sunshine. There was something to entertain him, +every way he turned. For a while he amused himself by sitting in the +door and poring over a roll of parchment that Sarah, the wife of Nathan +ben Obed, brought him to read. + +She was an old woman, but one would have found it hard to think so, had +he seen how briskly she went about her duties of caring for such a large +household. + +After Joel had read for some little time, he became aware that some one +was singing outside, in a whining, monotonous way, and he laid down his +book to listen. The voice was not loud, but so penetrating he could not +shut it out, and fix his mind on his story again. So he rolled up the +parchment and laid it on the chest from which it had been taken; then +winding his handkerchief around his head, turban fashion, he limped out +in the direction of the voice. + +Just around the corner of the house, under a great oak-tree, a woman sat +churning. From three smooth poles joined at the top to form a tripod, a +goat-skin bag hung by long leather straps. This was filled with cream; +she was slapping it violently back and forth in time to her weird song. + +Her feet were bare, and she wore only a coarse cotton dress. But a gay +red handkerchief covered her black hair, and heavy copper rings hung +from her nose and ears. + +The song stopped suddenly as she saw Joel. Then recognizing her master's +guest, she smiled at him so broadly that he could see her pretty white +teeth. + +Joel hardly knew what to say at this unexpected encounter, but bethought +himself to ask the way to the sheep-folds and the watch-tower. "It is a +long way there," said the woman, doubtfully; Joel flushed as he felt her +black eyes scanning his misshapen form. + +Just then Sarah appeared in the door, and the maid repeated the question +to her mistress. + +"To be sure," she said. "You must go out and see our shepherds with +their flocks. We have a great many employed just now, on all the +surrounding hills. Rhoda, call your son, and bid him bring hither the +donkey that he always drives to market." + +The woman left her churning, and presently came back with a boy about +Joel's age, leading a donkey with only one ear. + +Joel knew what that meant. At some time in its life the poor beast had +strayed into some neighbor's field, and the owner of the field had been +at liberty to cut off an ear in punishment. + +The boy that led him wore a long shirt of rough hair-cloth. His feet and +legs were brown and tanned. A shock of reddish sunburned hair was the +only covering for his head. There was a squint in one eye, and his face +was freckled. + +He made an awkward obeisance to his mistress. + +"Buz," she said, "this young lad is your master's guest. Take him out +and show him the flocks and herds, and the sheep-folds. He has never +seen anything of shepherd life, so be careful to do his pleasure. Stay!" +she added to Joel. "You will not have time to visit them all before the +mid-day meal, so I will give you a lunch, and you can enjoy an entire +day in the fields." + +As the two boys started down the hill, Joel stole a glance at his +companion. "What a stupid-looking fellow!" he thought; "I doubt if he +knows anything more than this sleepy beast I am riding. I wonder if he +enjoys any of this beautiful world around him. How glad I am that I am +not in his place." + +Buz, trudging along in the dust, glanced at the little cripple on the +donkey's back with an inward shiver. + +"What a dreadful lot his must be," he thought. "How glad I am that I am +not like he is!" + +It was not very long till the shyness began to wear off, and Joel found +that the stupid shepherd lad had a very busy brain under his shock of +tangled hair. His eyes might squint, but they knew just where to look in +the bushes for the little hedge-sparrow's nest. They could take unerring +aim, too, when he sent the smooth sling-stones whizzing from the sling +he carried. + +"How far can you shoot with it?" asked Joel. + +For answer Buz looked all around for some object on which to try his +skill; then he pointed to a hawk slowly circling overhead. Joel watched +him fit a smooth pebble into his sling; he had no thought that the boy +could touch it at such a distance. The stone whizzed through the air +like a bullet, and the bird dropped several yards ahead of them. + +"See!" said Buz, as he ran to pick it up, and display it proudly. "I +struck it in the head." + +Joel looked at him with increasing respect. "That must have been the +kind of sling that King David killed the giant with," he said, handing +it back after a careful examination. + +"King David!" repeated Buz, dully, "seems to me I have heard of him, +sometime or other; but I don't know about the giant." + +"Why where have you been all your life?" cried Joel, in amazement. "I +thought everybody knew about that. Did you never go to a synagogue?" + +Buz shook his bushy head. "They don't have synagogues in these parts. +The master calls us in and reads to us on the Sabbath; but I always get +sleepy when I sit right still, and so I generally get behind somebody +and go to sleep. The shepherds talk to each other a good deal about such +things, I am never with them though. I spend all my time running +errands." + +Shocked at such ignorance, Joel began to tell the shepherd king's life +with such eloquence that Buz stopped short in the road to listen. + +Seeing this the donkey stood still also, wagged its one ear, and went to +sleep. But Buz listened, wider awake than he had ever been before in his +life. + +The story was a favorite one with Joel, and he put his whole soul into +it. + +"Who told you that?" asked Buz, taking a long breath when the +interesting tale was finished. + +"Why I read it myself!" answered Joel. + +"Oh, can you read?" asked Buz, looking at Joel in much the same way that +Joel had looked at him after he killed the hawk. "I do not see how +anybody can. It puzzles me how people can look at all those crooked +black marks and call them rivers and flocks and things. I looked one +time, just where Master had been reading about a great battle. And I +didn't see a single thing that looked like a warrior or a sword or a +battle-axe, though he called them all by name. There were several little +round marks that might have been meant for sling-stones; but it was more +than I could make out, how he could get any sense out of it." + +Joel leaned back and laughed till the hills rang, laughed till the tears +stood in his eyes, and the donkey waked up and ambled on. + +Buz did not seem to be in the least disturbed by his merriment, although +he was puzzled as to its cause. He only stooped to pick up more stones +for his sling as they went on. + +It was not long till they came to some of the men,--great brawny fellows +dressed in skins, with coarse matted hair and tanned faces. How little +they knew of what was going on in the busy world outside their fields! +As Joel talked to them he found that Cæsar's conquests and Hero's +murders had only come to them as vague rumors. All the petty wars and +political turmoils were unknown to them. They could talk to him only of +their flocks and their faith, both as simple as their lives. + +Joel, in his wisdom learned of the Rabbis, felt himself infinitely their +superior, child though he was. But he enjoyed his day spent with them. +He and Buz ate the ample lunch they had brought, dipped up water from +the brook in cups they made of oak-leaves, and both finally fell asleep +to the droning music of the shepherd's pipes, played softly on the +uplands. + +A distant rumble of thunder aroused them, late in the afternoon; and +they started up to find the shepherds calling in their flocks. The gaunt +sheep dogs raced to and fro, bringing the straying goats together. The +shepherds brought the sheep into line with well-aimed sling-shots, +touching them first on one side, and then on the other, as oxen are +guided by the touch of the goad. + +Joel looked up at the darkening sky with alarm. "Who would have thought +of a storm on such a day!" he exclaimed. + +Buz cocked his eyes at the horizon. "I thought it might come to this," +he said; "for as we came along this morning there were no spider-webs +on the grass; the ants had not uncovered the doors of their hills; and +all the signs pointed to wet weather. I thought though, that the time of +the latter rains had passed a week ago. I am always glad when the stormy +season is over. This one is going to be a hard one." + +"What shall we do?" asked Joel. + +Buz scratched his head. Then he looked at Joel. "You never could get +home on that trifling donkey before it overtakes us; and they'll be +worried about you. I'd best take you up to the sheep-fold. You can stay +all night there, very comfortably. I'll run home and tell them where you +are, and come back for you in the morning." + +Joel hesitated, appalled at spending the night among such dirty men; but +the heavy boom of thunder, steadily rolling nearer, silenced his +half-spoken objection. By the time the donkey had carried him up the +hillside to the stone-walled enclosure round the watch-tower, the +shepherds were at the gates with their flocks. + +Joel watched them go through the narrow passage, one by one. Each man +kept count of his own sheep, and drove them under the rough sheds put up +for their protection. + +A good-sized hut was built against the hillside, where the shepherds +might find refuge. Buz pointed it out to Joel; then he turned the donkey +into one of the sheds, and started homeward on the run. + +Joel shuddered as a blinding flash of lightning was followed by a crash +of thunder that shook the hut. The wind bore down through the trees like +some savage spirit, shrieking and moaning as it flew. Joel heard a +shout, and looked out to the opposite hillside. Buz was flying along in +break-neck race with the storm. At that rate he would soon be home. How +he seemed to enjoy the race, as his strong limbs carried him lightly as +a bird soars! + +At the top he turned to look back and laugh and wave his arms,--a sinewy +little figure standing out in bold relief against a brazen sky. + +Joel watched till he was out of sight. Then, as the wind swooped down +from the mountains, great drops of rain began to splash through the +leaves. + +The men crowded into the hut. One of them started forward to close the +door, but stopped suddenly, with his brown hairy hand uplifted. + +"Hark ye!" he exclaimed. + +Joel heard only the shivering of the wind in the tree-tops; but the +man's trained ear caught the bleating of a stray lamb, far off and very +faint. + +"I was afraid I was mistaken in my count; they jostled through the gate +so fast I could not be sure." Going to a row of pegs along the wall, he +took down a lantern hanging there and lit it; then wrapping his coat of +skins more closely around him, and calling one of the dogs, he set out +into the gathering darkness. + +Joel watched the fitful gleam of the lantern, flickering on unsteadily +as a will-o'-the-wisp. A moment later he heard the man's deep voice +calling tenderly to the lost animal; then the storm struck with such +fury that they had to stand with their backs against the door of the hut +to keep it closed. + +Flash after flash of lightning blinded them. The wind roared down the +mountain and beat against the house till Joel held his breath in terror. +It was midnight before it stopped. Joel thought of the poor shepherd out +on the hills, and shuddered. Even the men seemed uneasy about him, as +hour after hour passed, and he did not come. + +Finally he fell asleep in the corner, on a pile of woolly skins. In the +gray dawn he was awakened by a great shout. He got up, and went to the +door. There stood the shepherd. His bare limbs were cut by stones and +torn by thorns. Blood streamed from his forehead where he had been +wounded by a falling branch. The mud on his rough garments showed how +often he had slipped and fallen on the steep paths. + +Joel noticed, with a thrill of sympathy, how painfully he limped. But +there on the bowed shoulders was the lamb he had wandered so far to +find; and as the welcoming shout arose again, Joel's weak little cheer +joined gladly in. + +"How brave and strong he is," thought the boy. "He risked his life for +just one pitiful little lamb." + +The child's heart went strangely out to this rough fellow who stood +holding the shivering animal, sublimely unconscious that he had done +anything more than a simple duty. + +Joel, who felt uncommonly hungry after his supperless night, thought he +would mount the donkey and start back alone. But just as he was about to +do so, a familiar bushy head showed itself in the door of the sheepfold. +Buz had brought him some wheat-cakes and cheese to eat on the way back. + +Joel was so busy with this welcome meal that he did not talk much. Buz +kept eying him in silence, as if he longed to ask some question. At +last, when the cheese had entirely disappeared, he found courage to ask +it. + +"Were you always like that?" he said abruptly, motioning to Joel's back +and leg. Somehow the reference did not wound him as it generally did. He +began to tell Buz about the Samaritan boy who had crippled him. He never +was able to tell the story of his wrongs without growing passionately +angry. He had worked himself into a white heat by the time he had +finished. + +"I'd get even with him," said Buz, excitedly, with a wicked squint of +his eyes. + +"How would you do it?" demanded Joel. "Cripple him as he did me?" + +"Worse than that!" exclaimed Buz, stopping to take deliberate aim at a +leaf overhead, and shooting a hole exactly through the centre with his +sling. "I'd blind him as quick as that! It's a great deal worse to be +blind than lame." + +Joel closed his eyes, and rode on a few moments in darkness. Then he +opened them and gave a quick glad look around the landscape. "My! What +if I never could have opened them again," he thought. "Yes, Buz, you're +right," he said aloud. "It _is_ worse to be blind; so I shall take +Rehum's eyesight also, some time. Oh, if that time were only here!" + +Although the subject of the miracle at Cana had been constantly in the +mind of Phineas, and often near his lips, he did not speak of it to his +host until the evening before his departure. + +It was just at the close of the evening meal. Nathan ben Obed rose +half-way from his seat in astonishment, then sank back. + +"How old a man is this friend of yours?" he asked. + +"About thirty, I think," answered Phineas. "He is a little younger than +I." + +"Where was he born?" + +"In Bethlehem, I have heard it said, though his home has always been in +Nazareth." + +"Strange, strange!" muttered the man, stroking his long white beard +thoughtfully. + +Joel reached over and touched Phineas on the arm. "Will you not tell +Rabbi Nathan about the wonderful star that was seen at that time?" he +asked, in a low tone. + +"What was that?" asked the old man, arousing from his reverie. + +When Phineas had repeated his conversation with the stranger on the day +of his journey, Nathan ben Obed exchanged meaning glances with his +wife. + +"Send for the old shepherd Heber," he said. "I would have speech with +him." + +Rhoda came in to light the lamps. He bade her roll a cushioned couch +that was in one corner to the centre of the room. + +"This old shepherd Heber was born in Bethlehem," he said; "but since his +sons and grandsons have been in my employ, he has come north to live. He +used to help keep the flocks that belonged to the Temple, and that were +used for sacrifices. His has always been one of the purest of lives; and +I have never known such faith as he has. He is over a hundred years old, +so must have been quite aged at the time of the event of which he will +tell us." + +Presently an old, old man tottered into the room, leaning on the +shoulders of his two stalwart grandsons. They placed him gently on the +cushions of the couch, and then went into the court-yard to await his +readiness to return. Like the men Joel had seen the day before, they +were dressed in skins, and were wild-looking and rough. But this aged +father, with dim eyes and trembling wrinkled hands, sat before them like +some hoary patriarch, in a fine linen mantle. + +Pleased as a child, he saluted his new audience, and began to tell them +his only story. + +As the years had gone by, one by one the lights of memory had gone out +in darkness. Well-known scenes had grown dim; old faces were forgotten; +names he knew as well as his own, could not be recalled: but this one +story was as fresh and real to him, as on the night he learned it. + +The words he chose were simple, the voice was tremulous with weakness; +but he spoke with a dramatic fervor that made Joel creep nearer and +nearer, until he knelt, unknowing, at the old man's knee, spell-bound by +the wonderful tale. + +"We were keeping watch in the fields by night," began the old shepherd, +"I and my sons and my brethren. It was still and cold, and we spoke but +little to each other. Suddenly over all the hills and plains shone a +great light,--brighter than light of moon or stars or sunshine. It was +so heavenly white we knew it must be the glory of the Lord we looked +upon and we were sore afraid, and hid our faces, falling to the ground. +And, lo! an angel overhead spake to us from out of the midst of the +glory, saying, 'Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great +joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the +city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a +sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, +lying in a manger.' + +"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host +praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, +good-will toward men!' + +"Oh, the sound of the rejoicing that filled that upper air! Ever since +in my heart have I carried that foretaste of heaven!" + +The old shepherd paused, with such a light on his upturned face that he +seemed to his awestruck listeners to be hearing again that same angelic +chorus,--the chorus that rang down from the watch-towers of heaven, +across earth's lowly sheep-fold, on that first Christmas night. + +There was a solemn hush. Then he said, "And when they were gone away, +and the light and the song were no more with us, we spake one to +another, and rose in haste and went to Bethlehem. And we found the Babe +lying in a manger with Mary its mother; and we fell down and worshipped +Him. + +"Thirty years has it been since the birth of Israel's Messiah; and I sit +and wonder all the day,--wonder when He will appear once more to His +people. Surely the time must be well nigh here when He may claim His +kingdom. O Lord, let not Thy servant depart until these eyes that +beheld the Child shall have seen the King in His beauty!" + +Joel remained kneeling beside old Heber, perfectly motionless. He was +fitting together the links that he had lately found. A child, heralded +by angels, proclaimed by a star worshipped by the Magi! A man changing +water into wine at only a word! + +"I shall yet see Him!" exclaimed the voice of old Heber, with such +sublime assurance of faith that it found a response in every heart. + +There was another solemn stillness, so deep that the soft fluttering of +a night-moth around the lamp startled them. + +Then the child's voice rang out, eager and shrill, but triumphant as if +inspired: "Rabbi Phineas, _He_ it was who changed the water into +wine!--This friend of Nazareth and the babe of Bethlehem are the same!" + +The heart of the carpenter was strangely stirred, but it was full of +doubt. Not that the Christ had been born,--the teachings of all his +lifetime led him to expect that; but that the chosen One could be a +friend of his,--the thought was too wonderful for him. + +The old shepherd sat on the couch, feebly twisting his fingers, and +talking to himself. He was repeating bits of the story he had just told +them: "And, lo, an angel overhead!" he muttered. Then he looked up, +whispering softly, "Glory to God in the highest--and peace, yes, on +earth peace!" + +"He seems to have forgotten everything else," said Nathan, signalling to +the men outside to lead him home. "His mind is wiped away entirely, that +it may keep unspotted the record of that night's revelation. He tells it +over and over, whether he has a listener or not." + +They led him gently out, the white-haired, white-souled old shepherd +Heber. It seemed to Joel that the wrinkled face was illuminated by some +inner light, not of this world, and that he lingered among men only to +repeat to them, over and over, his one story. That strange sweet story +of Bethlehem's first Christmas-tide. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Next morning a goodly train set out from the gates of Nathan ben Obed. +It was near the time of the feast of the Passover, and he, with many of +his household, was going down to Jerusalem. + +The family and guests went first on mules and asses. Behind them +followed a train of servants, driving the lambs, goats, and oxen to be +offered as sacrifices in the temple, or sold in Jerusalem to other +pilgrims. + +All along the highway, workmen were busy repairing the bridges, and +cleaning the springs and wells, soon to be used by the throngs of +travellers. + +All the tombs near the great thoroughfares were being freshly +white-washed; they gleamed with a dazzling purity through the green +trees, only to warn passers-by of the defilement within. For had those +on their way to the feast approached too near these homes of the dead, +even unconsciously, they would have been accounted unclean, and unfit +to partake of the Passover. Nothing escaped Joel's quick sight, from the +tulips and marigolds flaming in the fields, to the bright-eyed little +viper crawling along the stone-wall. + +But while he looked, he never lost a word that passed between his friend +Phineas and their host. The pride of an ancient nation took possession +of him as he listened to the prophecies they quoted. + +Every one they met along the way coming from Capernaum had something to +say about this new prophet who had arisen in Galilee. When they reached +the gate of the city, a great disappointment awaited them. _He had been +there, and gone again._ + +Nathan ben Obed and his train tarried only one night in the place, and +then pressed on again towards Jerusalem. Phineas went with them. + +"You shall go with us next year," he said to Joel; "then you will be +over twelve. I shall take my own little ones too, and their mother." + +"Only one more year," exclaimed Joel, joyfully. "If that passes as +quickly as the one just gone, it will soon be here." + +"Look after my little family," said the carpenter, at parting. "Come +every day to the work, if you wish, just as when I am here; and +remember, my lad, you are almost a man." + +Almost a man! The words rang in the boy's thoughts all day as he pounded +and cut, keeping time to the swinging motion of hammer and saw. Almost a +man! But what kind of one? Crippled and maimed, shorn of the strength +that should have been his pride, beggared of his priestly birthright. + +Almost, it might be, but never in its fulness, could he hope to attain +the proud stature of a perfect man. + +A fiercer hate sprang up for the enemy who had made him what he was; and +the wild burning for revenge filled him so he could not work. He put +away his tools, and went up the narrow outside stairway that led to the +flat roof of the carpenter's house. It was called the "upper chamber." +Here a latticed pavilion, thickly overgrown with vines, made a cool +green retreat where he might rest and think undisturbed. + +Sitting there, he could see the flash of white sails on the blue lake, +and slow-moving masses of fleecy clouds in the blue of the sky above. +They brought before him the picture of the flocks feeding on the +pastures of Nathan ben Obed. + +Then, naturally enough, there flashed through his mind a thought of Buz. +He seemed to see him squinting his little eyes to take aim at a leaf +overhead. He heard the stone whirr through it, as Buz said: "I'd blind +him!" + +Some very impossible plans crept into Joel's day-dreams just then. He +imagined himself sitting in a high seat, wrapped in robes of state; +soldiers stood around him to carry out his slightest wish. The door +would open and Rehum would be brought forth in fetters. + +"What is your will concerning the prisoner, O most gracious sovereign," +the jailer would ask. + +Joel closed his eyes, and waved his hand before an imaginary audience. +"Away with him,--to the torture! Wrench his limbs on the rack! Brand his +eyelids with hot irons! Let him suffer all that man can suffer and live! +Thus shall it be done unto the man on whom the king delighteth to take +vengeance!" + +Joel was childish enough to take a real satisfaction in this scene he +conjured up. But as it faded away, he was man enough to realize it could +never come to pass, save in his imagination; he could never be in such a +position for revenge, unless,-- + +That moment a possible way seemed to open for him. Phineas would +probably see his friend of Nazareth at the Passover. What could be more +natural than that the old friendship should be renewed. He whose hand +had changed the water into wine should finally cast out the alien king +who usurped the throne of Israel, for one in whose veins the blood of +David ran royal red,--what was more to be expected than that? + +The Messiah would come to His kingdom, and then--and then--the thought +leaped to its last daring limit. + +Phineas, who had been His earliest friend and playfellow, would he not +be lifted to the right hand of power? Through him, then, lay the royal +road to revenge. + +The thought lifted him unconsciously to his feet. He stood with his arms +out-stretched in the direction of the far-away Temple, like some young +prophet. David's cry of triumph rose to his lips: "Thou hast girded me +with strength unto the battle," he murmured. "Thou hast also given me +the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me!" + +A sweet baby voice at the foot of the steps brought him suddenly down +from the height of his intense feeling. + +"Joel! Joel!" called little Ruth, "where is you?" + +Then Jesse's voice added, "We're all a-coming up for you to tell us a +story." + +Up the stairs they swarmed to the roof, the carpenter's children and +half-a-dozen of their little playmates. + +Joel, with his head still in the clouds, told them of a mighty king who +was coming to slay all other kings, and change all tears--the waters of +affliction--into the red wine of joy. + +"H'm! I don't think much of that story," said Jesse, with out-spoken +candor. "I'd rather hear about Goliath, or the bears that ate up the +forty children." + +But Joel was in no mood for such stories, just then. On some slight +pretext he escaped from his exacting audience, and went down to the +sea-shore. Here, skipping stones across the water, or writing idly in +the sand, he was free to go on with his fascinating day-dreams. + +For the next two weeks the boy gave up work entirely. He haunted the +toll-gates and public streets, hoping to hear some startling news from +Jerusalem. He was so full of the thought that some great revolution was +about to take place, that he could not understand how people could be +so indifferent. All on fire with the belief that this man of Nazareth +was the one in whom lay the nation's hope, he looked and longed for the +return of Phineas, that he might learn more of Him. + +But Phineas had little to tell when he came back. He had met his friend +twice in Jerusalem,--the same gentle quiet man he had always known, +making no claims, working no wonders. Phineas had heard of His driving +the moneychangers out of the Temple one day, and those who sold doves in +its sacred courts, although he had not witnessed the scene. + +The carpenter was rather surprised that He should have made such a +public disturbance. + +"Rabbi Phineas," said Joel, with a trembling voice, "don't you think +your friend is the prophet we are expecting?" + +Phineas shook his head. "No, my lad, I am sure of it now." + +"But the herald angels and the star," insisted the boy. + +"They must have proclaimed some one else. He is the best man I ever +knew; but there is no more of the king in His nature, than there is in +mine." + +The man's positive answer seemed to shatter Joel's last hope. Downcast +and disappointed, he went back to his work. Only with money could he +accomplish his life's object, and only by incessant work could he earn +the shining shekels that he needed. + +Phineas wondered sometimes at the dogged persistence with which the +child stuck to his task, in spite of his tired, aching body. + +He had learned to make sandal-wood jewel-boxes, and fancifully wrought +cups to hold the various dyes and cosmetics used by the ladies of the +court. + +Several times, during the following months, he begged a sail in some of +the fishing-boats that landed at the town of Tiberias. Having gained the +favor of the keeper of the gates, by various little gifts of his own +manufacture, he always found a ready admittance to the palace. + +To the ladies of the court, the sums they paid for his pretty wares +seemed trifling; but to Joel the small bag of coins hidden in the folds +of his clothes was a little fortune, daily growing larger. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +IT was Sabbath morning in the house of Laban the Pharisee. Joel, sitting +alone in the court-yard, could hear his aunt talking to the smaller +children, as she made them ready to take with her to the synagogue. + +From the upper chamber on the roof, came also a sound of voices, for two +guests had arrived the day before, and were talking earnestly with their +host. Joel already knew the object of their visit. + +They had been there before, when the preaching of John Baptist had drawn +such great crowds from all the cities to the banks of the Jordan. They +had been sent out then by the authorities in Jerusalem to see what +manner of man was this who, clothed in skins and living in the +wilderness, could draw the people so wonderfully, and arouse such +intense excitement. Now they had come on a like errand, although on +their own authority. + +Another prophet had arisen whom this John Baptist had declared to be +greater than himself. They had seen Him drive the moneychangers from the +Temple; they had heard many wild rumors concerning Him. So they followed +Him to His home in the little village of Nazareth, where they heard Him +talk in the synagogue. + +They had seen the listening crowd grow amazed at the eloquence of His +teaching, and then indignant that one so humble as a carpenter's son +should claim that Isaiah's prophecies had been fulfilled in Himself. + +They had seen Him driven from the home of His boyhood, and now had come +to Capernaum that they might be witnesses in case this impostor tried to +lead these people astray by repeating His claims. + +All this Joel heard, and more, as the earnest voices came distinctly +down to him through the deep hush of the Sabbath stillness. It shook his +faith somewhat, even in the goodness of this friend of his friend +Phineas, that these two learned doctors of the Law should consider Him +an impostor. + +He stood aside respectfully for them to pass, as they came down the +outside stairway, and crossed the court-yard on their way to the +morning service. + +Their long, flowing, white robes, their broad phylacteries, their +dignified bearing, impressed him greatly. He knew they were wise, good +men whose only aim in life was to keep the letter of the Law, down to +its smallest details. He followed them through the streets until they +came to the synagogue. They gave no greeting to any one they passed, but +walked with reverently bowed heads that their pious meditation might not +be disturbed by the outside world. His aunt had already gone by the way +of the back streets, as it was customary for women to go, her face +closely veiled. + +The synagogue, of finely chiselled limestone, with its double rows of +great marble pillars, stood in its white splendor, the pride of the +town. It had been built by the commander of the garrison who, though a +Roman centurion, was a believer in the God of the Hebrews, and greatly +loved by the whole people. + +Joel glanced up at the lintel over the door, where Aaron's rod and a pot +of manna carved in the stone were constant reminders to the daily +worshippers of the Hand that fed and guided them from generation to +generation. + +Joel limped slowly to his place in the congregation. In the seats of +honor, facing it, sat his uncle and his guests, among the rulers of the +synagogue. + +For a moment his eyes wandered curiously around, hoping for a glimpse of +the man whose fame was beginning to spread all over Galilee. It had been +rumored that He would be there. But Joel saw only familiar faces. The +elders took their seats. + +During the reading of the usual psalm, the reciting of a benediction, +and even the confession of the creed, Joel's thoughts wandered. When the +reader took up his scroll to read the passages from Deuteronomy, the boy +stole one more quick glance all around. But as the whole congregation +arose, and turned facing the east, he resolutely fixed his mind on the +duties of the hour. + +The eighteen benedictions, or prayers, were recited in silence by each +devout worshipper. Then the leader repeated them aloud, all the +congregation responding with their deep Amen! and Amen! Joel always +liked that part of the service and the chanting that followed. + +Another roll of parchment was brought out. The boy looked up with +interest. Probably one of his uncle's guests would be invited to read +from it, and speak to the people. + +No, it was a stranger whom he had not noticed before, sitting behind one +of the tall elders, who was thus honored. + +Joel's heart beat so fast that the blood throbbed against his ear-drums, +as he heard the name called. It was the friend of his friend Phineas, +_the Rabbi Jesus_. + +Joel bent forward, all his soul in his eyes, as the stranger unrolled +the book, and began to read from the Prophets. The words were old +familiar ones; he even knew them by heart. But never before had they +carried with them such music, such meaning. When He laid aside the roll, +and began to speak, every fibre in the boy's being thrilled in response +to the wonderful eloquence of that voice and teaching. + +The whole congregation sat spell-bound, forgetful of everything except +the earnestness of the speaker who moved and swayed them as the wind +does the waving wheat. + +Suddenly there arose a wild shriek, a sort of demon-like howl that +transfixed them with its piercing horror. Every one turned to see the +cause of the startling sound. There, near the door, stood a man whom +they all knew,--an unhappy creature said to be possessed of an unclean +spirit. + +"Ha!" he cried, in a blood-curdling tone. "What have we to do with Thee, +Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know Thee, who thou +art, the holy One of God!" + +There was a great stir, especially in the woman's gallery; and those +standing nearest him backed away as far as possible. + +Every face was curious and excited, at this sudden interruption,--every +face but one; the Rabbi Jesus alone was calm. + +"Hold thy peace and come out of him!" He commanded. There was one more +shriek, worse than before, as the man fell at His feet in a convulsion; +but in a moment he stood up again, quiet and perfectly sane. The wild +look was gone from his eyes. Whatever had been the strange spell that +had bound him before, he was now absolutely free. + +There was another stir in the woman's gallery. Contrary to all rule or +custom, an aged woman pushed her way out. Down the stairs she went, +unveiled through the ranks of the men, to reach her son whom she had +just seen restored to reason. With a glad cry she fell forward, +fainting, in his arms, and was borne away to the little home, now no +longer darkened by the shadow of a sore affliction. + +Little else was talked about that day, until the rumor of another +miracle began to spread through the town. Phineas, stopping at Laban's +house on his way home from an afternoon service, confirmed the truth of +it. + +One of his neighbors had been dangerously ill with a fever that was +common in that part of the country; she was the mother-in-law of Simon +bar Jonah. It was at his home that the Rabbi Jesus had been invited to +dine. + +As soon as He entered the house, they besought Him to heal her. Standing +beside her, He rebuked the fever; and immediately she arose, and began +to help her daughter prepare for the entertainment of their guest. + +"Abigail was there yesterday," said Phineas, "to carry some broth she +had made. She thought then it would be impossible for the poor creature +to live through the night. I saw the woman a few hours ago, and she is +perfectly well and strong." + +That night when the sun was setting, and the Sabbath was at an end, a +motley crowd streamed along the streets to the door of Simon bar Jonah. +Men carried on couches; children in their mother's arms; those wasted by +burning fevers; those shaken by unceasing palsy; the lame; the blind; +the death-stricken,--all pressing hopefully on. + +What a scene in that little court-yard as the sunset touched the wan +faces and smiled into dying eyes. Hope for the hopeless! Balm for the +broken in body and spirit! There was rejoicing in nearly every home in +Capernaum that night, for none were turned away. Not one was refused. It +is written, "He laid His hand on every one of them, and healed them." + +That he might not seem behind his guests in zeal and devotion to the +Law, the dignified Laban would not follow the crowds. + +"Let others be carried away by strange doctrines and false prophets, if +they will," he declared; "as for me and my household, we will cling to +the true faith of our fathers." + +So the three sat in the upper chamber on the roof, and discussed the new +teacher with many shakes of their wise heads. + +"It is not lawful to heal on the Sabbath day," they declared. "Twice +during the past day He has openly transgressed the Law. He will lead all +Galilee astray!" + +But Galilee cared little how far the path turned from the narrow faith +of the Pharisees, so long as it led to life and healing. + +Down in the garden below, the children climbed up on the grape-arbor, +and peered through the vines at the surging crowds which they would have +joined, had it not been for Laban's strict commands. + +One by one they watched people whom they knew go by, some carried on +litters, some leaning on the shoulders of friends. One man crawled +painfully along on his hands and knees. + +After awhile the same people began to come back. + +"Look, quick, Joel!" one of the children cried; "there goes Simon ben +Levi. Why, his palsy is all gone! He doesn't shake a bit now! And +there's little Martha that lives out near Aunt Rebecca's! Don't you know +how white and thin she looked when they carried her by a little while +ago? See! she is running along by herself now as well as we are!" + +The children could hardly credit their own sense of sight, when +neighbors they had known all their lives to be bed-ridden invalids came +back cured, singing and praising God. + +It was a sight they never could forget. So they watched wonderingly till +darkness fell, and the last happy-hearted healed one had gone home to a +rejoicing household. + +While the fathers on the roof were deciding they would have naught of +this man, the children in the grape-arbor were storing up in their +simple little hearts these proofs of his power and kindness. + +Then they gathered around Joel on the doorstep, while he repeated the +story that the old shepherd Heber had told him, of the angels and the +star, and the baby they had worshipped that night in Bethlehem. + +"Come, children," called his Aunt Leah, as she lit the lamp that was to +burn all night. "Come! It is bed-time!" + +His cousin Hannah lingered a moment after the others had gone in, to +say, "That was a pretty story, Joel. Why don't you go and ask the good +man to straighten your back?" + +Strange as it may seem, this was the first time the thought had occurred +to him that he might be benefited himself. He had been so long +accustomed to thinking of himself as hopelessly lame, that the wonderful +cures he had witnessed had awakened no hope for himself. A new life +seemed to open up before him at the little girl's question. He sat on +the doorstep thinking about it until his Uncle Laban came down and +crossly ordered him to go to bed. + +He went in, saying softly to himself, "I will go to him to-morrow; yes, +early in the morning!" + +Strange that an old proverb should cross his mind just then. "Boast not +thyself of to-morrow. Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +WHEN Joel went out on the streets next morning, although it was quite +early, he saw a disappointed crowd coming up from the direction of +Simon's house on the lake shore. + +"Where have all these people been?" he asked of the baker's boy, whom he +ran against at the first corner. + +The boy stopped whistling, and rested his basket of freshly baked bread +against his knee, as he answered:-- + +"They were looking for the Rabbi who healed so many people last night. +Say! do you know," he added quickly, as if the news were too good to +keep, "he healed my mother last night. You cannot think how different it +seems at home, to have her going about strong and well like she used to +be." + +Joel's eyes brightened. "Do you think he'll do anything for me, if I go +to him now?" he asked wistfully. "Do you suppose he could straighten out +such a crooked back as mine? Look how much shorter this leg is than the +other. Oh, _do_ you think he could make them all right?" + +The boy gave him a critical survey, and then answered, emphatically, +"Yes! It really does not look like it would be as hard to straighten you +as old Jeremy, the tailor's father. He was twisted all out of shape, you +know. Well, I'll declare! There he goes now!" + +Joel looked across the street. The wrinkled face of the old +basket-weaver was a familiar sight in the market; but Joel could hardly +recognize the once crippled form, now restored to its original +shapeliness. + +"I am going right now," he declared, starting to run in his excitement. +"I can't wait another minute." + +"But he's gone!" the boy called after him. "That's why the people are +all coming back." + +Joel sat down suddenly on a ledge projecting from the stone-wall. +"Gone!" he echoed drearily. It was as if he had been starving, and the +life-giving food held to his famished lips had been suddenly snatched +away. Both his heart and his feet felt like lead when he got up after +awhile, and dragged himself slowly along to the carpenter's house. + +[Illustration: "'I PEEPED OUT 'TWEEN 'E WOSE--VINES'"] + +It was such a bitter disappointment to be so near the touch of healing, +and then to miss it altogether. + +No cheerful tap of the hammer greeted him. The idle tools lay on the +deserted workbench. "Disappointed again!" he thought. Then the doves +cooed, and he caught a glimpse of Ruth's fair hair down among the garden +lilies. + +"Where is your father, little one?" he called. + +"Gone away wiv 'e good man 'at makes everybody well," she answered. Then +she came skipping down the path to stand close beside him, and say +confidentially: "I saw Him--'e good man--going by to Simon's house. I +peeped out 'tween 'e wose-vines, and He looked wite into my eyes wiv His +eyes, and I couldn't help loving Him!" + +Joel looked into the beautiful baby face, thinking what a picture it +must have made, as framed in roses it smiled out on the Tender-hearted +One, going on His mission of help and healing. + +With her little hand in his, she led him back to hope, for she took him +to her mother, who comforted him with the assurance that Phineas +expected to be home soon, and doubtless his friend would be with him. + +So there came another time to work by himself and dream of the hour +surely dawning. And the dreams were doubly sweet now; for side by side +with his hope of revenge, was the belief in his possible cure. + +They heard only once from the absent ones. Word came back that a leper +had been healed. Joel heard it first, down at the custom-house. He had +gotten into the way of strolling down in that direction after his work +was done; for here the many trading-vessels from across the lake, or +those that shipped from Capernaum, had to stop and pay duty. Here, too, +the great road of Eastern commerce passed which led from Damascus to the +harbors of the West. So here he would find a constant stream of +travellers, bringing the latest news from the outside world. + +The boy did not know, as he limped up and down the water's edge, longing +for some word from his absent friends, that near by was one who watched +almost as eagerly as himself. + +It was Levi-Matthew, one of the officials, sitting in the seat of +custom. Sprung from the same priestly tribe as Joel, he had sunk so low, +in accepting the office of tax-gatherer, that the righteous Laban would +not have touched him so much as with the tip of his sandal. + +"Bears and lions," said a proverb, "might be the fiercest wild beasts in +the forests; but publicans and informers were the worst in cities." + +One could not bear witness in the courts, and the disgrace extended to +the whole family. They were even classed with robbers and murderers. No +doubt there was deep cause for such a feeling; as a class they were +unscrupulous and unjust. There might have been good ones among their +number, but the company they kept condemned them to the scorn of high +and low. + +When a Jew hates, or a Jew scorns, be sure it is thoroughly done; there +is no half-way course for his intense nature to take. + +So this son of Levi, sitting in the seat of custom, and this son of Levi +strolling past him, were, socially, as far apart as the east is from the +west,--as unlike as thorn and blossom on the same tribal stem. + +Matthew knew all the fishermen and ship-owners that thronged the busy +beach in front of him. The sons of Jonah and of Zebedee passed him +daily; and he must have wondered when he saw them throw down their nets +and leave everything to follow a stranger. + +He must have wondered also at the reports on every tongue, and the +sights he had seen himself of miraculous healing. But while strangely +drawn towards this new teacher from Nazareth, it could have been with no +thought that the hand and the voice were for him. He was a publican, and +how could they reach to such depths? + +A caravan had just stopped. The pack-animals were being unloaded, bales +and packages opened, private letters pried into. The insolent officials +were tossing things right and left, as they made a list of the taxable +goods. + +Joel was watching them with as much interest as if he had not witnessed +such scenes dozens of times before, till he noticed a group gathering +around one of the drivers. He was telling what he had seen on his way to +Capernaum. Several noisy companions kept interrupting him to bear +witness to the truth of his statements. + +"And he who but a moment before had been the most miserable of lepers +stood up before us all, cleansed of his leprosy. His skin was soft and +fair as a child's, and his features were restored to him," said the +driver. + +Joel and Levi-Matthew stood side by side. At another time the boy might +have drawn his clothes away to keep from brushing against the despised +tax-gatherer. But he never noticed now that their elbows touched. + +When he had heard all there was to be told, he limped away to carry the +news to Abigail. To know that others were being cured daily made him all +the more impatient for the return of this friend of Phineas. + +The publican turned again to his pen and his account-book. He, too, +looked forward with a burning heart to the return of the Nazarene, +unknowing why he did so. + +At last Joel heard of the return, in a very unexpected way. There were +guests in the house of Laban again. One of the rabbis who had been there +before, and a scribe from Jerusalem. Now there were longer conferences +in the upper chamber, and graver shakings of the head, over this false +prophet whose fame was spreading wider. + +The miracle of healing the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda, when he +had gone down to Jerusalem to one of the many feasts, had stirred Judea +to its farthest borders. So these two men had been sent to investigate. + +On the very afternoon of their arrival, a report flew through the +streets that the Rabbi Jesus was once more in the town. Their host led +them with all the haste their dignity would allow, to the house where He +was said to be preaching. The common people fell back when they saw +them, and allowed them to pass into the centre of the throng. + +The Rabbi stood in the doorway, so that both those in the house and +without could distinctly hear Him. The scribe had never seen Him before, +and in spite of his deep-seated prejudice could not help admiring the +man whom he had come prepared to despise. It was no wild fanatic who +stood before him, no noisy debater whose fiery eloquence would be likely +to excite and inflame His hearers. + +He saw a man of gentlest dignity; truth looked out from the depths of +His calm eyes. Every word, every gesture, carried with it the conviction +that He who spoke taught with God-given authority. + +The scribe began to grow uneasy as he listened, carried along by the +earnest tones of the speaker. + +There was a great commotion on the edge of the crowd, as some one tried +to push through to the centre. + +"Stand back! Go away!" demanded angry voices. + +The scribe was a tall man, and by stretching a little, managed to see +over the heads of the others. Four men, bearing a helpless paralytic, +were trying to carry him through the throngs; but they would not make +room for this interruption. + +After vainly hunting for some opening through which they might press, +the men mounted the steep, narrow staircase on the outside of the +building, and drew the man up, hammock and all, to the flat roof on +which they stood. + +There was a sound of scraping and scratching as they broke away the +brush and mortar that formed the frail covering of the roof. Then the +people in the room below saw slowly coming down upon them between the +rafters, this man whom no obstacle could keep back from the Great +Physician. + +But the paralyzed hands could not lift themselves in supplication; the +helpless tongue could frame no word of pleading,--only the eyes of the +sick man could look up into the pitying face bent over him, and implore +a blessing. + +The scribe leaned forward, confidently expecting to hear the man bidden +to arise. To his surprise and horror, the words he heard were: "Son, thy +_sins_ be forgiven thee!" + +He looked at Laban and his companion, and the three exchanged meaning +glances. When they looked again at the speaker, His eyes seemed to read +their inmost thoughts. + +"Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?" He asked, with startling +distinctness. "Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy +sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? +But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive +sins," here He turned to the helpless form lying at His feet, "I say +unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way unto thine house." + +The man bounded to his feet, and picking up the heavy rug on which he +had been lying, went running and leaping out of their midst. + +Without a word, Laban and his two guests drew their clothes carefully +around them, and picked their way through the crowd. Phineas, who stood +at the gate, gave them a respectful greeting. Laban only turned his eyes +away with a scowl, and passed coldly on. + +"The man is a liar and a blasphemer!" exclaimed the scribe, as they sat +once more in the privacy of Laban's garden. + +"Only God can forgive sins!" added his companion. "This paralytic should +have taken a sin-offering to the priest. For only by the blood of +sacrifice can one hope to obtain pardon." + +"Still He healed him," spoke up the scribe, musingly. + +"Only through the power of Satan!" interrupted Laban. "When He says He +can forgive sins, He blasphemes." + +The other Pharisee leaned forward to say, in an impressive whisper: +"Then you know the Law on that point. He should be stoned to death, His +body hung on a tree, and then buried with shame!" + +It was not long after that Joel, just back from a trip to Tiberias in a +little sailing-boat, came into the garden. He had been away since early +morning, so had heard nothing of what had just occurred; he had had good +luck in disposing of his wares, and was feeling unusually cheerful. +Hearing voices in the corner of the garden, he was about to pass out +again, when his uncle called him sternly to come to him at once. + +Surprised at the command, he obeyed, and was questioned and +cross-questioned by all three. It was very little he could tell them +about his friend's plans; but he acknowledged proudly that Phineas had +always known this famous man from Nazareth, even in childhood, and was +one of his most devoted followers. + +"This man Phineas is a traitor to the faith!" roared Laban. "He is a +dangerous man, and in league with these fellows to do great evil to our +nation." + +The scribe and the rabbi nodded approvingly. + +"Hear me, now!" he cried, sternly. "Never again are you to set foot over +his threshold, or have any communication whatsoever with him or his +associates. I make no idle threat; if you disobey me in this, you will +have cause to wish you had never been born. You may leave us now!" + +Too surprised and frightened to say a word, the child slipped away. To +give up his daily visit to the carpenter's house, was to give up all +that made his life tolerable; while to be denied even speaking to his +associates, meant to abandon all hope of cure. + +But he dared not rebel; obedience to those in authority was too +thoroughly taught in those days to be lightly disregarded. But his uncle +seemed to fear that his harsh command would be eluded in some way, and +kept such a strict watch over him, that he rarely got beyond the borders +of the garden by himself. + +One day he was all alone in the grape-arbor, looking out into the +streets that he longed to be in, since their freedom had been denied +him. + +A little girl passed, carrying one child in her arms, and talking to +another who clung to her skirts. It was Jerusha. + +Joel threw a green grape at her to attract her attention, and then +beckoned her mysteriously to come nearer. She set the baby on the +ground, and gave him her bracelet to play with, while she listened to a +whispered account of his wrongs through the latticed arbor. + +"It's a shame!" she declared indignantly. "I'll go right down to the +carpenter's house and tell them why you cannot go there any more. And +I'll keep watch on all that happens, and let you know. I go past here +every day, and if I have any news, I'll toss a pebble over the wall and +cluck like a hen. Then if nobody is watching, you can come to this hole +in the arbor again." + +The next day, as Joel was going in great haste to the baker's, whither +his aunt had sent him, he heard some one behind him calling him to wait. +In another moment Jerusha was in speaking distance, nearly bent double +with the weight of her little brother, whom she was carrying as usual. + +"There!" she said, with a puff of relief, as she put him on his own +feet. "Wait till I get my breath! It's no easy thing to carry such a +load and run at the same time! How did you get out?" + +"There was an errand to be done, and no one else to do it," answered +Joel, "so Aunt sent me." + +"Oh, I've got such news for you!" she exclaimed. "Guess what has +happened! Your Rabbi Jesus has asked Levi-Matthew to be one of His +followers, and go around with Him wherever He goes. Think of it! One of +those horrid tax-gatherers! He settled his accounts and gave up his +position in the custom-house yesterday. And he is getting ready for a +great feast. I heard the butcher and the wine-dealer both telling about +the big orders he had given them. + +"All the publicans and low common people that are his friends are +invited. Yes, and so is your friend the carpenter. Think of that, now! +He is going to sit down and eat with such people! Of course respectable +folks will never have anything more to do with him after that! I guess +your uncle was right about him, after all!" + +Both the little girl's face and manner expressed intense disgust. + +Joel was shocked. "Oh, are you sure?" he cried. "You certainly must be +mistaken! It cannot be so!" + +"I guess I know what I see with my own eyes, and hear with my own ears!" +she retorted, angrily. "My father says they are a bad lot. People that +go with publicans are just as unclean themselves. If you know so much +more than everybody else, I'll not trouble myself to run after you with +any more news. Mistaken, indeed!" + +With her head held high, and her nose scornfully turned up, she jerked +her little brother past him, and went quickly around the corner of the +street. + +The indignation of some of the rabbis knew no bounds. "It has turned out +just as I predicted," said the scribe to Laban, at supper. "They are +nothing but a set of gluttons and wine-bibbers!" + +There was nothing else talked of during the entire meal. How Joel's +blood boiled as he listened to their conversation! The food seemed to +choke him. As they applied one coarse epithet after another to his +friend Phineas, all the kindness and care this man had ever given him +seemed to rise up before him. But when they turned on the Nazarene, all +the stories Joel had heard in the carpenter's house of His gentle +sinless childhood, all the tokens he had seen himself of His pure +unselfish manhood, seemed to cry out against such gross injustice. + +It was no light thing for a child to contradict the doctors of the Law, +and, in a case of this kind, little less than a crime to take the stand +Joel did. + +But the memory of two faces gave him courage: that of Phineas as it had +looked on him through all those busy happy hours in the carpenter's +home; the other face he had seen but once, that day of healing in the +synagogue,--who, having once looked into the purity of those eyes, the +infinite tenderness of that face, could sit calmly by and raise no voice +against the calumny of his enemies? + +The little cripple was white to the lips, and he trembled from head to +foot as he stood up to speak. + +The scribe lifted up both hands, and turned to Laban with a meaning +shrug of the shoulders. "To think of finding such heresy in your own +household!" he exclaimed. "Among your own children!" + +"He is no child of mine!" retorted Laban. "Nor shall he stay among +them!" Then he turned to Joel. + +"Boy, take back every word you have just uttered! Swear you will +renounce this man,--this son of perdition,--and never have aught to say +well of Him again!" + +Joel looked around the table, at each face that shone out pale and +excited in the yellow lamplight. His eyes were dilated with fear; his +heart thumped so in the awful pause that followed, that he thought +everybody else must hear it. + +"I cannot!" he said hoarsely. "Oh, I cannot!" + +"Then take yourself out of my sight forever. The doors of this house +shall never open for you again!" + +There was a storm of abuse from the angry man at this open defiance of +his authority. With these two cold, stern men to nod approval at his +zealousness, he went to greater lengths than he might otherwise have +done. + +With one more frightened glance around the table, the child hurried out +of the room. The door into the street creaked after him, and Joel limped +out into the night, with his uncle's curse ringing in his ears. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +PHINEAS, going along the beach that night, in the early moonlight, +towards his home, saw a little figure crouched in the shadow of a low +building beside the wharf. It was shaking with violent sobs. He went up +to the child, and took its hands down from its wet face, with a +comforting expression of pity. Then he started back in surprise. It was +Joel! + +"Why, my child! My poor child!" he exclaimed, putting his arm around the +trembling, misshapen form. "What is the meaning of all this?" + +"Uncle Laban has driven me away from home!" sobbed the boy. "He was +angry because you and Rabbi Jesus were invited to Levi-Matthew's feast. +He says I have denied the faith, and am worse than an infidel. He says I +am fit only to be cast out with the dogs and publicans!--and--and--" he +ended with a wail. "Oh, he sent me away with his curse!" + +Phineas drew him closer, and stroked the head on his shoulder in pitying +silence. + +"Fatherless and motherless and lame!" the boy sobbed bitterly. "And now, +a homeless outcast, blighted by a curse, I have been sitting here with +my feet in the dark water, thinking how easy it would be to slip down +into it and forget; but, Rabbi Phineas, that face will not let me,--that +face of your friend,--I keep seeing it all the time!" + +Phineas gathered the boy so close in his arms that Joel could feel his +strong, even heart-beats. + +"My child," he said solemnly, "call me no more, Rabbi! Henceforth, it is +to be _father_ Phineas. You shall be to me as my own son!" + +"But the curse!" sobbed Joel. "The curse that is set upon me! It will +blight you too!" + +"Nay," was the quiet answer; "for it is written, 'As the bird by +wandering, as the swallow by flying, _so the curse, causeless, shall not +come_.'" + +But the boy still shook as with a chill. His face and hands were burning +hot. + +"Come!" said Phineas. He picked him up in his strong arms, and carried +him down the beach to Abigail's motherly care and comforting. + +"He will be a long time getting over the shock of this," she said to +her husband, when he was at last soothed to sleep. + +"Ah, loyal little heart!" he answered, "he has suffered much for the +sake of his friendship with us!" + +Poor little storm-tossed bark! In the days that followed he had reason +to bless the boisterous winds, that blew him to such a safe and happy +harbor! + + * * * * * + +Over on the horns of Mount Hattin, the spring morning began to shine. +The light crept slowly down the side of the old mountain, till it fell +on a little group of men talking earnestly together. It was the Preacher +of Galilee, who had just chosen twelve men from among those who followed +Him to help Him in His ministry. + +They gathered around Him in the fresh mountain dawn, as He pictured the +life in store for them. Strange they did not quail before it, and turn +back disheartened. Nay, not strange! For in the weeks they had been with +Him, they had learned to love Him so, that His "follow me," that drew +them from the toll-gate and fishing-boat, was stronger than ties of home +and kindred. + +Just about this time, Phineas and Joel were starting out from Capernaum +to the mountain. Hundreds of people were already on the way; people who +had come from all parts of Judea, and beyond the Jordan. Clouds of dust +rose above the highway as the travellers trudged along. + +Joel was obliged to walk slowly, so that by the time they reached the +plain below, a great multitude had gathered. + +"Let's get close," he whispered. He had heard that those who barely +touched the garments of the strange Rabbi were made whole, and it was +with the hope that he might steal up and touch Him unobserved that he +had begged Phineas to take him on such a long, painful walk. + +"There is too great a crowd, now," answered Phineas. "Let us rest here +awhile, and listen. Let me lift you up on this big rock, so that you can +see. 'Sh! He is speaking!" + +Joel looked up, and, for the second time in his life, listened to words +that thrilled him like a trumpet call,--words that through eighteen +hundred years have not ceased to vibrate; with what mighty power they +must have fallen when, for the first time, they broke the morning +stillness of those mountain wilds! + +Joel forgot the press of people about him, forgot even where he was, as +sentence after sentence seemed to lift him out of himself, till he +could catch glimpses of lofty living such as he had never even dreamed +of before. + +Round by round, he seemed to be carried up some high ladder of thought +by that voice, away from all that was common and low and earthly, to a +summit of infinite love and light. + +Still the voice led on, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, 'An eye +for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'" + +Joel started so violently at hearing his own familiar motto, that he +nearly lost his balance on the rock. + +"But I say unto you that you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite +thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.... Ye have heard +that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine +enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, +do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use +you, and persecute you." + +Poor little Joel, it was a hard doctrine for him to accept! How could he +give up his hope of revenge, when it had grown with his growth till it +had come to be as dear as life itself? + +He heard little of the rest of the sermon, for through it all the words +kept echoing, "Bless them that curse you! Do good to them that hate +you! Pray for them which despitefully use you!" + +"Oh, I can't! I can't!" he groaned inwardly. + +"I have found a chance for you to ride home," said Phineas, when the +sermon was over, and the people began to file down the narrow mountain +paths. "But there will be time for you to go to Him first, for healing. +You have only to ask, you know." + +Joel took an eager step forward, and then shrank back guiltily. "Not +now," he murmured, "some other time." He could not look into those clear +eyes and ask a blessing, when he knew his heart was black with hate. + +After all his weeks of waiting the opportunity had come; but he dared +not let the Sinless One look into his soul. + +Phineas began an exclamation of surprise, but was interrupted by some +one asking him a question. Joel took advantage of this to climb up +behind the man who had offered him a ride. All the way home he weighed +the two desires in his mind,--the hope of healing, and the hope of +revenge. + +By the time the two guardian fig-trees were in sight, he had decided. He +would rather go helpless and halting through life than give up his +cherished purpose. + +But there was no sleep for him that night, after he had gone up to his +little chamber on the roof. He seemed to see that pleading face on the +mountain-side; it came to him again and again, with the words, "Bless +them that curse you! Pray for them that despitefully use you!" + +All night he fought against yielding to it. Time and again he turned +over on his bed, and closed his eyes; but it would not let him alone. + +He thought of Jacob wrestling with the angel till day-break, and knew in +his heart that the sweet spirit of forgiveness striving with his selfish +nature was some heavenly impulse from another world. + +At last when the cock-crowing commenced at dawn, and the stars were +beginning to fade, he drew up his crooked little body, and knelt with +his face to the kindling east. + +"Father in heaven," he prayed softly, "bless mine enemy Rehum, and +forgive all my sins,--fully and freely as I now forgive the wrong he has +done to me." + +A feeling of light-heartedness and peace, such as he had never known +before, stole over him. He could not settle himself to sleep, though +worn out with his night's long vigil. + +[Illustration: "NOT A WORD WAS SAID"] + +Hastily slipping on his clothes, he tiptoed down the stairs, and limped, +bare-headed, down to the beach. The lake shimmered and glowed under the +faint rose and gray of the sky like a deep opal. The early breeze blew +the hair back from his pale face with a refreshing coolness. + +It seemed to him the world had never looked one half so beautiful +before, as he stood there. + +A firm tread on the gravel made him turn partly around. A man was coming +up the beach; it was the friend of Phineas. As if drawn by some +uncontrollable impulse, Joel started to meet Him, an unspoken prayer in +his pleading little face. + +Not a word was said. For one little instant Joel stood there by the +shining sea, his hand held close in the loving hand of the world's +Redeemer. For one little instant he looked up into His face; then the +man passed on. + +Joel covered his face with his hands, seeming to hear the still small +voice that spoke to the prophet out of the whirlwind. + +"He is the Christ!" he whispered reverently,--"He is the Christ!" + +In his exalted feeling all thought of a cure had left him; but as he +walked on down the beach, he noticed that he no longer limped. He was +moving along with strong, quick strides. He shook himself and threw +back his shoulders; there was no pain in the movement. He passed his +hands over his back and down his limbs. + +Oh, he was straight and strong and sinewy! He seemed a stranger to +himself, as running and leaping, then stopping to look down and feel his +limbs again, he ran madly on. + +Suddenly he cast his garments aside and dived into the lake. Before his +injury, he had been able to swim like a fish, now he reached out with +long powerful strokes that sent him darting through the cold water with +a wonderful sense of exhilaration. + +Then he dressed again, and went on running and leaping and climbing till +he was exhausted, and his first wild delirious joy began to subside into +a deep quiet thankfulness. Then he went home, radiant in the happiness +of his new-found cure. + +But more than the mystery of the miracle, more than the joy of the +healing, was the remembrance of that moment, that one little moment, +when he felt the clasp of the Master's hand, and seemed wrapped about +with the boundless love of God. + +From that moment, he lived but to serve and to follow Him. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +HIGH up among the black lava crags of Perea stood the dismal fortress of +Macherus. Behind its close prison bars a restless captive groped his way +back and forth in a dungeon cell. Sometimes, at long intervals, he was +given such liberty as a chained eagle might have, when he was led up +into one of the towers of the gloomy keep, and allowed to look down, +down into the bottomless gorges surrounding it. For months he had chafed +in the darkness of his underground dungeon; escape was impossible. + +It was John Baptist, brought from the wild, free life of the desert to +the tortures of the "Black Castle." Here he lay at the mercy of Herod +Antipas, and death might strike at any moment. More than once, the +whimsical monarch had sent for him, as he sat at his banquets, to be the +sport of the passing hour. + +The lights, the color, the flash of gems may have dazzled his eyes for a +brief space, accustomed as they were to the midnight darkness of his +cell; but his keen vision saw, under the paint and purple of royal +apparel, the corrupt life of king and court. + +Pointing his stern, accusing finger at the uneasy king, he cried, "It is +not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife!" With words that stung +like hurtling arrows, he laid bare the blackened, beastly life that +sought to hide its foulness under royal ermine. + +Antipas cowered before him; and while he would gladly have been freed +from a man who had such power over him, he dared not lift a finger +against the fearless, unflinching Baptist. + +But the guilty Herodias bided her time, with blood-thirsty impatience; +his life should pay the penalty of his bold speech. + +Meanwhile he waited in his cell, with nothing but memories to relieve +the tediousness of the long hours. Over and over again he lived those +scenes of his strange life in the desert,--those days of his +preparation,--the preaching to the multitudes, the baptizing at the ford +of the Jordan. + +He wondered if his words still lived; if any of his followers still +believed on him. But more than all, he wondered what had become of that +One on whom he had seen the spirit of God descending out of heaven in +the form of a dove. + +"Where art Thou now?" he cried. "If Thou art the Messiah, why dost Thou +not set up Thy kingdom, and speedily give Thy servant his liberty?" The +empty room rang often with that cry; but the hollow echo of his own +words was the only answer. + +One day the door of his cell creaked back far enough to admit two men, +and then shut again, leaving them in total darkness. In that momentary +flash of light, he recognized two old followers of his, Timeus bar Joram +and Benjamin the potter. + +With a cry of joy he groped his way toward them, and clung to their +friendly hands. + +"How did you manage to penetrate these Roman-guarded walls?" he asked, +in astonishment. + +"I knew the warden," answered Benjamin. "A piece of silver conveniently +closes his eyes to many things. But we must hasten! Our time is +limited." + +They had much to tell of the outside world. Pilate had just given +special offence, by appropriating part of the treasure of the Temple, +derived from the Temple tax, to defray the cost of great conduits he had +begun, with which to supply Jerusalem with water. + +Stirred up by the priests and rabbis, the people besieged the government +house, crying loudly that the works be given up. Armed with clubs, +numbers of soldiers in plain clothes surrounded the great mob, and +killed so many of the people that the wildest excitement prevailed +throughout all Judea and Galilee. + +There was a cry for a national uprising to avenge the murder. + +"They only need a leader!" exclaimed John. "Where is He for whom I was +but a voice crying in the wilderness? Why does He not show Himself?" + +"We have just come from the village of Nain," said Timeus bar Joram. "We +saw Him stop a funeral procession and raise a widow's son to life. He +was followed by a motley throng whom He had healed of all sorts of +diseases; and there were twelve men whom He had chosen as life-long +companions. + +"We questioned some of them closely, and they gave us marvellous reports +of the things He had done." + +"Is it not strange," asked Benjamin the potter, "that having such power +He still delays to establish His kingdom?" + +The captive prophet made no answer for awhile. Then he groped in the +thick darkness till his hand rested heavily on Benjamin's arm. + +"Go back, and say that John Baptist asks, 'Art Thou the Coming One, or +must we look for another?'" + +Days passed before the devoted friends found themselves once more inside +the prison walls. They had had a weary journey over rough hills and +rocky by-paths. + +"What did He say?" demanded the prisoner, eagerly. + +"Go and tell John what ye saw and heard: that the blind receive sight; +the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed; the deaf hear; the dead are +raised; and the poor have the gospel preached unto them." + +The man stood up, his long hair hanging to his shoulder, his hand +uplifted, and his eyes dilated like a startled deer that has caught the +sound of a coming step. + +"The fulfilment of the words of Isaiah!" he cried. "For he hath said, +'Your God will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be +opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame +man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing!' Yea, he _hath_ +bound up the broken-hearted; and he shall yet 'proclaim liberty to the +captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to +proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord!'" + +Then with both hands clasped high above his head, he made the prison +ring with the cry, "The kingdom is at hand! The kingdom is at hand! I +shall soon be free!" + +Not long after that, the castle blazed with the lights of another +banquet. The faint aroma of wines, mingled with the heavy odor of +countless flowers, could not penetrate the grim prison walls. Nor could +the gay snatches of song and the revelry of the feast. No sound of +applause reached the prisoner's ear, when the daughter of Herodias +danced before the king. + +Sitting in darkness while the birthday banqueters held high carnival, he +heard the heavy tramp of soldiers' feet coming down the stairs to his +dungeon. The great bolts shot back, the rusty hinges turned, and a +lantern flickered its light in his face, as he stood up to receive his +executioners. + +A little while later his severed head was taken on a charger to the +smiling dancing girl. She stifled a shriek when she saw it; but the +wicked Herodias looked at it with a gleam of triumph in her treacherous +black eyes. + +When the lights were out, and the feasters gone, two men came in at the +warden's bidding,--two men with heavy hearts, and voices that shook a +little when they spoke to each other. They were Timeus and Benjamin. +Silently they lifted the body of their beloved master, and carried it +away for burial; and if a tear or two found an unaccustomed path down +their bearded cheeks, no one knew it, under cover of the darkness. + +So, out of the Black Castle of Macherus, out of the prison-house of a +mortal body, the white-souled prophet of the wilderness went forth at +last into liberty. + +For him, the kingdom was indeed at hand. + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile in the upper country, Phineas was following his friend from +village to village. He had dropped his old familiar form of address, so +much was he impressed by the mysterious power he saw constantly +displayed. + +Now when he spoke of the man who had been both friend and playfellow, +it was almost reverently that he gave Him the title of Master. + +It was with a heavy heart that Joel watched them go away. He, too, +longed to follow; but he knew that unless he took the place at the +bench, Phineas could not be free to go. + +Gratitude held him to his post. No, not gratitude alone; he was learning +the Master's own spirit of loving self-sacrifice. As he dropped the +plumb-line over his work, he measured himself by that perfect life, and +tried to straighten himself to its unbending standard. + +He had his reward in the look of pleasure that he saw on the carpenter's +face when Phineas came in, unexpectedly, one day, dusty and +travel-stained. + +"How much you have accomplished!" he said in surprise. "You have filled +my place like a grown man." + +Joel stretched his strong arms with a slight laugh. "It is a pleasure to +work now," he said. "It seems so queer never to have a pain, or that +worn-out feeling of weakness that used to be always with me. At first I +was often afraid it was all a happy dream, and could not last. I am +getting used to it now. Where is the Master?" Joel asked, as Phineas +turned towards the house. + +"He is the guest of Simon. He will be here some days, my son. I know you +wish to be with Him as much as possible, so I shall not expect your help +as long as He stays." + +"If I could only do something for Him!" was Joel's constant thought +during the next few days. Once he took a coin from the little money bag +that held his hoarded savings--a coin that was to have helped buy his +revenge--and bought the ripest, juiciest pear he could find in the +market. Often he brought Him water, fresh and cold from the well when He +looked tired and warm from His unceasing work. + +Wherever the Master turned, there, close beside Him, was a beaming +little face, so full of love and childish sympathy that it must have +brought more refreshment to His thirsty soul than either the choice +fruit or the cooling water. + +One evening after a busy day, when He had talked for hours to the people +on the seashore who had gathered around the boat in which He sat, He +sent away the multitude. + +"Let us pass over unto the other side," He said. + +Joel slipped up to Andrew, who was busily arranging their sails. "Let me +go, too!" he whispered pleadingly. + +"Well," assented the man, carelessly, "You can make yourself useful, I +suppose. Will you hand me that rope?" + +Joel sprang to obey. Presently the boat pushed away from the shore, and +the town, with its tumult and its twinkling lights, was soon left far +behind. + +The sea was like glass, so calm and unruffled that every star above +could look down and see its unbroken reflection in the dark water below. + +Joel, in the hinder part of the ship, lay back in his seat with a sigh +of perfect enjoyment. The smooth gliding motion of the boat rested him; +the soft splash of the water soothed his excited brain. He had seen his +Uncle Laban that afternoon among other of the scribes and Pharisees, and +heard him declare that Beelzebub alone was responsible for the wonders +they witnessed. + +Joel's indignation flared up again at the memory. He looked down at the +Master, who had fallen asleep on a pillow, and wondered how anybody +could possibly believe such evil things about Him. + +It was cooler out where they were now. He wondered if he ought not to +lay some covering over the sleeping form. He took off the outer mantle +that he wore, and bent forward to lay it over the Master's feet. But he +drew back timidly, afraid of wakening Him. "I'll wait awhile," he said +to himself, folding the garment across his knees in readiness. + +Several times he reached forward to lay it over Him, and each time drew +back. Then he fell asleep himself. + +From its situation in the basin of the hills, the Galilee is subject to +sudden and furious storms. The winds, rushing down the heights, meet and +clash above the water, till the waves run up like walls, then sink again +into seething whirlpools of danger. + +Joel, falling asleep in a dead calm, awoke to find the ship rolling and +tossing and half-full of water. The lightning's track was followed so +closely by the crash of thunder, there was not even pause enough between +to take one terrified gasp. + +Still the Master slept. Joel, drenched to the skin, clung to the boat's +side, expecting that every minute would be his last. It was so dark and +wild and awful! How helpless they were, buffetted about in the fury of +the storm! + +As wave after wave beat in, some of the men could no longer control +their fear. + +"Master!" they called to the sleeping man, as they bent over Him in +terror. "Carest Thou not that we perish?" + +He heard the cry for help. The storm could not waken Him from His deep +sleep of exhaustion, but at the first despairing human voice, He was up, +ready to help. + +Looking up at the midnight blackness of the sky, and down at the wild +waste of waters, He stretched out His hand. + +"_Peace!_" he commanded in a deep voice. "_Be still!_" The storm sank to +earth as suddenly as a death-stricken raven; a great calm spread over +the face of the waters. The silent stars shone out in their places; the +silent sea mirrored back their glory at His feet. + +The men huddled fearfully together. "What manner of man is this?" they +asked, one of another. "Even the wind and the sea obey Him!" + +Joel, looking up at the majestic form, standing so quietly by the +railing, thought of the voice that once rang out over the night of +Creation with the command, "Let there be light!" At its mere bidding +light had flowed in across the darkness of primeval night. + +Just so had this voice thrilled the storm with its "Peace! Be still!" +into utter calm. + +The child crouched at His feet, burying his face in his mantle, and +whispering, in awe and adoration, "He _is_ the Christ! He is the son of +God!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +AFTER that night of the voyage to the Gadarenes, Joel ceased to be +surprised at the miracles he daily witnessed. Even when the little +daughter of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, was called back to life, +it did not seem so wonderful to him as the stilling of the tempest. + +Many a night after Phineas had gone away again with the Master to other +cities, Joel used to go down to the beach, and stand looking across the +water as he recalled that scene. + +The lake had always been an interesting place to him at night. He liked +to watch the fishermen as they flashed their blazing torches this way +and that. A sympathetic thrill ran through him as they sighted their +prey, and raised their bare sinewy arms to fling the net or fly the +spear. + +But after that morning of healing, and that night of tempest, it seemed +to be a sacred place, to be visited only on still nights, when the town +slept, and heaven bent nearer in the starlight to the quiet earth. + +The time of the Passover was drawing near,--the time that Joel had been +looking forward to since Phineas had promised him a year ago that he +should go to Jerusalem. + +The twelve disciples who had been sent out to all the little towns +through Galilee, to teach the things they had themselves been taught, +and work miracles in the name of Him who had sent them, began to come +slowly back. They had an encouraging report to bring of their work; but +it was shadowed by the news they had heard of the murder of John +Baptist. + +Joel joined them as soon as they came into Capernaum, and walked beside +Phineas as the footsore travellers pressed on a little farther towards +Simon's house. + +"When are we going to start for Jerusalem?" was his first eager +question. + +Phineas looked searchingly into his face as he replied, "Would you be +greatly disappointed, my son, not to go this year?" + +Joel looked perplexed; it was such an unheard of thing for Phineas to +miss going up to the Feast of the Passover. + +"These are evil times, my Joel," he explained. "John Baptist has just +been beheaded. The Master has many enemies among those in high places. +It would be like walking into a lion's den for Him to go up to +Jerusalem. + +"Even here He is not safe from the hatred of Antipas, and after a little +rest will pass over into the borders of the tetrarch Philip. We have no +wish to leave Him!" + +"Oh, why should He be persecuted so?" asked Joel, looking with +tear-dimmed eyes at the man walking in advance of them, and talking in +low earnest tones to John, who walked beside Him. + +"You have been with Him so much, father Phineas. Have _you_ ever known +Him to do anything to make these men His enemies?" + +"Yes," said Phineas. "He has drawn the people after Him until they are +jealous of His popularity. He upsets their old traditions, and teaches a +religion that ignores some of the Laws of Moses. I can easily see why +they hate Him so. They see Him at such a long distance from themselves, +they can not understand Him. Healing on the Sabbath, eating with +publicans and sinners, disregarding the little customs and ceremonies +that in all ages have set apart our people as a chosen race, are crimes +in their eyes. + +"If they only could get close enough to understand Him; to see that His +pure life needs no ceremonies of multiplied hand-washings; that it is +His broad love for His fellow-men that makes Him stoop to the lowest +classes,--I am sure they could not do otherwise than love Him. + +"Blind fanatics! They would put to death the best man that ever lived, +because He is so much broader and higher than they that the little +measuring line of their narrow creed cannot compass Him!" + +"Is He never going to set up His kingdom?" asked Joel. "Does He never +talk about it?" + +"Yes," said Phineas; "though we are often puzzled by what He says, and +ask ourselves His meaning." + +They had reached the house by this time, and as Simon led the way to its +hospitable door, Phineas said, "Enter with them, my lad, if you wish. I +must go on to my little family, but will join you soon." + +To Joel's great pleasure, he found they were to cross the lake at once, +to the little fishing port of Bethsaida. It was only six miles across. + +"We have hardly had time to eat," said Andrew to Joel, as they walked +along towards the boat "I will be glad to get away to some desert +place, where we may have rest from the people that are always pushing +and clamoring about us." + +"How long before you start?" asked Joel. + +"In a very few minutes," answered Andrew; "for the boat is in +readiness." + +Joel glanced from the street above the beach to the water's edge, as if +calculating the distance. + +"Don't go without me," he said as, breaking into a run, he dashed up the +beach at his utmost speed. He was back again in a surprisingly quick +time, with a cheap little basket in his hand; he was out of breath with +his rapid run. + +"Didn't I go fast?" he panted. "I could not have done that a few weeks +ago. Oh, it feels so good to be able to run when I please! It is like +flying." + +He lifted the cover of the basket. "See!" he said. "I thought the Master +might be hungry; but I had no time to get anything better. I had to stop +at the first stall I came to." + +At the same time the boat went gliding out into the water with its +restful motion, thousands of people were pouring out of the villages on +foot, and hurrying on around the lake, ahead of them. + +The boat passed up a narrow winding creek, away from the sail-dotted +lake; its green banks seemed to promise the longed-for quiet and rest. +But there in front of them waited the crowds they had come so far to +avoid. + +They had brought their sick for healing. They needed to be helped and +taught; they were "as sheep without a shepherd!" He could not refuse +them. + +Joel found no chance to offer the food he had bought so hastily with +another of his hoarded coins,--the coins that were to have purchased his +revenge. + +As the day wore on, he heard the disciples ask that the multitudes might +be sent away. + +"It would take two hundred pennyworth of bread to feed them," said +Philip, "and even that would not be enough." + +Andrew glanced over the great crowds and stroked his beard thoughtfully. +"There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, +but what are they among so many?" + +Joel hurried forward and held out his basket with its little +store,--five flat round loaves of bread, not much more than one hungry +man could eat, and two dried fishes. + +He hardly knew what to expect as the people were made to sit down on the +grass in orderly ranks of fifties. + +His eyes grew round with astonishment as the Master took the bread, gave +thanks, and then passed it to the disciples, who, in turn, distributed +it among the people. Then the two little fishes were handed around in +the same way. + +Joel turned to Phineas, who had joined them some time ago. "Do you see +that?" he asked excitedly. "They have been multiplied a thousand fold!" + +Phineas smiled. "We drop one tiny grain of wheat into the earth," he +said, "and when it grows and spreads and bears dozens of other grains on +its single stalk, we are not astonished. When the Master but does in an +instant, what Nature takes months to do, we cry, 'a miracle!' 'Men are +more wont to be astonished at the sun's eclipse, than at its daily +rising,'" he quoted, remembering his conversation with the old +traveller, on his way to Nathan ben Obed's. + +A feeling of exaltation seized the people as they ate the mysterious +bread; it seemed that the days of miraculous manna had come again. By +the time they had all satisfied their hunger, and twelve basketfuls of +the fragments had been gathered up, they were ready to make Him their +king. The restlessness of the times had taken possession of them; the +burning excitement must find vent in some way, and with one accord they +demanded Him as their leader. + +Joel wondered why He should refuse. Surely no other man he had ever +known could have resisted such an appeal. + +The perplexed fisherman, at Jesus's command, turned their boat homeward +without Him. To their simple minds it seemed that He had made a mistake +in resisting the homage forced upon Him by the people; they longed for +the time to come when they should be recognized as the honored officials +in the new kingdom. Many a dream of future power and magnificence must +have come to them in the still watches of the night, as they drifted +home in the white light of the Passover moon. + +Many a time in the weeks that followed, Joel slipped away to his +favorite spot on the beech, a flat rock half hidden by a clump of +oleander bushes. Here, with his feet idly dangling in the ripples, he +looked out over the water, and recalled the scenes he had witnessed +there. + +It seemed so marvellous to him that the Master could have ever walked +on those shining waves; and yet he had seen Him that night after the +feeding of the multitudes. He had seen, with his own frightened eyes, +the Master walk calmly towards the boat across the unsteady water, and +catch up the sinking Peter, who had jumped overboard to meet Him. It +grieved and fretted the boy that this man, of God-given power and such +sweet unselfish spirit, could be so persistently misunderstood by the +people. He could think of nothing else. + +He had not been with the crowds that pressed into the synagogue the +Sabbath after the thousands had been fed; but Phineas came home with +grim lips and knitted brows, and told him about it. + +"The Master knew they followed Him because of the loaves and fishes," he +said. "He told them so. + +"When we came out of the door, I could not help looking up at the lintel +on which is carved the pot of manna; for when they asked Him for a sign +that they might believe Him, saying, 'Our fathers ate manna in the +wilderness!' He answered: 'I am the bread of life! Ye have seen me, and +yet believe not!' + +"While He talked there was a murmuring all over the house against Him, +because He said that He had come down from heaven. Your uncle Laban was +there. I heard him say scornfully: 'Is not this the son of Joseph, whose +father and mother we know? How doth He now say, "I am come down out of +heaven"?' Then he laughed a mocking little laugh, and nudged the man who +stood next to him. There are many like him; I could feel a spirit of +prejudice and persecution in the very air. Many who have professed to be +His friends have turned against Him." + +While Phineas was pouring out his anxious forebodings to his wife and +Joel, the Master was going homeward with His chosen twelve. + +"Would ye also go away?" He asked wistfully of His companions, as He +noted the cold, disapproving looks of many who had only the day before +been fed by Him, and who now openly turned their backs on Him. + +Simon Peter gave a questioning glance into the faces of his companions; +then he pressed a step nearer. "Lord, to whom shall we go?" he answered +impulsively. "Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed, +and know that Thou art the Holy One of God." + +The others nodded their assent, all but one. Judas Iscariot clutched the +money bags he held, and looked off across the lake, to avoid the +searching eyes that were fixed upon him. + +These honest Galileans were too simple to suspect others of dark +designs, yet they had never felt altogether free with this stranger from +Judea. He had never seemed entirely one of them. They did not see in his +crafty quiet manners, the sheep's clothing that hid his wolfish nature; +but they could feel his lack of sympathetic enthusiasm. + +He had been one of those who followed only for the loaves and fishes of +a temporal kingdom, and now, in his secret soul, he was sorry he had +joined a cause in whose final success he was beginning to lose faith. + +The sun went down suddenly that night behind a heavy cloud, as a +gathering storm began to lash the Galilee and rock the little boats +anchored at the landings. + +The year of popularity was at an end. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +ABIGAIL sat just inside the door, turning the noisy hand-mill that +ground out the next day's supply of flour. The rough mill-stones grated +so harshly on each other that she did not hear the steps coming up the +path. A shadow falling across the door-way made her look up. + +"You are home early, my Phineas," she said, with a smile. "Well, I shall +soon have your supper ready. Joel has gone to the market for some honey +and--" + +"Nay! I have little wish to eat," he interrupted, "but I have much to +say to you. Come! the work can wait." + +Abigail put the mill aside, and brushing the flour from her hands, sat +down on the step beside him, wondering much at his troubled face. + +He plunged into his subject abruptly. "The Master is soon going away," +he said, "that those in the uttermost parts of Galilee may be taught of +Him. And He would fain have others beside the twelve He has chosen to go +with Him on His journey." + +"And you wish to go too?" she questioned, as he paused. + +"Yes! How can I do otherwise? And yet how can I leave you and the little +ones alone in these troubled times? You cannot think how great the +danger is. Remember how many horrors we have lately heard. The whole +country is a smouldering volcano, ready to burst into an eruption at any +moment. A leader has only to arise, and all Israel will take up arms +against the powers that trample us under foot." + +"Is not this prophet, Jesus, He who is to save Israel?" asked Abigail. +"Is He not even now making ready to establish His kingdom?" + +"I do not understand Him at all!" said Phineas, sadly. "He does talk of +a kingdom in which we are all to have a part; but He never seems to be +working to establish it. He spends all His time in healing diseases and +forgiving penitent sinners, and telling us to love our neighbors. + +"Then, again, why should He go down to the beach, and choose for His +confidential friends just simple fishermen. They have neither influence +nor money. As for the choice of that publican Levi-Matthew, it has +brought disgrace on the whole movement. He does not seem to know how to +sway the popular feeling. I believe He might have had the support of the +foremost men of the nation, if He had approached them differently. + +"He shocks them by setting aside laws they would lay down their lives +rather than violate. He associates with those they consider unclean; and +all His miracles cannot make them forget how boldly He has rebuked them +for hypocrisy and unrighteousness. They never will come to His support +now; and I do not see how a new government can be formed without their +help." + +Abigail laid her hand on his, her dark eyes glowing with intense +earnestness, as she answered: "What need is there of armies and human +hands to help? + +"Where were the hosts of Pharaoh when our fathers passed through the Red +Sea? Was there bloodshed and fighting there? + +"Who battled for us when the walls of Jericho fell down? Whose hand +smote the Assyrians at Sennacherib? Is the Lord's arm shortened that He +cannot save? + +"Why may not His prophet speak peace to Jerusalem as easily as He did +the other night to the stormy sea? Why may not His power be multiplied +even as the loaves and fishes? + +"Why may not the sins and backslidings of the people be healed as well +as Joel's lameness; or the glory of the nation be quickened into a new +life, as speedily as He raised the daughter of Jairus? + +"Isaiah called Him the Prince of Peace. What are all these lessons, if +not to teach us that the purposes of God do not depend on human hands to +work out their fulfilment?" + +Her low voice thrilled him with its inspiring questions, and he looked +down into her rapt face with a feeling of awe. + +"Abigail," he said softly, "'my source of joy,'--you are rightly named. +You have led me out of the doubts that have been my daily torment. I see +now, why He never incites us to rebel against the yoke of Cæsar. In the +fulness of time He will free us with a breath. + +"How strange it should have fallen to my lot to have been His playmate +and companion. My wonder is not that He is the Messiah; but that I +should have called Him friend, all these years, unknowing." + +"How long do you expect to be away?" she asked, after a pause, suddenly +returning to the first subject. + +"Several months, perhaps. There is no telling what insurrections and +riots may arise, all through this part of the country. Since the murder +of John Baptist, Herod has come back to his court in Tiberias. I dislike +to leave you here alone." + +Abigail, too, looked grave, and neither spoke for a little while. "I +have it!" she exclaimed at length, with a pleased light in her eyes. "I +have often wished I could make a long visit in the home of my girlhood. +The few days I have spent in my father's house, those few times I have +gone with you to the feasts, have been so short and unsatisfactory. Can +I not take Joel and the children to Bethany? Neither father nor mother +has ever seen little Ruth, and we could be so safe and happy there till +your return." + +"Why did I not come to you before with my worries?" asked Phineas. "How +easily you make the crooked places straight!" + +Just then the children came running back from the market. Abigail went +into the house with the provisions they had brought, leaving their +father to tell them of the coming separation and the long journey they +had planned. + +A week later, Phineas stood at the city gate, watching a little company +file southward down the highway. He had hired two strong, +gayly-caparisoned mules from the owner of the caravan. Abigail rode on +one, holding little Ruth in her arms; Joel mounted the other, with Jesse +clinging close behind him. + +Abigail, thinking of the joyful welcome awaiting her in her old home, +and the children happy in the novelty of the journey, set out gayly. + +But Phineas, thinking of the dangers by the way, and filled with many +forebodings, watched their departure with a heavy heart. + +At the top of a little rise in the road, they turned to look back and +wave their hands. In a moment more they were out of sight. Then Phineas, +grasping his staff more firmly, turned away, and started on foot in the +other direction, to follow to the world's end, if need be, the friend +who had gone on before. + +It was in the midst of the barley harvest. Jesse had never been in the +country before. For the first time, Nature spread for him her great +picture-book of field and forest and vineyard, while Abigail read to him +the stories. + +First on one side of the road, then the other, she pointed out some spot +and told its history. + +Here was Dothan, where Joseph went out to see his brothers, dressed in +his coat of many colors. There was Mount Gilboa, where the arrows of the +Philistines wounded Saul, and he fell on his own sword and killed +himself. Shiloh, where Hannah brought little Samuel to give him to the +Lord; where the Prophet Eli, so old that his eyes were too dim to see, +sat by the gate waiting for news from the army, and when word was +brought back that his two sons were dead, and the Ark of the Covenant +taken, here it was that he fell backward from his seat, and his neck was +broken. + +All these she told, and many more. Then she pointed to the gleaners in +the fields, and told the children to notice how carefully Israel still +kept the commandment given so many centuries before: "When ye reap the +harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy +field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou +shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of +thy vineyard, thou shalt leave them for the poor and the stranger." + +At Jacob's well, where they stopped to rest, Joel lifted Jesse up, and +let him look over the curb. The child almost lost his balance in +astonishment, when his own wondering little face looked up at him from +the deep well. He backed away from it quickly, and looked carefully into +the cup of water Joel handed him, for more than a minute, before he +ventured to drink. + +The home to which Abigail was going was a wealthy one. Her father, +Reuben, was a goldsmith, and for years had been known in Jerusalem not +only for the beautifully wrought ornaments and precious stones that he +sold in his shop near the Temple, but for his rich gifts to the poor. + +"Reuben the Charitable," he was called, and few better deserved the +name. His business took him every day to the city; but his home was in +the little village of Bethany, two miles away. It was one of the largest +in Bethany, and seemed like a palace to the children, when compared to +the humble little home in Capernaum. + +Joel only looked around with admiring eyes; but Jesse walked about, +laying curious little fingers on everything he passed. The bright +oriental curtains, the soft cushions and the costly hangings, he +smoothed and patted. Even the silver candlesticks and the jewelled cups +on the side table were picked up and examined, when his mother happened +to have her back turned. + +[Illustration: "'WE TALKED LATE'"] + +There were no pictures in the house; the Law forbade. But there were +several mirrors of bright polished metal, and Jesse never tired of +watching his own reflection in them. + +Ruth stayed close beside her mother. "She is a ray of God's own +sunshine," said her grandmother, as she took her in her arms for the +first time. The child, usually afraid of strangers, saw in Rebecca's +face a look so like her mother's that she patted the wrinkled cheeks +with her soft fingers. From that moment her grandmother was her devoted +slave. + +Jesse was not long in finding the place he held in his grandfather's +heart. The old man, whose sons had all died years before, seemed to +centre all his hopes on this son of his only daughter. He kept Jesse +with him as much as possible; his happiest hours were when he had the +child on his knee, teaching him the prayers and precepts and proverbs +that he knew would be a lamp to his feet in later years. + +"Nay! do not punish the child!" he said, one morning when Jesse had been +guilty of some disobedience. Abigail went on stripping the leaves +from an almond switch she just had broken off. + +"Why, father," she said, with a smile, "I have often seen you punish my +brothers for such disobedience, and have as often heard you say that one +of Solomon's wisest sayings is, 'Chasten thy son while there is hope, +and let not thy soul spare for his crying.' Jesse misses his father's +firm rule, and is getting sadly spoiled." + +"That is all true, my daughter," he acknowledged; "still I shall not +stay here to witness his punishment." + +Abigail used the switch as she had intended. The boy had overheard the +conversation, and the cries that reached his grandfather as he rode off +to the city were unusually loud and appealing. They may have had +something to do with the package the good man carried home that +night,--cakes and figs and a gay little turban more befitting a young +prince than the son of a carpenter. + +"Who lives across the street?" asked Joel, the morning after their +arrival. + +"Two old friends of mine," answered Abigail. "They came to see me last +night as soon as they heard I had arrived. You children were all asleep. +We talked late, for they wanted to hear all I could tell them of Rabbi +Jesus. He was here last year, and Martha said He and her brother Lazarus +became fast friends. Ah, there is Lazarus now!--that young man just +coming out of the house. He is a scribe, and goes up to write in one of +the rooms of the Temple nearly every day. + +"Mary says some of the copies of the Scriptures he has made are the most +beautifully written that she has ever seen." + +"See!" exclaimed Joel, "he has dropped one of the rolls of parchment he +was carrying, and does not know it. I'll run after him with it." + +He was hardly yet accustomed to the delight of being so fleet of foot; +no halting step now to hinder him. He almost felt as if he were flying, +and was by the young man's side nearly as soon as he had started. + +"Ah, you are the guest of my good neighbor, Reuben," Lazarus said, after +thanking him courteously. "Are you not the lad whose lameness has just +been healed by my best friend? My sisters were telling me of it. It must +be a strange experience to suddenly find yourself changed from a +helpless cripple to such a strong, straight lad as you are now. How did +it make you feel?" + +"Oh, I can never begin to tell you, Rabbi Lazarus," answered Joel. "I +did not even think of it that moment when He held my hand in His. I only +thought how much I loved Him. I had been starving before, but that +moment He took the place of everything,--father, mother, the home love I +had missed,--and more than that, the love of God seemed to come down and +fold me so close and safe, that I knew He was the Messiah. I did not +even notice that I was no longer lame, until I was far down the beach. +Oh, you do not know how I wanted to follow Him! If I could only have +gone with Him instead of coming here!" + +"Yes, my boy, I know!" answered the young man, gently; "for I, too, love +Him." + +This strong bond of sympathy between the two made them feel as if they +had known each other always. + +"Come walk with me a little way," said Lazarus. "I am going up to +Jerusalem to the Temple. Or rather, would you not like to come all the +way? I have only to carry these rolls to one of the priests, then I will +be at liberty to show you some of the strange sights in the city." + +Joel ran back for permission. Only stopping to wind his white linen +turban around his head, he soon regained his new-found friend. + +His recollection of Jerusalem was a very dim, confused one. Time and +time again he had heard pilgrims returning from the feasts trying to +describe their feelings when they had come in sight of the Holy City. +Now as they turned with the road, the view that rose before him made him +feel how tame their descriptions had been. + +The morning sun shone down on the white marble walls of the Temple and +the gold that glittered on the courts, as they rose one above the other; +tower and turret and pinnacle shot back a dazzling light. + +It did not seem possible to Joel that human hands could have wrought +such magnificence. He caught his breath, and uttered an exclamation of +astonishment. + +Lazarus smiled at his pleasure. "Come," he said, "it is still more +beautiful inside." + +They went very slowly through Solomon's Porch, for every one seemed to +know the young man, and many stopped to speak to him. Then they crossed +the Court of the Gentiles. It seemed like a market-place; for cages of +doves were kept there for sale, and lambs, calves, and oxen bleated and +lowed in their stalls till Joel could scarcely hear what his friend was +saying, as they pushed their way through the crowd, and stood before the +Gate Beautiful that led into the Court of the Women. + +Here Lazarus left Joel for a few moments, while he went to give the +rolls to the priest for whom he had copied them. + +Joel looked around. Then for the first time since his healing, he +wondered if it would be possible for him to ever take his place among +the Levites, or become a priest as he had been destined. + +While he wondered, Lazarus came back and led him into the next court. +Here he could look up and see the Holy Place, over which was trained a +golden vine, with clusters of grapes as large as a man's body, all of +purest gold. Beyond that he knew was a heavy veil of Babylonian +tapestry, hyacinth and scarlet and purple, that veiled in awful darkness +the Holy of Holies. + +As he stood there thinking of the tinkling bells, the silver trumpets, +the clouds of incense, and the mighty songs, a great longing came over +him to be one of those white-robed priests, serving daily in the +Temple. + +But with the wish came the recollection of a quiet hillside, where only +bird-calls and whirr of wings stirred the stillness; where a breeze from +the sparkling lake blew softly through the grass, and one Voice only was +heard, proclaiming its glad new gospel under the open sky. + +"No," he thought to himself; "I'd rather be with Him than wear the High +Priest's mitre." + +It was almost sundown when they found themselves on the road homeward. +They had visited place after place of interest. + +Lazarus found the boy an entertaining companion, and the friendship +begun that day grew deep and lasting. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +"WHAT are you looking for, grandfather?" called Jesse, as he pattered up +the outside stairs to the roof, where Reuben stood, scanning the sky +intently. + +"Come here, my son," he called. "Stand right here in front of me, and +look just where I point. What do you see?" + +The child peered anxiously into the blue depths just now lit up by the +sunset. + +"Oh, the new moon!" he cried. "Where did it come from?" + +"Summer hath dropped her silver sickle there, that Night may go forth to +harvest in her star-fields," answered the old man. Then seeing the look +of inquiry on the boy's face, hastened to add, "Nay, it is the censer +that God's hand set swinging in the sky, to remind us to keep the +incense of our praises ever rising heavenward. Even now a messenger may +be running towards the Temple, to tell the Sanhedrin that it has +appeared. Yea, other eyes have been sharper than mine, for see! Already +the beacon light has been kindled on the Mount of Olives!" + +Jesse watched the great bonfire a few minutes, then ran to call his +sister. By the time they were both on the roof, answering fires were +blazing on the distant hilltops throughout all Judea, till the whole +land was alight with the announcement of the Feast of the New Moon. + +"I wish it could be this way every night, don't you, Ruth?" said Jesse. +"Are you not glad we are here?" + +The old man looked down at the children with a pleased smile. "I'll show +you something prettier than this, before long," he said. "Just wait till +the Feast of Weeks, when the people all come to bring the first fruits +of the harvests. I am glad your visit is in this time of the year, for +you can see one festival after another." + +The day the celebration of the Feast of Weeks commenced, Reuben left his +shop in charge of the attendants, and gave up his entire time to Joel +and Jesse. + +"We must not miss the processions," he said. "We will go outside the +gates a little way, and watch the people come in." + +They did not have long to wait till the stream of people from the upper +countries began to pour in; each company carried a banner bearing the +name of the town from which it came. A white ox, intended for a +peace-offering, was driven first; its horns were gilded, and its body +twined with olive wreaths. + +Flocks of sheep and oxen for the sacrifice, long strings of asses and +camels bearing free-will gifts to the Temple, or old and helpless +pilgrims that could not walk, came next. + +There were wreaths of roses on the heads of the women and children; +bands of lilies were tied around the sheaves of wheat. Piled high in the +silver vessels of the rich, or peeping from the willow baskets of the +poor, were the choicest fruits of the harvest. + +Great bunches of grapes from whose purple globes the bloom had not been +brushed, velvety nectarines, tempting pomegranates, mellow pears, juicy +melons,--these offerings of fruit and flowers gleamed all down the long +line, for no one came empty-handed up this "Hill of the Lord." + +As they drew near the gates, a number of white-robed priests from the +Temple met them. Reuben lifted Jesse in his arms that he might have a +better view. "Listen," he said. Joel climbed up on a large rock. + +A joyful sound of flutes commenced, and a mighty chorus went up: "I was +glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Our +feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem!" + +Voice after voice took up the old psalm, and Reuben's deep tones joined +with the others, as they chanted, "Peace be within thy walls, and +prosperity within thy palaces!" + +Following the singing pilgrims to the Temple, they saw the priests take +the doves that were to be for a burnt-offering, and the first fruits +that were to be laid on the altars. + +Jesse held fast to his grandfather's hand as they passed through the +outer courts of the Temple. He was half frightened by the din of voices, +the stamping and bellowing and bleating of the animals as they were +driven into the pens. + +He had seen one sacrificial service; the great stream of blood pouring +over the marble steps of the altar, and the smoke of the burnt-offering +were still in his mind. It made him look pityingly now at the +gentle-eyed calves and the frightened lambs. He was glad to get away +from them. + +Soon after the time of this rejoicing was over, came ten solemn days +that to Joel were full of interest and mystery. They were the days of +preparation for the Fast of the Atonement. Disputes between neighbors +were settled, and sins confessed. + +The last great day, the most solemn of all, was the only time in the +whole year when the High Priest might draw aside the veil, and enter +into the Holy of Holies. + +With all his rich robes and jewels laid aside, clad only in simple +white, with bare feet and covered head, he had to go four times into the +awful Presence. Once to offer incense, once to pray, to sprinkle the +blood of a goat towards the mercy-seat, and then to bring out the +censer. + +That was the day when two goats were taken; by casting lots one was +chosen for a sacrifice. On the other the High Priest laid the sins of +the people, and it was driven out into the wilderness, to be dashed to +pieces from some high cliff. + +Tears came into Joel's eyes, as he watched the scape-goat driven away +into the dreary desert. He pitied the poor beast doomed to such a death +because of his nation's sins. + +Then came the closing ceremonies, when the great congregation bowed +themselves three times to the ground, with the High Priest shouting +solemnly, "Ye are clean! Ye are clean! Ye are clean!" + +Joel was glad when the last rite was over, and the people started to +their homes, as gay now as they had been serious before. + +"When are we going back to our other home?" asked Ruth, one day. + +"Why, are you not happy here, little daughter?" said Abigail. "I thought +you had forgotten all about the old place." + +"I want my white pigeons," she said, with a quivering lip, as if she had +suddenly remembered them. "I don't want my father not to be here!" she +sobbed; "and I want my white pigeons!" + +Abigail picked her up and comforted her. "Wait just a little while. I +think father will surely come soon. I will get my embroidery, and you +may go with me across the street." + +Ruth had been shy at first about going to see her mother's friends; but +Martha coaxed her in with honey cakes she baked for that express +purpose, and Mary told her stories and taught her little games. + +After a while she began to flit in and out of the house as fearlessly as +a bright-winged butterfly. + +One day her mother was sitting with the sisters in a shady corner of +their court-yard, where a climbing honeysuckle made a cool sweet arbor. +Ruth was going from one to the other, watching the bright embroidery +threads take the shape of flowers under their skilful fingers. Suddenly +she heard the faint tinkle of a silver bell. While she stood with one +finger on her lip to listen, Lazarus came into the court-yard. + +"See what I have brought you, little one," he said. "It is to take the +place of the pigeons you are always mourning for." + +It was a snow-white lamb, around which he had twined a garland of many +colored flowers, and from whose neck hung the little silver bell she had +heard. + +At first the child was so delighted she could only bury her dimpled +fingers in the soft fleece, and look at it in speechless wonder. Then +she caught his hand, and left a shy little kiss on it, as she lisped, +"Oh, you're so good! You're so good!" + +After that day Ruth followed Lazarus as the white lamb followed Ruth; +and the sisters hardly knew which sounded sweeter in their quiet home, +the tinkling of the silver bell, or the happy prattle of the baby +voice. + +Abigail spent many happy hours with her friends. One day as they sat in +the honeysuckle arbor, busily sewing, Ruth and Jesse came running +towards them. + +"I see my father coming, and another man," cried the boy. "I'm going to +meet them." + +They all hastened to the door, just as the tired, dusty travellers +reached it. + +"Peace be to this house, and all who dwell therein," said the stranger, +before Phineas could give his wife and friends a warmer greeting. + +"We went first to your father's house, but, finding no one at home, came +here," said Phineas. + +"Come in!" insisted Martha. "You look sorely in need of rest and +refreshment." + +But they had a message to deliver before they could be persuaded to eat +or wash. + +"The Master is coming," said Phineas. "He has sent out seventy of His +followers, to go by twos into every town, and herald His approach, and +proclaim that the day of the Lord is at hand. We have gone even into +Samaria to carry the tidings there." + +"At last, at last!" cried Mary, clasping her hands. "Oh, to think that I +have lived to see this day of Israel's glory!" + +"Tell us what the Master has been doing," urged Abigail, after the men +had been refreshed by food and water. + +First one and then the other told of miracles they had seen, and +repeated what He had taught. Even the children crept close to listen, +leaning against their father's knees. + +"There has been much discussion about the kingdom that is to be formed. +While we were in Peter's house in Capernaum, some of the disciples came +quarrelling around Him, to ask who should have the highest positions. I +suppose those who have followed Him longest think they have claim to the +best offices." + +"What did He say?" asked Abigail, eagerly. + +Phineas laid his hand on Ruth's soft curls. "He took a little child like +this, and set it in our midst, and said that he who would be greatest in +His kingdom, must become even like unto it!" + +"Faith and love and purity on the throne of the Herods," cried Martha. +"Ah, only Jehovah can bring such a thing as that to pass!" + +"Are you going to stay at home now, father?" asked Jesse, anxiously. + +"No, my son. I must go on the morrow to carry my report to the Master, +of the reception we have had in every town. But I will soon be back +again to the Feast of Tabernacles." + +"Carry with you our earnest prayer that the Master will abide with us +when He comes again to Bethany," said Martha, as her guests departed. +"No one is so welcome in our home, as the friend of our brother +Lazarus." + +The preparation for the Feast of the Tabernacles had begun. "I am going +to take the children to the city with me to-day!" said Reuben, one +morning, "to see the big booth I am having built. It will hold all our +family, and as many friends as may care to share it with us." + +Jesse was charmed with the great tent of green boughs. + +"I wish I could have been one of the children that Moses led up out of +Egypt," he said, with a sigh. + +"Why, my son?" asked Reuben. + +"So's I could have wandered around for forty years, living in a tent +like this. How good it smells, and how pretty it is! I wish you and +grandmother would live here all the time!" + +The next day Phineas joined them. It was a happy family that gathered in +the leafy booth for a week of out-door rejoicing in the cool autumn +time. + +"Where is the Master?" asked Abigail. + +"I know not," answered her husband. "He sent us on before." + +"Will He be here, I wonder?" she asked, and that question was on nearly +every lip in Jerusalem. + +"Will He be here?" asked the throngs of pilgrims who had heard of His +miracles, and longed to see the man who could do such marvellous things. + +"Will He be here?" whispered the scribes to the Pharisees. "Let Him +beware!" + +"Will He be here?" muttered Caiaphas the High Priest. "Then better one +man should die, than that the whole community perish." + +The sight that dazzled the eyes of the children that first evening of +the week, was like fairyland; a blaze of lanterns and torches lit up the +whole city. + +In the Court of the Women, in the Temple, all the golden lamps were lit, +twinkling and burning like countless stars. + +On the steps that separated this court from the next one, stood three +thousand singers, the sons and daughters of the tribe of Levi. Two +priests stood at the top of the steps, and as each gave the signal on a +great silver trumpet, the burst of song that went up from the vast choir +seemed to shake the very heavens. Harps and psalters and flutes swelled +with the rolling waves of the organ's melody. To the sound of this +music, men marched with flaming torches in their hands, and the marching +and a weird torch-dance were kept up until the gates of the Temple +closed. + +In the midst of all the feasting and the gayeties that followed, the +long-expected Voice was heard in the arcades of the Temple. + +The Child of Nazareth was once more in His Father's house about His +Father's business. + +On the last great day of the feast, Joel was up at day-break, ready to +follow the older members of the family as soon as the first +trumpet-blast should sound. + +In his right hand he carried a citron, as did all the others; in his +left was a palm-branch, the emblem of joy. An immense multitude gathered +at the spring of Siloam. Water was drawn in a golden pitcher, and +carried back to be poured on the great altar, while the choir sang with +its thousands of voices, and all the people shouted, Amen and Amen! + +When the days had gone by in which the seventy bullocks had been +sacrificed, and when the ceremonies were all over, then the leaves were +stripped from the green booths, and the people scattered to their +homes. + +Long afterward, Jesse remembered only the torch-light dances, the silver +trumpets and the crowds, and the faint ringing of the fringe of bells on +the priest's robes as he carried the fire on the golden shovel to burn +the sweet-smelling incense. + +Joel's memory rang often with two cries that had startled the people. +One when the water was poured from the golden pitcher. It was the +Master's voice: "_If any man thirst, let him come unto me_." The other +was when all eyes were turned on the blazing lamps. "_I am the Light of +the World!_" + +Reuben thought oftenest of the blind man to whom he had seen sight +restored. But Lazarus was filled with anxiety and foreboding; through +his office of scribe, he had come in close contact with the men who were +plotting against his friend. Dark rumors were afloat. The air was hot +with whisperings of hate. + +He had overheard a conversation between the Temple police, and some of +the chief priests and Pharisees. + +"Why did ye not take Him, as ye were ordered?" they demanded angrily. + +"We could not," was the response; "for never man spake like this man." + +He had seen the mob searching for stones to throw at Him. Though He had +disappeared out of their midst unhurt, still Lazarus felt that some +terrible disaster was hanging threateningly over the head of his beloved +friend. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +IT was with a deep feeling of relief that the two families watched the +Master go away into Perea. Phineas still kept with Him. As the little +band disappeared down the street, Ruth hid her face in her mother's +dress and began to cry. + +"I don't want my father to go away again!" she sobbed. Abigail took her +in her lap and tried to comfort her, although there were tears in her +own eyes. + +"We will go home soon, little daughter, and then father will be with us +all the time. But we must wait first, till after the cold, rainy season, +and the Feast of Dedication." + +"What! another feast?" asked Jesse, to whom the summer had seemed one +long confusion of festivals. "Don't they have lots of them down in this +country! What's this one for?" + +"Grandfather will tell you," answered his mother. "Run out and ask him +for the story. I know you will like it." + +Seated on his grandfather's knee, Jesse doubled up his little fists, as +he heard how a heathen altar had once been set up on the great altar of +burnt-offering, and a heathen general had driven a herd of swine through +the holy Temple, making it unclean. But his breath came quick, and his +eyes shone, as the proud old Israelite told him of Judas the Maccabee, +Judas the lion-hearted, who had whipped the Syrian soldiers, purified +the Temple, and dedicated it anew to the worship of Jehovah. + +"Our people never forget their heroes," ended the old man. "Every year, +in every home, no matter how humble, one candle is lighted at the +beginning of the feast; the next night, two, and the next night, three, +and so on, till eight candles shine out into the winter darkness. + +"For so the brave deeds of the Maccabees burn in the memory of every +child of Abraham!" + +The feast came and went. While the candles burned in every home, and the +golden lamps in the great Temple blazed a welcome, the Nazarene came +back to His Father's house, to be once more about His Father's business. + +Joel caught a glimpse of Him walking up and down the covered porches in +front of the Gate Beautiful. The next moment he was pushing and +elbowing his way through the jostling crowds, till he stood close beside +Him. + +After that, the services that followed were a blank. He saw only one +face,--the face that had looked into his beside the Galilee, and drawn +from his heart its intensest love. He heard only one voice,--the voice +he had longed for all these weeks and days. Just to be near Him! To be +able to reach out reverent fingers and only touch the clothes He wore; +to look up in His face, and look and look with a love that never +wearied,--that was such happiness that Joel was lost to everything else! + +But after a while he began to realize that it was for no friendly +purpose that the chief priests came pressing around with questions. + +"If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly," they demanded. Then up and +down through the long Porch of Solomon, among all its white marble +pillars, they repeated His answer:-- + +"The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. I and +my Father are one!" + +"Blasphemy!" shouted a mocking voice behind Him. "Blasphemy!" echoed +Pharisee and Sadducee for once agreed. The crowds pushed and shoved +between the pillars; some ran out for stones. In the confusion of the +uproar, as they turned to lay violent hands on Him, He slipped out of +their midst, and went quietly away. + +Joel hunted around awhile for the party he had come with, but seeing +neither Phineas nor Lazarus, started back to Bethany on the run. A cold +winter rain had begun to fall. + +None of Reuben's family had gone into Jerusalem that day on account of +the weather, but were keeping the feast at home. + +They were startled when the usually quiet boy burst excitedly into the +house, and told them what he had just seen. + +"O mother Abigail!" he cried, throwing himself on his knees beside her. +"If He goes away again may I not go with Him? I cannot go back to +Galilee and leave Him, unknowing what is to happen. If He is to be +persecuted and driven out, and maybe killed, let me at least share His +suffering, and be with Him at the last!" + +"You forget that He has all power, and that His enemies can do Him no +harm," said Abigail, gently. "Has He not twice walked out unharmed, +before their very eyes, when they would have taken Him? And besides what +good could you do, my boy? You forget you are only a child, and might +not be able to stand the hardships of such a journey." + +"I am almost fourteen," said Joel, stretching himself up proudly. "And I +am as strong now as some of the men who go with Him. _He_ gave me back +my strength, you know. Oh, you do not know how I love Him!" he cried. +"When I am away from Him, I feel as you would were you separated from +Jesse and Ruth and father Phineas. My heart is always going out after +Him!" + +"Child, have you no care for us?" she responded reproachfully. + +"Oh, do not speak so!" he cried, catching up her hand and kissing it. "I +_do_ love you; I can never be grateful enough for all you have done for +me. But, O mother Abigail, you could never understand! You were never +lame and felt the power of His healing. You were never burning with a +wicked hatred, and felt the balm of His forgiveness! You cannot +understand how He draws me to Him!" + +"Let the boy have his way," spoke up Reuben. "I, too, have felt that +wonderful power that draws all men to Him. Gladly would I part with +every shekel I possess, if I thereby might win Him the favor of the +authorities." + +When once more a little band of fugitives followed their Master across +the Jordan, Joel was with them. + +The winter wore away, and they still tarried. Day by day, they were +listening to the simple words that dropped like seeds into their +memories, to spring up in after months and bear great truths. Now they +heard them as half understood parables,--the good Samaritan, the barren +fig-tree, the prodigal son, the unjust steward. + +There was one story that thrilled Joel deeply,--the story of the lost +sheep. For he recalled that stormy night in the sheepfold of Nathan ben +Obed, and the shepherd who searched till dawn for the straying lamb. + +It was only long afterwards that he realized it was the Good Shepherd +Himself who told the story, when He was about to lay down His own life +for the lost sheep of Israel. + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile in Bethany, Rabbi Reuben and his wife rejoiced that their +daughter's visit stretched out indefinitely. + +Jesse openly declared that he intended to stay there always, and learn +to be a goldsmith like his grandfather. + +Ruth, too, was happy and contented, and seemed to have forgotten that +she ever had any other home. As the early spring days came on, she lived +almost entirely out in the sunshine. She had fallen into the habit of +standing at the gate to watch for Lazarus every evening when he came +back from the Temple. As soon as she saw him turn the corner into their +street, she ran to meet him, her fair curls and white dress fluttering +in the wind. + +No matter how tired he was, or what cares rested heavily on his mind, +the pale face always lighted up, and his dark eyes smiled at her coming. + +"Lazarus does not seem well, lately," she heard Martha say to her mother +one day. "I have been trying to persuade him to rest a few days; but he +insists he cannot until he has finished the scroll he is illuminating." + +A few days after that he did not go to the city as usual. Ruth peeped +into the darkened room where he was resting on a couch; his eyes were +closed, and he was so pale it almost frightened her. + +He did not hear her when she tiptoed into the room and out again; but +the fragrance of the little stemless rose she laid on his pillow aroused +him. He opened his eyes and smiled languidly, as he caught sight of her +slipping noiselessly through the door. + +Her mother, sewing by the window, looked out and saw her running across +the street. Jesse was out in front of the house, playing with a ball. + +"Who is that boy talking to Jesse?" asked Abigail of Rebecca, who stood +in the doorway, holding out her arms as Ruth came up. + +"Why, that is little Joseph, the only son of Simon the leper. Poor +child!" + +"Simon the leper," repeated Abigail. "A stranger to me." + +"Surely not. Have you forgotten the wealthy young oil-seller who lived +next the synagogue? He has the richest olive groves in this part of the +country." + +"Not the husband of my little playmate Esther!" cried Abigail. "Surely +he has not been stricken with leprosy!" + +"Yes; it is one of the saddest cases I ever heard of. It seems so +terrible for a man honored as he has been, and accustomed to every +luxury, to be such a despised outcast." + +"Poor Esther!" sighed Abigail. "Does she ever see him?" + +"Not now. The disease is fast destroying him; and he is such a hideous +sight that he has forbidden her to ever try to see him again. Even his +voice is changed. Of course he would be stoned if he were to come back. +He never seeks the company of other lepers. She has had a room built for +him away from the sight of men. Every day a servant carries him food and +tidings. It is well that they have money, or he would be obliged to live +among the tombs with others as repulsive-looking as himself, and such +company must certainly be worse than none. Sometimes little Joseph is +taken near enough to speak to him, that he may have the poor comfort of +seeing his only child at a distance." + +"What if it were my Phineas!" exclaimed Abigail, her tears dropping fast +on the needlework she held. "Oh, it is a thousand times worse than +death!" + +Out in the street the boys were making each other's acquaintance in the +off-hand way boys of that age have. + +"My name is Jesse. What's yours?" + +"Joseph." + +"Where do you live?" + +"Around the corner, next to the synagogue." + +"My father is a carpenter. What's yours?" + +Joseph hesitated. "He used to be an oil-seller," he said finally. "He +doesn't do anything now." + +"Why?" persisted Jesse. + +"He is a leper now," was the reluctant answer. + +A look of distress came over Jesse's face. He had seen some lepers once, +and the sight was still fresh in his mind. As they were riding down from +Galilee, Joel had pointed them out to him. A group of beggars with +horrible scaly sores that had eaten away their flesh, till some were +left without lips or eyelids; one held out a deathly white hand from +which nearly all the fingers had dropped. Their hair looked like white +wire, and they called out, in shrill, cracked voices, "Unclean! Unclean! +Come not near us!" + +"How terrible to have one's father like that," thought Jesse. A lump +seemed to come up in his throat; his eyes filled with tears at the bare +idea. Then, boy-like, he tossed up his ball, and forgot all about it in +the game that followed. + +Several days after he met Joseph and a servant who was carrying a large, +covered basket and a water-bottle made of skin. + +"I'm going to see my father, now," said Joseph. "Ask your mother if you +can come with me." + +Jesse started towards his home, then turned suddenly. "No, I'm not going +to ask her, for she'll be sure to say no. I am just going anyhow." + +"You'll catch it when you get home!" exclaimed Joseph. + +"Well, it cannot last long," reasoned Jesse, whose curiosity had gotten +the better of him. "I believe I'd rather take a whipping than not to +go." + +Joseph looked at him in utter astonishment. + +"Yes, I would," he insisted; "so come on!" + +A short walk down an unfrequented road, in the direction of Jericho, +took them to a lonely place among the bare cliffs. A little cabin stood +close against the rocks, with a great sycamore-tree bending over it. +Near by was the entrance to a deep cave, always as cool as a cellar, +even in the hottest summer days. + +At the mouth of the cave sat Simon the leper. He stood up when he saw +them coming, and wrapped himself closely in a white linen mantle that +covered him from head to foot. It was a ghostly sight to Jesse; but to +Joseph, so long accustomed to it, there seemed nothing strange. + +At a safe distance the servant emptied his basket on a large flat rock, +and poured the water into a stone jar standing near. Last of all, he +laid a piece of parchment on the stone. It was Esther's daily letter to +her exiled husband. + +No matter what storms swept the valley, or what duties pressed at home, +that little missive was always sent. She had learned to write for his +sake. By all his friends he was accounted dead; but her love, stronger +than death, bridged the gulf that separated them. She lived only to +minister to his comfort as best she could. + +Simon did not send as long a message in return as this trusted messenger +usually carried. He had much to say to his boy, and the sun was already +high. + +Jesse, lagging behind in the shelter of the rock, heard the tender words +of counsel and blessing that came from the white-sheeted figure with a +feeling of awe. + +As the father urged his boy to be faithful to every little duty, careful +in learning the prayers, and above all obedient to his mother, Jesse's +conscience began to prick him sorely. + +"I believe I know somebody that could cure him," he said, as they picked +their way over the rocks, going home. "'Cause He made Joel well." + +"Who's Joel?" asked Joseph. + +"A boy that lives with us. He was just as lame, and limped way over when +he walked. Now he is as straight as I am. All the sick people where I +lived went to Him, and they got well." + +Joseph shook his head. "Lepers can't be cured. Can they, Seth?" he +asked, appealing to the servant. + +"No, lepers are just the same as dead," answered Seth. "There's no help +for them." + +Jesse was in a very uncomfortable frame of mind, as, hot and dusty, he +left his companion and dragged home at a snail's pace. + +Next morning Joseph was waiting for him out in front. "Well, did she +whip you?" he asked, with embarrassing frankness. + +"No," said Jesse, a little sheepishly. "She put me to bed just as soon +as I had eaten my dinner, and made me stay there till this morning." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +RUTH went every day to ask for her sick friend, sometimes with a bunch +of grapes, sometimes with only a flower in her warm little hand. + +But there came a time when Martha met her, with eyes all swollen and red +from crying, and told her they had sent to the city for a skilful +physician. + +In the night there came a loud knocking at the door, and a call for +Rabbi Reuben to come quickly, that Lazarus was worse. At day-break a +messenger was sent clattering away to hurry over the Jordan in hot +haste, and bring back from Perea the only One who could help them. + +The noise awakened Ruth; she sat up in surprise to see her mother +dressed so early. The outer door was ajar, and she heard the message +that the anxious Martha bade the man deliver: "Lord, he whom Thou lovest +is sick." + +"He will come right away and make him well, won't He, mother?" she asked +anxiously. + +"Surely, my child," answered Abigail. "He loves him too well to let him +suffer so." + +But the day wore on, and the next; still another, and He did not come. + +Ruth stole around like a frightened shadow, because of the anxious looks +on every face. + +"Why doesn't He come?" she wondered; and on many another lip was the +same question. + +She was so quiet, no one noticed when she stole into the room where her +friend lay dying. Mary knelt on one side of the bed, Martha on the +other, watching the breath come slower and slower, and clinging to the +unresponsive hands as if their love could draw him back to life. + +Neither shed a tear, but seemed to watch with their souls in their eyes, +for one more word, one more look of recognition. + +Abigail sat by the window, weeping softly. Ruth had never seen her +mother cry before, and it frightened her. She glanced at her +grandfather, standing by the foot of the bed; two great tears rolled +slowly down his cheeks, and dropped on his long beard. + +A sudden cry from Mary, as she fell fainting to the floor, called her +attention to the bed again. Martha was silently rocking herself to and +fro, in an agony of grief. + +Still the child did not understand. Those in the room were so busy +trying to bring Mary back to consciousness, that no one noticed Ruth. + +Drawn by some impulse she could not understand, the child drew nearer +and nearer. Then she laid her soft little hand on his, thinking the +touch would surely make him open his eyes and smile at her again; it had +often done so before. + +But what was it that made her start back terrified, and shrink away +trembling? It was not Lazarus she had touched, but the awful mystery of +death. + +"I did not know that a little child could feel so deeply," said Abigail +to her mother, when she found that Ruth neither ate nor played, but +wandered aimlessly around. + +"I shall keep her away from the funeral." + +But all her care could not keep from the little one's ears the mournful +music of the funeral dirge, or the wailing of the mourners, who gathered +to do honor to the young man whom all Bethany knew and loved. + +Many friends came out from Jerusalem to follow the long procession to +the tomb. There was a long eulogy at the grave; but the most impressive +ceremony was over at last, and the great stone had to be rolled into the +opening that formed the doorway. + +Then the two desolate sisters went back to their lonely home and empty +life, wondering how they could go on without the presence that had been +such a daily benediction. + +The fourth day after his death, as Martha sat listlessly looking out of +the green arbor with unseeing eyes, Ruth ran in with a radiant face. + +"He's come!" she cried. "He's come, and so has my father. Hurry! He is +waiting for you!" + +Martha drew her veil about her, and mechanically followed the eager +child to the gate, where Phineas met her with the same message. + +"Oh, why did He not come sooner?" she thought bitterly, as she pressed +on after her guide. + +Once outside of the village, she drew aside her veil. There stood the +Master, with such a look of untold sympathy on His worn face, that +Martha cried out, "Lord, if Thou hadst been here my brother had not +died!" + +"Thy brother shall rise again," He said gently. + +"Yes, I know he shall rise again in the resurrection, at the last day," +she said brokenly. "That brings hope for the future; but what comfort is +there for the lonely years we must live without him?" The tears streamed +down her face again. + +Then for the first time came those words that have brought balm into +thousands of broken hearts, and hope into countless tear-blind eyes. + +"I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me shall never +die. Believest thou this?" + +Martha looked up reverently. "Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the +Christ, the Son of God which should come into the world." + +A great peace came over her troubled spirit as she hurried to her home, +where the many friends still sat who had come to comfort them. A number +of them were from Jerusalem, and she knew that among them were some who +were unfriendly to her brother's friend. + +So she quietly called her sister from the room, whispering, "The Master +is come, and calleth for thee!" + +Those who sat there thought they were going to the grave to weep, as was +the custom. So they rose also, and followed at a little distance. + +Mary met Him with the same exclamation that her sister had uttered, and +fell at His feet. + +He, seeing in her white face the marks of the deep grief she had +suffered, was thrilled to the depths of His humanity by the keenest +sympathy. His tears fell too, at the sight of hers. + +"Behold how He loved Lazarus!" said a man to the one who stood beside +him. + +"Why did He not save him then?" was the mocking answer. + +"They say He has the power to open the eyes of the blind, and even to +raise the dead. Let Him show it in this case!" + +It was a curious crowd that followed Him to the door of the tomb: men +who hated Him for the scorching fire-brands of rebuke He had thrown into +their corrupt lives; men who feared Him as a dangerous teacher of false +doctrines; men who knew His good works, but hesitated either to accept +or refuse; and men who loved Him better than life,--all waiting, +wondering what He would do. + +"Roll the stone away!" He commanded; a dozen strong shoulders bent to do +His bidding. Then He looked up and spoke in a low tone, but so +distinctly that no one lost a word. + +"Father," He said,--He seemed to be speaking to some one just beside +Him,--"I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me, and I knew that Thou +hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, +that they may believe that Thou hast sent me." + +A cold shiver of expectancy ran over those who heard. Then He cried, in +a loud voice, "_Lazarus, come forth!_" There was a dreadful pause. Some +of the women clutched each other with frightened shrieks; even strong +men fell back, as out of the dark grave walked a tall figure wrapped in +white grave-clothes. + +His face was hidden in a napkin. "Loose him, and let him go," said the +Master, calmly. + +Phineas stepped forward and loosened the outer bands. When the napkin +fell from his face, they saw he was deathly white; but in an instant a +warm, healthful glow took the place of the corpse-like pallor. + +Not till he spoke, however, could the frightened people believe that it +was Lazarus, and not a ghost they saw. + +Never had there been such a sight since the world began: the man who had +lain four days in the tomb, walking side by side with the man who had +called him back to life. + +The streets were full of people, laughing, shouting, crying, fairly +beside themselves with astonishment. + +Smiths left their irons to cool on the anvils; bakers left their bread +to burn in the ovens; the girl at the fountain dropped her half-filled +pitcher; and a woman making cakes ran into the street with the dough in +her hands. + +Every house in the village stood empty, save one where a sick man moaned +for water all unheeded, and another where a baby wakened in its cradle +and began to cry. + +Long after the reunited family had gone into their home with their +nearest friends, and shut the door on their overwhelming joy, the crowds +still stood outside, talking among themselves. + +Many who had taken part against the Master before, now believed on +account of what they had seen. But some still said, more openly than +before, "He is in league with the evil one, or He could not do such +things." These hurried back to Jerusalem, to spread the report that this +dangerous man had again appeared, almost at the very gates of the great +Capital. + +That night there was a secret council of the chief priests and the +Pharisees. "What shall we do," was the anxious question. "If we let Him +alone, all men will believe on Him; and the Romans shall come and take +away both our place and our nation." + +Every heart beat with the same thought, but only Caiaphas put it in +words. At last he dared repeat what he had only muttered to himself +before: "It is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, +and that the whole nation perish not." + +While the streets were still full of people, Jesse crept up to Joel, as +they sat together in the court-yard. "Don't you think it would be just +as easy to cure a leper as to raise Rabbi Lazarus from the dead?" + +"Yes, indeed!" answered Joel, positively, "I've seen it done." + +"Oh, have you?" cried the boy, in delight. "Then Joseph can have his +father back again." + +He told him the story of Simon the leper, and of his visit to the lonely +cave. + +Joel's sympathies were aroused at once. Ever since his own cure, he had +felt that he must bring every afflicted one in the wide world to the +great source of healing. + +Just then a man stopped at the gate to ask for Phineas. Joel had learned +to know him well in the weeks they had been travelling together; it was +Thomas. + +The boy sprang up eagerly. "Do you know when the Master is going to +leave Bethany?" he asked. + +"In the morning," answered Thomas, "and right glad I am that it is to be +so soon. For when we came down here, I thought it was but to die with +Him. He is beset on all sides by secret enemies." + +"And will He go out by the same road that we came?" + +"It is most probable." + +Joel waited for no more information from him, but went back to Jesse to +learn the way to the cave. + +Jesse was a little fellow, but a keen-eyed one, and was able to give +Joel the few simple directions that would lead him the right way. + +"Oh, I'm so glad you are going!" he exclaimed. "Shall I run and tell +Joseph what you are going to do?" + +"No, do not say a word to any one," answered Joel. "I shall be back in a +very short time." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +SIMON the leper sat at the door of his cave. He held a roll of vellum in +his unsightly fingers; it was a copy of the Psalms that Lazarus had once +made for him in happier days. + +Many a time he had found comfort in these hope-inspiring songs of David; +but to-day he was reading a wail that seemed to come from the depths of +his own soul: + +"Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and Thou hast afflicted me with all Thy +waves. Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me. Thou hast made me an +abomination unto them. I am shut up and I cannot come forth. Lord, I +have called daily upon Thee. I have stretched out my hands unto Thee. +Wilt Thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise again and +praise Thee? Lord, why casteth Thou off my soul? Why hidest Thou Thy +face from me?" + +The roll dropped to the ground, and he hid his face in his hands, +crying, "How long must I endure this? Oh, why was I not taken instead of +Lazarus?" + +The sound of some one scrambling over the rocks made him look up +quickly. + +Seth never made his visits at this time of the day, and strangers had +never before found the path to this out-of-the-way place. + +Joel came on, and stopped by the rock where the water-jar stood. + +Simon stood up, covering himself with his mantle, and crying out, +warningly, "Beware! Unclean! Come no further!" + +"I bring you news from the village," said Joel. The man threw out his +hand with a gesture of alarm. + +"Oh, not of my wife Esther," he cried, imploringly, "or of my little +Joseph! I could not bear to hear aught of ill from them. My heart is +still sore for the death of my friend Lazarus. I went as near the +village as I dared, and heard the dirge of the flutes and the wailing of +the women, when they laid him in the tomb. I have sat here ever since in +sackcloth and ashes." + +"But Lazarus lives again!" exclaimed Joel, simply. He had seen so many +miracles lately, that he forgot the startling effect such an +announcement would have on one not accustomed to them. + +[Illustration: "'YOU BUT MOCK ME, BOY'"] + +The man stood petrified with astonishment. At last he said bitterly, +"You but mock me, boy; at least leave me to my sorrow in peace." + +"No!" cried Joel. "As the Lord liveth, I swear it is the truth. Have you +not heard that Messiah has come? I have followed Him up and down the +country, and know whereof I speak. At a word from Him the dumb sing, the +blind see, and the lame walk. I was lame myself, and He made me as you +see me now." + +Joel drew himself up to his fullest height. Simon looked at him, +completely puzzled. + +"Why did you take the trouble to come and tell me that,--a poor despised +leper?" he finally asked. + +"Because I want everybody else to be as happy as I am. He cured me. He +gave me back my strength. Then why should not my feet be always swift to +bring others to Him for the same happy healing? He Himself goes about +all the time doing good. I know there is hope for you, for I have seen +Him cleanse lepers." + +Simon trembled, as the full meaning of the hope held out to him began to +make itself clear to his confused mind: health, home, Esther, +child,--all restored to him. It was joy too great to be possible. + +"Oh, if I could only believe it!" he cried. + +"Lazarus was raised when he had been four days dead. All Bethany can +bear witness to that," persisted Joel. The words poured out with such +force and earnestness, as he described the scene, that Simon felt +impelled to believe him. + +"Where can I find this man?" he asked. + +Joel pointed down the rocky slope. "Take that road that leads into +Bethany. Come early in the morning, and as we all pass that way, call to +Him. He never refuses any who have faith to believe that He can grant +what they ask." + +When Joel was half-way down the hill, he turned back. "If He should not +pass on the morrow," he said, "do not fail to be there on the second +day. We will surely leave here soon." + +Simon stood in bewilderment till the boy had passed down the hill; he +began to fear that this messenger had been only the creation of a dream. +He climbed upon the cliff and peered down into the valley. No, he had +not been deceived; the boy was no mirage of his thirsty soul, for there, +he came out into full sight again, and now, he was climbing the opposite +hillside. + +"How beautiful upon the mountain are the feet of him who bringeth good +tidings!" he murmured. "Oh, what a heaven opens out before me, if this +lad's words are only true!" + +Next morning, after they left Bethany, Joel looked anxiously behind +every rock and tree that they passed; but Simon was not to be seen. + +Presently Joel saw him waiting farther down the road; he was kneeling in +the dust. The white mantle, that in his sensitiveness was always used to +hide himself from view, was cast aside, that the Great Healer might see +his great need. + +He scanned the approaching figures with imploring eyes. He was looking +for the Messiah,--some one in kingly garments, whose jewelled sceptre's +lightest touch would lay upon him the royal accolade of health. + +These were evidently not the ones he was waiting for. These were only +simple wayfarers; most of them looked like Galileans. + +He was about to rise up with his old warning cry of unclean, when he +caught sight of Joel. But where was the princely Redeemer of prophecy? + +Nearer and nearer they came, till he could look full in their faces. No +need now to ask on which one he should call for help; indeed, he seemed +to see but one face, it was so full of loving pity. + +"O Thou Messiah of Israel!" he prayed. "Thou didst call my friend +Lazarus from the dead, O pass me not by! Call me from this living death! +Make me clean!" + +The eyes that looked down into his seemed to search his soul. "Believest +thou that I can do this?" + +The pleading faith in Simon's eyes could not be refused. "Yea, Lord," he +cried, "Thou hast but to speak the word!" + +He waited, trembling, for the answer that meant life or death to him. + +"I will. Be thou clean!" He put out His hand to raise the kneeling man +to his feet. "Go and show thyself to the priests," He added. + +The party passed on, and Simon stood looking after them. _Was_ it the +Christ who had passed by? Where were His dyed garments from Bozrah? The +prophet foretold Him as glorious in apparel, travelling in the greatness +of His strength. No sceptre of divine power had touched him; it was only +the clasp of a warm human hand he had felt. He looked down at himself. +Still a leper! His faith wavered; but he remembered he had not obeyed +the command to show himself to the priests. Immediately he started +across the fields on a run, towards the road leading into Jerusalem. + +Far down the highway Joel heard a mighty shout; he turned and looked +back. There on the brow of a hill, sharply outlined against the sky, +stood Simon. His arms were lifted high up towards heaven; for as he ran, +in obedience to the command, the leprosy had gone from him. He was +pouring out a flood of praise and thanksgiving, in the first ecstasy of +his recovery, at the top of his voice. + +Joel thought of the tiresome ceremonies to be observed before the man +could go home, and wished that the eight days of purification were over, +that the little family might be immediately reunited. + +Meanwhile, Seth, with his basket and water-bottle, was climbing the hill +toward the cave. For the first time in seven years since he had +commenced these daily visits, no expectant voice greeted him. He went +quite close up to the little room under the cliff; he could see through +the half-open door that it was empty. Then he cautiously approached the +mouth of the cave, and called his master. A hundred echoes answered him, +but no human voice responded. Call after call was sent ringing into the +hollow darkness. The deep stillness weighed heavily upon him; he began +to be afraid that somewhere in its mysterious depths lay a dead body. + +The fear mastered him. Only stopping to put down the food and pour out +the water, he started home at the top of his speed. + +As he reached the road, a traveller going to Bethany hailed him. "What +think you that I saw just now?" asked the stranger. "A man running with +all his might towards Jerusalem. Tears of joy were streaming down his +cheeks, and he was shouting as he ran, 'Cleansed! Cleansed! Cleansed!' +He stopped me, and bade me say, if I met a man carrying a basket and +water-skin, that Simon the leper has just been healed of the leprosy. He +will be home as soon as the days of purification are over." + +Seth gazed at him stupidly, feeling that he must be in a dream. Esther, +too, heard the message unbelievingly. Yet she walked the floor in a +fever of excitement, at the bare possibility of such a thing being true. + +The next morning, she sent Seth, as usual, with the provisions. But he +brought them back, saying the place was still deserted. + +Then she began to dare to hope; although she tried to steel herself +against disappointment, by whispering over and over that she could never +see him again, she waited impatiently for the days to pass. At last they +had all dragged by. + +The new day would begin at sunset, the very earliest time that she might +expect him. The house was swept and garnished as if a king were coming. +The table was set with the choicest delicacies Seth could find in the +Jerusalem markets. + +The earliest roses, his favorite red ones, were put in every room. In +her restless excitement nothing in her wardrobe seemed rich enough to +wear. She tried on one ornament after another before she was suited. +Then, all in white, with jewels blazing in her ears, on her throat, on +her little white hands, and her eyes shining like two glad stars, she +sat down to wait for him. + +But she could not keep still. This rug was turned up at the corner; that +rose had dropped its petals on the floor. She would have another kind of +wine on the table. + +At last she stepped out of the door in her little silken-bound sandals, +and climbed the outside stairs to the roof, to watch for him. + +The sun was entirely out of sight, but the west was glorious with the +red gold of its afterglow. Looking up the Mount of Olives, she could see +the smoke of the evening sacrifice rising as the clouds of incense +filled the Temple. Surely he must be far on the way by this time. + +Her heart almost stopped beating as she saw a figure coming up the road, +between the rows of palm-trees. She strained her eyes for a nearer view, +then drew a long tremulous breath. It was Lazarus; there went the two +children and the lamb to meet him. All along the street, people were +standing in the doors to see him go past; he was still a wonder to them. + +She shaded her eyes with her hand, and looked again. But while her gaze +searched the distant road, some one was passing just below, under the +avenue of leafy trees, with quick impatient tread; some one paused at +the vine-covered door; some one was leaping up the stairs three steps at +a time; some one was coming towards her with out-stretched arms, crying, +"Esther, little Esther, O my wife! My God-given one!" + +For the first time in seven years, she turned to find herself in her +husband's arms. Strong and well, with the old light in his eyes, the old +thrill in his voice, the glow of perfect health tingling through all his +veins, he could only whisper tremulously, as he held her close, "Praise +God! Praise God!" + +No wonder he seemed like a stranger to Joseph. But the clasp of the +strong arms, and the deep voice saying "my son," so tenderly, were +inexpressibly dear to the little fellow kept so long from his birthright +of a father's love. + +He was the first to break the happy silence that fell upon them. "What a +good man Rabbi Jesus must be, to go about making people glad like this +all the time!" + +"It is He who shall redeem Israel!" exclaimed Simon. "To God be the +glory, who hath sent Him into this sin-cursed world! Henceforth all that +I have, and all that I am, shall be dedicated to His service!" + +Kneeling there in the dying daylight, with his arms around the wife and +child so unexpectedly given back to him, such a heart-felt prayer of +gratitude went upward to the good Father that even the happiest angels +must have paused to listen, more glad because of this great +earth-gladness below. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +"I THINK there will be an unusual gathering of strangers at the Passover +this year," said Rabbi Reuben to Lazarus, as they came out together from +the city, one afternoon. "The number may even reach three millions. A +travelling man from Rome was in my shop to-day. He says that in the +remotest parts of the earth, wherever the Hebrew tongue is found, one +may hear the name of the Messiah. + +"People pacing the decks of the ships, crossing the deserts, or trading +in the shops, talk only of Him and His miracles; they have aroused the +greatest interest even in Athens and the cities of the Nile. The very +air seems full of expectancy. I cannot but think great things are about +to come to pass. Surely the time is now ripe for Jesus to proclaim +Himself king. I cannot understand why He should hide Himself away in the +wilderness as if He feared for His safety." + +Lazarus smiled at the old man, with a confident expression. "Be sure, my +friend, it is only because the hour has not yet come. What a sight it +will be when He does stand before the tomb of our long dead power, to +call back the nation to its old-time life and grandeur. I can well +believe that with Him all things are possible." + +"Would that this next Passover were the time!" responded Reuben. "How I +would rejoice to see His enemies laid low in the dust!" + +Already, on the borders of Galilee, the expected king had started toward +His coronation. Many of the old friends and neighbors from Capernaum had +joined their band, to go on to the Paschal feast. + +They made slow progress, however, for at every turn in the road they +were stopped by outstretched hands and cries for help. Nearly every step +was taken to the sound of some rejoicing cry from some one who had been +blessed. + +Joel could not crowd all the scenes into his memory; but some stood with +clear-cut distinctness. There were the ten lepers who met them at the +very outset; and there was blind Bartimeus begging by the wayside. He +could never forget the expression of that man's face, when his eyes +were opened, and for the first time he looked out on the glory of the +morning sunshine. + +Joel quivered all over with a thrill of sympathy, remembering his own +healing, and realizing more than the others what had been done for the +blind beggar. + +Then there was Zaccheus, climbing up to look down through the sycamore +boughs that he might see the Master passing into Jericho, and Zaccheus +scrambling down again in haste to provide entertainment for his honored +guest. + +There was the young ruler going away sorrowful because the sacrifice +asked of him was more than he was willing to make. But there was one +scene that his memory held in unfading colors:-- + +Roses and wild honeysuckle climbing over a bank by the road-side. +Orange-trees dropping a heavy fragrance with the falling petals of their +white blossoms. In the midst of the shade and the bloom the mothers from +the village near by, gathering with their children, all freshly washed +and dressed to find favor in the eyes of the passing Prophet. + +Babies cooed in their mother's arms. Bright little faces smiled out from +behind protecting skirts, to which timid fingers clung. As they waited +for the coming procession, and little bare feet chased each other up and +down the bank, the happy laughter of the older children filled all the +sunny air. + +As the travellers came on, the women caught up their children and +crowded forward. It was a sight that would have made almost any one +pause,--those innocent-eyed little ones waiting for the touch that would +keep them always pure in heart,--that blessing their mothers coveted for +them. + +But some of the disciples, impatient at the many delays, seeing in the +rosy faces and dimpled limbs nothing that seemed to claim help or +attention, spoke to the women impatiently. "Why trouble ye the Master?" +they said. "Would ye stop the great work He has come to do for matters +of such little importance?" + +Repelled by the rebuke, they fell back. But there was a look of +displeasure on His face, such as they had never seen before, as Jesus +turned toward them. + +"Suffer the little children to come unto me," He said, sternly, "and +forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven!" + +Then holding out His hands He took them up in His arms and blessed +them, every one, even the youngest baby, that blinked up at Him +unknowingly with its big dark eyes, received its separate blessing. + +So fearlessly they came to Him, so lovingly they nestled in His arms, +and with such perfect confidence they clung to Him, that He turned again +to His disciples. "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive +the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." + +Met at all points as He had been by loathsome sights, ragged beggars, +and diseases of all kinds, this group of happy-faced children must have +remained long in His memory, as sweet as the unexpected blossoming of a +rose in a dreary desert. + +At last the slow journey drew towards a close. The Friday afternoon +before the Passover found the tired travellers once more in Bethany. +News of their coming had been brought several hours before by a man +riding down from Jericho. His swift-footed beast had overtaken and +passed the slow procession far back on the road. + +There was a joyful welcome for the Master in the home of Lazarus. The +cool, vine-covered arbor was a refreshing change from the dusty road. +Here were no curious throngs and constant demands for help. + +Away from the sights that oppressed Him, away from the clamor and the +criticism, here was a place where heart and body might find rest. The +peace of the place, and the atmosphere of sympathy surrounding Him, must +have fallen like dew on His thirsty soul. Here, for a few short days, He +who had been so long a houseless wanderer was to know the blessedness of +a home. + +Several hours before the first trumpet blast from the roof of the +synagogue proclaimed the approaching Sabbath, Simon hurried to his home. + +"Esther," he called in great excitement, "I have seen Him! The Christ! I +have knelt at His feet. I have looked in His face. And, oh, only +think!--He has promised to sit at our table! To-morrow night, such a +feast as has never been known in the place shall be spread before Him. +Help me to think of something we may do to show him especial honor." + +Esther sprang up at the news. "We have very little time to prepare," she +said. "Seth must go at once into the city to make purchases. To-morrow +night, no hireling hand shall serve him. I myself shall take that lowly +place, with Martha and Mary to aid me. Abigail, too, shall help us, for +it is a labor of love that she will delight to take part in. I shall go +at once to ask them." + +The long, still Sabbath went by. The worshippers in the synagogue looked +in vain for other miracles, listened in vain for the Voice that wrought +such wonders. + +Through the unbroken rest of that day He was gathering up His strength +for a coming trial. Something of the approaching shadow may have been +seen in His tender eyes; some word of the awaiting doom may have been +spoken to the brother and sisters sitting reverently at his feet,--for +they seemed to feel that a parting was at hand, and that they must crowd +the flying hours with all the loving service they could render Him. + +That night at the feast, as Esther's little white hands brought the +water for the reclining guests to wash, and Martha and Abigail placed +sumptuously filled dishes before them, Mary paused in her busy passing +to and fro; she longed to do some especial thing to show her love for +the honored guest. + +Never had His face worn such a look of royalty; never had He seemed so +much the Christ. The soft light of many candles falling on His worn +face seemed to reveal as never before the divine soul soon to leave the +worn body where it now tarried. + +An old Jewish custom suddenly occurred to her. She seemed to see two +pictures: one was Aaron, standing up in the rich garments of the +priesthood, with his head bowed to receive the sacred anointing; the +other was Israel's first king, on whom the hoary Samuel was bestowing +the anointing that proclaimed his royalty. Token of both priesthood and +kingship,--oh, if she dared but offer it! + +No one noticed when she stepped out after awhile, and hurried swiftly +homeward. Hidden away in a chest in her room, was a little alabaster +flask, carefully sealed. It held a rare sweet perfume, worth almost its +weight in gold. + +She took it out with trembling fingers, and hid it in the folds of her +long flowing white dress. Her breath came quick, and her heart beat +fast, as she slipped in behind the guests again. The color glowed and +paled in her cheeks, as she stood there in the shadow of the curtains, +hesitating, half afraid to venture. + +At last, when the banquet was almost over, she stepped noiselessly +forward. There was a hush of surprise at this unusual interruption, +although every one there was familiar with the custom, and recognized +its deep meaning and symbolism. + +First on His head, then on His feet, she poured the costly perfume. +Bending low in the deepest humility, she swept her long soft hair across +them to wipe away the crystal drops. The whole house was filled with the +sweet, delicate odor. + +Some of those who saw it, remembered a similar scene in the house of +another Simon, in far away Galilee; but only the Anointed One could feel +the deep contrast between the two. + +That Simon, the proud Pharisee, condescending and critical and scant in +hospitality; this Simon, the cleansed leper, ready to lay down his life, +in his boundless love and gratitude. That woman, a penitent sinner, +kneeling with tears before His mercy; this woman, so pure in heart that +she could see God though hidden in the human body of the Nazarene. That +anointing, to His priesthood at the beginning of His ministry; this +anointing, to His kingdom, now almost at hand. No one spoke as the +fragrance rose and spread itself like the incense of a benediction. It +seemed a fitting close to this hour of communion with the Master. + +Across this eloquent silence that the softest sound would have jarred +upon, a cold, unfeeling voice broke harshly. + +[Illustration: "A DARK FIGURE WENT SKULKING OUT INTO THE NIGHT"] + +It was Judas Iscariot who spoke. "Why was all this ointment wasted?" he +asked. "It would have been better to have sold it and given it to the +poor." + +Simon frowned indignantly at this low-browed guest, who was so lacking +in courtesy, and Mary looked up distressed. + +"Let her alone!" said the Master, gently. "Ye have the poor with you +always, and whensoever ye will, ye may do them good: but me ye have not +always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my +body to the burying." + +A dark look gleamed in the eyes of Judas,--there was that reference +again to His burial. There seemed to be no use of making any further +pretence to follow Him any longer. His kingdom was a delusion,--a vague, +shadowy, spiritual thing that the others might believe in if they chose. +But if there was no longer any hope of gaining by His service, he would +turn to the other side. + +That night there was another secret council of some of the Sanhedrin, +and Judas Iscariot was in their midst. + +When the lights were out, and the Temple police were making their final +rounds, a dark figure went skulking out into the night, and wound its +way through the narrow streets,--the dark figure that still goes +skulking through the night of history,--the man who covenanted for +thirty pieces of silver to betray his Lord. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +"WHO is that talking in the house?" asked Joel of Abigail the morning +after the feast. He had been playing in the garden with Jesse, and +paused just outside the door as he heard voices. + +"Only father and Phineas, now," answered Abigail. "Simon the oil-seller +has just been here, and I am sure you could not guess his errand. It was +about you." + +"About me?" echoed Joel, in surprise. + +"Yes, I never knew until this morning that you were the one who +persuaded him to go to the Master for healing. He says if it had not +been for you, he would still be an outcast from home. During these weeks +you have been away, he has been hoping to find some trace of you, for he +longs to express his gratitude. Last night at the feast, he learned your +name, and now he has just been here to talk to Phineas and father about +you. His olive groves yield him a large fortune every year, and he is in +a position to do a great deal for you, if you will only let him." + +"What does he want to do?" asked Joel. + +"He has offered a great deal: to send you to the best schools in the +country; to let you travel in foreign lands, and see life as it is in +Rome and Athens and the cities of Egypt. Then when you are grown, he +offers to take you in business with himself, and give you the portion of +a son. It is a rare chance for you, my boy." + +"Yes," answered Joel, flushing with pleasure at the thought of all he +might be able to see and learn. He seemed lost for a few minutes in the +bright anticipation of such a tempting future; then his face clouded. + +"But I would have to leave everybody I love," he cried, "and the home +where I have been so happy! I cannot do it, mother Abigail; it is too +much to ask." + +"Now you talk like a child," she answered, half impatiently; but there +was a suspicion of tears in her eyes as she added, "Joel, you have grown +very dear to us. It will be hard to give you up, for you seem almost +like an own son. But consider, my boy; it would not be right to turn +away from such advantages. Jesse and Ruth will be well provided for. All +that my father has will be theirs some day. But Phineas is only a poor +carpenter, and cannot give you much beyond food and clothing. I heard +him say just now that he clearly thought it to be your duty to accept, +and he had no doubt but that you would." + +"But I cannot be with the Master!" cried Joel, as the thought suddenly +occurred to him that he could no longer follow Him as he had been doing, +if he was to be sent away to study and travel. + +"No; but think what you may be able to do for His cause, if you have +money and education and influence. It seems to me that for His sake +alone, you ought to consent to such an arrangement." + +That was the argument that Phineas used when he came out; and the boy +was sadly bewildered between the desire to be constantly with his +beloved Master, and his wish to serve Him as they suggested. + +It was in this perplexed state of mind that he started up to Jerusalem +with Jesse and his grandfather. + +The streets were rapidly filling with people, coming up to the Feast of +the Passover, and Joel recognized many old friends from Galilee. + +"There is Rabbi Amos!" he exclaimed, as he caught sight of an old man in +the door of a house across the street. "May I run and speak to him?" + +"Certainly!" answered Reuben. "You know your way so well about the +streets that it makes no difference if we do get separated. Jesse and I +will walk on down to the shop. You can meet us there." + +Rabbi Amos gave Joel a cordial greeting. "I am about to go back to the +Damascus gate," he said. "I have just been told that the Nazarene will +soon make His entrance into the city, and a procession of pilgrims are +going out to meet Him. I have heard much of the man since He left +Capernaum, and I have a desire to see Him again. Will you come?" + +The old man hobbled along so painfully, leaning on his staff, that they +were a long time in reaching the gate. The outgoing procession had +already met the coming pilgrims, and were starting to return. The way +was strewn with palm branches and the clothes they had taken off to lay +along the road in front of the man they wished to honor. Every hand +carried a palm branch, and every voice cried a Hosannah. + +At first Joel saw only a confused waving of the green branches, and +heard an indistinct murmur of voices; but as they came nearer, he caught +the words, "Hosannah to the Son of David!" + +"Look!" cried Rabbi Amos, laying his wrinkled, shaking hand heavily on +Joel's shoulder. "Look ye, boy, the voice of prophecy! No Roman +war-horse bears the coming victor! It is as Zechariah foretold! That the +king should come riding upon the colt of an ass,--the symbol of peace. +So David rode, and so the Judges of Israel came and went!" + +Joel's eyes followed the gesture of the tremulous, pointing finger. +There came the Master, right in the face of His enemies, boldly riding +in to take possession of His kingdom. + +At last! No wandering now in lonely wildernesses! No fear of the jealous +scribe or Pharisee! The time had fully come. With garments strewn in the +way, with palms of victory waving before Him, with psalm and song and +the shouting of the multitude, He rode triumphantly into the city. + +Joel was roused to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, to see His best +beloved friend so honored. People understood Him now; they appreciated +Him. The demonstrations of the multitude proved it. He was so happy and +excited, he scarcely knew what he was doing. He had no palm branch to +wave, but as the head of the procession came abreast with him, and he +saw the face of the rider, he was almost beside himself. + +He waved his empty hands wildly up and down, cheering at the top of his +voice; but his shrillest Hosannahs were heard only by himself. They were +only a drop in that mighty surf-beat of sound. + +Scarcely knowing what to expect, yet prepared for almost anything, they +followed the procession into the city. When they reached the porch of +the Temple, the Master had disappeared. + +"I wonder where He has gone," said Joel, in a disappointed tone. "I +thought they would surely crown Him." + +"He evidently did not wish it to be," answered Rabbi Amos. "It would be +more fitting that the coronation take place at the great feast. Wait +until the day of the Passover." + +As they sat in the Court of the Gentiles, resting, Joel told Rabbi Amos +of the offer made him by the wealthy oil-dealer Simon. + +"Accept it, by all means!" was the old man's advice. "We have seen +enough just now to know that a new day is about to dawn for Israel. In +Bethany, you will be much nearer the Master than in Capernaum; for +surely, after to-day's demonstration, He will take up His residence in +the capital. In time you may rise to great influence in the new +government soon to be established." + +The old rabbi's opinion weighed heavily with Joel, and he determined to +accept Simon's offer. Then for awhile he was so full of his new plans +and ambitions, he could think of nothing else. + +All that busy week he was separated from the Master and His disciples; +for it was the first Passover he had ever taken part in. After it was +over, he was to break the ties that bound him to the carpenter's family +and the simple life in Galilee, and go to live in Simon's luxurious home +in Bethany. + +So he stayed closely with Phineas and Abigail, taking a great interest +in all the great preparations for the feast. + + * * * * * + +Reuben chose, from the countless pens, a male lamb a year old, without +blemish. About two o'clock the blast of two horns announced that the +priests and Levites in the Temple were ready, and the gates of the inner +courts were opened, that all might bring the lambs for examination. + +The priests, in two long rows, caught the blood in great gold and silver +vessels, as the animals were killed, and passed it to others behind, +till it reached the altar, at the foot of which it was poured out. + +Then the lamb was taken up and roasted in an earthen oven, and the feast +commenced at sunset on Thursday. The skin of the lamb, and the earthen +dishes used, were generally given to the host, when different families +lodged together. + +As many as twenty were allowed to gather at one table. Reuben had +invited Nathan ben Obed, and those who came with him, to partake of his +hospitality. Much to Joel's delight, a familiar shock of sunburned hair +was poked in at the door, and he recognized Buz's freckled face, +round-eyed and open mouthed at this first glimpse of the great city. + +During the first hour they were together, Buz kept his squinting eyes +continually on Joel. He found it hard to believe that this straight, +sinewy boy could be the same pitiful little cripple who had gone with +him to the sheepfolds of Nathan ben Obed. + +"Say," he drawled, after awhile, "I know where that fellow is who made +you lame. I was so upset at seeing you this way that I forgot to tell +you. He had a dreadful accident, and you have already had your wish, for +he is as blind as that stone." + +"Oh, how? Who told you?" cried Joel, eagerly. + +"I saw him myself, as we came through Jericho. He had been nearly beaten +to death by robbers a few weeks before. It gave him a fever, and both +eyes were so inflamed and bruised that he lost his sight." + +"Poor Rehum!" exclaimed Joel. + +"Poor Rehum!" echoed Buz, in astonishment. "What do you mean by poor +Rehum? Aren't you glad? Isn't that just exactly what you planned; or did +you want the pleasure of punching them out yourself?" + +"No," answered Joel, simply; "I forgave him a year ago, the night before +I was healed." + +"You forgave him!" gasped Buz,--"you forgave him! A dog of a Samaritan! +Why, how could you?" + +Buz looked at him with such a wondering, puzzled gaze that Joel did not +attempt to explain. Buz might be ignorant of a great many things, but he +knew enough to hate the Samaritans, and look down on them with the +utmost contempt. + +"I don't really believe you could understand it," said Joel, "so it is +of no use to try to tell you how or why. But I did forgive him, fully +and freely. And if you will tell me just where to find him, I will go +after him early in the morning and bring him back with me. The Hand +that straightened my back can open his eyes; for I have seen it done +many times." + +All during the feast, Buz kept stealing searching glances at Joel. He +could hardly tell which surprised him most, the straightened body or the +forgiving spirit. It was so wonderful to him that he sat speechless. + +At the same time, in an upper chamber in another street, the Master and +His disciples were keeping the feast together. It was their last supper +with Him, although they knew it not. Afterwards they recalled every word +and every incident, with loving memory that lingered over each detail; +but at the time they could not understand its full import. + +The gates were left open on Passover night. While the Master and His +followers walked out to the Garden of Gethsemane, where they had often +gone together, Joel was questioning Buz as to the exact place where he +was to find his old enemy. + +"I'll go out very early in the morning," said Joel, as his head touched +the pillow. "Very early in the morning, for I want Rehum's eyes to be +open just as soon as possible, so that he can see the Master's face. +Lord help me to find him to-morrow," he whispered, and with a blessing +on his lips for the one he had so long ago forgiven, his eyes closed +softly. + +Sleep came quickly to him after the fatigue and excitement of the day. +In his dreams he saw again the Master's face as He made His triumphal +entrance into the city; he heard again the acclamations of the crowd. +Then he saw Rabbi Amos and Simon and little Ruth. There was a confused +blending of kindly faces; there was a shadow-like shifting of indistinct +but pleasant scenes. In the fair dreamland where he wandered, fortune +smiled on him, and all his paths were peace. + +Sleep on, little disciple, happy in thy dreaming; out in Gethsemane's +dark garden steals one to betray thy Lord! By the light of glimmering +lanterns and fitful torches they take Him now. Armed with swords and +staves, they lead Him out from the leafy darkness into the moon-flooded +highroad. + +Now He stands before the High Priest,--alone, unfriended. Sleep, and +wake not at the cock's shrill crowing, for there is none to make answer +for Him, and one who loved Him hath thrice denied! + +Dream on! In the hall of Pilate now, thorn-crowned and purple-clad, Him +whom thou lovest; scourged now, and spat upon. This day, indeed, shall +He come into His kingdom, but well for thee, that thou seest not the +coronation. + +Sleep on, little disciple, be happy whilst thou can! + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +IT was so much later than he had intended, when Joel awoke next morning, +that without stopping for anything to eat, he hurried out of the city, +and took the road by which the Master had made such a triumphal entry a +few days before. + +Faded branches of palms still lay scattered by the wayside, thickly +covered with dust. + +All unconscious of what had happened the night before, and what was even +at that very moment taking place, Joel trudged on to Bethany at a rapid +pace, light-hearted and happy. + +For six days he had been among enthusiastic Galileans who firmly +believed that before the end of Passover week they should see the +overthrow of Rome, and all nations lying at the feet of a Jewish king. +How long they had dreamed of this hour! + +He turned to look back at the city. The white and gold of the Temple +dazzled his eyes, as it threw back the rays of the morning sun. He +thought of himself as he had stood that day on the roof of the +carpenter's house, stretching out longing arms to this holy place, and +calling down curses on the head of his enemy, Rehum. + +Could he be the same boy? It seemed to him now that that poor, crippled +body, that bitter hatred, that burning thirst for revenge, must have +belonged to some one else, he felt so well, so strong, so full of love +to God and all mankind. + +A little broken-winged sparrow fluttered feebly under a hedgerow. He +stopped to gather a handful of ripe berries for it, and even retraced +his steps to a tiny spring he had noticed farther back, to bring it +water in the hollow of a smooth stone. + +He did not find Rehum at the place where Buz had told him to inquire. +His father had taken him to his home, somewhere in Samaria. + +Joel turned back, tired and disappointed. He was glad to lie down, when +he reached Bethany again, and rest awhile. A peculiar darkness began to +settle down over the earth. Joel was perplexed and frightened; he knew +it could not be an eclipse, for it was the time of the full moon. +Finally he started back to Jerusalem, although it was like travelling in +the night, for the darkness had deepened and deepened for nearly three +hours, and the mysterious gloom made him long to be with his friends. + +His first thought was to find the Master, and he naturally turned toward +the Temple. Just as he started across the Porch of Solomon, the darkness +was lifted, and everything seemed to dance before his eyes. He had never +experienced an earthquake shock before, but he felt sure that this was +one. + +He braced himself against one of the pillars. How the massive columns +quivered! How the hot air throbbed! The darkness had been awful, but +this was doubly terrifying. + +The earth had scarcely stopped trembling, when an old white-bearded +priest ran across the Court of the Gentiles; his wrinkled hands, raised +above his head, shook as with palsy. The scream that he uttered seemed +to transfix Joel with horror. + +"_The veil of the Temple is rent in twain!_" he cried,--"_The veil of +the Temple is rent in twain!_" + +Then with a convulsive shudder he fell forward on his face. Joel's knees +shook. The darkness, the earthquake, and now this mighty force that had +laid bare the Holy of Holies, filled him with an undefined dread. + +He ran past the prostrate priest into the inner court, and saw for +himself. There hung the heavy curtain of Babylonian tapestry, in all its +glory of hyacinth and scarlet and purple, torn asunder from top to +bottom. No earthquake shock could have made that ragged gash. The wrath +of God must have come down and laid mighty fingers upon it. + +He ran out of the Temple, and towards the house where he had slept the +night before. + +The earthquake seemed to have shaken all Jerusalem into the streets. +Strange words were afloat. A question overheard in passing one excited +group, an exclamation in another, made him run the faster. + +At Reuben's shop he found Jesse and Ruth both crying from fright. The +attendant who had them in charge told him that his friends had been gone +nearly all day. + +"Where?" demanded Joel. + +"I do not know exactly. They went out with one of the greatest +multitudes that ever passed through the gates of the city. Not only +Jews, but Greeks and Romans and Egyptians. You should have seen the +camels and the chariots, the chairs and the litters!" exclaimed the man. + +A sudden fear fell upon the boy that this was the day that the One he +loved best had been made king, and he had missed it,--had missed the +greatest opportunity of his life. + +"Was it to follow Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth?" he demanded eagerly. + +The man nodded. + +"To crown Him?" was the next breathless question. + +"No; to crucify Him." + +The unexpected answer was almost a death-thrust. Joel stood a moment, +dumb with horror. The blood seemed to stand still in his veins; there +was a roaring in his ears; then everything grew black before him. He +clutched blindly at the air, then staggered back against the wall. + +"No, _no_, _no_, NO!" he cried; each word was louder than the last. "I +will not believe it! You do not speak truth!" + +He ran madly from the shop, down the street, and through the city gate. +Out on the highway he met the returning multitude, most of them in as +great haste as he. + +Everything he saw seemed to confirm the truth of what he had just heard, +but he could not believe it. + +"No, no, no!" he gasped, in a breathless whisper, as he ran. "No, no, +no! It cannot be! He is the Christ! The Son of God! They could not be +able to do it, no matter how much they hated Him!" + +But even as he ran he saw the hill where three crosses rose. He turned +sick and cold, and so weak he could scarcely stand. Still he stumbled +resolutely on, but with his face turned away from the sight he dared not +look upon, lest seeing should be knowing what he feared. + +At last he reached the place, and, shrinking back as if from an expected +blow, he slowly raised his eyes till they rested on the face of the dead +body hanging there. + +The agonized shriek on his lips died half uttered, as he fell +unconscious at the foot of the cross. + +A long time after, one of the soldiers happening to notice him, turned +him over with his foot, and prodded him sharply with his spear. It +partially aroused him, and in a few moments he sat up. Then he looked up +again into the white face above him; but this time the bowed head awed +him into a deep calm. + +The veil of the Temple was rent indeed, and through this pierced body +there shone out from its Holy of Holies the Shekinah of God's love for a +dying world. It uplifted Joel, and drew him, and drew him, till he +seemed to catch a faint glimpse of the Father's face; to feel himself +folded in boundless pardon, in pity so deep, and a love so unfathomed, +that the lowest sinner could find a share. But while he gazed and gazed +into the white face, so glorified in its marble stillness, Joseph of +Arimathea stood between him and the cross, giving directions, in a low +tone, for the removal of the body. + +It seemed to waken Joel out of his trance; and when the bloodstained +form was stretched gently on the ground, he forgot his glimpse of +heavenly mysteries, he saw no longer the uplifted Christ. He saw +instead, the tortured body of the man he loved; the friend for whom he +would gladly have given his life. + +Almost blinded by the rush of tears, he groped his way on his knees +toward it. A mantle of fine white linen had been laid over the lifeless +body; but one hand lay stretched out beside Him with a great bloody +nail-hole through the palm,--it was the hand that had healed him; the +hand that had fed the hungry multitudes; the hand that had been laid in +blessing on the heads of little children, waiting by the roadside! With +the thought of all it had done for him, with the thought of all it had +done for all the countless ones its warm, loving touch had comforted, +came the remembrance of the torture it had just suffered. Joel lay down +beside it with a heart-broken moan. + +Men came and lifted the body in its spotless covering. Joel did not look +up to see who bore it away. + +The lifeless hand still hung down uncovered at His side. With his eyes +fixed on that, Joel followed, longing to press it to his lips with +burning kisses; but he dared not so much as touch it with trembling +fingers,--a sense of his unworthiness forbade. + +As the silent procession went onward, Joel found himself walking beside +Abigail. She had pushed her veil aside that she might better see the +still form borne before them; she had stood near by through all those +hours of suffering. Her wan face and swollen eyes showed how the force +of her sympathy and grief had worn upon her. + +Joel glanced around for Phineas. He was one of those who walked before +with the motionless burden, his strong brown hands tenderly supporting +the Master's pierced feet; his face was as rigid as stone, and seemed to +Joel to have grown years older since the night before. + +Another swift rush of tears blinded Joel, as he looked at the set, +despairing face, and then at what he carried. + +O friend of Phineas! O feet that often ran to meet him on the grassy +hillsides of Nazareth, that walked beside him at his daily toil, and led +him to a nobler living!--Thou hast climbed the mountain of Beatitudes! +Thou hast walked the wind-swept waters of the Galilee! But not of this +is he thinking now. It is of Thy life's unselfish pilgrimage; of the +dust and travel stains of the feet he bears; of the many steps, taken +never for self, always for others; of the cure and the comfort they have +daily carried; of the great love that hath made their very passing by to +be a benediction. + +It seemed strange to Joel that, in the midst of such overpowering +sorrow, trivial little things could claim his attention. Years afterward +he remembered just how the long streaks of yellow sunshine stole under +the trees of the garden; he could hear the whirr of grasshoppers, +jumping up in the path ahead of them; he could smell the heavy odor of +lilies growing beside an old tomb. + +The sorrowful little group wound its way to a part of the garden where a +new tomb had been hewn out of the rock; here Joseph of Arimathea +motioned them to stop. They laid the open bier gently on the ground, and +Joel watched them with dry eyes but trembling lips, as they noiselessly +prepared the body for its hurried burial. + +From time to time as they wound the bands of white linen, powdered with +myrrh and aloes, they glanced up nervously at the sinking sun. The +Sabbath eve was almost upon them, and the old slavish fear of the Law +made them hasten. A low stifled moaning rose from the lips of the women, +as the One they had followed so long was lifted up, and borne forever +out of their sight, through the low doorway of the tomb. + +Strong hands rolled the massive stone in place that barred the narrow +opening. Then all was over; there was nothing more that could be done. + +The desolate mourners sat down on the grass outside the tomb, to watch +and weep and wait over a dead hope and a lost cause. + +A deep stillness settled over the garden as they lingered there in the +gathering twilight. They grew calm after awhile, and began to talk in +low tones of the awful events of the day just dying. + +Gradually, Joel learned all that had taken place. As he heard the story +of the shame and abuse and torture that had been heaped upon the One he +loved better than all the world, his face grew white with horror and +indignation. + +"Oh, wasn't there _one_ to stand up for Him?" he cried, with clasped +hands and streaming eyes. "Wasn't there _one_ to speak a word in His +defence? O my Beloved!" he moaned. "Out of all the thousands Thou didst +heal, out of all the multitudes Thou didst bless, not one to bear +witness!" + +He rocked himself to and fro on his knees, wringing his hands as if the +thought brought him unspeakable anguish. + +"Oh, if I had only been there!" he moaned. "If I could only have stood +up beside Him and told what He had done for me! O my God! My God! How +can I bear it? To think He went to His death without a friend and +without a follower, when I loved Him so! All alone! Not one to speak for +Him, not one!" + +Groping with tear-blinded eyes towards the tomb, the boy stretched his +arms lovingly around the great stone that stopped its entrance; then +suddenly realizing that he could never go any closer to the One inside, +never see Him again, he leaned his head hopelessly against the rock, and +gave way to his feeling of utter loneliness and despair. + +How long he stood there, he did not know. When he looked up again, the +women had gone, and it was nearly dark. Phineas and several other men +lingered in the black shadows of the trees, and Joel joined them. + +Roman guards came presently. A stout cord was stretched across the +stone, its ends firmly fastened, and sealed with the seal of Cæsar. A +watch-fire was kindled near by; then the Roman sentinels began their +steady tramp! tramp! as they paced back and forth. + +High overhead the stars began to set their countless watch-fires in the +heavens; then the white full moon of the Passover looked down, and all +night long kept its silent vigil over the forsaken tomb of the sleeping +Christ. + + * * * * * + +Abigail had found shelter for the night with friends, in a tent just +outside the city; but Joel and Phineas took their way back to Bethany. + +Little was said as they trudged along in the moonlight. Joel thought +only of one thing,--his great loss, the love of which he had been +bereft. But to Phineas this death meant much more than the separation +from the best of friends; it meant the death of a cause on which he had +staked his all. He must go back to Galilee to be the laughing-stock of +his old neighbors. He who they trusted would have saved Israel had been +put to death as a felon,--crucified between two thieves! The cause was +lost; he was left to face an utter failure. + +When the moon went down that morning over the hills of Judea, there were +many hearts that mourned the Man of Nazareth, but not a soul in all the +universe believed on Him as the Son of God. + +Hope lay dead in the tomb of Joseph, with a great stone forever walling +it in. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +"WAKE up, Joel! Wake up! I bring you good tidings, my lad!" It was +Abigail's voice ringing cheerily through the court-yard, as she bent +over the boy, fast asleep on the hard stones. + +All the long Sabbath day after the burial, he had sat listlessly in the +shady court-yard, his blank gaze fixed on the opposite wall. No one +seemed able to arouse him from his apathy. He turned away from the food +they brought him, and refused to enter the house when night came. + +Towards morning he had gone over to the fountain for a long draught of +its cool water; then overcome by weakness from his continued fast, and +exhausted by grief, he fell asleep on the pavement. + +Abigail came in and found him there, with the red morning sun beating +full in his face. She had to shake him several times before she could +make him open his eyes. + +He sat up dizzily, and tried to collect his thoughts. Then he +remembered, and laid his head wearily down again, with a groan. + +"Wake up! Wake up!" she insisted, with such eager gladness in her voice +that Joel opened his eyes again, now fully aroused. + +"What is it?" he asked indifferently. + +"_He is risen!_" she exclaimed joyfully, clasping her hands as she +always did when much excited. "I went to His tomb very early in the +morning, while it was yet dark, with Mary and Salome and some other +women. The stone had been rolled aside; and while we wondered and wept, +fearing His enemies had stolen Him away, He stood before us, with His +old greeting on His lips,--'All hail!'" + +Joel rubbed his eyes and looked at her. "No, no!" he said wearily, "I am +dreaming again!" + +He would have thrown himself on the ground as before, his head pillowed +on his arm, but she would not let him. She shook his hands with a +persistence that could not be refused, talking to him all the while in +such a glad eager voice that he slowly began to realize that something +had made her very happy. + +"What is it, Mother Abigail?" he asked, much puzzled. + +"I do not wonder you are bewildered," she cried. "It is such blessed, +such wonderful news. Why He is _alive_, Joel, He whom Thou lovest! Try +to understand it, my boy! I have just now come from the empty tomb. I +saw Him! I spoke with Him! I knelt at His feet and worshipped!" + +By this time all the family had come out. Reuben looked at his daughter +pityingly, as she repeated her news; then he turned to Phineas. + +"Poor thing!" he said, in a low tone. "She has witnessed such terrible +scenes lately, and received such a severe shock, that her mind is +affected by it. She does not know what she is saying. Did not you +yourself help prepare the body for burial, and put it in the tomb?" + +"Yes," answered Phineas, "and helped close it with a great stone, which +no one man could possibly move by himself. And I saw it sealed with the +seal of Cæsar; and when I left it was guarded by Roman sentinels in +armor. No man could have opened it." + +"But Abigail talks of angels who sat in the empty tomb, and who told +them He had risen," replied her father. + +Joel, who had overheard this low-toned conversation, got up and stood +close beside them. He had begun to tremble from weakness and +excitement. + +[Illustration: "'THE STONE IS GONE!'"] + +"Father Phineas," he asked, "do you remember the story we heard from the +old shepherd, Heber? The angels told of His birth; maybe she _did_ see +them in His tomb." + +"How can such things be?" queried Reuben, stroking his beard in +perplexity. + +"That's just what you said when Rabbi Lazarus was brought back to life," +piped Jesse's shrill voice, quite unexpectedly, at his grandfather's +elbow. He had not lost a word of the conversation. "Why don't you go and +see for yourself if the tomb is empty?" + +Abigail had gone into the house with her mother, and now the summons to +breakfast greeted them. She saw she could not convince them of the truth +of her story, so she said no more about it; but her happy face was more +eloquent than words. + +All day snatches of song kept rising to her lips,--old psalms of +thanksgiving, and half whispered hallelujahs. At last Joel and Phineas +were both so much affected by her continued cheerfulness, that they +began to believe there must be some great cause for it. + +Finally, in the waning afternoon, they took the road that led from +Bethany to the garden where they firmly believed that the Master still +lay buried. + +As they came in sight of the tomb, Joel clutched Phineas by the arm, and +pointed, with a shaking finger, to the dark opening ahead of of them. + +"See!" he said, pointing into its yawning darkness. "She was right! The +stone is gone!" + +It was some time before they could muster up courage to go nearer and +look into the sepulchre. When at last they did so, neither spoke a word, +but, after one startled look into each other's eyes, turned and left the +garden. + +It was growing dark as they hurried along the highway homeward. Two men +came half running towards the city, in great haste to reach the gates +before they should be closed for the night. They were two disciples well +known to Phineas. + +He stopped them with the question that was uppermost in his mind. + +"Yes, He is risen," answered one of the men, breathlessly. "We have seen +Him. Hosanna to the Highest! He walked along this road with us as we +went to Emmaus." + +"Ah, how our hearts burned as He talked with us by the way!" +interrupted the other man. + +"Only this hour He sat at meat with us," cried the first speaker. "He +broke bread with us, and blessed it as He always used to do. We are +running back to the city now to tell the other disciples." + +Phineas would have laid a detaining hand on them, but they hurried on, +and left him standing in the road, looking wistfully after them. + +"It must be true," said Joel, "or they could not have been so nearly +wild with joy." + +Phineas sadly shook his head. "I wish I could think so," he sighed. + +"Let us go home," urged Abigail, the next day, "the Master has bidden +His brethren meet Him in Galilee. Let us go. There is hope of seeing Him +again in our old home!" + +Joel, now nearly convinced of the truth of her belief, was also anxious +to go. But Phineas lingered; his plodding mind was slower to grasp such +thoughts than the sensitive woman's or the imaginative boy's. One after +another he sought out Peter and James and John, and the other disciples +who had seen the risen Master, and questioned them closely. Still he +tarried for another week. + +One morning he met Thomas, whose doubts all along had strengthened his +own. He ran against him in the crowded street in Jerusalem. Thomas +seized his arm, and, turning, walked beside him a few paces. + +"_It is true!_" he said, in a low intense tone, with his lips close to +his ear. "I saw Him myself last night; I held His hands in mine! I +touched the side the spear had pierced! He called me by name; and I know +now beyond all doubt that the Master has risen from the dead, and that +He is the Son of God!" + +After that, Phineas no longer objected when it was proposed that they +should go back to Galilee. The story of the resurrection was too great +for him to grasp entirely, still he could not put aside such a weight of +evidence that came to him from friends whose word he had always +implicitly trusted. + +The roads were still full of pilgrims returning from the Passover. As +Phineas journeyed on with his little family, he fell in with the sons of +Jonah and Zebedee, going back to their nets and their fishing-boats. + +The order of procession was constantly shifting, and one morning Joel +found himself walking beside John, one of the chosen twelve, who seemed +to have understood his Master better than any of the others. + +The man seemed wrapped in deep thought, and took no notice of his +companion, till Joel timidly touched his sleeve. + +"Do _you_ believe it is true?" the boy asked. + +There was no surprise in the man's face at the abrupt question, he felt, +without asking, what Joel meant. A reassuring smile lighted up his face +as he laid his hand kindly on Joel's shoulder. + +"I know it, my lad; I have been with Him." The quiet positiveness with +which he spoke seemed to destroy Joel's last doubt. + +"Many things that He said to us come back to me very clearly; and I see +now He was trying to prepare us for this." + +"Tell me about them," begged Joel, "and about those last hours He was +with you. Oh, if I could only have been with Him, too!" + +John saw the tears gathering in the boy's eyes, heard the tremble in his +voice, and felt a thrill of sympathy as he recognized a kindred love in +the little fellow's heart. + +So he told Joel of the last supper they had taken together, of the hymn +they had sung, and of the watch they had failed to keep, when He took +them with Him into the garden of Gethsemane. All the little incidents +connected with those last solemn hours, he repeated carefully to the +listening boy. + +From time to time Joel brushed his hand across his eyes; but a deep calm +fell over him as John's voice went on, slowly repeating the words the +Master had comforted them with. + +"Let not your hearts be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. +In my Father's house are many mansions.... I go to prepare a place for +you. I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, +there ye may be also.... If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I +said, I go unto the Father.... These things I have spoken unto you, that +in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but +be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." + +Joel made an exclamation as if about to speak, and then stopped. "What +is it?" asked John. + +"How could He mean that He has overcome the world? Cæsar still rules, +and Jerusalem is full of His enemies. I can't forget that they killed +Him, even if He has risen." + +John stooped to tie his sandal before he answered. + +"I have been fitting together different things He told us; and I begin +to see how blind we were. Once He called Himself the Good Shepherd who +would give his life for his sheep, and said, 'Therefore doth my Father +love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man +taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it +down, and I have power to take it again.'" + +They walked on in silence a few paces, then John asked abruptly, "Do you +remember about the children of Israel being so badly bitten by serpents +in the wilderness, and how Moses was commanded to set up a brazen +serpent in their midst?" + +"Yes, indeed!" answered Joel. "All who looked up at it were saved; but +those who would not died from the poisonous bites." + +"One night," continued John, "a learned man by the name of Nicodemus, +one of the rulers, came to the Master with many questions. And I +remember one of the answers He gave him. 'As Moses lifted up the serpent +in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that +whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting +life.' We did not understand Him then at all. Not till I saw Him lifted +up on the cruel cross, did I begin to dimly see what He meant." + +A light broke over Joel's face as he remembered the vision he had had +that day, kneeling at the foot of the cross; then he stopped still in +the road, with his hands clasped in dismay. There suddenly seemed to +rise before him the scenes of daily sacrifice in the Temple, when the +blood of innocent lambs flowed over the altar; then he thought of the +great Day of Atonement, when the poor scape-goat was driven away to its +death, laden with the sins of the people. + +"Oh, that must be what Isaiah meant!" he cried in distress. "'He was +brought as a lamb to the slaughter!' Oh, can it be possible that 'the +Lord hath laid on _Him_ the iniquity of us all'? What an awful +sacrifice!" + +The tears streamed down his face as the thought came over him with +overwhelming conviction, that it was for _him_ that the man he loved so +had endured all the horrible suffering of death by crucifixion. + +"Why did such a thing have to be?" he asked, looking up appealingly at +his companion. + +John looked out and up, as if he saw far beyond the narrow, hill-bound +horizon, and quoted softly: "_For God so loved the world, that He gave +His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not +perish, but have everlasting life._" + +Just as the feeling had come to him that morning by the Galilee, and +again as he gazed and gazed into the white face on the cross, Joel +seemed to feel again the love of the Father, as it took him close into +its infinite keeping. + +"'Greater love hath no man than this,'" quoted John again, "'that a man +lay down his life for his friends.' He is the propitiation for our sins; +and not ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." + +It was hard for the child to understand this at first; but this gentle +disciple who walked beside him had walked long beside the Master, and in +the Master's own way and words taught Joel life's greatest lesson. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +THEY went back to their simple lives again,--those hardy fishermen, the +busy carpenter, and the boy. Phineas was silent and grave. For him, hope +still lay dead in that garden tomb near Golgotha; but Joel sang as he +worked. + +The appointed time was nearing when the Master was to meet them on the +mountain. As often as he could, Joel stole away from the moody man at +the work-bench, and went down to the beach for more cheerful +companionship. + +One morning, seeing a fishing-boat that he recognized pulling in quickly +to shore, he ran down to see what luck his friends had had during the +night. + +He held up his hands in astonishment at the great haul of fish the boat +held. + +"We have been with the Master," explained one of the men. "We toiled all +night, and took nothing till we met Him." + +Joel listened eagerly while they told him of that meeting in the early +dawn, and of the meal they ate together, while the sun came up over the +Galilee, and the blue waves whispered their gladness to the beach, as +they heard the Master's voice once more. + +"Oh, to think that He is in Galilee again!" exclaimed Joel. That thought +added purpose and meaning to each new day. Every morning he woke with +the feeling, "Maybe I shall see Him before the sun goes down." Every +night he went to sleep saying, "He is somewhere near! No telling how +soon I may be with Him!" + +When the day came on which they were to go to the mountain, Joel was up +very early in the morning. He bathed and dressed himself with the care +of a priest about to enter the inner courts on some holy errand. + +When he started to the mountain, Abigail noticed that he wore his finest +headdress of white linen. His tunic was spotless, and, from the corners +of his brown and white striped mantle, the blue fringes that the Law +prescribed hung smooth as silk. + +He did not wait for Phineas or any of his friends. Long before the time, +he had climbed the rocky path, and was sitting all alone in the deep +shadowed stillness. + +The snapping of a twig startled him; the falling of a leaf made him +look up hopefully. Any minute the Master might come. + +His heart beat so loud it seemed to him that the wood-birds overhead +must surely hear it, and be frightened away. + +Imagine that scene, you who can,--you who have just seen the earth close +over your best-beloved; who have awakened in the lonely night, with that +sudden sickening remembrance of loss; who have longed, with a longing +like a constant ache, for the voice and the smile and the footstep that +have slipped hopelessly beyond recall. + +Think of what it would mean, if you knew now, beyond doubt, that all +that you had loved and lost would be given back to you before the +passing of another hour! + +So Joel waited, restless, burning, all in a quiver of expectancy. + +Steps began to wind around the base of the mountain. One familiar face +after another came in sight, then strange ones, until, by and by, five +hundred people had gathered there, and were sitting in reverent, +unbroken silence. The soft summer wind barely stirred the leaves; even +the twitter of nestlings overhead was hushed. + +After awhile, thrilled by some unseen influence, as a field of grain is +swayed by the passing wind, they bowed their heads. The Master stood +before them, His hands outspread in blessing. + +Joel started forward with a wild desire to throw himself at His feet, +and put his arms around them; but a majesty he had never seen before in +that gentle face restrained him. + +He listened to the voice as it rose and fell with all its old winning +tenderness. As you would listen could the dead lips you love move again; +as you would greedily snatch up every word, and hide it in your heart of +hearts, so Joel listened. + +"I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and receive you unto +myself, that where I am there ye may be also.... Peace I leave with +you.... Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be +troubled, neither let it be afraid." + +As the beloved voice went on, promising the Comforter that should come +when He was gone, all the dread and pain of the coming separation seemed +to be lost. + +Boy though he was, Joel looked down the years of his life feeling it was +only a fleeting shadow, compared with the eternal companionship just +promised him. + +He would make no moan; he would utter no complaint: but he would take up +his life's little day, and bear it after the Master,--a cup of loving +service,--into that upper kingdom where there was a place prepared for +him. + +It was all over so soon. They were left alone on the mountain-side +again, with only the sunshine flickering through the leaves, and the +wood-birds just beginning to trill to each other once more. But the warm +air seemed to still throb with the last words He had spoken: "Lo, I am +with you alway, even unto the end of the world." + +Phineas came down the mountain with his face all ashine; at last his +eyes had been opened. + +"He and the Father are one!" he exclaimed to the man walking beside him. +"That voice is the same that spake from the midst of the burning bush, +and from the summit of Sinai. All these years I have followed the +Master, I believed Him to be a perfect man and a great prophet; I +believed Him to be 'the rod out of the stem of Jesse' who through +Jehovah's hand was to redeem Israel, even as the rod in Aaron's hand +smote the floods and made a pathway for our people. + +"When I saw Him put to death as a felon, all hope died within me; even +to-day I came out here unbelieving. I could not think that I should see +Him. How blind we have been all these years! God with us in the flesh, +and we did not know Him!" + +Joel walked on behind the two, sharing their feeling of exaltation. As +they came down into the valley and entered Capernaum, the work-a-day +sights and noises seemed to jar on their senses, in this uplifted mood. + +A man standing in an open doorway accosted Phineas, and asked when he +could commence work on the house he had talked to him about building. + +Phineas hesitated, and looked down at the ground, as if studying some +difficult problem. In a few minutes he raised his eyes with a look of +decision. + +"I cannot build it for you at all," he answered. + +"Not build it!" echoed the man. "I thought you were anxious for the +job." + +"So I was," answered the carpenter; "but when I asked for it, I had no +belief that the Master could rise from the dead. Just now, on the +mountain yonder, I have been with Him. His command is still ringing in +my ears: 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every +creature!' + +"Henceforth I give my life to Him, even as He gave His to me. My days +are now half spent, but every remaining one shall be used to proclaim, +as far and wide as possible, that the risen Christ is the Son of God!" + +The man was startled as he looked at Phineas; such a fire of love and +purpose seemed to illuminate his earnest face that it was completely +transformed. + +"Even now," exclaimed Phineas, "will I commence my mission. You are the +first one I have met, and I must tell to you this glad new gospel. He +died for you! 'God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten +Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have +everlasting life!' O my friend, if you could only believe that as I +believe it!" + +The man shrank back into the doorway, strangely moved by the passionate +force of his earnestness. + +"I must go up to Jerusalem," continued Phineas, "and wait till power is +given us from on high; then I can more clearly see my way. I do not know +whether I shall be directed to go into other lands, or to come back here +to carry the news to my old neighbors. But it matters not which path is +pointed out, the mission has been already given,--to tell the message +to every creature my voice can reach." + +"And you?" asked the man, pointing to the companion of Phineas. + +"I, too, received the command," was the answer, "and I, too, am ready to +go to the world's end, if need be!" + +"Surely there must be truth in what you say," muttered the man. Then his +glance fell on Joel. "You, too?" he questioned. + +"Nay, he is but a lad," answered Phineas, before Joel could find words +to answer him. "Come! we must hasten home." + +Joel talked little during the next few days, and stole away often to +think by himself, in the quiet little upper chamber on the roof. + +Phineas was making his preparations to go back to Jerusalem; and he +urged the boy to go back with him, and accept Simon's offer. Abigail, +too, added her persuasions to his; and even old Rabbi Amos came down one +day, and sat for an hour under the fig-trees, painting in glowing colors +the life that might be his for the choosing. + +It was a very alluring prospect; it had been the dream of his life to +travel in far countries. He pictured himself surrounded by wealth and +culture; he would be able to do so much for his old friends. He could +give back to Jesse and Ruth a hundred fold, what had been bestowed on +him; and the poor--how much he could help them, when he received a son's +portion from the wealthy Simon! O the hearts he could make glad, all up +and down the land! + +The old day-dreams he used to delight in danced temptingly before him. +As he stood idly beside the work-bench one afternoon, thinking of such a +future, a soft step behind him made him turn. The hammer fell from his +hand to the grass, as he saw the woman who came timidly to meet him. + +"Why, Aunt Leah!" he cried. "What brought _you_ here?" + +He had not seen her since the night his Uncle Laban had driven him from +home. + +She drew aside her veil, and looked at him. "I heard you had been +healed," she said, "and I have always wanted to come and see you, and +tell you how glad I am; but my husband forbade it. Child!" she cried +abruptly, "how much you look like your father! The likeness is +startling!" + +The discovery seemed to make her forget what she had come to say, and +she stood and stared at him; then she remembered. "Rabbi Amos told me of +the offer you have had from a rich merchant in Bethany, and I came down +here, secretly, to beg you to accept it. In your father's name I beg +you!" + +Joel looked perplexed. "I hardly know what to do," he said. "Every one +advises me just as you do; but I feel that they are all wrong. Surely +the Master meant me as well as father Phineas and the others, when He +charged us to go and preach the gospel to every creature." + +A sudden interest came into the woman's face; she took a step forward. +"Joel, did _you_ see Him after He was risen?" + +"Yes," he answered. + +"Oh, I believe then that He is the Christ!" she cried. "I have thought +all the time that it might be so, and the children are so sure of it." + +"And Uncle Laban?" questioned Joel. + +She shook her head sadly. "He grows more bitterly opposed every day." + +"Aunt Leah," he asked, coming back to the first question, "don't you +think He must have meant me as well as those men?" + +"Oh, hardly," she said, hesitatingly, "you are so young, and there are +so many others to do it; it would surely be better for you to go to +Bethany." + +After she had gone home, he put away his tools, and, like one in a +dream, started slowly towards the mountain. + +The same summer stillness reigned on its shady slopes as when the five +hundred had gathered there. He climbed up near the summit, and sat down +on a high stone. + +To the eastward the Galilee glittered like a sapphire in the sun; +Capernaum seemed like a great ant-hill in commotion. No wonder he could +not think among all those conflicting voices; he was glad he had come up +where it was so still. + +Phineas was going away in the morning. If Joel went also, maybe he would +never look down on that scene again. + +Then almost as if some living voice broke the stillness, he heard the +words: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every +creature!" It was the echo of the words that had fallen from the +Master's lips. Nothing once uttered by that voice can ever die; it lives +on and on in the ever-widening circles of the centuries, as a ripple, +once started, rings shoreward through the seas. + +In that instant all the things he had been considering seemed so small +and worthless. He had been planning to give Simon's gold and silver to +the poor; but the Master had given them His life, Himself! Could he do +less? + +"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, ye have done it +unto me," something seemed to say to him. Yes; he could do it for the +Master's sake, for the One who had healed him, for the One who had died +for him. + +Then and there, high up in the mountain's solitudes, he found the path +he was to follow; and then he wondered how he could have thought for an +instant of making any other choice. It was the path the Master's own +feet had trod, and the boy who had followed, knew well what a weary way +it led. + +For his great love's sake, he gave up the old ambitions, the +self-centred hopes, saying, in a low tone, as if he felt the beloved +Presence very near, "Oh, I want to serve Thee truly! If I am too young +now to go out into all the world, let me be Thy little cup-bearer here +at home, to carry the story of Thy life and love to those around me!" + +The west was all alight with the glory of the sunset; somewhere beyond +its burnished portals lay the City of the King. Joel turned from its +dazzling depths to look downward into the valley. He had chosen +persecution and sacrifice and suffering, he knew, but the light on his +face was more than the halo of the summer sunset. + +As he went down the mountain to his life of lowly service, a deep peace +fell warm across his heart; for the promise went with him, a staff to +bear him up through all his after life's long pilgrimage: "LO, I AM WITH +YOU ALWAY, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD!" + + +THE END + + + + +Selections from The Page Company's Books for Young People + +THE BLUE BONNET SERIES + + _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, + per volume_ $1.50 + + +A TEXAS BLUE BONNET + +By CAROLINE E. JACOBS. + +"The book's heroine, Blue Bonnet, has the very finest kind of wholesome, +honest, lively girlishness."--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._ + + +BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY + +By CAROLINE E. JACOBS AND EDYTH ELLERBECK READ. + +"A healthy, natural atmosphere breathes from every chapter."--_Boston +Transcript._ + + +BLUE BONNET IN BOSTON; OR, BOARDING-SCHOOL DAYS AT MISS NORTH'S. + +By CAROLINE E. JACOBS AND LELA HORN RICHARDS. + +"It is bound to become popular because of its wholesomeness and its many +human touches."--_Boston Globe._ + + +BLUE BONNET KEEPS HOUSE; OR, THE NEW HOME IN THE EAST. + +By CAROLINE E. 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RICHARDS + + +THREE MINUTE STORIES + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, with eight plates in full color and many text +illustrations by Josephine Bruce. + + _Net_ $1.25; carriage paid $1.40 + +"Little ones will understand and delight in the stories and +poems."--_Indianapolis News._ + + +FIVE MINUTE STORIES + + Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated $1.25 + +A charming collection of short stories and clever poems for children. + + +MORE FIVE MINUTE STORIES + + Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated $1.25 + +A noteworthy collection of short stories and poems for children, which +will prove as popular with mothers as with boys and girls. + + +FIVE MICE IN A MOUSE TRAP + + Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated $1.25 + +The story of their lives and other wonderful things related by the Man +in the Moon, done in the vernacular from the lunacular form by Laura E. +Richards. + + +WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE + + Cloth, 8vo, illustrated $1.25 + +The title most happily introduces the reader to the charming home life +of Doctor Howe and Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, during the childhood of the +author. + + +A HAPPY LITTLE TIME + + Cloth, 8vo, illustrated $1.25 + +Little Betty and the happy time she had will appeal strongly to mothers +as well as to the little ones who will have this story read to them, and +appeal all the more on account of its being such a "real" story. + + + + +THE BOYS' STORY OF THE RAILROAD SERIES + +By BURTON E. STEVENSON + + _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_ $1.50 + + +THE YOUNG SECTION-HAND; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF ALLAN WEST. + +"A thrilling story, well told, clean and bright. The whole range of +section railroading is covered in the story, and it contains information +as well as interest."--_Chicago Post._ + + +THE YOUNG TRAIN DISPATCHER + +"A vivacious account of the varied and often hazardous nature of +railroad life, full of incident and adventure, in which the author has +woven admirable advice about honesty, manliness, self-culture, good +reading, and the secrets of success."--_Congregationalist._ + + +THE YOUNG TRAIN MASTER + +"It is a book that can be unreservedly commended to anyone who loves a +good, wholesome, thrilling, informing yarn."--_Passaic News._ + + +THE YOUNG APPRENTICE; OR, ALLAN WEST'S CHUM. + +"The story is intensely interesting, and one gains an intimate knowledge +of the methods and works in the great car shops not easily gained +elsewhere."--_Baltimore Sun._ + +"It appeals to every boy of enterprising spirit, and at the same +time teaches him some valuable lessons in honor, pluck, and +perseverance."--_Cleveland Plain Dealer._ + +"The lessons that the books teach in development of uprightness, honesty +and true manly character are sure to appeal to the reader."--_The +American Boy._ + + + + +THE LITTLE COLONEL BOOKS + +(Trade Mark) + +By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON + + _Each large 12mo, cloth, illustrated, per volume_ $1.50 + + THE LITTLE COLONEL STORIES + (Trade Mark) + +Being three "Little Colonel" stories in the Cosy Corner Series, "The +Little Colonel," "Two Little Knights of Kentucky," and "The Giant +Scissors," in a single volume. + + + THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HOUSE PARTY + (Trade Mark) + + THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HOLIDAYS + (Trade Mark) + + THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HERO + (Trade Mark) + + THE LITTLE COLONEL AT BOARDING-SCHOOL + (Trade Mark) + + THE LITTLE COLONEL IN ARIZONA + (Trade Mark) + + THE LITTLE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS VACATION + (Trade Mark) + + THE LITTLE COLONEL, MAID OF HONOR + (Trade Mark) + + THE LITTLE COLONEL'S KNIGHT COMES RIDING + (Trade Mark) + + MARY WARE: THE LITTLE COLONEL'S CHUM + (Trade Mark) + + MARY WARE IN TEXAS + + MARY WARE'S PROMISED LAND + + _These twelve volumes, boxed as a set_, $18.00. + + +SPECIAL HOLIDAY EDITIONS + + _Each small quarto, cloth decorative, per volume_ $1.25 + +New plates, handsomely illustrated with eight full-page drawings in +color, and many marginal sketches. + + + THE LITTLE COLONEL + (Trade Mark) + + TWO LITTLE KNIGHTS OF KENTUCKY + + THE GIANT SCISSORS + + BIG BROTHER + + +THE JOHNSTON JEWEL SERIES + + _Each small 16mo, cloth decorative, with frontispiece and decorative + text borders, per volume_ _Net_ $0.50 + + + IN THE DESERT OF WAITING: THE LEGEND OF CAMELBACK + MOUNTAIN. + + THE THREE WEAVERS: A FAIRY TALE FOR FATHERS AND + MOTHERS AS WELL AS FOR THEIR DAUGHTERS. + + KEEPING TRYST: A TALE OF KING ARTHUR'S TIME. + + THE LEGEND OF THE BLEEDING HEART + + THE RESCUE OF PRINCESS WINSOME: A FAIRY PLAY FOR OLD + AND YOUNG. + + THE JESTER'S SWORD + + * * * * * + + THE LITTLE COLONEL'S GOOD TIMES BOOK + + Uniform in size with the Little Colonel Series $1.50 + Bound in white kid (morocco) and gold _Net_ 3.00 + +Cover design and decorations by Peter Verberg. + +"A mighty attractive volume in which the owner may record the good times +she has on decorated pages, and under the directions as it were of Annie +Fellows Johnston."--_Buffalo Express._ + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Obvious punctuation errors repaired. Varied hyphenation as in +"head-dress" and "headdress" was retained. + +Page 11, word "an" removed from text. Original read (never be an any +better) + +Page 32, "a good" changed to "good a" (too good a man to) + +Page 68, "persistance" changed to "persistence" (persistence with which +the) + +Page 68, "coin" changed to "coins" (small bag of coins) + +Page 90, "acknowleged" changed to "acknowledged" (he acknowledged +proudly) + +Page 101, "That" changed to "that" (unto you that) + +Page 114, "Was" changed to "was" (was Joel's constant) + +Page 116, "kness" changed to "knees" (his knees in readiness) + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Joel: A Boy of Galilee, by Annie Fellows Johnston + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE *** + +***** This file should be named 39231-8.txt or 39231-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/2/3/39231/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Johnston. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p {margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1.25em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + img {border: 0;} + .tnote {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} + ins {text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin dotted gray;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + .copyright {text-align: center; font-size: 70%;} + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%; text-align: justify;} + + .bbox1 {border: solid 2px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} + .bbox2 {border: solid 2px; margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} + + .small {font-size: 70%;} + .big {font-size: 110%;} + .adtitle2 {font-size: 150%; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;} + .adtitle1 {font-size: 200%; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;} + .adtitle3 {font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;} + .adtitle4 {font-size: 110%; font-weight: bold;} + + .author {font-size: 120%; text-align: center;} + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .chaptertitle {text-align: center; font-size: 110%; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1.5em;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold; font-size: 90%;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .unindent {margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + .right {text-align: right;} + .poem {margin-left: 30%; text-align: left;} + .poem2 {margin-left: 15%; text-align: left;} + .sig {margin-right: 10%; text-align: right;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + + .hang1 {text-indent: -3em; margin-left: 3em;} + .cap:first-letter {float: left; clear: left; margin: -0.2em 0.1em 0; margin-top: 0%; + padding: 0; line-height: .75em; font-size: 300%; text-align: justify;} + .cap {text-align: justify;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Joel: A Boy of Galilee, by Annie Fellows Johnston + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Joel: A Boy of Galilee + +Author: Annie Fellows Johnston + +Illustrator: L. J. Bridgman + +Release Date: March 23, 2012 [EBook #39231] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 398px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="398" height="600" alt="Cover of book" /> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h1>JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE.</h1> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class='bbox2'> + +<div class='adtitle1'>Works of<br /> + +ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON</div> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Johnston books"> +<tr><td align="center"><b>The Little Colonel Series</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">(<span class='small'><i>Trade Mark, Reg. U. S. Pat. Of.</i></span>)</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">Each one vol., large 12mo, cloth, illustrated</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Colonel Stories</td><td align="right">$1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Containing in one volume the three stories, "The Little Colonel,"</span><br /><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"The Giant Scissors," and "Two Little Knights of Kentucky.")</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Colonel's House Party</td><td align="right">1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Colonel's Holidays</td><td align="right">1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Colonel's Hero</td><td align="right">1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Colonel at Boarding-School</td><td align="right">1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Colonel in Arizona</td><td align="right">1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation</td><td align="right">1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor</td><td align="right">1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Colonel's Knight Comes Riding</td><td align="right">1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mary Ware: The Little Colonel's Chum</td><td align="right">1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mary Ware in Texas</td><td align="right">1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mary Ware's Promised Land</td><td align="right">1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The above 12 vols., <i>boxed</i>, as a set</td><td align="right">18.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">——————</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Colonel Good Times Book</td><td align="right">1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Colonel Doll Book—First Series</td><td align="right">1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Colonel Doll Book—Second Series</td><td align="right">1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><br /><b>Illustrated Holiday Editions</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">Each one vol., small quarto, cloth, illustrated, and printed in color</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Colonel</td><td align="right">$1.25</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Giant Scissors</td><td align="right">1.25</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Two Little Knights of Kentucky</td><td align="right">1.25</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Big Brother</td><td align="right">1.25</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><br /><b>Cosy Corner Series</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">Each one vol., thin 12mo, cloth, illustrated</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Little Colonel</td><td align="right">$.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Giant Scissors</td><td align="right">.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Two Little Knights of Kentucky</td><td align="right">.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Big Brother</td><td align="right">.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ole Mammy's Torment</td><td align="right">.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Story of Dago</td><td align="right">.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Cicely</td><td align="right">.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Aunt 'Liza's Hero</td><td align="right">.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Quilt that Jack Built</td><td align="right">.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Flip's "Islands of Providence"</td><td align="right">.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mildred's Inheritance</td><td align="right">.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><br /><b>Other Books</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Joel: A Boy of Galilee</td><td align="right">$1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">In the Desert of Waiting</td><td align="right">Net .50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Three Weavers</td><td align="right">Net .50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Keeping Tryst</td><td align="right">Net .50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Legend of the Bleeding Heart</td><td align="right">Net .50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Rescue of the Princess Winsome</td><td align="right">Net .50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Jester's Sword</td><td align="right">Net .50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Asa Holmes</td><td align="right">1.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Travelers Five Along Life's Highway</td><td align="right">1.25</td></tr> +</table></div> +<div class='center'>—————<br /> +<b>THE PAGE COMPANY</b><br /> +<b>53 Beacon Street</b> <b>Boston, Mass.</b><br /> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 397px;"><a id="frontis"></a> +<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="397" height="600" alt="being cast out" /> +<span class="caption">"'THEN TAKE YOURSELF OUT OF MY SIGHT FOR EVER'" +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">(<i>See <a href="#Page_96">page 96</a></i>)</span><br /> +</span> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<div class='bbox2'> +<div class='center'><i>NEW ILLUSTRATED EDITION</i></div> + + +</div><div class='bbox2'> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Title"> +<tr><td align="left"><h1>JOEL:</h1></td><td align="left">A BOY OF<br /> +GALILEE</td></tr> +</table></div> +</div><div class='bbox2'> +<div class='center'>By</div> + +<div class='author'>ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON</div> + +<div class='center'> +<span class='small'>Author of "The Little Colonel Series," "Big Brother,"</span><br /> +<span class='small'>"Ole Mammy's Torment," "Asa Holmes," etc.</span><br /></div> +</div><div class='bbox2'> +<div class='center'>With Pictures by L. J. BRIDGMAN</div><br /> +</div><div class='bbox2'><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 125px;"> +<img src="images/titlepage.png" width="125" height="125" alt="Emblem" /> +</div><br /><br /><br /><br /> +</div><div class='bbox2'><div class='center'> +BOSTON<br /> +THE PAGE COMPANY<br /> +PUBLISHERS<br /> +</div></div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<div class='copyright'> +<i>Copyright, 1895</i><br /> +<span class="smcap">By Roberts Brothers</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Copyright, 1904</i><br /> +<span class="smcap">By The Page Company</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>All rights reserved</i><br /> +<br /> +Eleventh Impression, October, 1910<br /> +Twelfth Impression, March, 1915<br /> +Thirteenth Impression, March, 1918<br /> +<br /> +THE COLONIAL PRESS<br /> +C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A.<br /> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2>PUBLISHER'S PREFACE</h2> + + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="smcap">In</span> this volume, it has been the purpose of the +author to present to children, through "Joel," as accurate +a picture of the times of the Christ as has been +given to older readers through "Ben Hur." With +this in view, the customs of the private and public +life of the Jews, the temple service with its sacerdotal +rites, and the minute observances of the numerous +holidays have been studied so carefully that the descriptions +have passed the test of the most critical +inspection. An eminent rabbi pronounces them correct +in every detail.</p> + +<p>While the story is that of an ordinary boy, living +among shepherds and fishermen, it touches at every +point the gospel narrative, making Joel, in a natural +and interesting way, a witness to the miracles, the +death, and the resurrection of the Nazarene.</p> + +<p>It was with the deepest reverence that the task was +undertaken, and the fact that the little book is accomplishing +its mission is evinced not only by the +approval accorded its first editions by so many, from +Bible students to bishops, but by the boys and girls +here and in distant lands.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><span class='small'>PAGE</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"'<span class="smcap">Then take yourself out of my sight for ever</span>'" (<i>See <a href="#Page_96">page 96</a></i>)</td><td align="right"><i><a href="#frontis">Frontispiece</a></i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"<span class="smcap">He looked down at Phineas, and smiled blissfully</span>"</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"'<span class="smcap">I peeped out 'tween 'e wose-vines</span>'"</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"<span class="smcap">Not a word was said</span>"</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"'<span class="smcap">We talked late</span>'"</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"'<span class="smcap">You but mock me, boy</span>'"</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_184">184</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"<span class="smcap">A dark figure went skulking out into the night</span>"</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"'<span class="smcap">The stone is gone!</span>'"</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td></tr> +</table></div><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE.</h2> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 101px;"> +<img src="images/drop_i.png" width="101" height="103" alt="I" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />T was market day in Capernaum. +Country people were coming in from +the little villages among the hills of +Galilee, with fresh butter and eggs. +Fishermen held out great strings of shining +perch and carp, just dipped up from the lake beside +the town. Vine-dressers piled their baskets +with tempting grapes, and boys lazily brushed +the flies from the dishes of wild honey, that they +had gone into the country before day-break to +find.</div> + +<p>A ten-year-old girl pushed her way through +the crowded market-place, carrying her baby +brother in her arms, and scolding another child, +who clung to her skirts.</p> + +<p>"Hurry, you little snail!" she said to him. +"There's a camel caravan just stopped by the +custom-house. Make haste, if you want to see +it!"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> + +<p>Their bare feet picked their way quickly +over the stones, down to the hot sand of the +lake shore. The children crept close to the +shaggy camels, curious to see what they carried +in their huge packs. But before they were +made to kneel, so that the custom-house officials +could examine the loads, the boy gave an exclamation +of surprise.</p> + +<p>"Look, Jerusha! Look!" he cried, tugging +at her skirts. "What's that?"</p> + +<p>Farther down the line, came several men +carrying litters. On each one was a man badly +wounded, judging by the many bandages that +wrapped him.</p> + +<p>Jerusha pushed ahead to hear what had happened. +One of the drivers was telling a tax-gatherer.</p> + +<p>"In that last rocky gorge after leaving +Samaria," said the man, "we were set upon by +robbers. They swarmed down the cliffs, and +fought as fiercely as eagles. These men, who +were going on ahead, had much gold with them. +They lost it all, and might have been killed, if +we had not come up behind in such numbers. +That poor fellow there can hardly live, I think, +he was beaten so badly."</p> + +<p>The children edged up closer to the motionless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> +form on the litter. It was badly bruised and +blood-stained, and looked already lifeless.</p> + +<p>"Let's go, Jerusha," whispered the boy, +whimpering and pulling at her hand. "I don't +like to look at him."</p> + +<p>With the heavy baby still in her arms, and +the other child tagging after, she started slowly +back towards the market-place.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what we'll do," she exclaimed. +"Let's go up and get the other children, and +play robbers. We never did do that before. It +will be lots of fun."</p> + +<p>There was a cry of welcome as Jerusha appeared +again in the market-place, where a crowd +of children were playing tag, regardless of the +men and beasts they bumped against. They +were all younger than herself, and did not resent +her important air when she called, "Come here! +I know a better game than that!"</p> + +<p>She told them what she had just seen and +heard down at the beach, and drew such a vivid +picture of the attack, that the children were +ready for anything she might propose.</p> + +<p>"Now we'll choose sides," she said. "I'll be +a rich merchant coming up from Jerusalem with +my family and servants, and the rest of you can +be robbers. We'll go along with our goods, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +you pounce out on us as we go by. You may +take the baby as a prisoner if you like," she +added, with a mischievous grin. "I'm tired of +carrying him."</p> + +<p>A boy sitting near by on a door-step, jumped +up eagerly. "Let me play, too, Jerusha!" he +cried. "I'll be one of the robbers. I know +just the best places to hide!"</p> + +<p>The girl paused an instant in her choosing to +say impatiently, although not meaning to be unkind, +"Oh, no, Joel! We do not want you. +You're too lame to run. You can't play with +us!"</p> + +<p>The bright, eager look died out of the boy's +face, and an angry light shone in his eyes. He +pressed his lips together hard, and sat down +again on the step.</p> + +<p>There was a patter of many bare feet as the +children raced away. Their voices sounded +fainter and fainter, till they were lost entirely +in the noise of the busy street.</p> + +<p>Usually, Joel found plenty to amuse and interest +him here. He liked to watch the sleepy +donkeys with their loads of fresh fruit and vegetables. +He liked to listen to the men as they +cried their wares, or chatted over the bargains +with their customers. There was always something<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +new to be seen in the stalls and booths. +There was always something new to be heard in +the scraps of conversation that came to him +where he sat.</p> + +<p>Down this street there sometimes came long +caravans; for this was "the highway to the +sea,"—the road that led from Egypt to Syria. +Strange, dusky faces sometimes passed this way; +richly dressed merchant princes with their priceless +stuffs from beyond the Nile; heavy loads +of Babylonian carpets; pearls from Ceylon, +and rich silks for the court of the wicked Herodias, +in the town beyond. Fisherman and sailor, +rabbi and busy workman passed in an endless +procession.</p> + +<p>Sometimes a Roman soldier from the garrison +came by with ringing step and clanking sword. +Then Joel would start up to look after the erect +figure, with a longing gaze that told more plainly +than words, his admiration of such strength and +symmetry.</p> + +<p>But this morning the crowd gave him a +strange, lonely feeling,—a hungry longing for +companionship.</p> + +<p>Two half-grown boys passed by on their way +to the lake, with fish nets slung over their +shoulders. He knew the larger one,—a rough,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> +kind-hearted fellow who had once taken him in +his boat across the lake. He gave Joel a careless, +good-natured nod as he passed. A moment +after he felt a timid pull at the fish net he was +carrying, and turned to see the little cripple's +appealing face.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dan!" he cried eagerly. "Are you going +out on the lake this morning? Could you +take me with you?"</p> + +<p>The boy hesitated. Whatever kindly answer +he may have given, was rudely interrupted by +his companion, whom Joel had never seen before.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" he said roughly. "We don't want +anybody limping along after us. You can't +come, Jonah; you would bring us bad luck."</p> + +<p>"My name isn't Jonah!" screamed the boy, +angrily clinching his fists. "It's Joel!"</p> + +<p>"Well, it is all the same," his tormentor called +back, with a coarse laugh. "You're a Jonah, +any way."</p> + +<p>There were tears in the boy's eyes this time, +as he dragged himself back again to the step.</p> + +<p>"I hate everybody in the world!" he said in +a hissing sort of whisper. "I hate'm! I +hate'm!"</p> + +<p>A stranger passing by turned for a second look +at the little cripple's sensitive, refined face. A<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +girlishly beautiful face it would have been, were +it not for the heavy scowl that darkened it.</p> + +<p>Joel pulled the ends of his head-dress round to +hide his crooked back, and drew the loose robe +he wore over his twisted leg.</p> + +<p>Life seemed very bitter to him just then. He +would gladly have changed places with the +heavily laden donkey going by.</p> + +<p>"I wish I were dead," he thought moodily. +"Then I would not ache any more, and I could +not hear when people call me names!"</p> + +<p>Beside the door where he sat was a stand +where tools and hardware were offered for sale. +A man who had been standing there for some +time, selecting nails from the boxes placed before +him, and had heard all that passed, spoke to +him.</p> + +<p>"Joel, my lad, may I ask your help for a +little while?" The friendly question seemed to +change the whole atmosphere.</p> + +<p>Joel drew his hands across his eyes to clear +them of the blur of tears he was too proud to +let fall, and then stood up respectfully. "Yes, +Rabbi Phineas, what would you have me to do?"</p> + +<p>The carpenter gathered up some strips of +lumber in one hand, and his hammer and saws +in the other.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I have my hands too full to carry these +nails," he answered. "If you could bring them +for me, it would be a great service."</p> + +<p>If the man had offered him pity, Joel would +have fiercely resented it. His sensitive nature +appreciated the unspoken sympathy, the fine tact +that soothed his pride by asking a service of him, +instead of seeking to render one.</p> + +<p>He could not define the feeling, but he gratefully +took up the bag of nails, and limped along +beside his friend to the carpenter's house at the +edge of the town. He had never been there +before, although he met the man daily in the +market-place, and long ago had learned to look +forward to his pleasant greeting; it was so different +from most people's. Somehow the morning +always seemed brighter after he had met him.</p> + +<p>The little whitewashed house stood in the +shade of two great fig-trees near the beach. A +cool breeze from the Galilee lifted the leaves, and +swayed the vines growing around the low door.</p> + +<p>Joel, tired by the long walk, was glad to throw +himself on the grass in the shade. It was so still +and quiet here, after the noise of the street he +had just left.</p> + +<p>An old hen clucked around the door-step with +a brood of downy, yellow chickens. Doves cooed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +softly, somewhere out of sight. The carpenter's +bench stood under one of the trees, with shavings +and chips all around it. Two children were playing +near it, building houses of the scattered +blocks; one of them, a black-eyed, sturdy boy +of five, kept on playing. The other, a little +girl, not yet three, jumped up and followed her +father into the house. Her curls gleamed like +gold as she ran through the sunshine. She +glanced at the stranger with deep-blue eyes so +like her father's that Joel held out his hand.</p> + +<p>"Come and tell me your name," he said coaxingly. +But she only shook the curls all over +her dimpled face, and hurried into the house.</p> + +<p>"It's Ruth," said the boy, deigning to look up. +"And mine is Jesse, and my mother's is Abigail, +and my father's is Phineas, and my grandfather's +is—"</p> + +<p>How far back he would have gone in his +genealogy, Joel could not guess; for just then +his father came out with a cool, juicy melon, +and Jesse hurried forward to get his share.</p> + +<p>"How good it is!" sighed Joel, as the first +refreshing mouthful slipped down his thirsty +throat. "And how cool and pleasant it is out +here. I did not know there was such a peaceful +spot in all Capernaum."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Didn't you always live here?" asked the inquisitive +Jesse.</p> + +<p>"No, I was born in Jerusalem. I was to have +been a priest," he said sadly.</p> + +<p>"Well, why didn't you be one then," persisted +the child, with his mouth full of melon.</p> + +<p>Joel glanced down at his twisted leg, and said +nothing.</p> + +<p>"Why?" repeated the boy.</p> + +<p>Phineas, who had gone back to his work-bench, +looked up kindly. "You ask too many questions, +my son. No one can be a priest who is maimed +or blemished in any way. Some sad accident +must have befallen our little friend, and it may +be painful for him to talk about it."</p> + +<p>Jesse asked no more questions with his tongue; +but his sharp, black eyes were fixed on Joel like +two interrogation points.</p> + +<p>"I do not mind telling about it," said Joel, +sitting up straighter. "Once when I was not +much older than you, just after my mother +died, my father brought me up to this country +from Jerusalem, to visit my Aunt Leah.</p> + +<p>"I used to play down here by the lake, with my +cousins, in the fishermen's boats. There was a +boy that came to the beach sometimes, a great +deal larger than I,—a dog of a Samaritan,—who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +pulled my hair and threw sand in my eyes. He +was so much stronger than I, that I could not do +anything to him but call him names. But early +one morning he was swimming in the lake. I hid +his clothes in the oleander bushes that fringe the +water. Oh, but he was angry! I wanted him to +be. But I had to keep away from the lake after +that.</p> + +<p>"One day some older children took me to the +hills back of the town to gather almonds. This +Rehum followed us. I had strayed away from the +others a little distance, and was stooping to put +the nuts in my basket, when he slipped up behind +me. How he beat me! I screamed so that the +other children came running back to me. When +he saw them coming, he gave me a great push +that sent me rolling over a rocky bank. It was +not very high, but there were sharp stones below.</p> + +<p>"They thought I was dead when they picked me +up. It was months before I could walk at all; +and I can never <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'be an any'">be any</ins> better than I am now. +Just as my father was about to take me back to +Jerusalem, he took a sudden fever, and died. So +I was left, a poor helpless burden for my aunt to +take care of. It has been six years since then."</p> + +<p>Joel threw himself full length on the grass, and +scowled up at the sky.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Where is that boy that hurt you," asked +Jesse.</p> + +<p>"Rehum?" questioned Joel. "I wish I knew," +he muttered fiercely. "Oh, how I hate him! I +can never be a priest as my father intended. I +can never serve in the beautiful temple with the +white pillars and golden gates. I can never be +like other people, but must drag along, deformed +and full of pain as long as I live. And it's all +his fault!"</p> + +<p>A sudden gleam lit up the boy's eyes, as lightning +darts through a storm-cloud.</p> + +<p>"But I shall have my revenge!" he added, +clinching his fists. "I cannot die till I have +made him feel at least a tithe of what I have +suffered. 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a +tooth!' That is the least that can satisfy me. +Oh, you cannot know how I long for that time! +Often I lie awake late into the night, planning +my revenge. Then I forget how my back hurts +and my leg pains; then I forget all the names +I have been called, and the taunts that make my +life a burden. But they all come back with the +daylight; and I store them up and add them to +his account. For everything he has made me +suffer, I swear he shall pay for it four-fold in his +own sufferings!"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ruth shrank away, frightened by the wild, impassioned +boy who sat up, angrily staring in +front of him with eyes that saw nothing of +the sweet, green-clad world around him. The +face of his enemy blotted out all the sunny landscape. +One murderous purpose filled him, mind +and soul.</p> + +<p>Nothing was said for a little while. The doves +as before cooed of peace, and Phineas began a +steady tap-tap with his hammer.</p> + +<p>A pleasant-faced woman came out of the door +with a water-jar on her head, and passed down +the path to the public well. She gave Joel a +friendly greeting in passing.</p> + +<p>"Wait, mother!" lisped Ruth, as she ran after +her. The woman turned to smile at the little +one, and held out her hand. Her dress, of some +soft, cotton material, hung in long flowing folds. +It was a rich blue color, caught at the waist with +a white girdle. The turban wound around her +dark hair was white also, and so was the veil she +pushed aside far enough to show a glimpse of +brown eyes and red cheeks. She wore a broad +silver bracelet on the bare arm which was raised +to hold the water-jar, and the rings in her ears +and talismans on her neck were of quaintly +wrought silver.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I did not know it was so late," said Joel, rising +to his feet. "Time passes so fast here."</p> + +<p>"Nay, do not go," said Phineas. "It is a +long walk back to your home, and the sun is +very hot. Stay and eat dinner with us."</p> + +<p>Joel hesitated; but the invitation was repeated +so cordially, that he let Jesse pull him down on +the grass again.</p> + +<p>"Now I'll tickle your lips with this blade of +grass," said the child. "See how long you can +keep from laughing."</p> + +<p>When Abigail came back with the water, both +the boys were laughing as heartily as if there had +never been an ache or pain in the world. She +smiled at them approvingly, as she led the way +into the house.</p> + +<p>Joel looked around with much curiosity. It +was like most of the other houses of its kind +in the town. There was only one large square +room, in which the family cooked, ate, and slept; +but on every side it showed that Phineas had +left traces of his skilful hands.</p> + +<p>There was a tiny window cut in one wall; +most of the houses of this description had none, +but depended on the doorway for light and air. +Several shelves around the walls held the lamp +and the earthenware dishes. The chest made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +to hold the rugs and cushions which they spread +down at night to sleep on, was unusually large +and ornamental. A broom, a handmill, and a +bushel stood in one corner.</p> + +<p>Near the door, a table which Phineas had made, +stood spread for the mid-day meal.</p> + +<p>There was broiled fish on one of the platters, +beans and barley bread, a dish of honey, and a +pitcher of milk. The fare was just the same that +Joel was accustomed to in his uncle's house; but +something made the simple meal seem like a +banquet. It may have been that the long walk +had made him hungrier than usual, or it may have +been because he was treated as the honored guest, +instead of a child tolerated through charity.</p> + +<p>He watched his host carefully, as he poured +the water over his hands before eating, and +asked a blessing on the food.</p> + +<p>"He does not keep the law as strictly as my +Uncle Laban," was his inward comment. "He +asked only one blessing, and Uncle Laban blesses +every kind of food separately. But he must be +a good man, even if he is not so strict a Pharisee +as my uncle, for he is kinder than any one I ever +knew before."</p> + +<p>It was wonderful how much Joel had learned, +in his eleven short years, of the Law. His aunt's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +husband had grown to manhood in Jerusalem, +and, unlike the simple Galileans among whom he +now lived, tried to observe its most detailed rules.</p> + +<p>The child heard them discussed continually, +till he felt he could neither eat, drink, nor dress, +except by these set rules. He could not play +like other children, and being so much with +older people had made him thoughtful and +observant.</p> + +<p>He had learned to read very early; and hour +after hour he spent in the house of Rabbi +Amos, the most learned man of the town, poring +over his rolls of scriptures. Think of a +childhood without a picture, or a story-book! +All that there was to read were these old +records of Jewish history.</p> + +<p>The old man had taken a fancy to him, finding +him an appreciative listener and an apt pupil. +So Joel was allowed to come whenever he +pleased, and take out the yellow rolls of parchment +from their velvet covers.</p> + +<p>He was never perfectly happy except at these +times, when he was reading these old histories of +his country's greatness. How he enjoyed chasing +the armies of the Philistines, and fighting +over again the battles of Israel's kings! Many +a tale he stored away in his busy brain to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +repeated to the children gathered around the +public fountain in the cool of the evening.</p> + +<p>It mattered not what character he told them +of,—priest or prophet, judge or king,—the +picture was painted in life-like colors by this +patriotic little hero-worshipper.</p> + +<p>Here and at home he heard so many discussions +about what was lawful and what was not, +that he was constantly in fear of breaking one of +the many rules, even in as simple a duty as +washing a cup.</p> + +<p>So he watched his host closely till the meal +was over, finding that in the observance of many +customs, he failed to measure up to his uncle's +strict standard.</p> + +<p>Phineas went back to his work after dinner. +He was greatly interested in Joel, and, while he +sawed and hammered, kept a watchful eye on +him. He was surprised at the boy's knowledge. +More than once he caught himself standing with +an idle tool in hand, as he listened to some story +that Joel was telling to Jesse.</p> + +<p>After a while he laid down his work and leaned +against the bench. "What do you find to do all +day, my lad?" he asked, abruptly.</p> + +<p>"Nothing," answered Joel, "after I have recited +my lessons to Rabbi Amos."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Does your aunt never give you any tasks to +do at home?"</p> + +<p>"No. I think she does not like to have me in +her sight any more than she is obliged to. She +is always kind to me, but she doesn't love me. +She only pities me. I hate to be pitied. There +is not a single one in the world who really loves +me."</p> + +<p>His lips quivered, but he winked back the +tears. Phineas seemed lost in thought a few +minutes; then he looked up. "You are a +Levite," he said slowly, "so of course you could +always be supported without needing to learn a +trade. Still you would be a great deal happier, +in my opinion, if you had something to keep you +busy. If you like, I will teach you to be a carpenter. +There are a great many things you +might learn to make well, and, by and by, it +would be a source of profit to you. There is no +bread so bitter as the bread of dependence, as +you may learn when you are older."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Rabbi Phineas!" cried Joel. "Do you +mean that I may come here every day? It is +too good to be true!"</p> + +<p>"Yes; if you will promise to stick to it until +you have mastered the trade. If you are as +quick to learn with your hands as you have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +with your head, I shall have reason to be proud +of such a pupil."</p> + +<p>Joel's face flushed with pleasure, and he sprang +up quickly, saying, "May I begin right now? +Oh, I'll try <i>so</i> hard to please you!"</p> + +<p>Phineas laid a soft pine board on the bench, +and began to mark a line across it with a piece +of red chalk.</p> + +<p>"Well, you may see how straight a cut you +can make through this plank."</p> + +<p>He picked up a saw, and ran his fingers +lightly along its sharp teeth. But he paused in +the act of handing it to Joel, to ask, "You are +sure, now, that your uncle and aunt will consent +to such an arrangement?"</p> + +<p>"Yes indeed!" was the emphatic answer. +"They will be glad enough to have me out of +the way, and learning something useful."</p> + +<p>The saw cut slowly through the wood; for the +weak little hand was a careful one, and the boy +was determined not to swerve once from the +line. He smiled with satisfaction as the pieces +fell apart, showing a clean, straight edge.</p> + +<p>"Well done!" said Phineas, kindly. "Now +let me see you drive a nail." Made bold by his +first success, Joel pounded away vigorously, but +the hammer slipped more than once, and his unpractised<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +fingers ached with the blows that he +had aimed at the nail's head.</p> + +<p>"You'll soon learn," said Phineas, with an +encouraging pat on the boy's shoulder. "Gather +up those odds and ends under the bench. When +you've sawed them into equal lengths, I'll show +you how to make a box."</p> + +<p>Joel bent over his work with almost painful +intensity. He fairly held his breath, as he made +the measurements. He gripped the saw as if +his life depended on the strength of his hold. +Phineas smiled at his earnestness.</p> + +<p>"Be careful, my lad," he said. "You will +soon wear out at that rate."</p> + +<p>It seemed to Joel that there never had been +such a short afternoon. He had stopped to rest +several times, when Phineas had insisted upon it; +but this new work had all the fascination of an +interesting game. The trees threw giant shadows +across the grass, when he finally laid his tools +aside. His back ached with so much unusual +exercise, and he was very tired.</p> + +<p>"Rabbi Phineas," he asked gently, after a long +pause, "what makes you so good to me? What +makes you so different from other people? +While I am with you, I feel like I want to be +good. Other people seem to rub me the wrong<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +way, and make me cross and hateful; then I +feel like I'd rather be wicked than not. Why +this afternoon, I've scarcely thought of Rehum +at all. I forgot at times that I am lame. When +you talk to me, I feel like I did that day Dan +took me out on the lake. It seemed a different +kind of a world,—all blue sky and smooth +water. I felt if I could stay out there all the +time, where it was so quiet and comforting, +that I could not even hate Rehum as much as +I do."</p> + +<p>A surprised, pleased look passed over the +man's face. "Do I really make you feel that +way, little one? Then I am indeed glad. Once +when I was a young boy living in Nazareth, I +had a playmate who had that influence over me +and all the boys he played with. I never could +be selfish and impatient when he was with me. +His very presence rebuked such thoughts,—when +we were children playing together, like +my own two little ones there, and when we +were older grown, working at the same bench. +It has been many a long year since I left Nazareth, +but I think of him daily. Even now, after +our long separation, the thought of his blameless +life inspires me to a higher living. Yes," he +went on musingly, more to himself than the boy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> +"it was like music. Surely no white-robed +priest in the holy temple ever offered up more +acceptable praise than the perfect harmony of +his daily life."</p> + +<p>Joel's lips trembled. "If I had ever had one +real friend to care for me—not just pity me, +you know—maybe I would have been different. +But I have never had a single one since my +father died."</p> + +<p>Phineas smiled, and held out his hand. "You +have one now, my lad, never forget that."</p> + +<p>The strong brown hand closed in a warm +grasp, and Joel drew it, with a grateful impulse, +to his lips. Ruth came up with wondering eyes. +She could not understand what had passed; but +Joel's eyes were full of tears, and she vaguely +felt that he needed comfort. She had a pet +pigeon in her arms, that she carried everywhere +with her.</p> + +<p>"Here," she lisped, holding out the snowy +winged bird. "Boy, take it! Boy, keep it!"</p> + +<p>Joel looked up inquiringly at Phineas. "Take +it," he said, in a low tone. "Let it be the omen +of a happier life commencing for you."</p> + +<p>"I never had a pet of any kind before," said +Joel, in delight, smoothing the white wings +folded contentedly against his breast. "But she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +loves it so, I dislike to take it from her. How +beautiful it is!"</p> + +<p>"My little Ruth is a born comforter," said +Phineas, tossing her up in his arms. "Shall +Joel take the pigeon home with him, little +daughter?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered, nodding her head. +"Boy cried."</p> + +<p>"I'll name it 'Little Friend,'" said Joel, +rising with it in his arms. "I'll take it home +with me, and keep it until after the Sabbath, to +make me feel sure that this day has not been +just a dream; but I will bring it back next time +I come. I can see it here every day, and it will +be happier here. Oh, Rabbi Phineas, I can never +thank you enough for this day!"</p> + +<p>It was a pitiful little figure that limped away +homeward in the fading light, with the white +pigeon in his arms.</p> + +<p>Looking anxiously up in the sky, Joel saw one +star come twinkling out. The Sabbath would +soon begin, and then he must not be found carrying +even so much as this one poor little pigeon. +The slightest burden would be unlawful.</p> + +<p>As he hurried on, the loud blast of a trumpet, +blown from the roof of the synagogue, signalled +the laborers in the fields to stop all work. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> +knew that very soon it would sound again, to +call the town people from their tasks; and at the +third blast, the Sabbath lamp would be lighted +in every home.</p> + +<p>Fearful of his uncle's displeasure at his +tardiness, he hurried painfully onward, to provide +food and a resting-place for his "little +friend" before the second sounding of the +trumpet.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 101px;"> +<img src="images/drop_e.png" width="101" height="100" alt="E" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />ARLY in the morning after the Sabbath, +Joel was in his accustomed +place in the market, waiting for his +friend Phineas. His uncle had given +a gruff assent, when he timidly asked his approval +of the plan.</div> + +<p>The good Rabbi Amos was much pleased when +he heard of the arrangement. "Thou hast been +a faithful student," he said, kindly. "Thou knowest +already more of the Law than many of thy +elders. Now it will do thee good to learn the +handicraft of Phineas. Remember, my son, 'the +balm was created by God before the wound.' +Work, that is as old as Eden, has been given +us that we might forget the afflictions of this +life that fleeth like a shadow. May the God +of thy fathers give thee peace!"</p> + +<p>With the old man's benediction repeating +itself like a solemn refrain in all his thoughts, +Joel stood smoothing the pigeon in his arms, +until Phineas had made his daily purchases.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +Then they walked on together in the cool of +the morning, to the little white house under +the fig-trees. Phineas was surprised at his +pupil's progress. To be sure, the weak arms +could lift little, the slender hands could attempt +no large tasks. But the painstaking care he +bestowed on everything he attempted, resulted +in beautifully finished work. If there was an +extra smooth polish to be put on some wood, +or a delicate piece of joining to do, Joel's deft +fingers seemed exactly suited to the task.</p> + +<p>Before the winter was over, he had made +many pretty little articles of furniture for Abigail's +use.</p> + +<p>"May I have these pieces of fine wood to use +as I please?" he asked of Phineas, one day.</p> + +<p>"All but that largest strip," he answered. +"What are you going to make?"</p> + +<p>"Something for Ruth's birthday. She will be +three years old in a few weeks, Jesse says, and I +want to make something for her to play with."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to make her?" inquired +Jesse, from under the work-bench. "Let me see +too."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I didn't know you were anywhere near," +answered Joel, with a start of alarm.</p> + +<p>"Tell me!" begged Jesse.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, if you will promise to keep her out of +the way while I am finishing it, and never say a +word about it—"</p> + +<p>"I'll promise," said the child, solemnly. He +had to clap his hand over his mouth a great +many times in the next few weeks, to keep his +secret from telling itself, and he watched admiringly +while Joel carved and polished and cut.</p> + +<p>One of the neighbors had come in to talk with +Abigail the day he finished it, and as the children +were down on the beach, playing in the sand, he +took it in the house to show to the women. It +was a little table set with toy dishes, that he had +carved out of wood,—plates and cups and platters, +all complete.</p> + +<p>The visitor held up her hands with an exclamation +of delight. After taking up each little highly +polished dish to admire it separately, she said, "I +know where you might get a great deal of money +for such work. There is a rich Roman living near +the garrison, who spends money like a lord. No +price is too great for him to pay for anything that +pleases his fancy. Why don't you take some up +there, and offer them for sale?"</p> + +<p>"I believe I will," said Joel, after considering +the matter. "I'll go just as soon as I can get +them made."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ruth spread many a little feast under the fig-trees; +but after the first birthday banquet, Jesse +was her only guest. Joel was too busy making +more dishes and another little table, to partake +of them.</p> + +<p>The whole family were interested in his success. +The day he went up to the great house near the +garrison to offer them for sale, they waited +anxiously for his return.</p> + +<p>"He's sold them! He's sold them!" cried +Jesse, hopping from one foot to the other, as +he saw Joel coming down the street empty-handed. +Joel was hobbling along as fast as he +could, his face beaming.</p> + +<p>"See how much money!" he cried, as he +opened his hand to show a shining coin, +stamped with the head of Cæsar. "And I +have an order for two more. I'll soon have +a fortune! The children liked the dishes so +much, although they had the most beautiful +toys I ever saw. They had images they called +dolls. Some of them had white-kid faces, and +were dressed as richly as queens. I wish Ruth +had one."</p> + +<p>"The law forbids!" exclaimed Phineas. "Have +you forgotten that it is written, 'Thou shalt not +make any likeness of anything in the heavens<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +above or the earth beneath, or the waters under +the earth'? She is happy with what she has, +and needs no strange idols of the heathen to play +with."</p> + +<p>Joel made no answer; but he thought of the +merry group of Roman children seated around the +little table he had made, and wished again that +Ruth had one of those gorgeously dressed dolls.</p> + +<p>Skill and strength were not all he gained by his +winter's work; for some of the broad charity that +made continual summer in the heart of Phineas +crept into his own embittered nature. He grew +less suspicious of those around him, and smiles +came more easily now to his face than scowls.</p> + +<p>But the strong ambition of his life never left +him for an instant. To all the rest of the world +he might be a friend; to Rehum he could only +be the most unforgiving of enemies.</p> + +<p>The thought that had given him most pleasure +when the wealthy Roman had tossed him his first +earnings, was not that his work could bring him +money, but that the money could open the way +for his revenge.</p> + +<p>That thought, like a dark undercurrent, gained +depth and force as the days went by. As he saw +how much he could do in spite of his lameness, +he thought of how much more he might have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +accomplished, if he had been like other boys. It +was a constant spur to his desire for revenge.</p> + +<p>One day Phineas laid aside his tools much +earlier than usual, and without any explanation to +his wondering pupil, went up into the town.</p> + +<p>When he returned, he nodded to his wife, who +sat in the doorway spinning, and who had looked +up inquiringly as he approached.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's all arranged," he said to her. Then +he turned to Joel to ask, "Did you ever ride on a +camel, my boy?"</p> + +<p>"No, Rabbi," answered the boy, in surprise, +wondering what was coming next.</p> + +<p>"Well, I have a day's journey to make to the +hills in Upper Galilee. A camel caravan passes +near the place where my business calls me, +as it goes to Damascus. I seek to accompany +it for protection. I go on foot, but I have +made arrangements for you to ride one of the +camels."</p> + +<p>"Oh, am I really to go, too?" gasped Joel, in +delighted astonishment. "Oh, Rabbi Phineas! +How did you ever think of asking me?"</p> + +<p>"You have not seemed entirely well, of late," +was the answer. "I thought the change would do +you good. I said nothing about it before, for I +had no opportunity to see your uncle until this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +afternoon; and I did not want to disappoint you, +in case he refused his permission."</p> + +<p>"And he really says I may go?" demanded +the boy, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the caravan moves in the morning, and +we will go with it."</p> + +<p>There was little more work done that day. +Joel was so full of anticipations of his journey +that he scarcely knew what he was doing. +Phineas was busy with preparations for the +comfort of his little family during his absence, +and went into town again.</p> + +<p>On his return he seemed strangely excited. +Abigail, seeing something was amiss, watched +him carefully, but asked no questions. He took +a piece of timber that had been laid away for +some especial purpose, and began sawing it into +small bits.</p> + +<p>"Rabbi Phineas," ventured Joel, respectfully, +"is that not the wood you charged me to save +so carefully?"</p> + +<p>Phineas gave a start as he saw what he had +done, and threw down his saw.</p> + +<p>"Truly," he said, smiling, "I am beside myself +with the news I have heard. I just now +walked ten cubits past my own house, unknowing +where I was, so deeply was I thinking upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +it. Abigail," he asked, "do you remember my +friend in Nazareth whom I so often speak of,—the +son of Joseph the carpenter? Last week +he was bidden to a marriage in Cana. It happened, +before the feasting was over, the supply +of wine was exhausted, and the mortified host +knew not what to do. Six great jars of stone +had been placed in the room, to supply the +guests with water for washing. <i>He changed that +water into wine!</i>"</p> + +<p>"I cannot believe it!" answered Abigail, +simply.</p> + +<p>"But Ezra ben Jared told me so. He was +there, and drank of the wine," insisted Phineas.</p> + +<p>"He could not have done it," said Abigail, "unless +he were helped by the evil one, or unless he +were a prophet. He is too <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'a good'">good a</ins> man to ask +help of the powers of darkness; and it is beyond +belief that a son of Joseph should be a prophet."</p> + +<p>To this Phineas made no answer. His quiet +thoughts were shaken out of their usual routine +as violently as if by an earthquake.</p> + +<p>Joel thought more of the journey than he did +of the miracle. It seemed to the impatient boy +that the next day never would dawn. Many +times in the night he wakened to hear the distant +crowing of cocks. At last, by straining his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +eyes he could distinguish the green leaves of the +vine on the lattice from the blue of the half-opened +blossoms. By that token he knew it was +near enough the morning for him to commence +saying his first prayers.</p> + +<p>Dressing noiselessly, so as not to disturb the +sleeping family, he slipped out of the house and +down to the well outside the city-gate. Here he +washed, and then ate the little lunch he had +wrapped up the night before. A meagre little +breakfast,—only a hard-boiled egg, a bit of fish, +and some black bread. But the early hour and +his excitement took away his appetite for even +that little.</p> + +<p>Soon all was confusion around the well, as the +noisy drivers gathered to water their camels, and +make their preparations for the start.</p> + +<p>Joel shrunk away timidly to the edge of the +crowd, fearful that his friend Phineas had overslept +himself.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes he saw him coming with a +staff in one hand, and a small bundle swinging +from the other.</p> + +<p>Joel had one breathless moment of suspense as +he was helped on to the back of the kneeling +camel; one desperate clutch at the saddle as the +huge animal plunged about and rose to its feet.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +Then he looked down at Phineas, and smiled +blissfully.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/i001.jpg" width="400" height="600" alt="On a camel" /> +<span class="caption">"HE LOOKED DOWN AT PHINEAS, AND SMILED BLISSFULLY"</span> +</div> + +<p>Oh, the delight of that slow easy motion! The +joy of being carried along without pain or effort! +Who could realize how much it meant to the little +fellow whose halting steps had so long been +taken in weariness and suffering?</p> + +<p>Swinging along in the cool air, so far above the +foot-passengers, it seemed to him that he looked +down upon a new earth. Blackbirds flew along +the roads, startled by their passing. High overhead, +a lark had not yet finished her morning +song. Lambs bleated in the pastures, and the +lowing of herds sounded on every hill-side.</p> + +<p>Not a sight or sound escaped the boy; and all +the morning he rode on without speaking, not a +care in his heart, not a cloud on his horizon.</p> + +<p>At noon they stopped in a little grove of olive-trees +where a cool spring gurgled out from the +rocks.</p> + +<p>Phineas spread out their lunch at a little distance +from the others; and they ate it quickly, +with appetites sharpened by the morning's +travel. Afterwards Joel stretched himself out on +the ground to rest, and was asleep almost as soon +as his eyelids could shut out the noontide glare +of the sun from his tired eyes.</p> + +<p>When he awoke, nearly an hour afterward, he +heard voices near him in earnest conversation. +Raising himself on his elbow, he saw Phineas at a +little distance, talking to an old man who had +ridden one of the foremost camels.</p> + +<p>They must have been talking of the miracle, +for the old man, as he stroked his long white +beard, was saying, "But men are more wont to +be astonished at the sun's eclipse, than at his +daily rising. Look, my friend!"</p> + +<p>He pointed to a wild grape-vine clinging to a +tree near by. "Do you see those bunches of +half-grown grapes? There is a constant miracle. +Day by day, the water of the dew and rain is +being changed into the wine of the grape. Soil +and sunshine are turning into fragrant juices. +Yet you feel no astonishment."</p> + +<p>"No," assented Phineas; "for it is by the +hand of God it is done."</p> + +<p>"Why may not this be also?" said the old +man. "Even this miracle at the marriage feast +in Cana?"</p> + +<p>Phineas started violently. "What!" he cried. +"Do you think it possible that this friend of +mine is the One to be sent of God?"</p> + +<p>"Is not this the accepted time for the coming +of Israel's Messiah?" answered the old man,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a><br /><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +solemnly. "Is it not meet that he should herald +his presence by miracles and signs and wonders?"</p> + +<p>Joel lay down again to think over what he +had just heard. Like every other Israelite in the +whole world, he knew that a deliverer had been +promised his people.</p> + +<p>Time and again he had read the prophecies +that foretold the coming of a king through the +royal line of David; time and again he had +pictured to himself the mighty battles to take +place between his down-trodden race and the +haughty hordes of Cæsar. Sometime, somewhere, +a universal dominion awaited them. He +firmly believed that the day was near at hand; +but not even in his wildest dreams had he ever +dared to hope that it might come in his own +lifetime.</p> + +<p>He raised himself on his elbow again, for the +old man was speaking.</p> + +<p>"About thirty years ago," he said slowly, "I +went up to Jerusalem to be registered for taxation, +for the emperor's decree had gone forth +and no one could escape enrolment. You +are too young to remember the taking of that +census, my friend; but you have doubtless heard +of it."</p> + +<p>"Yes," assented Phineas, respectfully.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I was standing just outside the Joppa gate, +bargaining with a man for a cage of gold finches +he had for sale, which I wished to take to my +daughter, when we heard some one speaking to +us. Looking up we saw several strange men +on camels, who were inquiring their way. They +were richly dressed. The trappings and silver +bells on their camels, as well as their own attire, +spoke of wealth. Their faces showed that they +were wise and learned men from far countries.</p> + +<p>"We greeted them respectfully, but could not +speak for astonishment when we heard their +question:</p> + +<p>"'Where is he that is born king of the Jews? +For we have seen his star in the East, and have +come to worship him.' The bird-seller looked at +me, and I looked at him in open-mouthed wonder. +The men rode on before we could find words +wherewith to answer them.</p> + +<p>"All sorts of rumors were afloat, and everywhere +we went next day, throughout Jerusalem, +knots of people stood talking of the mysterious +men, and their strange question. Even the king +was interested, and sought audience with them."</p> + +<p>"Could any one answer them?" asked +Phineas.</p> + +<p>"Nay! but it was then impressed on me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +so surely that the Christ was born, that I have +asked myself all these thirty years, 'Where is +he that is born king of the Jews?' For I too +would fain follow on to find and worship him. +As soon as I return from Damascus, I shall go +at once to Cana, and search for this miracle-worker."</p> + +<p>The old man's earnest words made a wonderful +impression on Joel. All the afternoon, as they +rose higher among the hills, the thought took +stronger possession of him. He might yet live, +helpless little cripple as he was, to see the dawn +of Israel's deliverance, and a son of David once +more on its throne.</p> + +<p>Ride on, little pilgrim, happy in thy day-dreams! +The time is coming; but weary ways +and hopeless heart-aches lie between thee and +that to-morrow. The king is on his way to his +coronation, but it will be with thorns.</p> + +<p>Ride on, little pilgrim, be happy whilst thou +can!</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 101px;"> +<img src="images/drop_i.png" width="101" height="103" alt="I" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />T was nearly the close of the day when +the long caravan halted, and tents +were pitched for the night near a little +brook that came splashing down from +a cold mountain-spring.</div> + +<p>Joel, exhausted by the long day's travel, +crowded so full of new experiences, was glad to +stretch his cramped limbs on a blanket that +Phineas took from the camel's back.</p> + +<p>Here, through half-shut eyes, he watched the +building of the camp-fire, and the preparations +for the evening meal.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what Uncle Laban would do if he +were here!" he said to Phineas, with an amused +smile. "Look at those dirty drivers with their +unwashed hands and unblessed food. How little +regard they have for the Law. Uncle Laban +would fast a lifetime rather than taste anything +that had even been passed over a fire +of their building. I can imagine I see him now,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +gathering up his skirts and walking on the tips +of his sandals for fear of being touched by anything +unclean."</p> + +<p>"Your Uncle Laban is a good man," answered +Phineas, "one careful not to transgress the Law."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the boy. "But I like your way +better. You keep the fasts, and repeat the +prayers, and love God and your neighbors. +Uncle Laban is careful to do the first two things; +I am not so sure about the others. Life is too +short to be always washing one's hands."</p> + +<p>Phineas looked at the little fellow sharply. +How shrewd and old he seemed for one of his +years! Such independence of thought was unusual +in a child trained as he had been. He +scarcely knew how to answer him, so he turned +his attention to spreading out the fruits and +bread he had brought for their supper.</p> + +<p>Next morning, after the caravan had gone +on without them, they started up a narrow +bridle-path, that led through hillside-pastures +where flocks of sheep and goats were feeding.</p> + +<p>The dew was still on the grass, and the air was +so fresh and sweet in this higher altitude that +Joel walked on with a feeling of strength and +vigor unknown to him before.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look!" he cried, clasping his hands in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +delight, as a sudden turn brought them to the +upper course of the brook whose waters, falling +far below, had refreshed them the night before.</p> + +<p>The poetry of the Psalms came as naturally to +the lips of this beauty-loving little Israelite as +the breath he drew.</p> + +<p>Now he repeated, in a low, reverent voice, +"'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.' +Oh, Rabbi Phineas, did you ever know before +that there could be such green pastures and still +waters?"</p> + +<p>The man smiled at the boy's radiant, upturned +face. "'Yea, the earth is the Lord's and the fulness +thereof,'" he murmured. "We have indeed +a goodly heritage."</p> + +<p>Hushed into silence by the voice of the hills +and the beauty on every side, they walked on till +the road turned again.</p> + +<p>Just ahead stood a house unusually large for +a country district; everything about it bore an +air of wealth and comfort.</p> + +<p>"Our journey is at an end now," said Phineas. +"Yonder lies the house of Nathan ben Obed. +He owns all those flocks and herds we have seen +in passing this last half hour. It is with him that +I have business; and we will tarry with him until +after the Sabbath."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> + +<p>They were evidently expected, for a servant +came running out to meet them. He opened +the gate and conducted them into a shaded +court-yard. Here another servant took off their +dusty sandals, and gave them water to wash their +feet.</p> + +<p>They had barely finished, when an old man +appeared in the doorway; his long beard and +hair were white as the abba he wore.</p> + +<p>Phineas would have bowed himself to the +ground before him, but the old man prevented +it, by hurrying to take both hands in his, and +kiss him on each cheek.</p> + +<p>"Peace be to thee, thou son of my good friend +Jesse!" he said. "Thou art indeed most welcome."</p> + +<p>Joel lagged behind. He was always sensitive +about meeting strangers; but the man's cordial +welcome soon put him at his ease.</p> + +<p>He was left to himself a great deal during the +few days following. The business on which the +old man had summoned Phineas required long +consultations.</p> + +<p>One day they rode away together to some outlying +pastures, and were gone until night-fall. +Joel did not miss them. He was spending long +happy hours in the country sunshine. There<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +was something to entertain him, every way he +turned. For a while he amused himself by sitting +in the door and poring over a roll of parchment +that Sarah, the wife of Nathan ben Obed, +brought him to read.</p> + +<p>She was an old woman, but one would have +found it hard to think so, had he seen how +briskly she went about her duties of caring for +such a large household.</p> + +<p>After Joel had read for some little time, he +became aware that some one was singing outside, +in a whining, monotonous way, and he laid down +his book to listen. The voice was not loud, but +so penetrating he could not shut it out, and fix +his mind on his story again. So he rolled up the +parchment and laid it on the chest from which +it had been taken; then winding his handkerchief +around his head, turban fashion, he limped +out in the direction of the voice.</p> + +<p>Just around the corner of the house, under a +great oak-tree, a woman sat churning. From +three smooth poles joined at the top to form a +tripod, a goat-skin bag hung by long leather +straps. This was filled with cream; she was +slapping it violently back and forth in time to +her weird song.</p> + +<p>Her feet were bare, and she wore only a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +coarse cotton dress. But a gay red handkerchief +covered her black hair, and heavy copper +rings hung from her nose and ears.</p> + +<p>The song stopped suddenly as she saw Joel. +Then recognizing her master's guest, she smiled +at him so broadly that he could see her pretty +white teeth.</p> + +<p>Joel hardly knew what to say at this unexpected +encounter, but bethought himself to ask +the way to the sheep-folds and the watch-tower. +"It is a long way there," said the woman, doubtfully; +Joel flushed as he felt her black eyes scanning +his misshapen form.</p> + +<p>Just then Sarah appeared in the door, and the +maid repeated the question to her mistress.</p> + +<p>"To be sure," she said. "You must go out +and see our shepherds with their flocks. We +have a great many employed just now, on all the +surrounding hills. Rhoda, call your son, and bid +him bring hither the donkey that he always +drives to market."</p> + +<p>The woman left her churning, and presently +came back with a boy about Joel's age, leading +a donkey with only one ear.</p> + +<p>Joel knew what that meant. At some time in +its life the poor beast had strayed into some +neighbor's field, and the owner of the field<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +had been at liberty to cut off an ear in punishment.</p> + +<p>The boy that led him wore a long shirt of +rough hair-cloth. His feet and legs were brown +and tanned. A shock of reddish sunburned +hair was the only covering for his head. There +was a squint in one eye, and his face was +freckled.</p> + +<p>He made an awkward obeisance to his mistress.</p> + +<p>"Buz," she said, "this young lad is your master's +guest. Take him out and show him the flocks +and herds, and the sheep-folds. He has never +seen anything of shepherd life, so be careful to +do his pleasure. Stay!" she added to Joel. +"You will not have time to visit them all before +the mid-day meal, so I will give you a lunch, +and you can enjoy an entire day in the fields."</p> + +<p>As the two boys started down the hill, Joel +stole a glance at his companion. "What a +stupid-looking fellow!" he thought; "I doubt if +he knows anything more than this sleepy beast I +am riding. I wonder if he enjoys any of this +beautiful world around him. How glad I am +that I am not in his place."</p> + +<p>Buz, trudging along in the dust, glanced at +the little cripple on the donkey's back with an +inward shiver.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What a dreadful lot his must be," he +thought. "How glad I am that I am not like +he is!"</p> + +<p>It was not very long till the shyness began to +wear off, and Joel found that the stupid shepherd +lad had a very busy brain under his shock of +tangled hair. His eyes might squint, but they +knew just where to look in the bushes for the +little hedge-sparrow's nest. They could take +unerring aim, too, when he sent the smooth +sling-stones whizzing from the sling he carried.</p> + +<p>"How far can you shoot with it?" asked Joel.</p> + +<p>For answer Buz looked all around for some object +on which to try his skill; then he pointed to +a hawk slowly circling overhead. Joel watched +him fit a smooth pebble into his sling; he had +no thought that the boy could touch it at such a +distance. The stone whizzed through the air +like a bullet, and the bird dropped several yards +ahead of them.</p> + +<p>"See!" said Buz, as he ran to pick it up, and +display it proudly. "I struck it in the head."</p> + +<p>Joel looked at him with increasing respect. +"That must have been the kind of sling that +King David killed the giant with," he said, handing +it back after a careful examination.</p> + +<p>"King David!" repeated Buz, dully, "seems to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +me I have heard of him, sometime or other; but +I don't know about the giant."</p> + +<p>"Why where have you been all your life?" +cried Joel, in amazement. "I thought everybody +knew about that. Did you never go to a +synagogue?"</p> + +<p>Buz shook his bushy head. "They don't have +synagogues in these parts. The master calls us +in and reads to us on the Sabbath; but I always +get sleepy when I sit right still, and so I generally +get behind somebody and go to sleep. The +shepherds talk to each other a good deal about +such things, I am never with them though. I +spend all my time running errands."</p> + +<p>Shocked at such ignorance, Joel began to tell +the shepherd king's life with such eloquence that +Buz stopped short in the road to listen.</p> + +<p>Seeing this the donkey stood still also, wagged +its one ear, and went to sleep. But Buz listened, +wider awake than he had ever been before in +his life.</p> + +<p>The story was a favorite one with Joel, and he +put his whole soul into it.</p> + +<p>"Who told you that?" asked Buz, taking a +long breath when the interesting tale was +finished.</p> + +<p>"Why I read it myself!" answered Joel.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, can you read?" asked Buz, looking at +Joel in much the same way that Joel had looked +at him after he killed the hawk. "I do not see +how anybody can. It puzzles me how people +can look at all those crooked black marks and +call them rivers and flocks and things. I looked +one time, just where Master had been reading +about a great battle. And I didn't see a single +thing that looked like a warrior or a sword or a +battle-axe, though he called them all by name. +There were several little round marks that might +have been meant for sling-stones; but it was more +than I could make out, how he could get any +sense out of it."</p> + +<p>Joel leaned back and laughed till the hills +rang, laughed till the tears stood in his eyes, +and the donkey waked up and ambled on.</p> + +<p>Buz did not seem to be in the least disturbed +by his merriment, although he was puzzled as to +its cause. He only stooped to pick up more +stones for his sling as they went on.</p> + +<p>It was not long till they came to some of the +men,—great brawny fellows dressed in skins, with +coarse matted hair and tanned faces. How little +they knew of what was going on in the busy +world outside their fields! As Joel talked to +them he found that Cæsar's conquests and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +Hero's murders had only come to them as vague +rumors. All the petty wars and political turmoils +were unknown to them. They could talk +to him only of their flocks and their faith, both +as simple as their lives.</p> + +<p>Joel, in his wisdom learned of the Rabbis, felt +himself infinitely their superior, child though he +was. But he enjoyed his day spent with them. +He and Buz ate the ample lunch they had +brought, dipped up water from the brook in cups +they made of oak-leaves, and both finally fell +asleep to the droning music of the shepherd's +pipes, played softly on the uplands.</p> + +<p>A distant rumble of thunder aroused them, +late in the afternoon; and they started up to find +the shepherds calling in their flocks. The gaunt +sheep dogs raced to and fro, bringing the straying +goats together. The shepherds brought the +sheep into line with well-aimed sling-shots, +touching them first on one side, and then on the +other, as oxen are guided by the touch of the +goad.</p> + +<p>Joel looked up at the darkening sky with +alarm. "Who would have thought of a storm +on such a day!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Buz cocked his eyes at the horizon. "I +thought it might come to this," he said; "for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +as we came along this morning there were no +spider-webs on the grass; the ants had not uncovered +the doors of their hills; and all the signs +pointed to wet weather. I thought though, that +the time of the latter rains had passed a week +ago. I am always glad when the stormy season +is over. This one is going to be a hard one."</p> + +<p>"What shall we do?" asked Joel.</p> + +<p>Buz scratched his head. Then he looked at +Joel. "You never could get home on that trifling +donkey before it overtakes us; and they'll be +worried about you. I'd best take you up to the +sheep-fold. You can stay all night there, very +comfortably. I'll run home and tell them where +you are, and come back for you in the morning."</p> + +<p>Joel hesitated, appalled at spending the night +among such dirty men; but the heavy boom of +thunder, steadily rolling nearer, silenced his half-spoken +objection. By the time the donkey had +carried him up the hillside to the stone-walled +enclosure round the watch-tower, the shepherds +were at the gates with their flocks.</p> + +<p>Joel watched them go through the narrow +passage, one by one. Each man kept count of +his own sheep, and drove them under the rough +sheds put up for their protection.</p> + +<p>A good-sized hut was built against the hillside,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +where the shepherds might find refuge. Buz +pointed it out to Joel; then he turned the +donkey into one of the sheds, and started homeward +on the run.</p> + +<p>Joel shuddered as a blinding flash of lightning +was followed by a crash of thunder that shook +the hut. The wind bore down through the trees +like some savage spirit, shrieking and moaning +as it flew. Joel heard a shout, and looked out +to the opposite hillside. Buz was flying along in +break-neck race with the storm. At that rate he +would soon be home. How he seemed to enjoy +the race, as his strong limbs carried him lightly +as a bird soars!</p> + +<p>At the top he turned to look back and laugh +and wave his arms,—a sinewy little figure +standing out in bold relief against a brazen sky.</p> + +<p>Joel watched till he was out of sight. Then, +as the wind swooped down from the mountains, +great drops of rain began to splash through the +leaves.</p> + +<p>The men crowded into the hut. One of them +started forward to close the door, but stopped +suddenly, with his brown hairy hand uplifted.</p> + +<p>"Hark ye!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Joel heard only the shivering of the wind in +the tree-tops; but the man's trained ear caught<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +the bleating of a stray lamb, far off and very +faint.</p> + +<p>"I was afraid I was mistaken in my count; +they jostled through the gate so fast I could +not be sure." Going to a row of pegs along the +wall, he took down a lantern hanging there and +lit it; then wrapping his coat of skins more +closely around him, and calling one of the dogs, +he set out into the gathering darkness.</p> + +<p>Joel watched the fitful gleam of the lantern, +flickering on unsteadily as a will-o'-the-wisp. A +moment later he heard the man's deep voice +calling tenderly to the lost animal; then the +storm struck with such fury that they had to +stand with their backs against the door of the +hut to keep it closed.</p> + +<p>Flash after flash of lightning blinded them. +The wind roared down the mountain and beat +against the house till Joel held his breath in +terror. It was midnight before it stopped. Joel +thought of the poor shepherd out on the hills, +and shuddered. Even the men seemed uneasy +about him, as hour after hour passed, and he did +not come.</p> + +<p>Finally he fell asleep in the corner, on a pile of +woolly skins. In the gray dawn he was awakened +by a great shout. He got up, and went to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +door. There stood the shepherd. His bare +limbs were cut by stones and torn by thorns. +Blood streamed from his forehead where he had +been wounded by a falling branch. The mud on +his rough garments showed how often he had +slipped and fallen on the steep paths.</p> + +<p>Joel noticed, with a thrill of sympathy, how +painfully he limped. But there on the bowed +shoulders was the lamb he had wandered so far +to find; and as the welcoming shout arose again, +Joel's weak little cheer joined gladly in.</p> + +<p>"How brave and strong he is," thought the +boy. "He risked his life for just one pitiful +little lamb."</p> + +<p>The child's heart went strangely out to this +rough fellow who stood holding the shivering +animal, sublimely unconscious that he had done +anything more than a simple duty.</p> + +<p>Joel, who felt uncommonly hungry after his +supperless night, thought he would mount the +donkey and start back alone. But just as he +was about to do so, a familiar bushy head showed +itself in the door of the sheepfold. Buz had +brought him some wheat-cakes and cheese to eat +on the way back.</p> + +<p>Joel was so busy with this welcome meal that +he did not talk much. Buz kept eying him in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +silence, as if he longed to ask some question. +At last, when the cheese had entirely disappeared, +he found courage to ask it.</p> + +<p>"Were you always like that?" he said +abruptly, motioning to Joel's back and leg. +Somehow the reference did not wound him as it +generally did. He began to tell Buz about the +Samaritan boy who had crippled him. He never +was able to tell the story of his wrongs without +growing passionately angry. He had worked +himself into a white heat by the time he had +finished.</p> + +<p>"I'd get even with him," said Buz, excitedly, +with a wicked squint of his eyes.</p> + +<p>"How would you do it?" demanded Joel. +"Cripple him as he did me?"</p> + +<p>"Worse than that!" exclaimed Buz, stopping +to take deliberate aim at a leaf overhead, and +shooting a hole exactly through the centre with +his sling. "I'd blind him as quick as that! It's +a great deal worse to be blind than lame."</p> + +<p>Joel closed his eyes, and rode on a few +moments in darkness. Then he opened them and +gave a quick glad look around the landscape. +"My! What if I never could have opened them +again," he thought. "Yes, Buz, you're right," +he said aloud. "It <i>is</i> worse to be blind; so I shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> +take Rehum's eyesight also, some time. Oh, if +that time were only here!"</p> + +<p>Although the subject of the miracle at Cana +had been constantly in the mind of Phineas, and +often near his lips, he did not speak of it to his +host until the evening before his departure.</p> + +<p>It was just at the close of the evening meal. +Nathan ben Obed rose half-way from his seat in +astonishment, then sank back.</p> + +<p>"How old a man is this friend of yours?" he +asked.</p> + +<p>"About thirty, I think," answered Phineas. +"He is a little younger than I."</p> + +<p>"Where was he born?"</p> + +<p>"In Bethlehem, I have heard it said, though +his home has always been in Nazareth."</p> + +<p>"Strange, strange!" muttered the man, stroking +his long white beard thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>Joel reached over and touched Phineas on the +arm. "Will you not tell Rabbi Nathan about +the wonderful star that was seen at that time?" +he asked, in a low tone.</p> + +<p>"What was that?" asked the old man, arousing +from his reverie.</p> + +<p>When Phineas had repeated his conversation +with the stranger on the day of his journey, +Nathan ben Obed exchanged meaning glances +with his wife.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Send for the old shepherd Heber," he said. +"I would have speech with him."</p> + +<p>Rhoda came in to light the lamps. He bade +her roll a cushioned couch that was in one corner +to the centre of the room.</p> + +<p>"This old shepherd Heber was born in Bethlehem," +he said; "but since his sons and grandsons +have been in my employ, he has come north to +live. He used to help keep the flocks that +belonged to the Temple, and that were used for +sacrifices. His has always been one of the purest +of lives; and I have never known such faith as he +has. He is over a hundred years old, so must +have been quite aged at the time of the event of +which he will tell us."</p> + +<p>Presently an old, old man tottered into the +room, leaning on the shoulders of his two stalwart +grandsons. They placed him gently on the +cushions of the couch, and then went into the +court-yard to await his readiness to return. +Like the men Joel had seen the day before, they +were dressed in skins, and were wild-looking and +rough. But this aged father, with dim eyes and +trembling wrinkled hands, sat before them like +some hoary patriarch, in a fine linen mantle.</p> + +<p>Pleased as a child, he saluted his new audience, +and began to tell them his only story.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> + +<p>As the years had gone by, one by one the lights +of memory had gone out in darkness. Well-known +scenes had grown dim; old faces were +forgotten; names he knew as well as his own, +could not be recalled: but this one story was as +fresh and real to him, as on the night he learned +it.</p> + +<p>The words he chose were simple, the voice was +tremulous with weakness; but he spoke with a +dramatic fervor that made Joel creep nearer and +nearer, until he knelt, unknowing, at the old +man's knee, spell-bound by the wonderful tale.</p> + +<p>"We were keeping watch in the fields by +night," began the old shepherd, "I and my sons +and my brethren. It was still and cold, and we +spoke but little to each other. Suddenly over +all the hills and plains shone a great light,—brighter +than light of moon or stars or sunshine. +It was so heavenly white we knew it must be +the glory of the Lord we looked upon and we +were sore afraid, and hid our faces, falling to the +ground. And, lo! an angel overhead spake to +us from out of the midst of the glory, saying, +'Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings +of great joy, which shall be to all people. For +unto you is born this day in the city of David a +Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> +be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe +wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.'</p> + +<p>"And suddenly there was with the angel a +multitude of the heavenly host praising God, +and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, peace +on earth, good-will toward men!'</p> + +<p>"Oh, the sound of the rejoicing that filled that +upper air! Ever since in my heart have I carried +that foretaste of heaven!"</p> + +<p>The old shepherd paused, with such a light on +his upturned face that he seemed to his awestruck +listeners to be hearing again that same +angelic chorus,—the chorus that rang down from +the watch-towers of heaven, across earth's lowly +sheep-fold, on that first Christmas night.</p> + +<p>There was a solemn hush. Then he said, "And +when they were gone away, and the light and +the song were no more with us, we spake one to +another, and rose in haste and went to Bethlehem. +And we found the Babe lying in a manger +with Mary its mother; and we fell down and +worshipped Him.</p> + +<p>"Thirty years has it been since the birth of +Israel's Messiah; and I sit and wonder all the day,—wonder +when He will appear once more to His +people. Surely the time must be well nigh here +when He may claim His kingdom. O Lord, let<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +not Thy servant depart until these eyes that +beheld the Child shall have seen the King in +His beauty!"</p> + +<p>Joel remained kneeling beside old Heber, perfectly +motionless. He was fitting together the +links that he had lately found. A child, heralded +by angels, proclaimed by a star worshipped by +the Magi! A man changing water into wine at +only a word!</p> + +<p>"I shall yet see Him!" exclaimed the voice of +old Heber, with such sublime assurance of faith +that it found a response in every heart.</p> + +<p>There was another solemn stillness, so deep +that the soft fluttering of a night-moth around +the lamp startled them.</p> + +<p>Then the child's voice rang out, eager and +shrill, but triumphant as if inspired: "Rabbi +Phineas, <i>He</i> it was who changed the water into +wine!—This friend of Nazareth and the babe of +Bethlehem are the same!"</p> + +<p>The heart of the carpenter was strangely +stirred, but it was full of doubt. Not that the +Christ had been born,—the teachings of all his +lifetime led him to expect that; but that the +chosen One could be a friend of his,—the thought +was too wonderful for him.</p> + +<p>The old shepherd sat on the couch, feebly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +twisting his fingers, and talking to himself. He +was repeating bits of the story he had just told +them: "And, lo, an angel overhead!" he muttered. +Then he looked up, whispering softly, +"Glory to God in the highest—and peace, yes, +on earth peace!"</p> + +<p>"He seems to have forgotten everything else," +said Nathan, signalling to the men outside to +lead him home. "His mind is wiped away +entirely, that it may keep unspotted the record +of that night's revelation. He tells it over +and over, whether he has a listener or not."</p> + +<p>They led him gently out, the white-haired, +white-souled old shepherd Heber. It seemed to +Joel that the wrinkled face was illuminated by +some inner light, not of this world, and that he +lingered among men only to repeat to them, +over and over, his one story. That strange +sweet story of Bethlehem's first Christmas-tide.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 102px;"> +<img src="images/drop_n.png" width="102" height="105" alt="N" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />EXT morning a goodly train set out +from the gates of Nathan ben Obed. +It was near the time of the feast of +the Passover, and he, with many of +his household, was going down to Jerusalem.</div> + +<p>The family and guests went first on mules and +asses. Behind them followed a train of servants, +driving the lambs, goats, and oxen to be offered +as sacrifices in the temple, or sold in Jerusalem +to other pilgrims.</p> + +<p>All along the highway, workmen were busy +repairing the bridges, and cleaning the springs +and wells, soon to be used by the throngs of +travellers.</p> + +<p>All the tombs near the great thoroughfares +were being freshly white-washed; they gleamed +with a dazzling purity through the green trees, +only to warn passers-by of the defilement within. +For had those on their way to the feast approached +too near these homes of the dead, even unconsciously,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +they would have been accounted unclean, +and unfit to partake of the Passover. Nothing +escaped Joel's quick sight, from the tulips and +marigolds flaming in the fields, to the bright-eyed +little viper crawling along the stone-wall.</p> + +<p>But while he looked, he never lost a word that +passed between his friend Phineas and their host. +The pride of an ancient nation took possession of +him as he listened to the prophecies they quoted.</p> + +<p>Every one they met along the way coming +from Capernaum had something to say about +this new prophet who had arisen in Galilee. +When they reached the gate of the city, a +great disappointment awaited them. <i>He had +been there, and gone again.</i></p> + +<p>Nathan ben Obed and his train tarried only +one night in the place, and then pressed on +again towards Jerusalem. Phineas went with +them.</p> + +<p>"You shall go with us next year," he said to +Joel; "then you will be over twelve. I shall +take my own little ones too, and their mother."</p> + +<p>"Only one more year," exclaimed Joel, joyfully. +"If that passes as quickly as the one +just gone, it will soon be here."</p> + +<p>"Look after my little family," said the carpenter, +at parting. "Come every day to the work, if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +you wish, just as when I am here; and remember, +my lad, you are almost a man."</p> + +<p>Almost a man! The words rang in the boy's +thoughts all day as he pounded and cut, keeping +time to the swinging motion of hammer and saw. +Almost a man! But what kind of one? Crippled +and maimed, shorn of the strength that should +have been his pride, beggared of his priestly +birthright.</p> + +<p>Almost, it might be, but never in its fulness, +could he hope to attain the proud stature of +a perfect man.</p> + +<p>A fiercer hate sprang up for the enemy who +had made him what he was; and the wild burning +for revenge filled him so he could not +work. He put away his tools, and went up +the narrow outside stairway that led to the flat +roof of the carpenter's house. It was called +the "upper chamber." Here a latticed pavilion, +thickly overgrown with vines, made a cool +green retreat where he might rest and think +undisturbed.</p> + +<p>Sitting there, he could see the flash of white +sails on the blue lake, and slow-moving masses +of fleecy clouds in the blue of the sky above. +They brought before him the picture of the +flocks feeding on the pastures of Nathan ben Obed.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then, naturally enough, there flashed through +his mind a thought of Buz. He seemed to see +him squinting his little eyes to take aim at +a leaf overhead. He heard the stone whirr +through it, as Buz said: "I'd blind him!"</p> + +<p>Some very impossible plans crept into Joel's +day-dreams just then. He imagined himself +sitting in a high seat, wrapped in robes of +state; soldiers stood around him to carry out +his slightest wish. The door would open and +Rehum would be brought forth in fetters.</p> + +<p>"What is your will concerning the prisoner, +O most gracious sovereign," the jailer would +ask.</p> + +<p>Joel closed his eyes, and waved his hand before +an imaginary audience. "Away with him,—to +the torture! Wrench his limbs on the rack! +Brand his eyelids with hot irons! Let him suffer +all that man can suffer and live! Thus +shall it be done unto the man on whom the +king delighteth to take vengeance!"</p> + +<p>Joel was childish enough to take a real satisfaction +in this scene he conjured up. But as +it faded away, he was man enough to realize +it could never come to pass, save in his imagination; +he could never be in such a position +for revenge, unless,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>—</p> + +<p>That moment a possible way seemed to open +for him. Phineas would probably see his friend +of Nazareth at the Passover. What could be more +natural than that the old friendship should be renewed. +He whose hand had changed the water +into wine should finally cast out the alien king +who usurped the throne of Israel, for one in +whose veins the blood of David ran royal red,—what +was more to be expected than that?</p> + +<p>The Messiah would come to His kingdom, and +then—and then—the thought leaped to its +last daring limit.</p> + +<p>Phineas, who had been His earliest friend and +playfellow, would he not be lifted to the right +hand of power? Through him, then, lay the +royal road to revenge.</p> + +<p>The thought lifted him unconsciously to his +feet. He stood with his arms out-stretched in +the direction of the far-away Temple, like some +young prophet. David's cry of triumph rose to +his lips: "Thou hast girded me with strength +unto the battle," he murmured. "Thou hast +also given me the necks of mine enemies, that +I might destroy them that hate me!"</p> + +<p>A sweet baby voice at the foot of the steps +brought him suddenly down from the height of +his intense feeling.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Joel! Joel!" called little Ruth, "where is +you?"</p> + +<p>Then Jesse's voice added, "We're all a-coming +up for you to tell us a story."</p> + +<p>Up the stairs they swarmed to the roof, the +carpenter's children and half-a-dozen of their +little playmates.</p> + +<p>Joel, with his head still in the clouds, told +them of a mighty king who was coming to slay +all other kings, and change all tears—the waters +of affliction—into the red wine of joy.</p> + +<p>"H'm! I don't think much of that story," +said Jesse, with out-spoken candor. "I'd rather +hear about Goliath, or the bears that ate up the +forty children."</p> + +<p>But Joel was in no mood for such stories, just +then. On some slight pretext he escaped from +his exacting audience, and went down to the sea-shore. +Here, skipping stones across the water, or +writing idly in the sand, he was free to go on with +his fascinating day-dreams.</p> + +<p>For the next two weeks the boy gave up work +entirely. He haunted the toll-gates and public +streets, hoping to hear some startling news from +Jerusalem. He was so full of the thought that +some great revolution was about to take place, +that he could not understand how people could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +be so indifferent. All on fire with the belief +that this man of Nazareth was the one in whom +lay the nation's hope, he looked and longed for +the return of Phineas, that he might learn +more of Him.</p> + +<p>But Phineas had little to tell when he came +back. He had met his friend twice in Jerusalem,—the +same gentle quiet man he had always +known, making no claims, working no wonders. +Phineas had heard of His driving the moneychangers +out of the Temple one day, and those +who sold doves in its sacred courts, although +he had not witnessed the scene.</p> + +<p>The carpenter was rather surprised that He +should have made such a public disturbance.</p> + +<p>"Rabbi Phineas," said Joel, with a trembling +voice, "don't you think your friend is the +prophet we are expecting?"</p> + +<p>Phineas shook his head. "No, my lad, I am +sure of it now."</p> + +<p>"But the herald angels and the star," insisted +the boy.</p> + +<p>"They must have proclaimed some one else. +He is the best man I ever knew; but there is no +more of the king in His nature, than there is in +mine."</p> + +<p>The man's positive answer seemed to shatter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> +Joel's last hope. Downcast and disappointed, +he went back to his work. Only with money +could he accomplish his life's object, and only +by incessant work could he earn the shining +shekels that he needed.</p> + +<p>Phineas wondered sometimes at the dogged +<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'persistance'">persistence</ins> with which the child stuck to his +task, in spite of his tired, aching body.</p> + +<p>He had learned to make sandal-wood jewel-boxes, +and fancifully wrought cups to hold the +various dyes and cosmetics used by the ladies +of the court.</p> + +<p>Several times, during the following months, he +begged a sail in some of the fishing-boats that +landed at the town of Tiberias. Having gained +the favor of the keeper of the gates, by various +little gifts of his own manufacture, he always +found a ready admittance to the palace.</p> + +<p>To the ladies of the court, the sums they paid +for his pretty wares seemed trifling; but to +Joel the small bag of <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'coin'">coins</ins> hidden in the folds +of his clothes was a little fortune, daily growing +larger.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 101px;"> +<img src="images/drop_i.png" width="101" height="103" alt="I" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />T was Sabbath morning in the house +of Laban the Pharisee. Joel, sitting +alone in the court-yard, could hear +his aunt talking to the smaller children, +as she made them ready to take with her +to the synagogue.</div> + +<p>From the upper chamber on the roof, came also +a sound of voices, for two guests had arrived the +day before, and were talking earnestly with their +host. Joel already knew the object of their +visit.</p> + +<p>They had been there before, when the preaching +of John Baptist had drawn such great crowds +from all the cities to the banks of the Jordan. +They had been sent out then by the authorities +in Jerusalem to see what manner of man was +this who, clothed in skins and living in the +wilderness, could draw the people so wonderfully, +and arouse such intense excitement. Now +they had come on a like errand, although on +their own authority.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> + +<p>Another prophet had arisen whom this John +Baptist had declared to be greater than himself. +They had seen Him drive the moneychangers +from the Temple; they had heard +many wild rumors concerning Him. So they +followed Him to His home in the little village +of Nazareth, where they heard Him talk in the +synagogue.</p> + +<p>They had seen the listening crowd grow +amazed at the eloquence of His teaching, and +then indignant that one so humble as a carpenter's +son should claim that Isaiah's prophecies +had been fulfilled in Himself.</p> + +<p>They had seen Him driven from the home +of His boyhood, and now had come to Capernaum +that they might be witnesses in case +this impostor tried to lead these people astray +by repeating His claims.</p> + +<p>All this Joel heard, and more, as the earnest +voices came distinctly down to him through +the deep hush of the Sabbath stillness. It +shook his faith somewhat, even in the goodness +of this friend of his friend Phineas, that +these two learned doctors of the Law should +consider Him an impostor.</p> + +<p>He stood aside respectfully for them to pass, +as they came down the outside stairway, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +crossed the court-yard on their way to the +morning service.</p> + +<p>Their long, flowing, white robes, their broad +phylacteries, their dignified bearing, impressed +him greatly. He knew they were wise, good +men whose only aim in life was to keep the +letter of the Law, down to its smallest details. +He followed them through the streets until they +came to the synagogue. They gave no greeting +to any one they passed, but walked with reverently +bowed heads that their pious meditation +might not be disturbed by the outside world. +His aunt had already gone by the way of the +back streets, as it was customary for women to +go, her face closely veiled.</p> + +<p>The synagogue, of finely chiselled limestone, +with its double rows of great marble pillars, +stood in its white splendor, the pride of the +town. It had been built by the commander of +the garrison who, though a Roman centurion, +was a believer in the God of the Hebrews, +and greatly loved by the whole people.</p> + +<p>Joel glanced up at the lintel over the door, +where Aaron's rod and a pot of manna carved +in the stone were constant reminders to the +daily worshippers of the Hand that fed and +guided them from generation to generation.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> + +<p>Joel limped slowly to his place in the congregation. +In the seats of honor, facing it, sat +his uncle and his guests, among the rulers of the +synagogue.</p> + +<p>For a moment his eyes wandered curiously +around, hoping for a glimpse of the man whose +fame was beginning to spread all over Galilee. +It had been rumored that He would be there. +But Joel saw only familiar faces. The elders +took their seats.</p> + +<p>During the reading of the usual psalm, the reciting +of a benediction, and even the confession +of the creed, Joel's thoughts wandered. When +the reader took up his scroll to read the passages +from Deuteronomy, the boy stole one +more quick glance all around. But as the +whole congregation arose, and turned facing +the east, he resolutely fixed his mind on the +duties of the hour.</p> + +<p>The eighteen benedictions, or prayers, were +recited in silence by each devout worshipper. +Then the leader repeated them aloud, all the +congregation responding with their deep Amen! +and Amen! Joel always liked that part of the +service and the chanting that followed.</p> + +<p>Another roll of parchment was brought out. +The boy looked up with interest. Probably one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +of his uncle's guests would be invited to read +from it, and speak to the people.</p> + +<p>No, it was a stranger whom he had not noticed +before, sitting behind one of the tall elders, who +was thus honored.</p> + +<p>Joel's heart beat so fast that the blood throbbed +against his ear-drums, as he heard the name +called. It was the friend of his friend Phineas, +<i>the Rabbi Jesus</i>.</p> + +<p>Joel bent forward, all his soul in his eyes, as +the stranger unrolled the book, and began to +read from the Prophets. The words were old +familiar ones; he even knew them by heart. +But never before had they carried with them +such music, such meaning. When He laid aside +the roll, and began to speak, every fibre in the +boy's being thrilled in response to the wonderful +eloquence of that voice and teaching.</p> + +<p>The whole congregation sat spell-bound, forgetful +of everything except the earnestness of the +speaker who moved and swayed them as the +wind does the waving wheat.</p> + +<p>Suddenly there arose a wild shriek, a sort of +demon-like howl that transfixed them with its +piercing horror. Every one turned to see the +cause of the startling sound. There, near the +door, stood a man whom they all knew,—an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +unhappy creature said to be possessed of an +unclean spirit.</p> + +<p>"Ha!" he cried, in a blood-curdling tone. +"What have we to do with Thee, Jesus of +Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I +know Thee, who thou art, the holy One of +God!"</p> + +<p>There was a great stir, especially in the +woman's gallery; and those standing nearest +him backed away as far as possible.</p> + +<p>Every face was curious and excited, at this +sudden interruption,—every face but one; the +Rabbi Jesus alone was calm.</p> + +<p>"Hold thy peace and come out of him!" He +commanded. There was one more shriek, worse +than before, as the man fell at His feet in a +convulsion; but in a moment he stood up +again, quiet and perfectly sane. The wild look +was gone from his eyes. Whatever had been +the strange spell that had bound him before, +he was now absolutely free.</p> + +<p>There was another stir in the woman's gallery. +Contrary to all rule or custom, an aged woman +pushed her way out. Down the stairs she went, +unveiled through the ranks of the men, to reach +her son whom she had just seen restored to reason. +With a glad cry she fell forward, fainting,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +in his arms, and was borne away to the little +home, now no longer darkened by the shadow +of a sore affliction.</p> + +<p>Little else was talked about that day, until +the rumor of another miracle began to spread +through the town. Phineas, stopping at Laban's +house on his way home from an afternoon service, +confirmed the truth of it.</p> + +<p>One of his neighbors had been dangerously +ill with a fever that was common in that part +of the country; she was the mother-in-law of +Simon bar Jonah. It was at his home that the +Rabbi Jesus had been invited to dine.</p> + +<p>As soon as He entered the house, they besought +Him to heal her. Standing beside her, +He rebuked the fever; and immediately she +arose, and began to help her daughter prepare +for the entertainment of their guest.</p> + +<p>"Abigail was there yesterday," said Phineas, +"to carry some broth she had made. She +thought then it would be impossible for the poor +creature to live through the night. I saw +the woman a few hours ago, and she is perfectly +well and strong."</p> + +<p>That night when the sun was setting, and the +Sabbath was at an end, a motley crowd streamed +along the streets to the door of Simon bar Jonah.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +Men carried on couches; children in their mother's +arms; those wasted by burning fevers; those +shaken by unceasing palsy; the lame; the blind; +the death-stricken,—all pressing hopefully on.</p> + +<p>What a scene in that little court-yard as the +sunset touched the wan faces and smiled into +dying eyes. Hope for the hopeless! Balm for +the broken in body and spirit! There was rejoicing +in nearly every home in Capernaum that +night, for none were turned away. Not one was +refused. It is written, "He laid His hand on +every one of them, and healed them."</p> + +<p>That he might not seem behind his guests in +zeal and devotion to the Law, the dignified Laban +would not follow the crowds.</p> + +<p>"Let others be carried away by strange doctrines +and false prophets, if they will," he declared; +"as for me and my household, we will +cling to the true faith of our fathers."</p> + +<p>So the three sat in the upper chamber on the +roof, and discussed the new teacher with many +shakes of their wise heads.</p> + +<p>"It is not lawful to heal on the Sabbath day," +they declared. "Twice during the past day He +has openly transgressed the Law. He will lead +all Galilee astray!"</p> + +<p>But Galilee cared little how far the path<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +turned from the narrow faith of the Pharisees, +so long as it led to life and healing.</p> + +<p>Down in the garden below, the children +climbed up on the grape-arbor, and peered +through the vines at the surging crowds which +they would have joined, had it not been for +Laban's strict commands.</p> + +<p>One by one they watched people whom they +knew go by, some carried on litters, some leaning +on the shoulders of friends. One man +crawled painfully along on his hands and knees.</p> + +<p>After awhile the same people began to come +back.</p> + +<p>"Look, quick, Joel!" one of the children +cried; "there goes Simon ben Levi. Why, his +palsy is all gone! He doesn't shake a bit now! +And there's little Martha that lives out near +Aunt Rebecca's! Don't you know how white +and thin she looked when they carried her by a +little while ago? See! she is running along by +herself now as well as we are!"</p> + +<p>The children could hardly credit their own +sense of sight, when neighbors they had known +all their lives to be bed-ridden invalids came +back cured, singing and praising God.</p> + +<p>It was a sight they never could forget. So +they watched wonderingly till darkness fell, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> +the last happy-hearted healed one had gone +home to a rejoicing household.</p> + +<p>While the fathers on the roof were deciding +they would have naught of this man, the children +in the grape-arbor were storing up in their +simple little hearts these proofs of his power +and kindness.</p> + +<p>Then they gathered around Joel on the doorstep, +while he repeated the story that the old +shepherd Heber had told him, of the angels and +the star, and the baby they had worshipped that +night in Bethlehem.</p> + +<p>"Come, children," called his Aunt Leah, as she +lit the lamp that was to burn all night. "Come! +It is bed-time!"</p> + +<p>His cousin Hannah lingered a moment after +the others had gone in, to say, "That was a +pretty story, Joel. Why don't you go and ask +the good man to straighten your back?"</p> + +<p>Strange as it may seem, this was the first time +the thought had occurred to him that he might +be benefited himself. He had been so long +accustomed to thinking of himself as hopelessly +lame, that the wonderful cures he had witnessed +had awakened no hope for himself. A new life +seemed to open up before him at the little girl's +question. He sat on the doorstep thinking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +about it until his Uncle Laban came down and +crossly ordered him to go to bed.</p> + +<p>He went in, saying softly to himself, "I will go +to him to-morrow; yes, early in the morning!"</p> + +<p>Strange that an old proverb should cross his +mind just then. "Boast not thyself of to-morrow. +Thou knowest not what a day may +bring forth."</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 102px;"> +<img src="images/drop_w.png" width="102" height="101" alt="W" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />HEN Joel went out on the streets next +morning, although it was quite early, +he saw a disappointed crowd coming +up from the direction of Simon's +house on the lake shore.</div> + +<p>"Where have all these people been?" he +asked of the baker's boy, whom he ran against +at the first corner.</p> + +<p>The boy stopped whistling, and rested his +basket of freshly baked bread against his knee, +as he answered:—</p> + +<p>"They were looking for the Rabbi who healed +so many people last night. Say! do you know," +he added quickly, as if the news were too good +to keep, "he healed my mother last night. You +cannot think how different it seems at home, to +have her going about strong and well like she +used to be."</p> + +<p>Joel's eyes brightened. "Do you think he'll +do anything for me, if I go to him now?" he +asked wistfully. "Do you suppose he could +straighten out such a crooked back as mine?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +Look how much shorter this leg is than the +other. Oh, <i>do</i> you think he could make them +all right?"</p> + +<p>The boy gave him a critical survey, and then +answered, emphatically, "Yes! It really does not +look like it would be as hard to straighten you +as old Jeremy, the tailor's father. He was +twisted all out of shape, you know. Well, I'll +declare! There he goes now!"</p> + +<p>Joel looked across the street. The wrinkled +face of the old basket-weaver was a familiar +sight in the market; but Joel could hardly recognize +the once crippled form, now restored to its +original shapeliness.</p> + +<p>"I am going right now," he declared, starting +to run in his excitement. "I can't wait another +minute."</p> + +<p>"But he's gone!" the boy called after him. +"That's why the people are all coming back."</p> + +<p>Joel sat down suddenly on a ledge projecting +from the stone-wall. "Gone!" he echoed drearily. +It was as if he had been starving, and the +life-giving food held to his famished lips had been +suddenly snatched away. Both his heart and his +feet felt like lead when he got up after awhile, +and dragged himself slowly along to the carpenter's +house.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/i002.jpg" width="400" height="600" alt="" /> +<span class="caption">"'I PEEPED OUT 'TWEEN 'E WOSE—VINES'"</span> +</div> + +<p>It was such a bitter disappointment to be so +near the touch of healing, and then to miss it +altogether.</p> + +<p>No cheerful tap of the hammer greeted him. +The idle tools lay on the deserted workbench. +"Disappointed again!" he thought. Then the +doves cooed, and he caught a glimpse of Ruth's +fair hair down among the garden lilies.</p> + +<p>"Where is your father, little one?" he called.</p> + +<p>"Gone away wiv 'e good man 'at makes everybody +well," she answered. Then she came skipping +down the path to stand close beside him, +and say confidentially: "I saw Him—'e good +man—going by to Simon's house. I peeped +out 'tween 'e wose-vines, and He looked wite +into my eyes wiv His eyes, and I couldn't help +loving Him!"</p> + +<p>Joel looked into the beautiful baby face, thinking +what a picture it must have made, as framed +in roses it smiled out on the Tender-hearted One, +going on His mission of help and healing.</p> + +<p>With her little hand in his, she led him back +to hope, for she took him to her mother, who +comforted him with the assurance that Phineas +expected to be home soon, and doubtless his +friend would be with him.</p> + +<p>So there came another time to work by himself +and dream of the hour surely dawning. And +the dreams were doubly sweet now; for side by +side with his hope of revenge, was the belief in +his possible cure.</p> + +<p>They heard only once from the absent ones. +Word came back that a leper had been healed. +Joel heard it first, down at the custom-house. +He had gotten into the way of strolling down in +that direction after his work was done; for here +the many trading-vessels from across the lake, or +those that shipped from Capernaum, had to stop +and pay duty. Here, too, the great road of +Eastern commerce passed which led from Damascus +to the harbors of the West. So here he +would find a constant stream of travellers, +bringing the latest news from the outside +world.</p> + +<p>The boy did not know, as he limped up and +down the water's edge, longing for some word +from his absent friends, that near by was one +who watched almost as eagerly as himself.</p> + +<p>It was Levi-Matthew, one of the officials, sitting +in the seat of custom. Sprung from the +same priestly tribe as Joel, he had sunk so low, +in accepting the office of tax-gatherer, that the +righteous Laban would not have touched him so +much as with the tip of his sandal.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a><br /><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Bears and lions," said a proverb, "might be +the fiercest wild beasts in the forests; but publicans +and informers were the worst in cities."</p> + +<p>One could not bear witness in the courts, and +the disgrace extended to the whole family. They +were even classed with robbers and murderers. +No doubt there was deep cause for such a feeling; +as a class they were unscrupulous and unjust. +There might have been good ones among their +number, but the company they kept condemned +them to the scorn of high and low.</p> + +<p>When a Jew hates, or a Jew scorns, be sure it +is thoroughly done; there is no half-way course +for his intense nature to take.</p> + +<p>So this son of Levi, sitting in the seat of +custom, and this son of Levi strolling past him, +were, socially, as far apart as the east is from +the west,—as unlike as thorn and blossom on +the same tribal stem.</p> + +<p>Matthew knew all the fishermen and ship-owners +that thronged the busy beach in front of +him. The sons of Jonah and of Zebedee passed +him daily; and he must have wondered when he +saw them throw down their nets and leave everything +to follow a stranger.</p> + +<p>He must have wondered also at the reports on +every tongue, and the sights he had seen himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +of miraculous healing. But while strangely +drawn towards this new teacher from Nazareth, +it could have been with no thought that the +hand and the voice were for him. He was a publican, +and how could they reach to such depths?</p> + +<p>A caravan had just stopped. The pack-animals +were being unloaded, bales and packages +opened, private letters pried into. The insolent +officials were tossing things right and left, as +they made a list of the taxable goods.</p> + +<p>Joel was watching them with as much interest +as if he had not witnessed such scenes dozens of +times before, till he noticed a group gathering +around one of the drivers. He was telling what +he had seen on his way to Capernaum. Several +noisy companions kept interrupting him to bear +witness to the truth of his statements.</p> + +<p>"And he who but a moment before had been +the most miserable of lepers stood up before us +all, cleansed of his leprosy. His skin was soft +and fair as a child's, and his features were restored +to him," said the driver.</p> + +<p>Joel and Levi-Matthew stood side by side. At +another time the boy might have drawn his +clothes away to keep from brushing against the +despised tax-gatherer. But he never noticed +now that their elbows touched.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p> + +<p>When he had heard all there was to be told, +he limped away to carry the news to Abigail. +To know that others were being cured daily +made him all the more impatient for the return +of this friend of Phineas.</p> + +<p>The publican turned again to his pen and his +account-book. He, too, looked forward with a +burning heart to the return of the Nazarene, +unknowing why he did so.</p> + +<p>At last Joel heard of the return, in a very unexpected +way. There were guests in the house +of Laban again. One of the rabbis who had been +there before, and a scribe from Jerusalem. Now +there were longer conferences in the upper +chamber, and graver shakings of the head, over +this false prophet whose fame was spreading +wider.</p> + +<p>The miracle of healing the paralytic at the +pool of Bethesda, when he had gone down to +Jerusalem to one of the many feasts, had stirred +Judea to its farthest borders. So these two men +had been sent to investigate.</p> + +<p>On the very afternoon of their arrival, a report +flew through the streets that the Rabbi Jesus was +once more in the town. Their host led them +with all the haste their dignity would allow, to +the house where He was said to be preaching.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +The common people fell back when they saw +them, and allowed them to pass into the centre +of the throng.</p> + +<p>The Rabbi stood in the doorway, so that both +those in the house and without could distinctly +hear Him. The scribe had never seen Him before, +and in spite of his deep-seated prejudice +could not help admiring the man whom he had +come prepared to despise. It was no wild fanatic +who stood before him, no noisy debater whose +fiery eloquence would be likely to excite and inflame +His hearers.</p> + +<p>He saw a man of gentlest dignity; truth +looked out from the depths of His calm eyes. +Every word, every gesture, carried with it the +conviction that He who spoke taught with God-given +authority.</p> + +<p>The scribe began to grow uneasy as he listened, +carried along by the earnest tones of the +speaker.</p> + +<p>There was a great commotion on the edge of +the crowd, as some one tried to push through to +the centre.</p> + +<p>"Stand back! Go away!" demanded angry +voices.</p> + +<p>The scribe was a tall man, and by stretching a +little, managed to see over the heads of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +others. Four men, bearing a helpless paralytic, +were trying to carry him through the throngs; but +they would not make room for this interruption.</p> + +<p>After vainly hunting for some opening through +which they might press, the men mounted the +steep, narrow staircase on the outside of the +building, and drew the man up, hammock and +all, to the flat roof on which they stood.</p> + +<p>There was a sound of scraping and scratching +as they broke away the brush and mortar that +formed the frail covering of the roof. Then the +people in the room below saw slowly coming down +upon them between the rafters, this man whom +no obstacle could keep back from the Great +Physician.</p> + +<p>But the paralyzed hands could not lift themselves +in supplication; the helpless tongue +could frame no word of pleading,—only the +eyes of the sick man could look up into the +pitying face bent over him, and implore a +blessing.</p> + +<p>The scribe leaned forward, confidently expecting +to hear the man bidden to arise. To his surprise +and horror, the words he heard were: +"Son, thy <i>sins</i> be forgiven thee!"</p> + +<p>He looked at Laban and his companion, and +the three exchanged meaning glances. When<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +they looked again at the speaker, His eyes seemed +to read their inmost thoughts.</p> + +<p>"Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?" He +asked, with startling distinctness. "Whether is +it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins +be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy +bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the +Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins," +here He turned to the helpless form lying at +His feet, "I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy +bed, and go thy way unto thine house."</p> + +<p>The man bounded to his feet, and picking up +the heavy rug on which he had been lying, went +running and leaping out of their midst.</p> + +<p>Without a word, Laban and his two guests +drew their clothes carefully around them, and +picked their way through the crowd. Phineas, +who stood at the gate, gave them a respectful +greeting. Laban only turned his eyes away with +a scowl, and passed coldly on.</p> + +<p>"The man is a liar and a blasphemer!" exclaimed +the scribe, as they sat once more in the +privacy of Laban's garden.</p> + +<p>"Only God can forgive sins!" added his companion. +"This paralytic should have taken a +sin-offering to the priest. For only by the blood +of sacrifice can one hope to obtain pardon."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Still He healed him," spoke up the scribe, +musingly.</p> + +<p>"Only through the power of Satan!" interrupted +Laban. "When He says He can forgive +sins, He blasphemes."</p> + +<p>The other Pharisee leaned forward to say, in +an impressive whisper: "Then you know the Law +on that point. He should be stoned to death, His +body hung on a tree, and then buried with shame!"</p> + +<p>It was not long after that Joel, just back from +a trip to Tiberias in a little sailing-boat, came +into the garden. He had been away since early +morning, so had heard nothing of what had just +occurred; he had had good luck in disposing of his +wares, and was feeling unusually cheerful. Hearing +voices in the corner of the garden, he was +about to pass out again, when his uncle called +him sternly to come to him at once.</p> + +<p>Surprised at the command, he obeyed, and was +questioned and cross-questioned by all three. It +was very little he could tell them about his +friend's plans; but he <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'acknowleged'">acknowledged</ins> proudly that +Phineas had always known this famous man from +Nazareth, even in childhood, and was one of his +most devoted followers.</p> + +<p>"This man Phineas is a traitor to the faith!" +roared Laban. "He is a dangerous man, and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +league with these fellows to do great evil to our +nation."</p> + +<p>The scribe and the rabbi nodded approvingly.</p> + +<p>"Hear me, now!" he cried, sternly. "Never +again are you to set foot over his threshold, or +have any communication whatsoever with him or +his associates. I make no idle threat; if you disobey +me in this, you will have cause to wish you +had never been born. You may leave us now!"</p> + +<p>Too surprised and frightened to say a word, +the child slipped away. To give up his daily +visit to the carpenter's house, was to give up +all that made his life tolerable; while to be +denied even speaking to his associates, meant +to abandon all hope of cure.</p> + +<p>But he dared not rebel; obedience to those +in authority was too thoroughly taught in those +days to be lightly disregarded. But his uncle +seemed to fear that his harsh command would +be eluded in some way, and kept such a strict +watch over him, that he rarely got beyond the +borders of the garden by himself.</p> + +<p>One day he was all alone in the grape-arbor, +looking out into the streets that he longed to +be in, since their freedom had been denied +him.</p> + +<p>A little girl passed, carrying one child in her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +arms, and talking to another who clung to her +skirts. It was Jerusha.</p> + +<p>Joel threw a green grape at her to attract her +attention, and then beckoned her mysteriously +to come nearer. She set the baby on the ground, +and gave him her bracelet to play with, while she +listened to a whispered account of his wrongs +through the latticed arbor.</p> + +<p>"It's a shame!" she declared indignantly. +"I'll go right down to the carpenter's house +and tell them why you cannot go there any +more. And I'll keep watch on all that happens, +and let you know. I go past here every +day, and if I have any news, I'll toss a pebble +over the wall and cluck like a hen. Then if +nobody is watching, you can come to this hole +in the arbor again."</p> + +<p>The next day, as Joel was going in great haste +to the baker's, whither his aunt had sent him, he +heard some one behind him calling him to wait. +In another moment Jerusha was in speaking distance, +nearly bent double with the weight of her +little brother, whom she was carrying as usual.</p> + +<p>"There!" she said, with a puff of relief, as she +put him on his own feet. "Wait till I get my +breath! It's no easy thing to carry such a load and +run at the same time! How did you get out?"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There was an errand to be done, and no one +else to do it," answered Joel, "so Aunt sent me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I've got such news for you!" she exclaimed. +"Guess what has happened! Your +Rabbi Jesus has asked Levi-Matthew to be one +of His followers, and go around with Him wherever +He goes. Think of it! One of those horrid +tax-gatherers! He settled his accounts and gave +up his position in the custom-house yesterday. +And he is getting ready for a great feast. I +heard the butcher and the wine-dealer both +telling about the big orders he had given +them.</p> + +<p>"All the publicans and low common people that +are his friends are invited. Yes, and so is your +friend the carpenter. Think of that, now! He +is going to sit down and eat with such people! +Of course respectable folks will never have anything +more to do with him after that! I guess +your uncle was right about him, after all!"</p> + +<p>Both the little girl's face and manner expressed +intense disgust.</p> + +<p>Joel was shocked. "Oh, are you sure?" he +cried. "You certainly must be mistaken! It +cannot be so!"</p> + +<p>"I guess I know what I see with my own eyes, +and hear with my own ears!" she retorted, angrily.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +"My father says they are a bad lot. People that +go with publicans are just as unclean themselves. +If you know so much more than everybody else, +I'll not trouble myself to run after you with any +more news. Mistaken, indeed!"</p> + +<p>With her head held high, and her nose scornfully +turned up, she jerked her little brother past +him, and went quickly around the corner of the +street.</p> + +<p>The indignation of some of the rabbis knew no +bounds. "It has turned out just as I predicted," +said the scribe to Laban, at supper. "They are +nothing but a set of gluttons and wine-bibbers!"</p> + +<p>There was nothing else talked of during the +entire meal. How Joel's blood boiled as he +listened to their conversation! The food seemed +to choke him. As they applied one coarse +epithet after another to his friend Phineas, +all the kindness and care this man had ever +given him seemed to rise up before him. +But when they turned on the Nazarene, all +the stories Joel had heard in the carpenter's +house of His gentle sinless childhood, all the +tokens he had seen himself of His pure unselfish +manhood, seemed to cry out against +such gross injustice.</p> + +<p>It was no light thing for a child to contradict<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +the doctors of the Law, and, in a case of this +kind, little less than a crime to take the stand +Joel did.</p> + +<p>But the memory of two faces gave him courage: +that of Phineas as it had looked on him +through all those busy happy hours in the +carpenter's home; the other face he had +seen but once, that day of healing in the +synagogue,—who, having once looked into the +purity of those eyes, the infinite tenderness of +that face, could sit calmly by and raise no voice +against the calumny of his enemies?</p> + +<p>The little cripple was white to the lips, and +he trembled from head to foot as he stood up +to speak.</p> + +<p>The scribe lifted up both hands, and turned +to Laban with a meaning shrug of the shoulders. +"To think of finding such heresy in your own +household!" he exclaimed. "Among your own +children!"</p> + +<p>"He is no child of mine!" retorted Laban. +"Nor shall he stay among them!" Then he +turned to Joel.</p> + +<p>"Boy, take back every word you have just +uttered! Swear you will renounce this man,—this +son of perdition,—and never have aught to +say well of Him again!"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> + +<p>Joel looked around the table, at each face that +shone out pale and excited in the yellow lamplight. +His eyes were dilated with fear; his +heart thumped so in the awful pause that followed, +that he thought everybody else must +hear it.</p> + +<p>"I cannot!" he said hoarsely. "Oh, I cannot!"</p> + +<p>"Then take yourself out of my sight forever. +The doors of this house shall never open +for you again!"</p> + +<p>There was a storm of abuse from the angry +man at this open defiance of his authority. +With these two cold, stern men to nod approval +at his zealousness, he went to greater +lengths than he might otherwise have done.</p> + +<p>With one more frightened glance around the +table, the child hurried out of the room. The +door into the street creaked after him, and +Joel limped out into the night, with his uncle's +curse ringing in his ears.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 103px;"> +<img src="images/drop_p.png" width="103" height="108" alt="P" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />HINEAS, going along the beach that +night, in the early moonlight, towards +his home, saw a little figure crouched +in the shadow of a low building beside +the wharf. It was shaking with violent sobs. +He went up to the child, and took its hands down +from its wet face, with a comforting expression +of pity. Then he started back in surprise. It +was Joel!</div> + +<p>"Why, my child! My poor child!" he exclaimed, +putting his arm around the trembling, +misshapen form. "What is the meaning of all +this?"</p> + +<p>"Uncle Laban has driven me away from +home!" sobbed the boy. "He was angry because +you and Rabbi Jesus were invited to +Levi-Matthew's feast. He says I have denied +the faith, and am worse than an infidel. He +says I am fit only to be cast out with the dogs +and publicans!—and—and—" he ended with a +wail. "Oh, he sent me away with his curse!"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p> + +<p>Phineas drew him closer, and stroked the head +on his shoulder in pitying silence.</p> + +<p>"Fatherless and motherless and lame!" the +boy sobbed bitterly. "And now, a homeless +outcast, blighted by a curse, I have been sitting +here with my feet in the dark water, thinking +how easy it would be to slip down into it and +forget; but, Rabbi Phineas, that face will not +let me,—that face of your friend,—I keep +seeing it all the time!"</p> + +<p>Phineas gathered the boy so close in his +arms that Joel could feel his strong, even +heart-beats.</p> + +<p>"My child," he said solemnly, "call me no +more, Rabbi! Henceforth, it is to be <i>father</i> +Phineas. You shall be to me as my own son!"</p> + +<p>"But the curse!" sobbed Joel. "The curse +that is set upon me! It will blight you too!"</p> + +<p>"Nay," was the quiet answer; "for it is written, +'As the bird by wandering, as the swallow +by flying, <i>so the curse, causeless, shall not come</i>.'"</p> + +<p>But the boy still shook as with a chill. His +face and hands were burning hot.</p> + +<p>"Come!" said Phineas. He picked him up in +his strong arms, and carried him down the beach +to Abigail's motherly care and comforting.</p> + +<p>"He will be a long time getting over the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +shock of this," she said to her husband, when he +was at last soothed to sleep.</p> + +<p>"Ah, loyal little heart!" he answered, "he +has suffered much for the sake of his friendship +with us!"</p> + +<p>Poor little storm-tossed bark! In the days +that followed he had reason to bless the boisterous +winds, that blew him to such a safe and +happy harbor!</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Over on the horns of Mount Hattin, the spring +morning began to shine. The light crept slowly +down the side of the old mountain, till it +fell on a little group of men talking earnestly together. +It was the Preacher of Galilee, who had +just chosen twelve men from among those who +followed Him to help Him in His ministry.</p> + +<p>They gathered around Him in the fresh mountain +dawn, as He pictured the life in store for +them. Strange they did not quail before it, and +turn back disheartened. Nay, not strange! +For in the weeks they had been with Him, they +had learned to love Him so, that His "follow me," +that drew them from the toll-gate and fishing-boat, +was stronger than ties of home and kindred.</p> + +<p>Just about this time, Phineas and Joel were +starting out from Capernaum to the mountain.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +Hundreds of people were already on the way; +people who had come from all parts of Judea, and +beyond the Jordan. Clouds of dust rose above +the highway as the travellers trudged along.</p> + +<p>Joel was obliged to walk slowly, so that by the +time they reached the plain below, a great multitude +had gathered.</p> + +<p>"Let's get close," he whispered. He had +heard that those who barely touched the garments +of the strange Rabbi were made whole, +and it was with the hope that he might steal up +and touch Him unobserved that he had begged +Phineas to take him on such a long, painful walk.</p> + +<p>"There is too great a crowd, now," answered +Phineas. "Let us rest here awhile, and listen. +Let me lift you up on this big rock, so that you +can see. 'Sh! He is speaking!"</p> + +<p>Joel looked up, and, for the second time in his +life, listened to words that thrilled him like a +trumpet call,—words that through eighteen +hundred years have not ceased to vibrate; with +what mighty power they must have fallen when, +for the first time, they broke the morning stillness +of those mountain wilds!</p> + +<p>Joel forgot the press of people about him, forgot +even where he was, as sentence after sentence +seemed to lift him out of himself, till he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +could catch glimpses of lofty living such as he +had never even dreamed of before.</p> + +<p>Round by round, he seemed to be carried up +some high ladder of thought by that voice, away +from all that was common and low and earthly, +to a summit of infinite love and light.</p> + +<p>Still the voice led on, "Ye have heard that +it hath been said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth +for a tooth.'"</p> + +<p>Joel started so violently at hearing his own +familiar motto, that he nearly lost his balance on +the rock.</p> + +<p>"But I say unto you <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'That'">that</ins> you resist not evil: +but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right +cheek, turn to him the other also.... Ye have +heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy +neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto +you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse +you, do good to them that hate you, and pray +for them which despitefully use you, and persecute +you."</p> + +<p>Poor little Joel, it was a hard doctrine for +him to accept! How could he give up his hope +of revenge, when it had grown with his growth +till it had come to be as dear as life itself?</p> + +<p>He heard little of the rest of the sermon, for +through it all the words kept echoing, "Bless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +them that curse you! Do good to them that +hate you! Pray for them which despitefully use +you!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't! I can't!" he groaned inwardly.</p> + +<p>"I have found a chance for you to ride home," +said Phineas, when the sermon was over, and the +people began to file down the narrow mountain +paths. "But there will be time for you to go to +Him first, for healing. You have only to ask, +you know."</p> + +<p>Joel took an eager step forward, and then +shrank back guiltily. "Not now," he murmured, +"some other time." He could not look into +those clear eyes and ask a blessing, when he +knew his heart was black with hate.</p> + +<p>After all his weeks of waiting the opportunity +had come; but he dared not let the Sinless One +look into his soul.</p> + +<p>Phineas began an exclamation of surprise, but +was interrupted by some one asking him a question. +Joel took advantage of this to climb up +behind the man who had offered him a ride. All +the way home he weighed the two desires in his +mind,—the hope of healing, and the hope of +revenge.</p> + +<p>By the time the two guardian fig-trees were in +sight, he had decided. He would rather go helpless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +and halting through life than give up his +cherished purpose.</p> + +<p>But there was no sleep for him that night, +after he had gone up to his little chamber on the +roof. He seemed to see that pleading face on +the mountain-side; it came to him again and +again, with the words, "Bless them that curse +you! Pray for them that despitefully use you!"</p> + +<p>All night he fought against yielding to it. +Time and again he turned over on his bed, and +closed his eyes; but it would not let him alone.</p> + +<p>He thought of Jacob wrestling with the angel +till day-break, and knew in his heart that the +sweet spirit of forgiveness striving with his +selfish nature was some heavenly impulse from +another world.</p> + +<p>At last when the cock-crowing commenced at +dawn, and the stars were beginning to fade, he +drew up his crooked little body, and knelt with +his face to the kindling east.</p> + +<p>"Father in heaven," he prayed softly, "bless +mine enemy Rehum, and forgive all my sins,—fully +and freely as I now forgive the wrong he +has done to me."</p> + +<p>A feeling of light-heartedness and peace, such +as he had never known before, stole over him. +He could not settle himself to sleep, though worn +out with his night's long vigil.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 402px;"> +<img src="images/i003.jpg" width="402" height="600" alt="meeting" /> +<span class="caption">"NOT A WORD WAS SAID"</span> +</div> + +<p>Hastily slipping on his clothes, he tiptoed +down the stairs, and limped, bare-headed, down +to the beach. The lake shimmered and glowed +under the faint rose and gray of the sky like a +deep opal. The early breeze blew the hair back +from his pale face with a refreshing coolness.</p> + +<p>It seemed to him the world had never looked +one half so beautiful before, as he stood there.</p> + +<p>A firm tread on the gravel made him turn +partly around. A man was coming up the +beach; it was the friend of Phineas. As if +drawn by some uncontrollable impulse, Joel +started to meet Him, an unspoken prayer in his +pleading little face.</p> + +<p>Not a word was said. For one little instant +Joel stood there by the shining sea, his hand held +close in the loving hand of the world's Redeemer. +For one little instant he looked up into His face; +then the man passed on.</p> + +<p>Joel covered his face with his hands, seeming +to hear the still small voice that spoke to the +prophet out of the whirlwind.</p> + +<p>"He is the Christ!" he whispered reverently,—"He +is the Christ!"</p> + +<p>In his exalted feeling all thought of a cure had +left him; but as he walked on down the beach, +he noticed that he no longer limped. He was +moving along with strong, quick strides. He +shook himself and threw back his shoulders; +there was no pain in the movement. He passed +his hands over his back and down his limbs.</p> + +<p>Oh, he was straight and strong and sinewy! +He seemed a stranger to himself, as running and +leaping, then stopping to look down and feel his +limbs again, he ran madly on.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he cast his garments aside and dived +into the lake. Before his injury, he had been +able to swim like a fish, now he reached out with +long powerful strokes that sent him darting +through the cold water with a wonderful sense +of exhilaration.</p> + +<p>Then he dressed again, and went on running +and leaping and climbing till he was exhausted, +and his first wild delirious joy began to subside +into a deep quiet thankfulness. Then he went +home, radiant in the happiness of his new-found +cure.</p> + +<p>But more than the mystery of the miracle, +more than the joy of the healing, was the remembrance +of that moment, that one little +moment, when he felt the clasp of the Master's +hand, and seemed wrapped about with the boundless +love of God.</p> + +<p>From that moment, he lived but to serve and +to follow Him.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a><br /><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 106px;"> +<img src="images/drop_h.png" width="106" height="103" alt="H" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />IGH up among the black lava crags +of Perea stood the dismal fortress +of Macherus. Behind its close prison +bars a restless captive groped his way +back and forth in a dungeon cell. Sometimes, at +long intervals, he was given such liberty as a +chained eagle might have, when he was led up +into one of the towers of the gloomy keep, and +allowed to look down, down into the bottomless +gorges surrounding it. For months he had +chafed in the darkness of his underground +dungeon; escape was impossible.</div> + +<p>It was John Baptist, brought from the wild, +free life of the desert to the tortures of the +"Black Castle." Here he lay at the mercy +of Herod Antipas, and death might strike at +any moment. More than once, the whimsical +monarch had sent for him, as he sat at his +banquets, to be the sport of the passing +hour.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> + +<p>The lights, the color, the flash of gems may +have dazzled his eyes for a brief space, accustomed +as they were to the midnight darkness +of his cell; but his keen vision saw, under +the paint and purple of royal apparel, the corrupt +life of king and court.</p> + +<p>Pointing his stern, accusing finger at the +uneasy king, he cried, "It is not lawful for +thee to have thy brother's wife!" With words +that stung like hurtling arrows, he laid bare +the blackened, beastly life that sought to hide +its foulness under royal ermine.</p> + +<p>Antipas cowered before him; and while he +would gladly have been freed from a man who +had such power over him, he dared not lift a +finger against the fearless, unflinching Baptist.</p> + +<p>But the guilty Herodias bided her time, with +blood-thirsty impatience; his life should pay +the penalty of his bold speech.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile he waited in his cell, with nothing +but memories to relieve the tediousness of the +long hours. Over and over again he lived +those scenes of his strange life in the desert,—those +days of his preparation,—the preaching +to the multitudes, the baptizing at the ford of +the Jordan.</p> + +<p>He wondered if his words still lived; if any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +of his followers still believed on him. But more +than all, he wondered what had become of that +One on whom he had seen the spirit of God +descending out of heaven in the form of a dove.</p> + +<p>"Where art Thou now?" he cried. "If Thou +art the Messiah, why dost Thou not set up Thy +kingdom, and speedily give Thy servant his +liberty?" The empty room rang often with +that cry; but the hollow echo of his own +words was the only answer.</p> + +<p>One day the door of his cell creaked back far +enough to admit two men, and then shut again, +leaving them in total darkness. In that momentary +flash of light, he recognized two old followers +of his, Timeus bar Joram and Benjamin +the potter.</p> + +<p>With a cry of joy he groped his way toward +them, and clung to their friendly hands.</p> + +<p>"How did you manage to penetrate these +Roman-guarded walls?" he asked, in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"I knew the warden," answered Benjamin. +"A piece of silver conveniently closes his eyes +to many things. But we must hasten! Our +time is limited."</p> + +<p>They had much to tell of the outside world. +Pilate had just given special offence, by appropriating<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +part of the treasure of the Temple, +derived from the Temple tax, to defray the +cost of great conduits he had begun, with +which to supply Jerusalem with water.</p> + +<p>Stirred up by the priests and rabbis, the +people besieged the government house, crying +loudly that the works be given up. Armed +with clubs, numbers of soldiers in plain clothes +surrounded the great mob, and killed so many of +the people that the wildest excitement prevailed +throughout all Judea and Galilee.</p> + +<p>There was a cry for a national uprising to +avenge the murder.</p> + +<p>"They only need a leader!" exclaimed John. +"Where is He for whom I was but a voice crying +in the wilderness? Why does He not show +Himself?"</p> + +<p>"We have just come from the village of +Nain," said Timeus bar Joram. "We saw Him +stop a funeral procession and raise a widow's +son to life. He was followed by a motley +throng whom He had healed of all sorts of +diseases; and there were twelve men whom He +had chosen as life-long companions.</p> + +<p>"We questioned some of them closely, and +they gave us marvellous reports of the things +He had done."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Is it not strange," asked Benjamin the +potter, "that having such power He still delays +to establish His kingdom?"</p> + +<p>The captive prophet made no answer for awhile. +Then he groped in the thick darkness till his hand +rested heavily on Benjamin's arm.</p> + +<p>"Go back, and say that John Baptist asks, +'Art Thou the Coming One, or must we look for +another?'"</p> + +<p>Days passed before the devoted friends found +themselves once more inside the prison walls. +They had had a weary journey over rough hills +and rocky by-paths.</p> + +<p>"What did He say?" demanded the prisoner, +eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Go and tell John what ye saw and heard: +that the blind receive sight; the lame walk; the +lepers are cleansed; the deaf hear; the dead are +raised; and the poor have the gospel preached +unto them."</p> + +<p>The man stood up, his long hair hanging to +his shoulder, his hand uplifted, and his eyes +dilated like a startled deer that has caught the +sound of a coming step.</p> + +<p>"The fulfilment of the words of Isaiah!" he +cried. "For he hath said, 'Your God will come +and save you. Then the eyes of the blind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall +be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap +as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing!' +Yea, he <i>hath</i> bound up the broken-hearted; and +he shall yet 'proclaim liberty to the captives, +and the opening of the prison to them that +are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of +the Lord!'"</p> + +<p>Then with both hands clasped high above his +head, he made the prison ring with the cry, +"The kingdom is at hand! The kingdom is at +hand! I shall soon be free!"</p> + +<p>Not long after that, the castle blazed with the +lights of another banquet. The faint aroma +of wines, mingled with the heavy odor of countless +flowers, could not penetrate the grim prison +walls. Nor could the gay snatches of song and +the revelry of the feast. No sound of applause +reached the prisoner's ear, when the daughter +of Herodias danced before the king.</p> + +<p>Sitting in darkness while the birthday banqueters +held high carnival, he heard the heavy +tramp of soldiers' feet coming down the stairs +to his dungeon. The great bolts shot back, +the rusty hinges turned, and a lantern flickered +its light in his face, as he stood up to receive his +executioners.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p> + +<p>A little while later his severed head was taken +on a charger to the smiling dancing girl. She +stifled a shriek when she saw it; but the wicked +Herodias looked at it with a gleam of triumph in +her treacherous black eyes.</p> + +<p>When the lights were out, and the feasters +gone, two men came in at the warden's bidding,—two +men with heavy hearts, and voices +that shook a little when they spoke to each other. +They were Timeus and Benjamin. Silently they +lifted the body of their beloved master, and +carried it away for burial; and if a tear or +two found an unaccustomed path down their +bearded cheeks, no one knew it, under cover +of the darkness.</p> + +<p>So, out of the Black Castle of Macherus, out +of the prison-house of a mortal body, the +white-souled prophet of the wilderness went +forth at last into liberty.</p> + +<p>For him, the kingdom was indeed at hand.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Meanwhile in the upper country, Phineas was +following his friend from village to village. He +had dropped his old familiar form of address, so +much was he impressed by the mysterious power +he saw constantly displayed.</p> + +<p>Now when he spoke of the man who had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +both friend and playfellow, it was almost reverently +that he gave Him the title of Master.</p> + +<p>It was with a heavy heart that Joel watched +them go away. He, too, longed to follow; but +he knew that unless he took the place at the +bench, Phineas could not be free to go.</p> + +<p>Gratitude held him to his post. No, not gratitude +alone; he was learning the Master's own +spirit of loving self-sacrifice. As he dropped +the plumb-line over his work, he measured +himself by that perfect life, and tried to +straighten himself to its unbending standard.</p> + +<p>He had his reward in the look of pleasure +that he saw on the carpenter's face when +Phineas came in, unexpectedly, one day, dusty +and travel-stained.</p> + +<p>"How much you have accomplished!" he +said in surprise. "You have filled my place +like a grown man."</p> + +<p>Joel stretched his strong arms with a slight +laugh. "It is a pleasure to work now," he said. +"It seems so queer never to have a pain, or that +worn-out feeling of weakness that used to be +always with me. At first I was often afraid it +was all a happy dream, and could not last. I am +getting used to it now. Where is the Master?" +Joel asked, as Phineas turned towards the house.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He is the guest of Simon. He will be here +some days, my son. I know you wish to be with +Him as much as possible, so I shall not expect +your help as long as He stays."</p> + +<p>"If I could only do something for Him!" +<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Was'">was</ins> Joel's constant thought during the next few +days. Once he took a coin from the little money +bag that held his hoarded savings—a coin that +was to have helped buy his revenge—and +bought the ripest, juiciest pear he could find in +the market. Often he brought Him water, fresh +and cold from the well when He looked tired and +warm from His unceasing work.</p> + +<p>Wherever the Master turned, there, close beside +Him, was a beaming little face, so full of love +and childish sympathy that it must have brought +more refreshment to His thirsty soul than either +the choice fruit or the cooling water.</p> + +<p>One evening after a busy day, when He had +talked for hours to the people on the seashore who +had gathered around the boat in which He sat, +He sent away the multitude.</p> + +<p>"Let us pass over unto the other side," He +said.</p> + +<p>Joel slipped up to Andrew, who was busily +arranging their sails. "Let me go, too!" he +whispered pleadingly.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well," assented the man, carelessly, "You +can make yourself useful, I suppose. Will you +hand me that rope?"</p> + +<p>Joel sprang to obey. Presently the boat +pushed away from the shore, and the town, with +its tumult and its twinkling lights, was soon left +far behind.</p> + +<p>The sea was like glass, so calm and unruffled +that every star above could look down and see +its unbroken reflection in the dark water below.</p> + +<p>Joel, in the hinder part of the ship, lay back +in his seat with a sigh of perfect enjoyment. +The smooth gliding motion of the boat rested +him; the soft splash of the water soothed his +excited brain. He had seen his Uncle Laban +that afternoon among other of the scribes and +Pharisees, and heard him declare that Beelzebub +alone was responsible for the wonders they +witnessed.</p> + +<p>Joel's indignation flared up again at the +memory. He looked down at the Master, who +had fallen asleep on a pillow, and wondered how +anybody could possibly believe such evil things +about Him.</p> + +<p>It was cooler out where they were now. He +wondered if he ought not to lay some covering +over the sleeping form. He took off the outer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> +mantle that he wore, and bent forward to lay it +over the Master's feet. But he drew back timidly, +afraid of wakening Him. "I'll wait +awhile," he said to himself, folding the garment +across his <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'kness'">knees</ins> in readiness.</p> + +<p>Several times he reached forward to lay it over +Him, and each time drew back. Then he fell +asleep himself.</p> + +<p>From its situation in the basin of the hills, the +Galilee is subject to sudden and furious storms. +The winds, rushing down the heights, meet and +clash above the water, till the waves run up like +walls, then sink again into seething whirlpools of +danger.</p> + +<p>Joel, falling asleep in a dead calm, awoke to +find the ship rolling and tossing and half-full of +water. The lightning's track was followed so +closely by the crash of thunder, there was not +even pause enough between to take one terrified +gasp.</p> + +<p>Still the Master slept. Joel, drenched to the +skin, clung to the boat's side, expecting that every +minute would be his last. It was so dark and +wild and awful! How helpless they were, buffetted +about in the fury of the storm!</p> + +<p>As wave after wave beat in, some of the men +could no longer control their fear.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Master!" they called to the sleeping man, as +they bent over Him in terror. "Carest Thou not +that we perish?"</p> + +<p>He heard the cry for help. The storm could +not waken Him from His deep sleep of exhaustion, +but at the first despairing human voice, He was +up, ready to help.</p> + +<p>Looking up at the midnight blackness of the +sky, and down at the wild waste of waters, He +stretched out His hand.</p> + +<p>"<i>Peace!</i>" he commanded in a deep voice. +"<i>Be still!</i>" The storm sank to earth as suddenly +as a death-stricken raven; a great calm spread over +the face of the waters. The silent stars shone +out in their places; the silent sea mirrored back +their glory at His feet.</p> + +<p>The men huddled fearfully together. "What +manner of man is this?" they asked, one of +another. "Even the wind and the sea obey +Him!"</p> + +<p>Joel, looking up at the majestic form, standing +so quietly by the railing, thought of the voice +that once rang out over the night of Creation +with the command, "Let there be light!" At +its mere bidding light had flowed in across the +darkness of primeval night.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p> + +<p>Just so had this voice thrilled the storm with +its "Peace! Be still!" into utter calm.</p> + +<p>The child crouched at His feet, burying his +face in his mantle, and whispering, in awe and +adoration, "He <i>is</i> the Christ! He is the son of +God!"</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 99px;"> +<img src="images/drop_a.png" width="99" height="100" alt="A" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />FTER that night of the voyage to +the Gadarenes, Joel ceased to be +surprised at the miracles he daily +witnessed. Even when the little +daughter of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, +was called back to life, it did not seem so wonderful +to him as the stilling of the tempest.</div> + +<p>Many a night after Phineas had gone away +again with the Master to other cities, Joel used +to go down to the beach, and stand looking across +the water as he recalled that scene.</p> + +<p>The lake had always been an interesting place +to him at night. He liked to watch the fishermen +as they flashed their blazing torches this way and +that. A sympathetic thrill ran through him as +they sighted their prey, and raised their bare +sinewy arms to fling the net or fly the spear.</p> + +<p>But after that morning of healing, and that +night of tempest, it seemed to be a sacred +place, to be visited only on still nights, when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> +the town slept, and heaven bent nearer in the +starlight to the quiet earth.</p> + +<p>The time of the Passover was drawing near,—the +time that Joel had been looking forward to +since Phineas had promised him a year ago that +he should go to Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>The twelve disciples who had been sent out to +all the little towns through Galilee, to teach the +things they had themselves been taught, and +work miracles in the name of Him who had sent +them, began to come slowly back. They had an +encouraging report to bring of their work; but it +was shadowed by the news they had heard of the +murder of John Baptist.</p> + +<p>Joel joined them as soon as they came into +Capernaum, and walked beside Phineas as the +footsore travellers pressed on a little farther +towards Simon's house.</p> + +<p>"When are we going to start for Jerusalem?" +was his first eager question.</p> + +<p>Phineas looked searchingly into his face as he +replied, "Would you be greatly disappointed, my +son, not to go this year?"</p> + +<p>Joel looked perplexed; it was such an unheard +of thing for Phineas to miss going up +to the Feast of the Passover.</p> + +<p>"These are evil times, my Joel," he explained.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +"John Baptist has just been beheaded. The +Master has many enemies among those in high +places. It would be like walking into a lion's +den for Him to go up to Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>"Even here He is not safe from the hatred of +Antipas, and after a little rest will pass over +into the borders of the tetrarch Philip. We +have no wish to leave Him!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, why should He be persecuted so?" asked +Joel, looking with tear-dimmed eyes at the man +walking in advance of them, and talking in low +earnest tones to John, who walked beside Him.</p> + +<p>"You have been with Him so much, father +Phineas. Have <i>you</i> ever known Him to do +anything to make these men His enemies?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Phineas. "He has drawn the +people after Him until they are jealous of His +popularity. He upsets their old traditions, and +teaches a religion that ignores some of the +Laws of Moses. I can easily see why they +hate Him so. They see Him at such a long +distance from themselves, they can not understand +Him. Healing on the Sabbath, eating +with publicans and sinners, disregarding the +little customs and ceremonies that in all ages +have set apart our people as a chosen race, +are crimes in their eyes.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p> + +<p>"If they only could get close enough to understand +Him; to see that His pure life needs no ceremonies +of multiplied hand-washings; that it is +His broad love for His fellow-men that makes Him +stoop to the lowest classes,—I am sure they could +not do otherwise than love Him.</p> + +<p>"Blind fanatics! They would put to death the +best man that ever lived, because He is so much +broader and higher than they that the little +measuring line of their narrow creed cannot +compass Him!"</p> + +<p>"Is He never going to set up His kingdom?" +asked Joel. "Does He never talk about it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Phineas; "though we are often +puzzled by what He says, and ask ourselves His +meaning."</p> + +<p>They had reached the house by this time, +and as Simon led the way to its hospitable +door, Phineas said, "Enter with them, my lad, +if you wish. I must go on to my little family, +but will join you soon."</p> + +<p>To Joel's great pleasure, he found they were to +cross the lake at once, to the little fishing port of +Bethsaida. It was only six miles across.</p> + +<p>"We have hardly had time to eat," said Andrew +to Joel, as they walked along towards the boat +"I will be glad to get away to some desert place,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +where we may have rest from the people that are +always pushing and clamoring about us."</p> + +<p>"How long before you start?" asked Joel.</p> + +<p>"In a very few minutes," answered Andrew; +"for the boat is in readiness."</p> + +<p>Joel glanced from the street above the beach to +the water's edge, as if calculating the distance.</p> + +<p>"Don't go without me," he said as, breaking +into a run, he dashed up the beach at his utmost +speed. He was back again in a surprisingly +quick time, with a cheap little basket in +his hand; he was out of breath with his rapid +run.</p> + +<p>"Didn't I go fast?" he panted. "I could not +have done that a few weeks ago. Oh, it feels so +good to be able to run when I please! It is like +flying."</p> + +<p>He lifted the cover of the basket. "See!" +he said. "I thought the Master might be +hungry; but I had no time to get anything +better. I had to stop at the first stall I came +to."</p> + +<p>At the same time the boat went gliding out +into the water with its restful motion, thousands +of people were pouring out of the villages on +foot, and hurrying on around the lake, ahead +of them.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p> + +<p>The boat passed up a narrow winding creek, +away from the sail-dotted lake; its green banks +seemed to promise the longed-for quiet and rest. +But there in front of them waited the crowds they +had come so far to avoid.</p> + +<p>They had brought their sick for healing. They +needed to be helped and taught; they were "as +sheep without a shepherd!" He could not refuse +them.</p> + +<p>Joel found no chance to offer the food he had +bought so hastily with another of his hoarded +coins,—the coins that were to have purchased +his revenge.</p> + +<p>As the day wore on, he heard the disciples ask +that the multitudes might be sent away.</p> + +<p>"It would take two hundred pennyworth of +bread to feed them," said Philip, "and even that +would not be enough."</p> + +<p>Andrew glanced over the great crowds and +stroked his beard thoughtfully. "There is a +lad here which hath five barley loaves and two +small fishes, but what are they among so +many?"</p> + +<p>Joel hurried forward and held out his basket +with its little store,—five flat round loaves of +bread, not much more than one hungry man +could eat, and two dried fishes.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> + +<p>He hardly knew what to expect as the people +were made to sit down on the grass in orderly +ranks of fifties.</p> + +<p>His eyes grew round with astonishment as +the Master took the bread, gave thanks, and +then passed it to the disciples, who, in turn, +distributed it among the people. Then the two +little fishes were handed around in the same +way.</p> + +<p>Joel turned to Phineas, who had joined them +some time ago. "Do you see that?" he asked +excitedly. "They have been multiplied a thousand +fold!"</p> + +<p>Phineas smiled. "We drop one tiny grain of +wheat into the earth," he said, "and when it +grows and spreads and bears dozens of other +grains on its single stalk, we are not astonished. +When the Master but does in an instant, what +Nature takes months to do, we cry, 'a miracle!' +'Men are more wont to be astonished at the sun's +eclipse, than at its daily rising,'" he quoted, remembering +his conversation with the old traveller, +on his way to Nathan ben Obed's.</p> + +<p>A feeling of exaltation seized the people as +they ate the mysterious bread; it seemed that +the days of miraculous manna had come again. +By the time they had all satisfied their hunger,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +and twelve basketfuls of the fragments had been +gathered up, they were ready to make Him their +king. The restlessness of the times had taken +possession of them; the burning excitement must +find vent in some way, and with one accord they +demanded Him as their leader.</p> + +<p>Joel wondered why He should refuse. Surely +no other man he had ever known could have +resisted such an appeal.</p> + +<p>The perplexed fisherman, at Jesus's command, +turned their boat homeward without Him. To +their simple minds it seemed that He had made +a mistake in resisting the homage forced upon +Him by the people; they longed for the time +to come when they should be recognized as the +honored officials in the new kingdom. Many a +dream of future power and magnificence must +have come to them in the still watches of the +night, as they drifted home in the white light +of the Passover moon.</p> + +<p>Many a time in the weeks that followed, Joel +slipped away to his favorite spot on the beech, +a flat rock half hidden by a clump of oleander +bushes. Here, with his feet idly dangling in +the ripples, he looked out over the water, and +recalled the scenes he had witnessed there.</p> + +<p>It seemed so marvellous to him that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +Master could have ever walked on those shining +waves; and yet he had seen Him that night +after the feeding of the multitudes. He had +seen, with his own frightened eyes, the Master +walk calmly towards the boat across the unsteady +water, and catch up the sinking Peter, +who had jumped overboard to meet Him. It +grieved and fretted the boy that this man, +of God-given power and such sweet unselfish +spirit, could be so persistently misunderstood by +the people. He could think of nothing else.</p> + +<p>He had not been with the crowds that pressed +into the synagogue the Sabbath after the thousands +had been fed; but Phineas came home with +grim lips and knitted brows, and told him about +it.</p> + +<p>"The Master knew they followed Him because +of the loaves and fishes," he said. "He told +them so.</p> + +<p>"When we came out of the door, I could not +help looking up at the lintel on which is carved +the pot of manna; for when they asked Him for a +sign that they might believe Him, saying, 'Our +fathers ate manna in the wilderness!' He answered: +'I am the bread of life! Ye have seen +me, and yet believe not!'</p> + +<p>"While He talked there was a murmuring all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +over the house against Him, because He said that +He had come down from heaven. Your uncle +Laban was there. I heard him say scornfully: +'Is not this the son of Joseph, whose father and +mother we know? How doth He now say, "I am +come down out of heaven"?' Then he laughed +a mocking little laugh, and nudged the man who +stood next to him. There are many like him; +I could feel a spirit of prejudice and persecution +in the very air. Many who have professed to be +His friends have turned against Him."</p> + +<p>While Phineas was pouring out his anxious +forebodings to his wife and Joel, the Master was +going homeward with His chosen twelve.</p> + +<p>"Would ye also go away?" He asked wistfully +of His companions, as He noted the cold, disapproving +looks of many who had only the day before +been fed by Him, and who now openly +turned their backs on Him.</p> + +<p>Simon Peter gave a questioning glance into +the faces of his companions; then he pressed a +step nearer. "Lord, to whom shall we go?" he +answered impulsively. "Thou hast the words of +eternal life. And we have believed, and know +that Thou art the Holy One of God."</p> + +<p>The others nodded their assent, all but one. +Judas Iscariot clutched the money bags he held,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> +and looked off across the lake, to avoid the +searching eyes that were fixed upon him.</p> + +<p>These honest Galileans were too simple to suspect +others of dark designs, yet they had never +felt altogether free with this stranger from Judea. +He had never seemed entirely one of them. +They did not see in his crafty quiet manners, +the sheep's clothing that hid his wolfish nature; +but they could feel his lack of sympathetic +enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>He had been one of those who followed only +for the loaves and fishes of a temporal kingdom, +and now, in his secret soul, he was sorry he had +joined a cause in whose final success he was beginning +to lose faith.</p> + +<p>The sun went down suddenly that night behind +a heavy cloud, as a gathering storm began +to lash the Galilee and rock the little boats +anchored at the landings.</p> + +<p>The year of popularity was at an end.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 99px;"> +<img src="images/drop_a.png" width="99" height="100" alt="A" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />BIGAIL sat just inside the door, turning +the noisy hand-mill that ground +out the next day's supply of flour. +The rough mill-stones grated so +harshly on each other that she did not hear the +steps coming up the path. A shadow falling +across the door-way made her look up.</div> + +<p>"You are home early, my Phineas," she said, +with a smile. "Well, I shall soon have your +supper ready. Joel has gone to the market for +some honey and—"</p> + +<p>"Nay! I have little wish to eat," he interrupted, +"but I have much to say to you. Come! +the work can wait."</p> + +<p>Abigail put the mill aside, and brushing the +flour from her hands, sat down on the step +beside him, wondering much at his troubled +face.</p> + +<p>He plunged into his subject abruptly. "The +Master is soon going away," he said, "that those +in the uttermost parts of Galilee may be taught<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +of Him. And He would fain have others beside +the twelve He has chosen to go with Him on His +journey."</p> + +<p>"And you wish to go too?" she questioned, as +he paused.</p> + +<p>"Yes! How can I do otherwise? And yet +how can I leave you and the little ones alone in +these troubled times? You cannot think how +great the danger is. Remember how many horrors +we have lately heard. The whole country is +a smouldering volcano, ready to burst into an +eruption at any moment. A leader has only to +arise, and all Israel will take up arms against the +powers that trample us under foot."</p> + +<p>"Is not this prophet, Jesus, He who is to save +Israel?" asked Abigail. "Is He not even now +making ready to establish His kingdom?"</p> + +<p>"I do not understand Him at all!" said +Phineas, sadly. "He does talk of a kingdom in +which we are all to have a part; but He never +seems to be working to establish it. He spends +all His time in healing diseases and forgiving +penitent sinners, and telling us to love our +neighbors.</p> + +<p>"Then, again, why should He go down to the +beach, and choose for His confidential friends +just simple fishermen. They have neither influence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +nor money. As for the choice of that publican +Levi-Matthew, it has brought disgrace on the +whole movement. He does not seem to know +how to sway the popular feeling. I believe He +might have had the support of the foremost men +of the nation, if He had approached them +differently.</p> + +<p>"He shocks them by setting aside laws they +would lay down their lives rather than violate. +He associates with those they consider unclean; +and all His miracles cannot make them forget +how boldly He has rebuked them for hypocrisy +and unrighteousness. They never will come to +His support now; and I do not see how a new +government can be formed without their help."</p> + +<p>Abigail laid her hand on his, her dark eyes +glowing with intense earnestness, as she answered: +"What need is there of armies and +human hands to help?</p> + +<p>"Where were the hosts of Pharaoh when our +fathers passed through the Red Sea? Was there +bloodshed and fighting there?</p> + +<p>"Who battled for us when the walls of Jericho +fell down? Whose hand smote the Assyrians at +Sennacherib? Is the Lord's arm shortened that +He cannot save?</p> + +<p>"Why may not His prophet speak peace to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> +Jerusalem as easily as He did the other night to +the stormy sea? Why may not His power be +multiplied even as the loaves and fishes?</p> + +<p>"Why may not the sins and backslidings of the +people be healed as well as Joel's lameness; +or the glory of the nation be quickened into a +new life, as speedily as He raised the daughter of +Jairus?</p> + +<p>"Isaiah called Him the Prince of Peace. What +are all these lessons, if not to teach us that the +purposes of God do not depend on human hands +to work out their fulfilment?"</p> + +<p>Her low voice thrilled him with its inspiring +questions, and he looked down into her rapt face +with a feeling of awe.</p> + +<p>"Abigail," he said softly, "'my source of joy,'—you +are rightly named. You have led me out +of the doubts that have been my daily torment. +I see now, why He never incites us to rebel +against the yoke of Cæsar. In the fulness of +time He will free us with a breath.</p> + +<p>"How strange it should have fallen to my lot +to have been His playmate and companion. My +wonder is not that He is the Messiah; but that I +should have called Him friend, all these years, +unknowing."</p> + +<p>"How long do you expect to be away?" she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +asked, after a pause, suddenly returning to the +first subject.</p> + +<p>"Several months, perhaps. There is no telling +what insurrections and riots may arise, all through +this part of the country. Since the murder of +John Baptist, Herod has come back to his court +in Tiberias. I dislike to leave you here alone."</p> + +<p>Abigail, too, looked grave, and neither spoke +for a little while. "I have it!" she exclaimed at +length, with a pleased light in her eyes. "I +have often wished I could make a long visit in +the home of my girlhood. The few days I have +spent in my father's house, those few times I +have gone with you to the feasts, have been so +short and unsatisfactory. Can I not take Joel +and the children to Bethany? Neither father nor +mother has ever seen little Ruth, and we could +be so safe and happy there till your return."</p> + +<p>"Why did I not come to you before with my +worries?" asked Phineas. "How easily you make +the crooked places straight!"</p> + +<p>Just then the children came running back from +the market. Abigail went into the house with +the provisions they had brought, leaving their +father to tell them of the coming separation and +the long journey they had planned.</p> + +<p>A week later, Phineas stood at the city gate,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +watching a little company file southward down +the highway. He had hired two strong, gayly-caparisoned +mules from the owner of the caravan. +Abigail rode on one, holding little Ruth in her +arms; Joel mounted the other, with Jesse clinging +close behind him.</p> + +<p>Abigail, thinking of the joyful welcome awaiting +her in her old home, and the children happy +in the novelty of the journey, set out gayly.</p> + +<p>But Phineas, thinking of the dangers by the +way, and filled with many forebodings, watched +their departure with a heavy heart.</p> + +<p>At the top of a little rise in the road, they +turned to look back and wave their hands. In +a moment more they were out of sight. Then +Phineas, grasping his staff more firmly, turned +away, and started on foot in the other direction, +to follow to the world's end, if need be, +the friend who had gone on before.</p> + +<p>It was in the midst of the barley harvest. +Jesse had never been in the country before. +For the first time, Nature spread for him her +great picture-book of field and forest and vineyard, +while Abigail read to him the stories.</p> + +<p>First on one side of the road, then the other, +she pointed out some spot and told its history.</p> + +<p>Here was Dothan, where Joseph went out to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> +see his brothers, dressed in his coat of many +colors. There was Mount Gilboa, where the +arrows of the Philistines wounded Saul, and +he fell on his own sword and killed himself. +Shiloh, where Hannah brought little Samuel +to give him to the Lord; where the Prophet +Eli, so old that his eyes were too dim to see, +sat by the gate waiting for news from the army, +and when word was brought back that his two +sons were dead, and the Ark of the Covenant +taken, here it was that he fell backward from +his seat, and his neck was broken.</p> + +<p>All these she told, and many more. Then she +pointed to the gleaners in the fields, and told the +children to notice how carefully Israel still kept +the commandment given so many centuries +before: "When ye reap the harvest of your +land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners +of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the +gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not +glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather +every grape of thy vineyard, thou shalt leave +them for the poor and the stranger."</p> + +<p>At Jacob's well, where they stopped to rest, +Joel lifted Jesse up, and let him look over the +curb. The child almost lost his balance in +astonishment, when his own wondering little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> +face looked up at him from the deep well. He +backed away from it quickly, and looked carefully +into the cup of water Joel handed him, +for more than a minute, before he ventured to +drink.</p> + +<p>The home to which Abigail was going was a +wealthy one. Her father, Reuben, was a goldsmith, +and for years had been known in Jerusalem +not only for the beautifully wrought +ornaments and precious stones that he sold in +his shop near the Temple, but for his rich +gifts to the poor.</p> + +<p>"Reuben the Charitable," he was called, and +few better deserved the name. His business +took him every day to the city; but his home +was in the little village of Bethany, two miles +away. It was one of the largest in Bethany, +and seemed like a palace to the children, +when compared to the humble little home +in Capernaum.</p> + +<p>Joel only looked around with admiring eyes; +but Jesse walked about, laying curious little +fingers on everything he passed. The bright +oriental curtains, the soft cushions and the +costly hangings, he smoothed and patted. Even +the silver candlesticks and the jewelled cups +on the side table were picked up and examined,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> +when his mother happened to have her +back turned.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 397px;"> +<img src="images/i004.jpg" width="397" height="600" alt="sitting and talking" /> +<span class="caption">"'WE TALKED LATE'"</span> +</div> + +<p>There were no pictures in the house; the +Law forbade. But there were several mirrors +of bright polished metal, and Jesse never tired +of watching his own reflection in them.</p> + +<p>Ruth stayed close beside her mother. "She is +a ray of God's own sunshine," said her grandmother, +as she took her in her arms for the +first time. The child, usually afraid of strangers, +saw in Rebecca's face a look so like her +mother's that she patted the wrinkled cheeks +with her soft fingers. From that moment her +grandmother was her devoted slave.</p> + +<p>Jesse was not long in finding the place he +held in his grandfather's heart. The old man, +whose sons had all died years before, seemed +to centre all his hopes on this son of his only +daughter. He kept Jesse with him as much as +possible; his happiest hours were when he +had the child on his knee, teaching him the +prayers and precepts and proverbs that he +knew would be a lamp to his feet in later +years.</p> + +<p>"Nay! do not punish the child!" he said, one +morning when Jesse had been guilty of some +disobedience. Abigail went on stripping the +leaves from an almond switch she just had +broken off.</p> + +<p>"Why, father," she said, with a smile, "I have +often seen you punish my brothers for such disobedience, +and have as often heard you say that +one of Solomon's wisest sayings is, 'Chasten thy +son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare +for his crying.' Jesse misses his father's firm +rule, and is getting sadly spoiled."</p> + +<p>"That is all true, my daughter," he acknowledged; +"still I shall not stay here to witness his +punishment."</p> + +<p>Abigail used the switch as she had intended. +The boy had overheard the conversation, and +the cries that reached his grandfather as he +rode off to the city were unusually loud and +appealing. They may have had something to +do with the package the good man carried +home that night,—cakes and figs and a gay +little turban more befitting a young prince +than the son of a carpenter.</p> + +<p>"Who lives across the street?" asked Joel, the +morning after their arrival.</p> + +<p>"Two old friends of mine," answered Abigail. +"They came to see me last night as soon as +they heard I had arrived. You children were +all asleep. We talked late, for they wanted to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a><br /><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +hear all I could tell them of Rabbi Jesus. He +was here last year, and Martha said He and her +brother Lazarus became fast friends. Ah, there +is Lazarus now!—that young man just coming +out of the house. He is a scribe, and goes up +to write in one of the rooms of the Temple +nearly every day.</p> + +<p>"Mary says some of the copies of the Scriptures +he has made are the most beautifully written +that she has ever seen."</p> + +<p>"See!" exclaimed Joel, "he has dropped one +of the rolls of parchment he was carrying, and +does not know it. I'll run after him with it."</p> + +<p>He was hardly yet accustomed to the delight +of being so fleet of foot; no halting step now +to hinder him. He almost felt as if he were +flying, and was by the young man's side nearly +as soon as he had started.</p> + +<p>"Ah, you are the guest of my good neighbor, +Reuben," Lazarus said, after thanking him courteously. +"Are you not the lad whose lameness has +just been healed by my best friend? My sisters +were telling me of it. It must be a strange experience +to suddenly find yourself changed from +a helpless cripple to such a strong, straight lad +as you are now. How did it make you feel?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can never begin to tell you, Rabbi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +Lazarus," answered Joel. "I did not even +think of it that moment when He held my +hand in His. I only thought how much I loved +Him. I had been starving before, but that +moment He took the place of everything,—father, +mother, the home love I had missed,—and +more than that, the love of God seemed +to come down and fold me so close and safe, +that I knew He was the Messiah. I did not +even notice that I was no longer lame, until I +was far down the beach. Oh, you do not +know how I wanted to follow Him! If I could +only have gone with Him instead of coming +here!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my boy, I know!" answered the young +man, gently; "for I, too, love Him."</p> + +<p>This strong bond of sympathy between the +two made them feel as if they had known each +other always.</p> + +<p>"Come walk with me a little way," said +Lazarus. "I am going up to Jerusalem to the +Temple. Or rather, would you not like to come +all the way? I have only to carry these rolls +to one of the priests, then I will be at liberty +to show you some of the strange sights in the +city."</p> + +<p>Joel ran back for permission. Only stopping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +to wind his white linen turban around his head, +he soon regained his new-found friend.</p> + +<p>His recollection of Jerusalem was a very dim, +confused one. Time and time again he had +heard pilgrims returning from the feasts trying +to describe their feelings when they had +come in sight of the Holy City. Now as they +turned with the road, the view that rose before +him made him feel how tame their descriptions +had been.</p> + +<p>The morning sun shone down on the white +marble walls of the Temple and the gold that +glittered on the courts, as they rose one above +the other; tower and turret and pinnacle shot +back a dazzling light.</p> + +<p>It did not seem possible to Joel that human +hands could have wrought such magnificence. +He caught his breath, and uttered an exclamation +of astonishment.</p> + +<p>Lazarus smiled at his pleasure. "Come," he +said, "it is still more beautiful inside."</p> + +<p>They went very slowly through Solomon's +Porch, for every one seemed to know the +young man, and many stopped to speak to +him. Then they crossed the Court of the +Gentiles. It seemed like a market-place; for +cages of doves were kept there for sale, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +lambs, calves, and oxen bleated and lowed in +their stalls till Joel could scarcely hear what +his friend was saying, as they pushed their +way through the crowd, and stood before the +Gate Beautiful that led into the Court of +the Women.</p> + +<p>Here Lazarus left Joel for a few moments, +while he went to give the rolls to the priest +for whom he had copied them.</p> + +<p>Joel looked around. Then for the first time +since his healing, he wondered if it would be +possible for him to ever take his place among +the Levites, or become a priest as he had been +destined.</p> + +<p>While he wondered, Lazarus came back and +led him into the next court. Here he could +look up and see the Holy Place, over which was +trained a golden vine, with clusters of grapes +as large as a man's body, all of purest gold. +Beyond that he knew was a heavy veil of Babylonian +tapestry, hyacinth and scarlet and purple, +that veiled in awful darkness the Holy of Holies.</p> + +<p>As he stood there thinking of the tinkling bells, +the silver trumpets, the clouds of incense, and the +mighty songs, a great longing came over him to +be one of those white-robed priests, serving daily +in the Temple.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span></p> + +<p>But with the wish came the recollection of a +quiet hillside, where only bird-calls and whirr of +wings stirred the stillness; where a breeze from +the sparkling lake blew softly through the grass, +and one Voice only was heard, proclaiming its +glad new gospel under the open sky.</p> + +<p>"No," he thought to himself; "I'd rather be +with Him than wear the High Priest's mitre."</p> + +<p>It was almost sundown when they found themselves +on the road homeward. They had visited +place after place of interest.</p> + +<p>Lazarus found the boy an entertaining companion, +and the friendship begun that day +grew deep and lasting.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 125px;"> +<img src="images/drop_w_quote.png" width="125" height="101" alt="W" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />HAT are you looking for, grandfather?" +called Jesse, as he pattered +up the outside stairs to the roof, +where Reuben stood, scanning the +sky intently.</div> + +<p>"Come here, my son," he called. "Stand right +here in front of me, and look just where I point. +What do you see?"</p> + +<p>The child peered anxiously into the blue +depths just now lit up by the sunset.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the new moon!" he cried. "Where did it +come from?"</p> + +<p>"Summer hath dropped her silver sickle there, +that Night may go forth to harvest in her star-fields," +answered the old man. Then seeing the +look of inquiry on the boy's face, hastened to add, +"Nay, it is the censer that God's hand set swinging +in the sky, to remind us to keep the incense of +our praises ever rising heavenward. Even now a +messenger may be running towards the Temple, to +tell the Sanhedrin that it has appeared. Yea,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> +other eyes have been sharper than mine, for see! +Already the beacon light has been kindled on +the Mount of Olives!"</p> + +<p>Jesse watched the great bonfire a few minutes, +then ran to call his sister. By the time they were +both on the roof, answering fires were blazing on +the distant hilltops throughout all Judea, till the +whole land was alight with the announcement of +the Feast of the New Moon.</p> + +<p>"I wish it could be this way every night, +don't you, Ruth?" said Jesse. "Are you not +glad we are here?"</p> + +<p>The old man looked down at the children with +a pleased smile. "I'll show you something prettier +than this, before long," he said. "Just wait +till the Feast of Weeks, when the people all +come to bring the first fruits of the harvests. I +am glad your visit is in this time of the year, for +you can see one festival after another."</p> + +<p>The day the celebration of the Feast of +Weeks commenced, Reuben left his shop in +charge of the attendants, and gave up his +entire time to Joel and Jesse.</p> + +<p>"We must not miss the processions," he said. +"We will go outside the gates a little way, and +watch the people come in."</p> + +<p>They did not have long to wait till the stream<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +of people from the upper countries began to pour +in; each company carried a banner bearing the +name of the town from which it came. A white +ox, intended for a peace-offering, was driven first; +its horns were gilded, and its body twined with +olive wreaths.</p> + +<p>Flocks of sheep and oxen for the sacrifice, +long strings of asses and camels bearing free-will +gifts to the Temple, or old and helpless +pilgrims that could not walk, came next.</p> + +<p>There were wreaths of roses on the heads of +the women and children; bands of lilies were +tied around the sheaves of wheat. Piled high +in the silver vessels of the rich, or peeping +from the willow baskets of the poor, were the +choicest fruits of the harvest.</p> + +<p>Great bunches of grapes from whose purple +globes the bloom had not been brushed, velvety +nectarines, tempting pomegranates, mellow pears, +juicy melons,—these offerings of fruit and flowers +gleamed all down the long line, for no one +came empty-handed up this "Hill of the Lord."</p> + +<p>As they drew near the gates, a number of white-robed +priests from the Temple met them. Reuben +lifted Jesse in his arms that he might have a better +view. "Listen," he said. Joel climbed up on a +large rock.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> + +<p>A joyful sound of flutes commenced, and a +mighty chorus went up: "I was glad when +they said unto me, let us go into the house of +the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, +O Jerusalem!"</p> + +<p>Voice after voice took up the old psalm, and +Reuben's deep tones joined with the others, as +they chanted, "Peace be within thy walls, and +prosperity within thy palaces!"</p> + +<p>Following the singing pilgrims to the Temple, +they saw the priests take the doves that were to +be for a burnt-offering, and the first fruits that +were to be laid on the altars.</p> + +<p>Jesse held fast to his grandfather's hand as +they passed through the outer courts of the +Temple. He was half frightened by the din of +voices, the stamping and bellowing and bleating +of the animals as they were driven into the +pens.</p> + +<p>He had seen one sacrificial service; the great +stream of blood pouring over the marble steps of +the altar, and the smoke of the burnt-offering +were still in his mind. It made him look +pityingly now at the gentle-eyed calves and the +frightened lambs. He was glad to get away +from them.</p> + +<p>Soon after the time of this rejoicing was over,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +came ten solemn days that to Joel were full of +interest and mystery. They were the days of +preparation for the Fast of the Atonement. +Disputes between neighbors were settled, and +sins confessed.</p> + +<p>The last great day, the most solemn of all, was +the only time in the whole year when the High +Priest might draw aside the veil, and enter into +the Holy of Holies.</p> + +<p>With all his rich robes and jewels laid aside, +clad only in simple white, with bare feet and +covered head, he had to go four times into the +awful Presence. Once to offer incense, once to +pray, to sprinkle the blood of a goat towards +the mercy-seat, and then to bring out the +censer.</p> + +<p>That was the day when two goats were taken; +by casting lots one was chosen for a sacrifice. +On the other the High Priest laid the sins of the +people, and it was driven out into the wilderness, +to be dashed to pieces from some high cliff.</p> + +<p>Tears came into Joel's eyes, as he watched the +scape-goat driven away into the dreary desert. +He pitied the poor beast doomed to such a death +because of his nation's sins.</p> + +<p>Then came the closing ceremonies, when the +great congregation bowed themselves three times<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +to the ground, with the High Priest shouting +solemnly, "Ye are clean! Ye are clean! Ye +are clean!"</p> + +<p>Joel was glad when the last rite was over, and +the people started to their homes, as gay now as +they had been serious before.</p> + +<p>"When are we going back to our other +home?" asked Ruth, one day.</p> + +<p>"Why, are you not happy here, little daughter?" +said Abigail. "I thought you had forgotten all +about the old place."</p> + +<p>"I want my white pigeons," she said, with a +quivering lip, as if she had suddenly remembered +them. "I don't want my father not to be here!" +she sobbed; "and I want my white pigeons!"</p> + +<p>Abigail picked her up and comforted her. +"Wait just a little while. I think father will +surely come soon. I will get my embroidery, +and you may go with me across the street."</p> + +<p>Ruth had been shy at first about going to see +her mother's friends; but Martha coaxed her in +with honey cakes she baked for that express purpose, +and Mary told her stories and taught her +little games.</p> + +<p>After a while she began to flit in and out of +the house as fearlessly as a bright-winged +butterfly.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> + +<p>One day her mother was sitting with the sisters +in a shady corner of their court-yard, where +a climbing honeysuckle made a cool sweet +arbor. Ruth was going from one to the other, +watching the bright embroidery threads take +the shape of flowers under their skilful fingers. +Suddenly she heard the faint tinkle of a silver +bell. While she stood with one finger on her lip +to listen, Lazarus came into the court-yard.</p> + +<p>"See what I have brought you, little one," he +said. "It is to take the place of the pigeons you +are always mourning for."</p> + +<p>It was a snow-white lamb, around which he +had twined a garland of many colored flowers, +and from whose neck hung the little silver bell +she had heard.</p> + +<p>At first the child was so delighted she could +only bury her dimpled fingers in the soft fleece, +and look at it in speechless wonder. Then she +caught his hand, and left a shy little kiss on it, as +she lisped, "Oh, you're so good! You're so +good!"</p> + +<p>After that day Ruth followed Lazarus as the +white lamb followed Ruth; and the sisters hardly +knew which sounded sweeter in their quiet +home, the tinkling of the silver bell, or the +happy prattle of the baby voice.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p> + +<p>Abigail spent many happy hours with her +friends. One day as they sat in the honeysuckle +arbor, busily sewing, Ruth and Jesse came +running towards them.</p> + +<p>"I see my father coming, and another man," +cried the boy. "I'm going to meet them."</p> + +<p>They all hastened to the door, just as the +tired, dusty travellers reached it.</p> + +<p>"Peace be to this house, and all who dwell +therein," said the stranger, before Phineas could +give his wife and friends a warmer greeting.</p> + +<p>"We went first to your father's house, but, +finding no one at home, came here," said +Phineas.</p> + +<p>"Come in!" insisted Martha. "You look +sorely in need of rest and refreshment."</p> + +<p>But they had a message to deliver before they +could be persuaded to eat or wash.</p> + +<p>"The Master is coming," said Phineas. "He +has sent out seventy of His followers, to go by +twos into every town, and herald His approach, +and proclaim that the day of the Lord is at hand. +We have gone even into Samaria to carry the +tidings there."</p> + +<p>"At last, at last!" cried Mary, clasping her +hands. "Oh, to think that I have lived to see +this day of Israel's glory!"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Tell us what the Master has been doing," +urged Abigail, after the men had been refreshed +by food and water.</p> + +<p>First one and then the other told of miracles +they had seen, and repeated what He had taught. +Even the children crept close to listen, leaning +against their father's knees.</p> + +<p>"There has been much discussion about the +kingdom that is to be formed. While we were +in Peter's house in Capernaum, some of the disciples +came quarrelling around Him, to ask who +should have the highest positions. I suppose +those who have followed Him longest think they +have claim to the best offices."</p> + +<p>"What did He say?" asked Abigail, eagerly.</p> + +<p>Phineas laid his hand on Ruth's soft curls. +"He took a little child like this, and set it in our +midst, and said that he who would be greatest in +His kingdom, must become even like unto it!"</p> + +<p>"Faith and love and purity on the throne of +the Herods," cried Martha. "Ah, only Jehovah +can bring such a thing as that to pass!"</p> + +<p>"Are you going to stay at home now, +father?" asked Jesse, anxiously.</p> + +<p>"No, my son. I must go on the morrow to +carry my report to the Master, of the reception +we have had in every town. But I will soon be +back again to the Feast of Tabernacles."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Carry with you our earnest prayer that the +Master will abide with us when He comes again +to Bethany," said Martha, as her guests departed. +"No one is so welcome in our home, as +the friend of our brother Lazarus."</p> + +<p>The preparation for the Feast of the Tabernacles +had begun. "I am going to take the +children to the city with me to-day!" said +Reuben, one morning, "to see the big booth I +am having built. It will hold all our family, +and as many friends as may care to share it +with us."</p> + +<p>Jesse was charmed with the great tent of green +boughs.</p> + +<p>"I wish I could have been one of the children +that Moses led up out of Egypt," he said, with a +sigh.</p> + +<p>"Why, my son?" asked Reuben.</p> + +<p>"So's I could have wandered around for forty +years, living in a tent like this. How good it +smells, and how pretty it is! I wish you and +grandmother would live here all the time!"</p> + +<p>The next day Phineas joined them. It was a +happy family that gathered in the leafy booth +for a week of out-door rejoicing in the cool +autumn time.</p> + +<p>"Where is the Master?" asked Abigail.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I know not," answered her husband. "He +sent us on before."</p> + +<p>"Will He be here, I wonder?" she asked, and +that question was on nearly every lip in Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>"Will He be here?" asked the throngs of +pilgrims who had heard of His miracles, and +longed to see the man who could do such marvellous +things.</p> + +<p>"Will He be here?" whispered the scribes to +the Pharisees. "Let Him beware!"</p> + +<p>"Will He be here?" muttered Caiaphas the +High Priest. "Then better one man should die, +than that the whole community perish."</p> + +<p>The sight that dazzled the eyes of the children +that first evening of the week, was like fairyland; a +blaze of lanterns and torches lit up the whole city.</p> + +<p>In the Court of the Women, in the Temple, all +the golden lamps were lit, twinkling and burning +like countless stars.</p> + +<p>On the steps that separated this court from +the next one, stood three thousand singers, the +sons and daughters of the tribe of Levi. Two +priests stood at the top of the steps, and as each +gave the signal on a great silver trumpet, the +burst of song that went up from the vast choir +seemed to shake the very heavens. Harps and +psalters and flutes swelled with the rolling waves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +of the organ's melody. To the sound of this +music, men marched with flaming torches in +their hands, and the marching and a weird torch-dance +were kept up until the gates of the Temple +closed.</p> + +<p>In the midst of all the feasting and the gayeties +that followed, the long-expected Voice was +heard in the arcades of the Temple.</p> + +<p>The Child of Nazareth was once more in His +Father's house about His Father's business.</p> + +<p>On the last great day of the feast, Joel was up +at day-break, ready to follow the older members +of the family as soon as the first trumpet-blast +should sound.</p> + +<p>In his right hand he carried a citron, as did all +the others; in his left was a palm-branch, the +emblem of joy. An immense multitude gathered +at the spring of Siloam. Water was drawn in a +golden pitcher, and carried back to be poured on +the great altar, while the choir sang with its +thousands of voices, and all the people shouted, +Amen and Amen!</p> + +<p>When the days had gone by in which the +seventy bullocks had been sacrificed, and when +the ceremonies were all over, then the leaves +were stripped from the green booths, and the +people scattered to their homes.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> + +<p>Long afterward, Jesse remembered only the +torch-light dances, the silver trumpets and the +crowds, and the faint ringing of the fringe of +bells on the priest's robes as he carried the fire +on the golden shovel to burn the sweet-smelling +incense.</p> + +<p>Joel's memory rang often with two cries that +had startled the people. One when the water +was poured from the golden pitcher. It was the +Master's voice: "<i>If any man thirst, let him come +unto me</i>." The other was when all eyes were +turned on the blazing lamps. "<i>I am the Light of +the World!</i>"</p> + +<p>Reuben thought oftenest of the blind man to +whom he had seen sight restored. But Lazarus +was filled with anxiety and foreboding; through +his office of scribe, he had come in close contact +with the men who were plotting against his +friend. Dark rumors were afloat. The air was +hot with whisperings of hate.</p> + +<p>He had overheard a conversation between the +Temple police, and some of the chief priests and +Pharisees.</p> + +<p>"Why did ye not take Him, as ye were ordered?" +they demanded angrily.</p> + +<p>"We could not," was the response; "for never +man spake like this man."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> + +<p>He had seen the mob searching for stones to +throw at Him. Though He had disappeared out +of their midst unhurt, still Lazarus felt that some +terrible disaster was hanging threateningly over +the head of his beloved friend.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 101px;"> +<img src="images/drop_i.png" width="101" height="103" alt="I" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />T was with a deep feeling of relief +that the two families watched the +Master go away into Perea. Phineas +still kept with Him. As the little +band disappeared down the street, Ruth hid her +face in her mother's dress and began to cry.</div> + +<p>"I don't want my father to go away again!" +she sobbed. Abigail took her in her lap and +tried to comfort her, although there were tears +in her own eyes.</p> + +<p>"We will go home soon, little daughter, and +then father will be with us all the time. But we +must wait first, till after the cold, rainy season, +and the Feast of Dedication."</p> + +<p>"What! another feast?" asked Jesse, to whom +the summer had seemed one long confusion of +festivals. "Don't they have lots of them down +in this country! What's this one for?"</p> + +<p>"Grandfather will tell you," answered his +mother. "Run out and ask him for the story. +I know you will like it."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p> + +<p>Seated on his grandfather's knee, Jesse doubled +up his little fists, as he heard how a heathen altar +had once been set up on the great altar of burnt-offering, +and a heathen general had driven a +herd of swine through the holy Temple, making +it unclean. But his breath came quick, and his +eyes shone, as the proud old Israelite told him +of Judas the Maccabee, Judas the lion-hearted, +who had whipped the Syrian soldiers, purified +the Temple, and dedicated it anew to the worship +of Jehovah.</p> + +<p>"Our people never forget their heroes," ended +the old man. "Every year, in every home, no +matter how humble, one candle is lighted at the +beginning of the feast; the next night, two, and +the next night, three, and so on, till eight candles +shine out into the winter darkness.</p> + +<p>"For so the brave deeds of the Maccabees burn +in the memory of every child of Abraham!"</p> + +<p>The feast came and went. While the candles +burned in every home, and the golden lamps in +the great Temple blazed a welcome, the Nazarene +came back to His Father's house, to be once more +about His Father's business.</p> + +<p>Joel caught a glimpse of Him walking up and +down the covered porches in front of the Gate +Beautiful. The next moment he was pushing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> +and elbowing his way through the jostling +crowds, till he stood close beside Him.</p> + +<p>After that, the services that followed were a +blank. He saw only one face,—the face that had +looked into his beside the Galilee, and drawn from +his heart its intensest love. He heard only one +voice,—the voice he had longed for all these +weeks and days. Just to be near Him! To be +able to reach out reverent fingers and only touch +the clothes He wore; to look up in His face, +and look and look with a love that never +wearied,—that was such happiness that Joel +was lost to everything else!</p> + +<p>But after a while he began to realize that it +was for no friendly purpose that the chief priests +came pressing around with questions.</p> + +<p>"If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly," they +demanded. Then up and down through the +long Porch of Solomon, among all its white +marble pillars, they repeated His answer:—</p> + +<p>"The works that I do in my Father's name, +they bear witness of me. I and my Father are +one!"</p> + +<p>"Blasphemy!" shouted a mocking voice behind +Him. "Blasphemy!" echoed Pharisee and +Sadducee for once agreed. The crowds pushed +and shoved between the pillars; some ran out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> +for stones. In the confusion of the uproar, as +they turned to lay violent hands on Him, He +slipped out of their midst, and went quietly +away.</p> + +<p>Joel hunted around awhile for the party he +had come with, but seeing neither Phineas nor +Lazarus, started back to Bethany on the run. A +cold winter rain had begun to fall.</p> + +<p>None of Reuben's family had gone into Jerusalem +that day on account of the weather, but +were keeping the feast at home.</p> + +<p>They were startled when the usually quiet +boy burst excitedly into the house, and told +them what he had just seen.</p> + +<p>"O mother Abigail!" he cried, throwing himself +on his knees beside her. "If He goes away +again may I not go with Him? I cannot go back +to Galilee and leave Him, unknowing what is to +happen. If He is to be persecuted and driven +out, and maybe killed, let me at least share His +suffering, and be with Him at the last!"</p> + +<p>"You forget that He has all power, and that +His enemies can do Him no harm," said Abigail, +gently. "Has He not twice walked out unharmed, +before their very eyes, when they would +have taken Him? And besides what good could +you do, my boy? You forget you are only a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +child, and might not be able to stand the hardships +of such a journey."</p> + +<p>"I am almost fourteen," said Joel, stretching +himself up proudly. "And I am as strong now +as some of the men who go with Him. <i>He</i> +gave me back my strength, you know. Oh, +you do not know how I love Him!" he cried. +"When I am away from Him, I feel as you +would were you separated from Jesse and Ruth +and father Phineas. My heart is always going +out after Him!"</p> + +<p>"Child, have you no care for us?" she responded +reproachfully.</p> + +<p>"Oh, do not speak so!" he cried, catching up +her hand and kissing it. "I <i>do</i> love you; I can +never be grateful enough for all you have done +for me. But, O mother Abigail, you could +never understand! You were never lame and +felt the power of His healing. You were never +burning with a wicked hatred, and felt the balm +of His forgiveness! You cannot understand how +He draws me to Him!"</p> + +<p>"Let the boy have his way," spoke up Reuben. +"I, too, have felt that wonderful power that +draws all men to Him. Gladly would I part +with every shekel I possess, if I thereby might +win Him the favor of the authorities."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> + +<p>When once more a little band of fugitives +followed their Master across the Jordan, Joel +was with them.</p> + +<p>The winter wore away, and they still tarried. +Day by day, they were listening to the simple +words that dropped like seeds into their memories, +to spring up in after months and bear great +truths. Now they heard them as half understood +parables,—the good Samaritan, the barren +fig-tree, the prodigal son, the unjust steward.</p> + +<p>There was one story that thrilled Joel deeply,—the +story of the lost sheep. For he recalled that +stormy night in the sheepfold of Nathan ben +Obed, and the shepherd who searched till dawn +for the straying lamb.</p> + +<p>It was only long afterwards that he realized it +was the Good Shepherd Himself who told the +story, when He was about to lay down His own +life for the lost sheep of Israel.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Meanwhile in Bethany, Rabbi Reuben and +his wife rejoiced that their daughter's visit +stretched out indefinitely.</p> + +<p>Jesse openly declared that he intended to stay +there always, and learn to be a goldsmith like +his grandfather.</p> + +<p>Ruth, too, was happy and contented, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +seemed to have forgotten that she ever had any +other home. As the early spring days came on, +she lived almost entirely out in the sunshine. +She had fallen into the habit of standing at the +gate to watch for Lazarus every evening when he +came back from the Temple. As soon as she saw +him turn the corner into their street, she ran to +meet him, her fair curls and white dress fluttering +in the wind.</p> + +<p>No matter how tired he was, or what cares +rested heavily on his mind, the pale face always +lighted up, and his dark eyes smiled at her +coming.</p> + +<p>"Lazarus does not seem well, lately," she +heard Martha say to her mother one day. "I +have been trying to persuade him to rest a +few days; but he insists he cannot until he has +finished the scroll he is illuminating."</p> + +<p>A few days after that he did not go to the city +as usual. Ruth peeped into the darkened room +where he was resting on a couch; his eyes were +closed, and he was so pale it almost frightened +her.</p> + +<p>He did not hear her when she tiptoed into the +room and out again; but the fragrance of the +little stemless rose she laid on his pillow aroused +him. He opened his eyes and smiled languidly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> +as he caught sight of her slipping noiselessly +through the door.</p> + +<p>Her mother, sewing by the window, looked +out and saw her running across the street. +Jesse was out in front of the house, playing +with a ball.</p> + +<p>"Who is that boy talking to Jesse?" asked +Abigail of Rebecca, who stood in the doorway, +holding out her arms as Ruth came up.</p> + +<p>"Why, that is little Joseph, the only son of +Simon the leper. Poor child!"</p> + +<p>"Simon the leper," repeated Abigail. "A +stranger to me."</p> + +<p>"Surely not. Have you forgotten the wealthy +young oil-seller who lived next the synagogue? +He has the richest olive groves in this part of +the country."</p> + +<p>"Not the husband of my little playmate +Esther!" cried Abigail. "Surely he has not +been stricken with leprosy!"</p> + +<p>"Yes; it is one of the saddest cases I ever +heard of. It seems so terrible for a man +honored as he has been, and accustomed to +every luxury, to be such a despised outcast."</p> + +<p>"Poor Esther!" sighed Abigail. "Does she +ever see him?"</p> + +<p>"Not now. The disease is fast destroying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> +him; and he is such a hideous sight that he has +forbidden her to ever try to see him again. +Even his voice is changed. Of course he would +be stoned if he were to come back. He never +seeks the company of other lepers. She has had +a room built for him away from the sight of men. +Every day a servant carries him food and tidings. +It is well that they have money, or he would be +obliged to live among the tombs with others as +repulsive-looking as himself, and such company +must certainly be worse than none. Sometimes +little Joseph is taken near enough to speak to +him, that he may have the poor comfort of seeing +his only child at a distance."</p> + +<p>"What if it were my Phineas!" exclaimed +Abigail, her tears dropping fast on the needlework +she held. "Oh, it is a thousand times +worse than death!"</p> + +<p>Out in the street the boys were making each +other's acquaintance in the off-hand way boys of +that age have.</p> + +<p>"My name is Jesse. What's yours?"</p> + +<p>"Joseph."</p> + +<p>"Where do you live?"</p> + +<p>"Around the corner, next to the synagogue."</p> + +<p>"My father is a carpenter. What's yours?"</p> + +<p>Joseph hesitated. "He used to be an oil-seller,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +he said finally. "He doesn't do anything +now."</p> + +<p>"Why?" persisted Jesse.</p> + +<p>"He is a leper now," was the reluctant answer.</p> + +<p>A look of distress came over Jesse's face. He +had seen some lepers once, and the sight was +still fresh in his mind. As they were riding +down from Galilee, Joel had pointed them out +to him. A group of beggars with horrible scaly +sores that had eaten away their flesh, till some +were left without lips or eyelids; one held out +a deathly white hand from which nearly all the +fingers had dropped. Their hair looked like +white wire, and they called out, in shrill, cracked +voices, "Unclean! Unclean! Come not near +us!"</p> + +<p>"How terrible to have one's father like that," +thought Jesse. A lump seemed to come up in +his throat; his eyes filled with tears at the bare +idea. Then, boy-like, he tossed up his ball, and +forgot all about it in the game that followed.</p> + +<p>Several days after he met Joseph and a servant +who was carrying a large, covered basket and a +water-bottle made of skin.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to see my father, now," said +Joseph. "Ask your mother if you can come +with me."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> + +<p>Jesse started towards his home, then turned +suddenly. "No, I'm not going to ask her, for +she'll be sure to say no. I am just going +anyhow."</p> + +<p>"You'll catch it when you get home!" exclaimed +Joseph.</p> + +<p>"Well, it cannot last long," reasoned Jesse, +whose curiosity had gotten the better of him. "I +believe I'd rather take a whipping than not to +go."</p> + +<p>Joseph looked at him in utter astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I would," he insisted; "so come on!"</p> + +<p>A short walk down an unfrequented road, in +the direction of Jericho, took them to a lonely +place among the bare cliffs. A little cabin stood +close against the rocks, with a great sycamore-tree +bending over it. Near by was the entrance +to a deep cave, always as cool as a cellar, even in +the hottest summer days.</p> + +<p>At the mouth of the cave sat Simon the leper. +He stood up when he saw them coming, and +wrapped himself closely in a white linen mantle +that covered him from head to foot. It was a +ghostly sight to Jesse; but to Joseph, so long +accustomed to it, there seemed nothing strange.</p> + +<p>At a safe distance the servant emptied his +basket on a large flat rock, and poured the water<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +into a stone jar standing near. Last of all, he +laid a piece of parchment on the stone. It was +Esther's daily letter to her exiled husband.</p> + +<p>No matter what storms swept the valley, or +what duties pressed at home, that little missive +was always sent. She had learned to write for +his sake. By all his friends he was accounted +dead; but her love, stronger than death, bridged +the gulf that separated them. She lived only to +minister to his comfort as best she could.</p> + +<p>Simon did not send as long a message in return +as this trusted messenger usually carried. He +had much to say to his boy, and the sun was +already high.</p> + +<p>Jesse, lagging behind in the shelter of the +rock, heard the tender words of counsel and +blessing that came from the white-sheeted figure +with a feeling of awe.</p> + +<p>As the father urged his boy to be faithful to +every little duty, careful in learning the prayers, +and above all obedient to his mother, Jesse's +conscience began to prick him sorely.</p> + +<p>"I believe I know somebody that could cure +him," he said, as they picked their way over the +rocks, going home. "'Cause He made Joel +well."</p> + +<p>"Who's Joel?" asked Joseph.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A boy that lives with us. He was just as +lame, and limped way over when he walked. +Now he is as straight as I am. All the sick +people where I lived went to Him, and they got +well."</p> + +<p>Joseph shook his head. "Lepers can't be +cured. Can they, Seth?" he asked, appealing +to the servant.</p> + +<p>"No, lepers are just the same as dead," +answered Seth. "There's no help for them."</p> + +<p>Jesse was in a very uncomfortable frame of +mind, as, hot and dusty, he left his companion +and dragged home at a snail's pace.</p> + +<p>Next morning Joseph was waiting for him out +in front. "Well, did she whip you?" he asked, +with embarrassing frankness.</p> + +<p>"No," said Jesse, a little sheepishly. "She +put me to bed just as soon as I had eaten my +dinner, and made me stay there till this +morning."</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 103px;"> +<img src="images/drop_r.png" width="103" height="103" alt="R" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />UTH went every day to ask for her +sick friend, sometimes with a bunch +of grapes, sometimes with only a +flower in her warm little hand.</div> + +<p>But there came a time when Martha met her, +with eyes all swollen and red from crying, and +told her they had sent to the city for a skilful +physician.</p> + +<p>In the night there came a loud knocking at +the door, and a call for Rabbi Reuben to come +quickly, that Lazarus was worse. At day-break +a messenger was sent clattering away to hurry +over the Jordan in hot haste, and bring back +from Perea the only One who could help them.</p> + +<p>The noise awakened Ruth; she sat up in +surprise to see her mother dressed so early. +The outer door was ajar, and she heard the +message that the anxious Martha bade the +man deliver: "Lord, he whom Thou lovest is +sick."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He will come right away and make him +well, won't He, mother?" she asked anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Surely, my child," answered Abigail. "He +loves him too well to let him suffer so."</p> + +<p>But the day wore on, and the next; still +another, and He did not come.</p> + +<p>Ruth stole around like a frightened shadow, +because of the anxious looks on every face.</p> + +<p>"Why doesn't He come?" she wondered; and +on many another lip was the same question.</p> + +<p>She was so quiet, no one noticed when she +stole into the room where her friend lay dying. +Mary knelt on one side of the bed, Martha on +the other, watching the breath come slower +and slower, and clinging to the unresponsive +hands as if their love could draw him back to +life.</p> + +<p>Neither shed a tear, but seemed to watch +with their souls in their eyes, for one more +word, one more look of recognition.</p> + +<p>Abigail sat by the window, weeping softly. +Ruth had never seen her mother cry before, +and it frightened her. She glanced at her +grandfather, standing by the foot of the bed; +two great tears rolled slowly down his cheeks, +and dropped on his long beard.</p> + +<p>A sudden cry from Mary, as she fell fainting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +to the floor, called her attention to the bed +again. Martha was silently rocking herself to +and fro, in an agony of grief.</p> + +<p>Still the child did not understand. Those +in the room were so busy trying to bring +Mary back to consciousness, that no one noticed +Ruth.</p> + +<p>Drawn by some impulse she could not understand, +the child drew nearer and nearer. Then +she laid her soft little hand on his, thinking the +touch would surely make him open his eyes and +smile at her again; it had often done so before.</p> + +<p>But what was it that made her start back +terrified, and shrink away trembling? It was +not Lazarus she had touched, but the awful +mystery of death.</p> + +<p>"I did not know that a little child could +feel so deeply," said Abigail to her mother, +when she found that Ruth neither ate nor +played, but wandered aimlessly around.</p> + +<p>"I shall keep her away from the funeral."</p> + +<p>But all her care could not keep from the little +one's ears the mournful music of the funeral +dirge, or the wailing of the mourners, who +gathered to do honor to the young man whom +all Bethany knew and loved.</p> + +<p>Many friends came out from Jerusalem to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> +follow the long procession to the tomb. There +was a long eulogy at the grave; but the most +impressive ceremony was over at last, and the +great stone had to be rolled into the opening +that formed the doorway.</p> + +<p>Then the two desolate sisters went back to +their lonely home and empty life, wondering +how they could go on without the presence +that had been such a daily benediction.</p> + +<p>The fourth day after his death, as Martha +sat listlessly looking out of the green arbor +with unseeing eyes, Ruth ran in with a radiant +face.</p> + +<p>"He's come!" she cried. "He's come, and so +has my father. Hurry! He is waiting for you!"</p> + +<p>Martha drew her veil about her, and mechanically +followed the eager child to the gate, where +Phineas met her with the same message.</p> + +<p>"Oh, why did He not come sooner?" she +thought bitterly, as she pressed on after her +guide.</p> + +<p>Once outside of the village, she drew aside her +veil. There stood the Master, with such a look +of untold sympathy on His worn face, that +Martha cried out, "Lord, if Thou hadst been +here my brother had not died!"</p> + +<p>"Thy brother shall rise again," He said gently.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, I know he shall rise again in the resurrection, +at the last day," she said brokenly. "That +brings hope for the future; but what comfort is +there for the lonely years we must live without +him?" The tears streamed down her face again.</p> + +<p>Then for the first time came those words +that have brought balm into thousands of +broken hearts, and hope into countless tear-blind +eyes.</p> + +<p>"I am the resurrection and the life. He that +believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou +this?"</p> + +<p>Martha looked up reverently. "Yea, Lord, I +believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of +God which should come into the world."</p> + +<p>A great peace came over her troubled spirit +as she hurried to her home, where the many +friends still sat who had come to comfort them. +A number of them were from Jerusalem, and she +knew that among them were some who were unfriendly +to her brother's friend.</p> + +<p>So she quietly called her sister from the room, +whispering, "The Master is come, and calleth for +thee!"</p> + +<p>Those who sat there thought they were going +to the grave to weep, as was the custom. So they +rose also, and followed at a little distance.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mary met Him with the same exclamation that +her sister had uttered, and fell at His feet.</p> + +<p>He, seeing in her white face the marks of the +deep grief she had suffered, was thrilled to the +depths of His humanity by the keenest sympathy. +His tears fell too, at the sight of hers.</p> + +<p>"Behold how He loved Lazarus!" said a man +to the one who stood beside him.</p> + +<p>"Why did He not save him then?" was the +mocking answer.</p> + +<p>"They say He has the power to open the eyes +of the blind, and even to raise the dead. Let +Him show it in this case!"</p> + +<p>It was a curious crowd that followed Him to +the door of the tomb: men who hated Him for +the scorching fire-brands of rebuke He had thrown +into their corrupt lives; men who feared Him as +a dangerous teacher of false doctrines; men who +knew His good works, but hesitated either to +accept or refuse; and men who loved Him +better than life,—all waiting, wondering what +He would do.</p> + +<p>"Roll the stone away!" He commanded; a +dozen strong shoulders bent to do His bidding. +Then He looked up and spoke in a low tone, +but so distinctly that no one lost a word.</p> + +<p>"Father," He said,—He seemed to be speaking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> +to some one just beside Him,—"I thank Thee that +Thou hast heard me, and I knew that Thou hearest +me always: but because of the people which stand +by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast +sent me."</p> + +<p>A cold shiver of expectancy ran over those +who heard. Then He cried, in a loud voice, +"<i>Lazarus, come forth!</i>" There was a dreadful +pause. Some of the women clutched each +other with frightened shrieks; even strong +men fell back, as out of the dark grave walked +a tall figure wrapped in white grave-clothes.</p> + +<p>His face was hidden in a napkin. "Loose +him, and let him go," said the Master, calmly.</p> + +<p>Phineas stepped forward and loosened the outer +bands. When the napkin fell from his face, they +saw he was deathly white; but in an instant a +warm, healthful glow took the place of the +corpse-like pallor.</p> + +<p>Not till he spoke, however, could the frightened +people believe that it was Lazarus, and not a ghost +they saw.</p> + +<p>Never had there been such a sight since the +world began: the man who had lain four days +in the tomb, walking side by side with the man +who had called him back to life.</p> + +<p>The streets were full of people, laughing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +shouting, crying, fairly beside themselves with +astonishment.</p> + +<p>Smiths left their irons to cool on the anvils; +bakers left their bread to burn in the ovens; +the girl at the fountain dropped her half-filled +pitcher; and a woman making cakes ran into +the street with the dough in her hands.</p> + +<p>Every house in the village stood empty, save +one where a sick man moaned for water all +unheeded, and another where a baby wakened +in its cradle and began to cry.</p> + +<p>Long after the reunited family had gone into +their home with their nearest friends, and shut +the door on their overwhelming joy, the crowds +still stood outside, talking among themselves.</p> + +<p>Many who had taken part against the Master +before, now believed on account of what they had +seen. But some still said, more openly than before, +"He is in league with the evil one, or He +could not do such things." These hurried back +to Jerusalem, to spread the report that this dangerous +man had again appeared, almost at the +very gates of the great Capital.</p> + +<p>That night there was a secret council of the +chief priests and the Pharisees. "What shall +we do," was the anxious question. "If we let +Him alone, all men will believe on Him; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +the Romans shall come and take away both +our place and our nation."</p> + +<p>Every heart beat with the same thought, but +only Caiaphas put it in words. At last he dared +repeat what he had only muttered to himself before: +"It is expedient for us that one man +should die for the people, and that the whole +nation perish not."</p> + +<p>While the streets were still full of people, +Jesse crept up to Joel, as they sat together in +the court-yard. "Don't you think it would be +just as easy to cure a leper as to raise Rabbi +Lazarus from the dead?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed!" answered Joel, positively, +"I've seen it done."</p> + +<p>"Oh, have you?" cried the boy, in delight. +"Then Joseph can have his father back again."</p> + +<p>He told him the story of Simon the leper, and +of his visit to the lonely cave.</p> + +<p>Joel's sympathies were aroused at once. Ever +since his own cure, he had felt that he must bring +every afflicted one in the wide world to the great +source of healing.</p> + +<p>Just then a man stopped at the gate to ask for +Phineas. Joel had learned to know him well in +the weeks they had been travelling together; it +was Thomas.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p> + +<p>The boy sprang up eagerly. "Do you know +when the Master is going to leave Bethany?" he +asked.</p> + +<p>"In the morning," answered Thomas, "and +right glad I am that it is to be so soon. For +when we came down here, I thought it was +but to die with Him. He is beset on all sides +by secret enemies."</p> + +<p>"And will He go out by the same road that we +came?"</p> + +<p>"It is most probable."</p> + +<p>Joel waited for no more information from him, +but went back to Jesse to learn the way to the +cave.</p> + +<p>Jesse was a little fellow, but a keen-eyed one, +and was able to give Joel the few simple directions +that would lead him the right way.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm so glad you are going!" he exclaimed. +"Shall I run and tell Joseph what +you are going to do?"</p> + +<p>"No, do not say a word to any one," answered +Joel. "I shall be back in a very short time."</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 101px;"> +<img src="images/drop_s.png" width="101" height="100" alt="S" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />IMON the leper sat at the door of his +cave. He held a roll of vellum in his +unsightly fingers; it was a copy of +the Psalms that Lazarus had once made for him +in happier days.</div> + +<p>Many a time he had found comfort in these +hope-inspiring songs of David; but to-day he was +reading a wail that seemed to come from the +depths of his own soul:</p> + +<p>"Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and Thou +hast afflicted me with all Thy waves. Thou hast +put mine acquaintance far from me. Thou hast +made me an abomination unto them. I am shut +up and I cannot come forth. Lord, I have called +daily upon Thee. I have stretched out my hands +unto Thee. Wilt Thou show wonders to the +dead? Shall the dead arise again and praise +Thee? Lord, why casteth Thou off my soul? +Why hidest Thou Thy face from me?"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span></p> + +<p>The roll dropped to the ground, and he hid +his face in his hands, crying, "How long must I +endure this? Oh, why was I not taken instead +of Lazarus?"</p> + +<p>The sound of some one scrambling over the +rocks made him look up quickly.</p> + +<p>Seth never made his visits at this time of the +day, and strangers had never before found the +path to this out-of-the-way place.</p> + +<p>Joel came on, and stopped by the rock where +the water-jar stood.</p> + +<p>Simon stood up, covering himself with his +mantle, and crying out, warningly, "Beware! +Unclean! Come no further!"</p> + +<p>"I bring you news from the village," said +Joel. The man threw out his hand with a gesture +of alarm.</p> + +<p>"Oh, not of my wife Esther," he cried, imploringly, +"or of my little Joseph! I could not bear +to hear aught of ill from them. My heart is still +sore for the death of my friend Lazarus. I went +as near the village as I dared, and heard the dirge +of the flutes and the wailing of the women, when +they laid him in the tomb. I have sat here ever +since in sackcloth and ashes."</p> + +<p>"But Lazarus lives again!" exclaimed Joel, +simply. He had seen so many miracles lately,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> +that he forgot the startling effect such an announcement +would have on one not accustomed +to them.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 402px;"> +<img src="images/i005.jpg" width="402" height="600" alt="under a tree" /> +<span class="caption">"'YOU BUT MOCK ME, BOY'"</span> +</div> + +<p>The man stood petrified with astonishment. +At last he said bitterly, "You but mock me, boy; +at least leave me to my sorrow in peace."</p> + +<p>"No!" cried Joel. "As the Lord liveth, I +swear it is the truth. Have you not heard that +Messiah has come? I have followed Him up and +down the country, and know whereof I speak. +At a word from Him the dumb sing, the blind +see, and the lame walk. I was lame myself, and +He made me as you see me now."</p> + +<p>Joel drew himself up to his fullest height. +Simon looked at him, completely puzzled.</p> + +<p>"Why did you take the trouble to come and +tell me that,—a poor despised leper?" he finally +asked.</p> + +<p>"Because I want everybody else to be as +happy as I am. He cured me. He gave me +back my strength. Then why should not my +feet be always swift to bring others to Him for +the same happy healing? He Himself goes +about all the time doing good. I know there is +hope for you, for I have seen Him cleanse lepers."</p> + +<p>Simon trembled, as the full meaning of the +hope held out to him began to make itself clear +to his confused mind: health, home, Esther, +child,—all restored to him. It was joy too great +to be possible.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if I could only believe it!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Lazarus was raised when he had been four +days dead. All Bethany can bear witness to +that," persisted Joel. The words poured out with +such force and earnestness, as he described the +scene, that Simon felt impelled to believe him.</p> + +<p>"Where can I find this man?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Joel pointed down the rocky slope. "Take +that road that leads into Bethany. Come early +in the morning, and as we all pass that way, call +to Him. He never refuses any who have faith to +believe that He can grant what they ask."</p> + +<p>When Joel was half-way down the hill, he +turned back. "If He should not pass on the +morrow," he said, "do not fail to be there on the +second day. We will surely leave here soon."</p> + +<p>Simon stood in bewilderment till the boy had +passed down the hill; he began to fear that +this messenger had been only the creation of a +dream. He climbed upon the cliff and peered +down into the valley. No, he had not been deceived; +the boy was no mirage of his thirsty +soul, for there, he came out into full sight again, +and now, he was climbing the opposite hillside.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a><br /><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How beautiful upon the mountain are the +feet of him who bringeth good tidings!" he +murmured. "Oh, what a heaven opens out before +me, if this lad's words are only true!"</p> + +<p>Next morning, after they left Bethany, Joel +looked anxiously behind every rock and tree +that they passed; but Simon was not to be seen.</p> + +<p>Presently Joel saw him waiting farther down +the road; he was kneeling in the dust. The +white mantle, that in his sensitiveness was always +used to hide himself from view, was cast aside, +that the Great Healer might see his great need.</p> + +<p>He scanned the approaching figures with imploring +eyes. He was looking for the Messiah,—some +one in kingly garments, whose jewelled +sceptre's lightest touch would lay upon him the +royal accolade of health.</p> + +<p>These were evidently not the ones he was +waiting for. These were only simple wayfarers; +most of them looked like Galileans.</p> + +<p>He was about to rise up with his old warning +cry of unclean, when he caught sight of Joel. +But where was the princely Redeemer of +prophecy?</p> + +<p>Nearer and nearer they came, till he could look +full in their faces. No need now to ask on which +one he should call for help; indeed, he seemed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> +to see but one face, it was so full of loving +pity.</p> + +<p>"O Thou Messiah of Israel!" he prayed. +"Thou didst call my friend Lazarus from the +dead, O pass me not by! Call me from this living +death! Make me clean!"</p> + +<p>The eyes that looked down into his seemed to +search his soul. "Believest thou that I can do +this?"</p> + +<p>The pleading faith in Simon's eyes could not +be refused. "Yea, Lord," he cried, "Thou hast +but to speak the word!"</p> + +<p>He waited, trembling, for the answer that +meant life or death to him.</p> + +<p>"I will. Be thou clean!" He put out His +hand to raise the kneeling man to his feet. "Go +and show thyself to the priests," He added.</p> + +<p>The party passed on, and Simon stood looking +after them. <i>Was</i> it the Christ who had passed +by? Where were His dyed garments from Bozrah? +The prophet foretold Him as glorious in +apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength. +No sceptre of divine power had touched him; +it was only the clasp of a warm human hand +he had felt. He looked down at himself. +Still a leper! His faith wavered; but he remembered +he had not obeyed the command to show<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +himself to the priests. Immediately he started +across the fields on a run, towards the road leading +into Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>Far down the highway Joel heard a mighty +shout; he turned and looked back. There on +the brow of a hill, sharply outlined against the +sky, stood Simon. His arms were lifted high up +towards heaven; for as he ran, in obedience to +the command, the leprosy had gone from him. +He was pouring out a flood of praise and thanksgiving, +in the first ecstasy of his recovery, at the +top of his voice.</p> + +<p>Joel thought of the tiresome ceremonies to be +observed before the man could go home, and +wished that the eight days of purification were +over, that the little family might be immediately +reunited.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Seth, with his basket and water-bottle, +was climbing the hill toward the cave. +For the first time in seven years since he had +commenced these daily visits, no expectant voice +greeted him. He went quite close up to the +little room under the cliff; he could see +through the half-open door that it was empty. +Then he cautiously approached the mouth of +the cave, and called his master. A hundred +echoes answered him, but no human voice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> +responded. Call after call was sent ringing into +the hollow darkness. The deep stillness weighed +heavily upon him; he began to be afraid that +somewhere in its mysterious depths lay a dead +body.</p> + +<p>The fear mastered him. Only stopping to put +down the food and pour out the water, he +started home at the top of his speed.</p> + +<p>As he reached the road, a traveller going to +Bethany hailed him. "What think you that I +saw just now?" asked the stranger. "A man +running with all his might towards Jerusalem. +Tears of joy were streaming down his cheeks, +and he was shouting as he ran, 'Cleansed! +Cleansed! Cleansed!' He stopped me, and +bade me say, if I met a man carrying a basket +and water-skin, that Simon the leper has just been +healed of the leprosy. He will be home as soon +as the days of purification are over."</p> + +<p>Seth gazed at him stupidly, feeling that he +must be in a dream. Esther, too, heard the +message unbelievingly. Yet she walked the +floor in a fever of excitement, at the bare possibility +of such a thing being true.</p> + +<p>The next morning, she sent Seth, as usual, with +the provisions. But he brought them back, saying +the place was still deserted.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then she began to dare to hope; although +she tried to steel herself against disappointment, +by whispering over and over that she could never +see him again, she waited impatiently for the +days to pass. At last they had all dragged by.</p> + +<p>The new day would begin at sunset, the very +earliest time that she might expect him. The +house was swept and garnished as if a king were +coming. The table was set with the choicest +delicacies Seth could find in the Jerusalem +markets.</p> + +<p>The earliest roses, his favorite red ones, were +put in every room. In her restless excitement +nothing in her wardrobe seemed rich enough to +wear. She tried on one ornament after another +before she was suited. Then, all in white, with +jewels blazing in her ears, on her throat, on her +little white hands, and her eyes shining like two +glad stars, she sat down to wait for him.</p> + +<p>But she could not keep still. This rug was +turned up at the corner; that rose had dropped +its petals on the floor. She would have another +kind of wine on the table.</p> + +<p>At last she stepped out of the door in her little +silken-bound sandals, and climbed the outside +stairs to the roof, to watch for him.</p> + +<p>The sun was entirely out of sight, but the west<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> +was glorious with the red gold of its afterglow. +Looking up the Mount of Olives, she could see +the smoke of the evening sacrifice rising as the +clouds of incense filled the Temple. Surely he +must be far on the way by this time.</p> + +<p>Her heart almost stopped beating as she saw a +figure coming up the road, between the rows of +palm-trees. She strained her eyes for a nearer +view, then drew a long tremulous breath. It +was Lazarus; there went the two children and +the lamb to meet him. All along the street, +people were standing in the doors to see him go +past; he was still a wonder to them.</p> + +<p>She shaded her eyes with her hand, and looked +again. But while her gaze searched the distant +road, some one was passing just below, under +the avenue of leafy trees, with quick impatient +tread; some one paused at the vine-covered door; +some one was leaping up the stairs three steps +at a time; some one was coming towards her +with out-stretched arms, crying, "Esther, little +Esther, O my wife! My God-given one!"</p> + +<p>For the first time in seven years, she turned to +find herself in her husband's arms. Strong and +well, with the old light in his eyes, the old thrill +in his voice, the glow of perfect health tingling +through all his veins, he could only whisper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> +tremulously, as he held her close, "Praise God! +Praise God!"</p> + +<p>No wonder he seemed like a stranger to +Joseph. But the clasp of the strong arms, +and the deep voice saying "my son," so tenderly, +were inexpressibly dear to the little fellow +kept so long from his birthright of a father's +love.</p> + +<p>He was the first to break the happy silence +that fell upon them. "What a good man Rabbi +Jesus must be, to go about making people glad +like this all the time!"</p> + +<p>"It is He who shall redeem Israel!" exclaimed +Simon. "To God be the glory, who hath sent +Him into this sin-cursed world! Henceforth all +that I have, and all that I am, shall be dedicated +to His service!"</p> + +<p>Kneeling there in the dying daylight, with his +arms around the wife and child so unexpectedly +given back to him, such a heart-felt prayer of +gratitude went upward to the good Father that +even the happiest angels must have paused to +listen, more glad because of this great earth-gladness +below.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 120px;"> +<img src="images/drop_i_quote.png" width="120" height="101" alt="I" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br /> THINK there will be an unusual +gathering of strangers at the Passover +this year," said Rabbi Reuben +to Lazarus, as they came out together +from the city, one afternoon. "The +number may even reach three millions. A +travelling man from Rome was in my shop to-day. +He says that in the remotest parts of the +earth, wherever the Hebrew tongue is found, +one may hear the name of the Messiah.</div> + +<p>"People pacing the decks of the ships, crossing +the deserts, or trading in the shops, talk +only of Him and His miracles; they have +aroused the greatest interest even in Athens +and the cities of the Nile. The very air seems +full of expectancy. I cannot but think great +things are about to come to pass. Surely the +time is now ripe for Jesus to proclaim Himself +king. I cannot understand why He should hide +Himself away in the wilderness as if He feared +for His safety."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> + +<p>Lazarus smiled at the old man, with a confident +expression. "Be sure, my friend, it is +only because the hour has not yet come. What +a sight it will be when He does stand before +the tomb of our long dead power, to call back +the nation to its old-time life and grandeur. +I can well believe that with Him all things are +possible."</p> + +<p>"Would that this next Passover were the +time!" responded Reuben. "How I would rejoice +to see His enemies laid low in the dust!"</p> + +<p>Already, on the borders of Galilee, the expected +king had started toward His coronation. Many +of the old friends and neighbors from Capernaum +had joined their band, to go on to the +Paschal feast.</p> + +<p>They made slow progress, however, for at +every turn in the road they were stopped by +outstretched hands and cries for help. Nearly +every step was taken to the sound of some +rejoicing cry from some one who had been +blessed.</p> + +<p>Joel could not crowd all the scenes into his +memory; but some stood with clear-cut distinctness. +There were the ten lepers who met them +at the very outset; and there was blind Bartimeus +begging by the wayside. He could never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> +forget the expression of that man's face, when his +eyes were opened, and for the first time he looked +out on the glory of the morning sunshine.</p> + +<p>Joel quivered all over with a thrill of sympathy, +remembering his own healing, and realizing +more than the others what had been done +for the blind beggar.</p> + +<p>Then there was Zaccheus, climbing up to look +down through the sycamore boughs that he +might see the Master passing into Jericho, and +Zaccheus scrambling down again in haste to provide +entertainment for his honored guest.</p> + +<p>There was the young ruler going away sorrowful +because the sacrifice asked of him was +more than he was willing to make. But there +was one scene that his memory held in unfading +colors:—</p> + +<p>Roses and wild honeysuckle climbing over a +bank by the road-side. Orange-trees dropping a +heavy fragrance with the falling petals of their +white blossoms. In the midst of the shade and +the bloom the mothers from the village near by, +gathering with their children, all freshly washed +and dressed to find favor in the eyes of the passing +Prophet.</p> + +<p>Babies cooed in their mother's arms. Bright +little faces smiled out from behind protecting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> +skirts, to which timid fingers clung. As they +waited for the coming procession, and little bare +feet chased each other up and down the bank, +the happy laughter of the older children filled all +the sunny air.</p> + +<p>As the travellers came on, the women caught +up their children and crowded forward. It was +a sight that would have made almost any one +pause,—those innocent-eyed little ones waiting +for the touch that would keep them always pure +in heart,—that blessing their mothers coveted +for them.</p> + +<p>But some of the disciples, impatient at the +many delays, seeing in the rosy faces and dimpled +limbs nothing that seemed to claim help or +attention, spoke to the women impatiently. +"Why trouble ye the Master?" they said. +"Would ye stop the great work He has come +to do for matters of such little importance?"</p> + +<p>Repelled by the rebuke, they fell back. But +there was a look of displeasure on His face, such +as they had never seen before, as Jesus turned +toward them.</p> + +<p>"Suffer the little children to come unto me," +He said, sternly, "and forbid them not; for of +such is the kingdom of heaven!"</p> + +<p>Then holding out His hands He took them up in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> +His arms and blessed them, every one, even the +youngest baby, that blinked up at Him unknowingly +with its big dark eyes, received its separate +blessing.</p> + +<p>So fearlessly they came to Him, so lovingly +they nestled in His arms, and with such perfect +confidence they clung to Him, that He turned +again to His disciples. "Verily I say unto you, +Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God +as a little child, he shall not enter therein."</p> + +<p>Met at all points as He had been by loathsome +sights, ragged beggars, and diseases of all kinds, +this group of happy-faced children must have +remained long in His memory, as sweet as the unexpected +blossoming of a rose in a dreary desert.</p> + +<p>At last the slow journey drew towards a close. +The Friday afternoon before the Passover found +the tired travellers once more in Bethany. News +of their coming had been brought several hours +before by a man riding down from Jericho. His +swift-footed beast had overtaken and passed the +slow procession far back on the road.</p> + +<p>There was a joyful welcome for the Master in +the home of Lazarus. The cool, vine-covered +arbor was a refreshing change from the dusty +road. Here were no curious throngs and constant +demands for help.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></p> + +<p>Away from the sights that oppressed Him, away +from the clamor and the criticism, here was a +place where heart and body might find rest. +The peace of the place, and the atmosphere of +sympathy surrounding Him, must have fallen +like dew on His thirsty soul. Here, for a few +short days, He who had been so long a houseless +wanderer was to know the blessedness of a +home.</p> + +<p>Several hours before the first trumpet blast +from the roof of the synagogue proclaimed the +approaching Sabbath, Simon hurried to his +home.</p> + +<p>"Esther," he called in great excitement, "I +have seen Him! The Christ! I have knelt at +His feet. I have looked in His face. And, oh, +only think!—He has promised to sit at our +table! To-morrow night, such a feast as has never +been known in the place shall be spread before +Him. Help me to think of something we may do +to show him especial honor."</p> + +<p>Esther sprang up at the news. "We have +very little time to prepare," she said. "Seth +must go at once into the city to make purchases. +To-morrow night, no hireling hand shall serve +him. I myself shall take that lowly place, with +Martha and Mary to aid me. Abigail, too, shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> +help us, for it is a labor of love that she will delight +to take part in. I shall go at once to ask +them."</p> + +<p>The long, still Sabbath went by. The worshippers +in the synagogue looked in vain for +other miracles, listened in vain for the Voice that +wrought such wonders.</p> + +<p>Through the unbroken rest of that day He was +gathering up His strength for a coming trial. +Something of the approaching shadow may have +been seen in His tender eyes; some word of the +awaiting doom may have been spoken to the +brother and sisters sitting reverently at his feet,—for +they seemed to feel that a parting was at +hand, and that they must crowd the flying hours +with all the loving service they could render +Him.</p> + +<p>That night at the feast, as Esther's little white +hands brought the water for the reclining guests +to wash, and Martha and Abigail placed sumptuously +filled dishes before them, Mary paused +in her busy passing to and fro; she longed to +do some especial thing to show her love for the +honored guest.</p> + +<p>Never had His face worn such a look of royalty; +never had He seemed so much the Christ. The +soft light of many candles falling on His worn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> +face seemed to reveal as never before the +divine soul soon to leave the worn body where +it now tarried.</p> + +<p>An old Jewish custom suddenly occurred to her. +She seemed to see two pictures: one was Aaron, +standing up in the rich garments of the priesthood, +with his head bowed to receive the sacred +anointing; the other was Israel's first king, on +whom the hoary Samuel was bestowing the +anointing that proclaimed his royalty. Token +of both priesthood and kingship,—oh, if she +dared but offer it!</p> + +<p>No one noticed when she stepped out after +awhile, and hurried swiftly homeward. Hidden +away in a chest in her room, was a little alabaster +flask, carefully sealed. It held a rare sweet +perfume, worth almost its weight in gold.</p> + +<p>She took it out with trembling fingers, and +hid it in the folds of her long flowing white +dress. Her breath came quick, and her heart +beat fast, as she slipped in behind the guests +again. The color glowed and paled in her +cheeks, as she stood there in the shadow of the +curtains, hesitating, half afraid to venture.</p> + +<p>At last, when the banquet was almost over, +she stepped noiselessly forward. There was a +hush of surprise at this unusual interruption,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> +although every one there was familiar with the +custom, and recognized its deep meaning and +symbolism.</p> + +<p>First on His head, then on His feet, she poured +the costly perfume. Bending low in the deepest +humility, she swept her long soft hair across +them to wipe away the crystal drops. The whole +house was filled with the sweet, delicate odor.</p> + +<p>Some of those who saw it, remembered a +similar scene in the house of another Simon, +in far away Galilee; but only the Anointed One +could feel the deep contrast between the two.</p> + +<p>That Simon, the proud Pharisee, condescending +and critical and scant in hospitality; this +Simon, the cleansed leper, ready to lay down his +life, in his boundless love and gratitude. That +woman, a penitent sinner, kneeling with tears +before His mercy; this woman, so pure in heart +that she could see God though hidden in the +human body of the Nazarene. That anointing, +to His priesthood at the beginning of His +ministry; this anointing, to His kingdom, now +almost at hand. No one spoke as the fragrance +rose and spread itself like the incense of +a benediction. It seemed a fitting close to this +hour of communion with the Master.</p> + +<p>Across this eloquent silence that the softest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +sound would have jarred upon, a cold, unfeeling +voice broke harshly.</p> + + + +<p>It was Judas Iscariot who spoke. "Why was +all this ointment wasted?" he asked. "It would +have been better to have sold it and given it +to the poor."</p> + +<p>Simon frowned indignantly at this low-browed +guest, who was so lacking in courtesy, and +Mary looked up distressed.</p> + +<p>"Let her alone!" said the Master, gently. +"Ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever +ye will, ye may do them good: but me +ye have not always. She hath done what she +could: she is come aforehand to anoint my +body to the burying."</p> + +<p>A dark look gleamed in the eyes of Judas,—there +was that reference again to His burial. +There seemed to be no use of making any further +pretence to follow Him any longer. His +kingdom was a delusion,—a vague, shadowy, +spiritual thing that the others might believe in +if they chose. But if there was no longer any +hope of gaining by His service, he would turn +to the other side.</p> + +<p>That night there was another secret council +of some of the Sanhedrin, and Judas Iscariot was +in their midst.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 405px;"> +<img src="images/i006.jpg" width="405" height="600" alt="skulking" /> +<span class="caption">"A DARK FIGURE WENT SKULKING OUT INTO THE NIGHT"</span> +</div> +<p>When the lights were out, and the Temple +police were making their final rounds, a dark +figure went skulking out into the night, and +wound its way through the narrow streets,—the +dark figure that still goes skulking through +the night of history,—the man who covenanted +for thirty pieces of silver to betray his Lord.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 125px;"> +<img src="images/drop_w_quote.png" width="125" height="101" alt="W" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />HO is that talking in the house?" +asked Joel of Abigail the morning +after the feast. He had been playing +in the garden with Jesse, and +paused just outside the door as he heard +voices.</div> + +<p>"Only father and Phineas, now," answered +Abigail. "Simon the oil-seller has just been +here, and I am sure you could not guess his +errand. It was about you."</p> + +<p>"About me?" echoed Joel, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I never knew until this morning that +you were the one who persuaded him to go to +the Master for healing. He says if it had not +been for you, he would still be an outcast from +home. During these weeks you have been +away, he has been hoping to find some trace of +you, for he longs to express his gratitude. Last +night at the feast, he learned your name, and +now he has just been here to talk to Phineas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> +and father about you. His olive groves yield +him a large fortune every year, and he is in a +position to do a great deal for you, if you will +only let him."</p> + +<p>"What does he want to do?" asked Joel.</p> + +<p>"He has offered a great deal: to send you to +the best schools in the country; to let you travel +in foreign lands, and see life as it is in Rome and +Athens and the cities of Egypt. Then when you +are grown, he offers to take you in business with +himself, and give you the portion of a son. It is +a rare chance for you, my boy."</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Joel, flushing with pleasure +at the thought of all he might be able to see and +learn. He seemed lost for a few minutes in the +bright anticipation of such a tempting future; +then his face clouded.</p> + +<p>"But I would have to leave everybody I love," +he cried, "and the home where I have been so +happy! I cannot do it, mother Abigail; it is +too much to ask."</p> + +<p>"Now you talk like a child," she answered, half +impatiently; but there was a suspicion of tears +in her eyes as she added, "Joel, you have grown +very dear to us. It will be hard to give you up, +for you seem almost like an own son. But consider, +my boy; it would not be right to turn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> +away from such advantages. Jesse and Ruth +will be well provided for. All that my father +has will be theirs some day. But Phineas is only +a poor carpenter, and cannot give you much beyond +food and clothing. I heard him say just +now that he clearly thought it to be your duty +to accept, and he had no doubt but that you +would."</p> + +<p>"But I cannot be with the Master!" cried +Joel, as the thought suddenly occurred to him +that he could no longer follow Him as he had +been doing, if he was to be sent away to study +and travel.</p> + +<p>"No; but think what you may be able to do +for His cause, if you have money and education +and influence. It seems to me that for His sake +alone, you ought to consent to such an arrangement."</p> + +<p>That was the argument that Phineas used when +he came out; and the boy was sadly bewildered +between the desire to be constantly with his beloved +Master, and his wish to serve Him as they +suggested.</p> + +<p>It was in this perplexed state of mind that he +started up to Jerusalem with Jesse and his grandfather.</p> + +<p>The streets were rapidly filling with people,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> +coming up to the Feast of the Passover, and Joel +recognized many old friends from Galilee.</p> + +<p>"There is Rabbi Amos!" he exclaimed, as he +caught sight of an old man in the door of a house +across the street. "May I run and speak to him?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly!" answered Reuben. "You know +your way so well about the streets that it makes +no difference if we do get separated. Jesse and I +will walk on down to the shop. You can meet us +there."</p> + +<p>Rabbi Amos gave Joel a cordial greeting. "I +am about to go back to the Damascus gate," he +said. "I have just been told that the Nazarene +will soon make His entrance into the city, and +a procession of pilgrims are going out to meet +Him. I have heard much of the man since He left +Capernaum, and I have a desire to see Him again. +Will you come?"</p> + +<p>The old man hobbled along so painfully, leaning +on his staff, that they were a long time in +reaching the gate. The outgoing procession had +already met the coming pilgrims, and were starting +to return. The way was strewn with palm +branches and the clothes they had taken off to +lay along the road in front of the man they +wished to honor. Every hand carried a palm +branch, and every voice cried a Hosannah.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span></p> + +<p>At first Joel saw only a confused waving of the +green branches, and heard an indistinct murmur +of voices; but as they came nearer, he caught +the words, "Hosannah to the Son of David!"</p> + +<p>"Look!" cried Rabbi Amos, laying his wrinkled, +shaking hand heavily on Joel's shoulder. +"Look ye, boy, the voice of prophecy! No +Roman war-horse bears the coming victor! It is +as Zechariah foretold! That the king should come +riding upon the colt of an ass,—the symbol of +peace. So David rode, and so the Judges of +Israel came and went!"</p> + +<p>Joel's eyes followed the gesture of the tremulous, +pointing finger. There came the Master, +right in the face of His enemies, boldly riding in +to take possession of His kingdom.</p> + +<p>At last! No wandering now in lonely wildernesses! +No fear of the jealous scribe or Pharisee! +The time had fully come. With garments strewn +in the way, with palms of victory waving before +Him, with psalm and song and the shouting of the +multitude, He rode triumphantly into the city.</p> + +<p>Joel was roused to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, +to see His best beloved friend so honored. +People understood Him now; they appreciated +Him. The demonstrations of the multitude proved +it. He was so happy and excited, he scarcely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> +knew what he was doing. He had no palm branch +to wave, but as the head of the procession came +abreast with him, and he saw the face of the rider, +he was almost beside himself.</p> + +<p>He waved his empty hands wildly up and down, +cheering at the top of his voice; but his shrillest +Hosannahs were heard only by himself. They +were only a drop in that mighty surf-beat of +sound.</p> + +<p>Scarcely knowing what to expect, yet prepared +for almost anything, they followed the procession +into the city. When they reached the porch of +the Temple, the Master had disappeared.</p> + +<p>"I wonder where He has gone," said Joel, in a +disappointed tone. "I thought they would surely +crown Him."</p> + +<p>"He evidently did not wish it to be," answered +Rabbi Amos. "It would be more fitting that the +coronation take place at the great feast. Wait +until the day of the Passover."</p> + +<p>As they sat in the Court of the Gentiles, resting, +Joel told Rabbi Amos of the offer made him +by the wealthy oil-dealer Simon.</p> + +<p>"Accept it, by all means!" was the old man's +advice. "We have seen enough just now to know +that a new day is about to dawn for Israel. In +Bethany, you will be much nearer the Master than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> +in Capernaum; for surely, after to-day's demonstration, +He will take up His residence in the capital. +In time you may rise to great influence in the +new government soon to be established."</p> + +<p>The old rabbi's opinion weighed heavily with +Joel, and he determined to accept Simon's offer. +Then for awhile he was so full of his new plans +and ambitions, he could think of nothing else.</p> + +<p>All that busy week he was separated from the +Master and His disciples; for it was the first Passover +he had ever taken part in. After it was over, +he was to break the ties that bound him to the +carpenter's family and the simple life in Galilee, +and go to live in Simon's luxurious home in +Bethany.</p> + +<p>So he stayed closely with Phineas and Abigail, +taking a great interest in all the great preparations +for the feast.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Reuben chose, from the countless pens, a male +lamb a year old, without blemish. About two +o'clock the blast of two horns announced that +the priests and Levites in the Temple were ready, +and the gates of the inner courts were opened, +that all might bring the lambs for examination.</p> + +<p>The priests, in two long rows, caught the blood +in great gold and silver vessels, as the animals were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> +killed, and passed it to others behind, till it reached +the altar, at the foot of which it was poured out.</p> + +<p>Then the lamb was taken up and roasted in an +earthen oven, and the feast commenced at sunset +on Thursday. The skin of the lamb, and the +earthen dishes used, were generally given to the +host, when different families lodged together.</p> + +<p>As many as twenty were allowed to gather at +one table. Reuben had invited Nathan ben Obed, +and those who came with him, to partake of his +hospitality. Much to Joel's delight, a familiar +shock of sunburned hair was poked in at the door, +and he recognized Buz's freckled face, round-eyed +and open mouthed at this first glimpse of +the great city.</p> + +<p>During the first hour they were together, Buz +kept his squinting eyes continually on Joel. He +found it hard to believe that this straight, sinewy +boy could be the same pitiful little cripple who +had gone with him to the sheepfolds of Nathan +ben Obed.</p> + +<p>"Say," he drawled, after awhile, "I know +where that fellow is who made you lame. I was +so upset at seeing you this way that I forgot to +tell you. He had a dreadful accident, and you +have already had your wish, for he is as blind as +that stone."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, how? Who told you?" cried Joel, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"I saw him myself, as we came through Jericho. +He had been nearly beaten to death by robbers +a few weeks before. It gave him a fever, and +both eyes were so inflamed and bruised that he +lost his sight."</p> + +<p>"Poor Rehum!" exclaimed Joel.</p> + +<p>"Poor Rehum!" echoed Buz, in astonishment. +"What do you mean by poor Rehum? Aren't +you glad? Isn't that just exactly what you +planned; or did you want the pleasure of +punching them out yourself?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered Joel, simply; "I forgave him +a year ago, the night before I was healed."</p> + +<p>"You forgave him!" gasped Buz,—"you forgave +him! A dog of a Samaritan! Why, how +could you?"</p> + +<p>Buz looked at him with such a wondering, puzzled +gaze that Joel did not attempt to explain. +Buz might be ignorant of a great many things, +but he knew enough to hate the Samaritans, and +look down on them with the utmost contempt.</p> + +<p>"I don't really believe you could understand it," +said Joel, "so it is of no use to try to tell you how +or why. But I did forgive him, fully and freely. +And if you will tell me just where to find him, +I will go after him early in the morning and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> +bring him back with me. The Hand that straightened +my back can open his eyes; for I have seen +it done many times."</p> + +<p>All during the feast, Buz kept stealing searching +glances at Joel. He could hardly tell which +surprised him most, the straightened body or +the forgiving spirit. It was so wonderful to him +that he sat speechless.</p> + +<p>At the same time, in an upper chamber in another +street, the Master and His disciples were +keeping the feast together. It was their last +supper with Him, although they knew it not. +Afterwards they recalled every word and every +incident, with loving memory that lingered over +each detail; but at the time they could not +understand its full import.</p> + +<p>The gates were left open on Passover night. +While the Master and His followers walked out +to the Garden of Gethsemane, where they had +often gone together, Joel was questioning Buz +as to the exact place where he was to find his old +enemy.</p> + +<p>"I'll go out very early in the morning," said +Joel, as his head touched the pillow. "Very +early in the morning, for I want Rehum's eyes +to be open just as soon as possible, so that he +can see the Master's face. Lord help me to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> +find him to-morrow," he whispered, and with a +blessing on his lips for the one he had so long ago +forgiven, his eyes closed softly.</p> + +<p>Sleep came quickly to him after the fatigue and +excitement of the day. In his dreams he saw +again the Master's face as He made His triumphal +entrance into the city; he heard again the acclamations +of the crowd. Then he saw Rabbi +Amos and Simon and little Ruth. There was a +confused blending of kindly faces; there was a +shadow-like shifting of indistinct but pleasant +scenes. In the fair dreamland where he wandered, +fortune smiled on him, and all his paths +were peace.</p> + +<p>Sleep on, little disciple, happy in thy dreaming; +out in Gethsemane's dark garden steals +one to betray thy Lord! By the light of glimmering +lanterns and fitful torches they take Him +now. Armed with swords and staves, they lead +Him out from the leafy darkness into the moon-flooded +highroad.</p> + +<p>Now He stands before the High Priest,—alone, +unfriended. Sleep, and wake not at the cock's +shrill crowing, for there is none to make answer +for Him, and one who loved Him hath thrice +denied!</p> + +<p>Dream on! In the hall of Pilate now, thorn-crowned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> +and purple-clad, Him whom thou lovest; +scourged now, and spat upon. This day, indeed, +shall He come into His kingdom, but well for thee, +that thou seest not the coronation.</p> + +<p>Sleep on, little disciple, be happy whilst thou +can!</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 101px;"> +<img src="images/drop_i.png" width="101" height="103" alt="I" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />T was so much later than he had +intended, when Joel awoke next +morning, that without stopping for +anything to eat, he hurried out of the +city, and took the road by which the Master had +made such a triumphal entry a few days before.</div> + +<p>Faded branches of palms still lay scattered by +the wayside, thickly covered with dust.</p> + +<p>All unconscious of what had happened the night +before, and what was even at that very moment +taking place, Joel trudged on to Bethany at a +rapid pace, light-hearted and happy.</p> + +<p>For six days he had been among enthusiastic +Galileans who firmly believed that before the +end of Passover week they should see the overthrow +of Rome, and all nations lying at the feet +of a Jewish king. How long they had dreamed +of this hour!</p> + +<p>He turned to look back at the city. The white +and gold of the Temple dazzled his eyes, as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> +threw back the rays of the morning sun. He +thought of himself as he had stood that day on the +roof of the carpenter's house, stretching out longing +arms to this holy place, and calling down +curses on the head of his enemy, Rehum.</p> + +<p>Could he be the same boy? It seemed to him +now that that poor, crippled body, that bitter +hatred, that burning thirst for revenge, must +have belonged to some one else, he felt so well, +so strong, so full of love to God and all mankind.</p> + +<p>A little broken-winged sparrow fluttered feebly +under a hedgerow. He stopped to gather a +handful of ripe berries for it, and even retraced +his steps to a tiny spring he had noticed farther +back, to bring it water in the hollow of a smooth +stone.</p> + +<p>He did not find Rehum at the place where Buz +had told him to inquire. His father had taken +him to his home, somewhere in Samaria.</p> + +<p>Joel turned back, tired and disappointed. He +was glad to lie down, when he reached Bethany +again, and rest awhile. A peculiar darkness began +to settle down over the earth. Joel was +perplexed and frightened; he knew it could not +be an eclipse, for it was the time of the full moon. +Finally he started back to Jerusalem, although +it was like travelling in the night, for the darkness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> +had deepened and deepened for nearly three +hours, and the mysterious gloom made him long +to be with his friends.</p> + +<p>His first thought was to find the Master, and +he naturally turned toward the Temple. Just as +he started across the Porch of Solomon, the darkness +was lifted, and everything seemed to dance +before his eyes. He had never experienced an +earthquake shock before, but he felt sure that +this was one.</p> + +<p>He braced himself against one of the pillars. +How the massive columns quivered! How the +hot air throbbed! The darkness had been awful, +but this was doubly terrifying.</p> + +<p>The earth had scarcely stopped trembling, when +an old white-bearded priest ran across the Court +of the Gentiles; his wrinkled hands, raised above +his head, shook as with palsy. The scream that +he uttered seemed to transfix Joel with horror.</p> + +<p>"<i>The veil of the Temple is rent in twain!</i>" he cried,—"<i>The +veil of the Temple is rent in twain!</i>"</p> + +<p>Then with a convulsive shudder he fell forward +on his face. Joel's knees shook. The darkness, +the earthquake, and now this mighty force that +had laid bare the Holy of Holies, filled him with +an undefined dread.</p> + +<p>He ran past the prostrate priest into the inner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> +court, and saw for himself. There hung the +heavy curtain of Babylonian tapestry, in all its +glory of hyacinth and scarlet and purple, torn +asunder from top to bottom. No earthquake +shock could have made that ragged gash. The +wrath of God must have come down and laid +mighty fingers upon it.</p> + +<p>He ran out of the Temple, and towards the +house where he had slept the night before.</p> + +<p>The earthquake seemed to have shaken all +Jerusalem into the streets. Strange words were +afloat. A question overheard in passing one +excited group, an exclamation in another, made +him run the faster.</p> + +<p>At Reuben's shop he found Jesse and Ruth +both crying from fright. The attendant who had +them in charge told him that his friends had been +gone nearly all day.</p> + +<p>"Where?" demanded Joel.</p> + +<p>"I do not know exactly. They went out with +one of the greatest multitudes that ever passed +through the gates of the city. Not only Jews, +but Greeks and Romans and Egyptians. You +should have seen the camels and the chariots, the +chairs and the litters!" exclaimed the man.</p> + +<p>A sudden fear fell upon the boy that this was +the day that the One he loved best had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> +made king, and he had missed it,—had missed +the greatest opportunity of his life.</p> + +<p>"Was it to follow Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth?" +he demanded eagerly.</p> + +<p>The man nodded.</p> + +<p>"To crown Him?" was the next breathless +question.</p> + +<p>"No; to crucify Him."</p> + +<p>The unexpected answer was almost a death-thrust. +Joel stood a moment, dumb with horror. +The blood seemed to stand still in his veins; there +was a roaring in his ears; then everything grew +black before him. He clutched blindly at the +air, then staggered back against the wall.</p> + +<p>"No, <i>no</i>, <i>no</i>, NO!" he cried; each word was +louder than the last. "I will not believe it! You +do not speak truth!"</p> + +<p>He ran madly from the shop, down the street, +and through the city gate. Out on the highway +he met the returning multitude, most of them in +as great haste as he.</p> + +<p>Everything he saw seemed to confirm the truth +of what he had just heard, but he could not believe +it.</p> + +<p>"No, no, no!" he gasped, in a breathless whisper, +as he ran. "No, no, no! It cannot be! He +is the Christ! The Son of God! They could not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> +be able to do it, no matter how much they hated +Him!"</p> + +<p>But even as he ran he saw the hill where +three crosses rose. He turned sick and cold, +and so weak he could scarcely stand. Still he +stumbled resolutely on, but with his face turned +away from the sight he dared not look upon, lest +seeing should be knowing what he feared.</p> + +<p>At last he reached the place, and, shrinking +back as if from an expected blow, he slowly raised +his eyes till they rested on the face of the dead +body hanging there.</p> + +<p>The agonized shriek on his lips died half uttered, +as he fell unconscious at the foot of the cross.</p> + +<p>A long time after, one of the soldiers happening +to notice him, turned him over with his foot, +and prodded him sharply with his spear. It +partially aroused him, and in a few moments he +sat up. Then he looked up again into the white +face above him; but this time the bowed head +awed him into a deep calm.</p> + +<p>The veil of the Temple was rent indeed, and +through this pierced body there shone out from +its Holy of Holies the Shekinah of God's love +for a dying world. It uplifted Joel, and drew +him, and drew him, till he seemed to catch a +faint glimpse of the Father's face; to feel himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> +folded in boundless pardon, in pity so deep, +and a love so unfathomed, that the lowest sinner +could find a share. But while he gazed and +gazed into the white face, so glorified in its +marble stillness, Joseph of Arimathea stood between +him and the cross, giving directions, in a +low tone, for the removal of the body.</p> + +<p>It seemed to waken Joel out of his trance; and +when the bloodstained form was stretched gently +on the ground, he forgot his glimpse of heavenly +mysteries, he saw no longer the uplifted Christ. +He saw instead, the tortured body of the man he +loved; the friend for whom he would gladly +have given his life.</p> + +<p>Almost blinded by the rush of tears, he groped +his way on his knees toward it. A mantle of +fine white linen had been laid over the lifeless +body; but one hand lay stretched out beside +Him with a great bloody nail-hole through the +palm,—it was the hand that had healed him; +the hand that had fed the hungry multitudes; the +hand that had been laid in blessing on the heads +of little children, waiting by the roadside! With +the thought of all it had done for him, with the +thought of all it had done for all the countless ones +its warm, loving touch had comforted, came the +remembrance of the torture it had just suffered.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> +Joel lay down beside it with a heart-broken +moan.</p> + +<p>Men came and lifted the body in its spotless +covering. Joel did not look up to see who bore +it away.</p> + +<p>The lifeless hand still hung down uncovered at +His side. With his eyes fixed on that, Joel +followed, longing to press it to his lips with +burning kisses; but he dared not so much as +touch it with trembling fingers,—a sense of +his unworthiness forbade.</p> + +<p>As the silent procession went onward, Joel +found himself walking beside Abigail. She had +pushed her veil aside that she might better see +the still form borne before them; she had stood +near by through all those hours of suffering. +Her wan face and swollen eyes showed how the +force of her sympathy and grief had worn upon +her.</p> + +<p>Joel glanced around for Phineas. He was one +of those who walked before with the motionless +burden, his strong brown hands tenderly supporting +the Master's pierced feet; his face was +as rigid as stone, and seemed to Joel to have +grown years older since the night before.</p> + +<p>Another swift rush of tears blinded Joel, as he +looked at the set, despairing face, and then at +what he carried.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span></p> + +<p>O friend of Phineas! O feet that often ran to +meet him on the grassy hillsides of Nazareth, +that walked beside him at his daily toil, and led +him to a nobler living!—Thou hast climbed the +mountain of Beatitudes! Thou hast walked the +wind-swept waters of the Galilee! But not of +this is he thinking now. It is of Thy life's unselfish +pilgrimage; of the dust and travel stains +of the feet he bears; of the many steps, taken +never for self, always for others; of the cure and +the comfort they have daily carried; of the great +love that hath made their very passing by to be +a benediction.</p> + +<p>It seemed strange to Joel that, in the midst of +such overpowering sorrow, trivial little things +could claim his attention. Years afterward he +remembered just how the long streaks of yellow +sunshine stole under the trees of the garden; +he could hear the whirr of grasshoppers, jumping +up in the path ahead of them; he could +smell the heavy odor of lilies growing beside an +old tomb.</p> + +<p>The sorrowful little group wound its way to a +part of the garden where a new tomb had been +hewn out of the rock; here Joseph of Arimathea +motioned them to stop. They laid the open bier +gently on the ground, and Joel watched them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> +with dry eyes but trembling lips, as they noiselessly +prepared the body for its hurried burial.</p> + +<p>From time to time as they wound the bands of +white linen, powdered with myrrh and aloes, +they glanced up nervously at the sinking sun. +The Sabbath eve was almost upon them, and the +old slavish fear of the Law made them hasten. +A low stifled moaning rose from the lips of the +women, as the One they had followed so long +was lifted up, and borne forever out of their +sight, through the low doorway of the tomb.</p> + +<p>Strong hands rolled the massive stone in place +that barred the narrow opening. Then all was +over; there was nothing more that could be done.</p> + +<p>The desolate mourners sat down on the grass +outside the tomb, to watch and weep and wait +over a dead hope and a lost cause.</p> + +<p>A deep stillness settled over the garden as +they lingered there in the gathering twilight. +They grew calm after awhile, and began to talk +in low tones of the awful events of the day just +dying.</p> + +<p>Gradually, Joel learned all that had taken place. +As he heard the story of the shame and abuse +and torture that had been heaped upon the One +he loved better than all the world, his face grew +white with horror and indignation.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, wasn't there <i>one</i> to stand up for Him?" +he cried, with clasped hands and streaming eyes. +"Wasn't there <i>one</i> to speak a word in His defence? +O my Beloved!" he moaned. "Out +of all the thousands Thou didst heal, out of all +the multitudes Thou didst bless, not one to bear +witness!"</p> + +<p>He rocked himself to and fro on his knees, +wringing his hands as if the thought brought +him unspeakable anguish.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if I had only been there!" he moaned. +"If I could only have stood up beside Him and +told what He had done for me! O my God! +My God! How can I bear it? To think He +went to His death without a friend and without +a follower, when I loved Him so! All alone! +Not one to speak for Him, not one!"</p> + +<p>Groping with tear-blinded eyes towards the +tomb, the boy stretched his arms lovingly around +the great stone that stopped its entrance; then +suddenly realizing that he could never go any +closer to the One inside, never see Him again, he +leaned his head hopelessly against the rock, and +gave way to his feeling of utter loneliness and +despair.</p> + +<p>How long he stood there, he did not know. +When he looked up again, the women had gone,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> +and it was nearly dark. Phineas and several +other men lingered in the black shadows of the +trees, and Joel joined them.</p> + +<p>Roman guards came presently. A stout cord +was stretched across the stone, its ends firmly +fastened, and sealed with the seal of Cæsar. A +watch-fire was kindled near by; then the Roman +sentinels began their steady tramp! tramp! as +they paced back and forth.</p> + +<p>High overhead the stars began to set their +countless watch-fires in the heavens; then the +white full moon of the Passover looked down, and +all night long kept its silent vigil over the forsaken +tomb of the sleeping Christ.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Abigail had found shelter for the night with +friends, in a tent just outside the city; but Joel +and Phineas took their way back to Bethany.</p> + +<p>Little was said as they trudged along in the +moonlight. Joel thought only of one thing,—his +great loss, the love of which he had been +bereft. But to Phineas this death meant much +more than the separation from the best of friends; +it meant the death of a cause on which he had +staked his all. He must go back to Galilee to +be the laughing-stock of his old neighbors. He +who they trusted would have saved Israel had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> +been put to death as a felon,—crucified between +two thieves! The cause was lost; he was left +to face an utter failure.</p> + +<p>When the moon went down that morning over +the hills of Judea, there were many hearts that +mourned the Man of Nazareth, but not a soul in +all the universe believed on Him as the Son of +God.</p> + +<p>Hope lay dead in the tomb of Joseph, with a +great stone forever walling it in.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 125px;"> +<img src="images/drop_w_quote.png" width="125" height="101" alt="W" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />AKE up, Joel! Wake up! I bring +you good tidings, my lad!" It was +Abigail's voice ringing cheerily +through the court-yard, as she bent +over the boy, fast asleep on the hard stones.</div> + +<p>All the long Sabbath day after the burial, he +had sat listlessly in the shady court-yard, his +blank gaze fixed on the opposite wall. No one +seemed able to arouse him from his apathy. He +turned away from the food they brought him, +and refused to enter the house when night came.</p> + +<p>Towards morning he had gone over to the +fountain for a long draught of its cool water; +then overcome by weakness from his continued +fast, and exhausted by grief, he fell asleep on +the pavement.</p> + +<p>Abigail came in and found him there, with the +red morning sun beating full in his face. She +had to shake him several times before she could +make him open his eyes.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span></p> + +<p>He sat up dizzily, and tried to collect his +thoughts. Then he remembered, and laid his +head wearily down again, with a groan.</p> + +<p>"Wake up! Wake up!" she insisted, with +such eager gladness in her voice that Joel +opened his eyes again, now fully aroused.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" he asked indifferently.</p> + +<p>"<i>He is risen!</i>" she exclaimed joyfully, clasping +her hands as she always did when much excited. +"I went to His tomb very early in the morning, +while it was yet dark, with Mary and +Salome and some other women. The stone had +been rolled aside; and while we wondered and +wept, fearing His enemies had stolen Him away, +He stood before us, with His old greeting on His +lips,—'All hail!'"</p> + +<p>Joel rubbed his eyes and looked at her. "No, +no!" he said wearily, "I am dreaming again!"</p> + +<p>He would have thrown himself on the ground +as before, his head pillowed on his arm, but she +would not let him. She shook his hands with a +persistence that could not be refused, talking to +him all the while in such a glad eager voice +that he slowly began to realize that something +had made her very happy.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Mother Abigail?" he asked, +much puzzled.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I do not wonder you are bewildered," she +cried. "It is such blessed, such wonderful +news. Why He is <i>alive</i>, Joel, He whom Thou +lovest! Try to understand it, my boy! I have +just now come from the empty tomb. I saw +Him! I spoke with Him! I knelt at His feet +and worshipped!"</p> + +<p>By this time all the family had come out. +Reuben looked at his daughter pityingly, as she +repeated her news; then he turned to Phineas.</p> + +<p>"Poor thing!" he said, in a low tone. "She +has witnessed such terrible scenes lately, and +received such a severe shock, that her mind is +affected by it. She does not know what she is +saying. Did not you yourself help prepare the +body for burial, and put it in the tomb?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Phineas, "and helped close +it with a great stone, which no one man could +possibly move by himself. And I saw it sealed +with the seal of Cæsar; and when I left it was +guarded by Roman sentinels in armor. No man +could have opened it."</p> + +<p>"But Abigail talks of angels who sat in the +empty tomb, and who told them He had risen," +replied her father.</p> + +<p>Joel, who had overheard this low-toned conversation, +got up and stood close beside them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> +He had begun to tremble from weakness and +excitement.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 394px;"> +<img src="images/i007.jpg" width="394" height="600" alt="Pointing at the moved stone" /> +<span class="caption">"'THE STONE IS GONE!'"</span> +</div> + +<p>"Father Phineas," he asked, "do you remember +the story we heard from the old shepherd, +Heber? The angels told of His birth; +maybe she <i>did</i> see them in His tomb."</p> + +<p>"How can such things be?" queried Reuben, +stroking his beard in perplexity.</p> + +<p>"That's just what you said when Rabbi +Lazarus was brought back to life," piped Jesse's +shrill voice, quite unexpectedly, at his grandfather's +elbow. He had not lost a word of the +conversation. "Why don't you go and see for +yourself if the tomb is empty?"</p> + +<p>Abigail had gone into the house with her +mother, and now the summons to breakfast +greeted them. She saw she could not convince +them of the truth of her story, so she said no +more about it; but her happy face was more +eloquent than words.</p> + +<p>All day snatches of song kept rising to her +lips,—old psalms of thanksgiving, and half whispered +hallelujahs. At last Joel and Phineas were +both so much affected by her continued cheerfulness, +that they began to believe there must be +some great cause for it.</p> + +<p>Finally, in the waning afternoon, they took<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> +the road that led from Bethany to the garden +where they firmly believed that the Master still +lay buried.</p> + +<p>As they came in sight of the tomb, Joel +clutched Phineas by the arm, and pointed, with +a shaking finger, to the dark opening ahead of +of them.</p> + +<p>"See!" he said, pointing into its yawning +darkness. "She was right! The stone is gone!"</p> + +<p>It was some time before they could muster +up courage to go nearer and look into the +sepulchre. When at last they did so, neither +spoke a word, but, after one startled look into +each other's eyes, turned and left the garden.</p> + +<p>It was growing dark as they hurried along +the highway homeward. Two men came half +running towards the city, in great haste to reach +the gates before they should be closed for the +night. They were two disciples well known to +Phineas.</p> + +<p>He stopped them with the question that was +uppermost in his mind.</p> + +<p>"Yes, He is risen," answered one of the men, +breathlessly. "We have seen Him. Hosanna +to the Highest! He walked along this road +with us as we went to Emmaus."</p> + +<p>"Ah, how our hearts burned as He talked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> +with us by the way!" interrupted the other +man.</p> + +<p>"Only this hour He sat at meat with us," cried +the first speaker. "He broke bread with us, and +blessed it as He always used to do. We are +running back to the city now to tell the other +disciples."</p> + +<p>Phineas would have laid a detaining hand on +them, but they hurried on, and left him standing +in the road, looking wistfully after them.</p> + +<p>"It must be true," said Joel, "or they could +not have been so nearly wild with joy."</p> + +<p>Phineas sadly shook his head. "I wish I +could think so," he sighed.</p> + +<p>"Let us go home," urged Abigail, the next day, +"the Master has bidden His brethren meet Him +in Galilee. Let us go. There is hope of seeing +Him again in our old home!"</p> + +<p>Joel, now nearly convinced of the truth of +her belief, was also anxious to go. But Phineas +lingered; his plodding mind was slower to +grasp such thoughts than the sensitive woman's +or the imaginative boy's. One after another he +sought out Peter and James and John, and the +other disciples who had seen the risen Master, +and questioned them closely. Still he tarried +for another week.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span></p> + +<p>One morning he met Thomas, whose doubts +all along had strengthened his own. He ran +against him in the crowded street in Jerusalem. +Thomas seized his arm, and, turning, walked +beside him a few paces.</p> + +<p>"<i>It is true!</i>" he said, in a low intense tone, +with his lips close to his ear. "I saw Him myself +last night; I held His hands in mine! I +touched the side the spear had pierced! He +called me by name; and I know now beyond all +doubt that the Master has risen from the dead, +and that He is the Son of God!"</p> + +<p>After that, Phineas no longer objected when +it was proposed that they should go back to +Galilee. The story of the resurrection was too +great for him to grasp entirely, still he could not +put aside such a weight of evidence that came +to him from friends whose word he had always +implicitly trusted.</p> + +<p>The roads were still full of pilgrims returning +from the Passover. As Phineas journeyed on +with his little family, he fell in with the sons of +Jonah and Zebedee, going back to their nets +and their fishing-boats.</p> + +<p>The order of procession was constantly shifting, +and one morning Joel found himself walking +beside John, one of the chosen twelve, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> +seemed to have understood his Master better +than any of the others.</p> + +<p>The man seemed wrapped in deep thought, +and took no notice of his companion, till Joel +timidly touched his sleeve.</p> + +<p>"Do <i>you</i> believe it is true?" the boy asked.</p> + +<p>There was no surprise in the man's face at the +abrupt question, he felt, without asking, what +Joel meant. A reassuring smile lighted up his +face as he laid his hand kindly on Joel's +shoulder.</p> + +<p>"I know it, my lad; I have been with Him." +The quiet positiveness with which he spoke +seemed to destroy Joel's last doubt.</p> + +<p>"Many things that He said to us come back +to me very clearly; and I see now He was trying +to prepare us for this."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about them," begged Joel, "and about +those last hours He was with you. Oh, if I could +only have been with Him, too!"</p> + +<p>John saw the tears gathering in the boy's eyes, +heard the tremble in his voice, and felt a thrill of +sympathy as he recognized a kindred love in the +little fellow's heart.</p> + +<p>So he told Joel of the last supper they had +taken together, of the hymn they had sung, and +of the watch they had failed to keep, when He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> +took them with Him into the garden of Gethsemane. +All the little incidents connected with +those last solemn hours, he repeated carefully to +the listening boy.</p> + +<p>From time to time Joel brushed his hand +across his eyes; but a deep calm fell over him +as John's voice went on, slowly repeating the +words the Master had comforted them with.</p> + +<p>"Let not your hearts be troubled: ye believe +in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house +are many mansions.... I go to prepare a place +for you. I will come again, and receive you +unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be +also.... If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because +I said, I go unto the Father.... These +things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye +might have peace. In the world ye shall have +tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome +the world."</p> + +<p>Joel made an exclamation as if about to speak, +and then stopped. "What is it?" asked John.</p> + +<p>"How could He mean that He has overcome +the world? Cæsar still rules, and Jerusalem is +full of His enemies. I can't forget that they +killed Him, even if He has risen."</p> + +<p>John stooped to tie his sandal before he answered.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I have been fitting together different things +He told us; and I begin to see how blind we were. +Once He called Himself the Good Shepherd who +would give his life for his sheep, and said, 'Therefore +doth my Father love me, because I lay down +my life that I might take it again. No man +taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. +I have power to lay it down, and I have power to +take it again.'"</p> + +<p>They walked on in silence a few paces, then +John asked abruptly, "Do you remember about +the children of Israel being so badly bitten by +serpents in the wilderness, and how Moses was +commanded to set up a brazen serpent in their +midst?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed!" answered Joel. "All who +looked up at it were saved; but those who would +not died from the poisonous bites."</p> + +<p>"One night," continued John, "a learned man +by the name of Nicodemus, one of the rulers, +came to the Master with many questions. And +I remember one of the answers He gave him. +'As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, +even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, +that whosoever believeth in Him should not +perish, but have everlasting life.' We did not +understand Him then at all. Not till I saw Him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> +lifted up on the cruel cross, did I begin to dimly +see what He meant."</p> + +<p>A light broke over Joel's face as he remembered +the vision he had had that day, kneeling at +the foot of the cross; then he stopped still in +the road, with his hands clasped in dismay. There +suddenly seemed to rise before him the scenes of +daily sacrifice in the Temple, when the blood of +innocent lambs flowed over the altar; then he +thought of the great Day of Atonement, when +the poor scape-goat was driven away to its death, +laden with the sins of the people.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that must be what Isaiah meant!" he +cried in distress. "'He was brought as a lamb +to the slaughter!' Oh, can it be possible that +'the Lord hath laid on <i>Him</i> the iniquity of us all'? +What an awful sacrifice!"</p> + +<p>The tears streamed down his face as the thought +came over him with overwhelming conviction, +that it was for <i>him</i> that the man he loved so had +endured all the horrible suffering of death by +crucifixion.</p> + +<p>"Why did such a thing have to be?" he asked, +looking up appealingly at his companion.</p> + +<p>John looked out and up, as if he saw far beyond +the narrow, hill-bound horizon, and quoted +softly: "<i>For God so loved the world, that He gave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> +His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him +should not perish, but have everlasting life.</i>"</p> + +<p>Just as the feeling had come to him that +morning by the Galilee, and again as he gazed +and gazed into the white face on the cross, Joel +seemed to feel again the love of the Father, as it +took him close into its infinite keeping.</p> + +<p>"'Greater love hath no man than this,'" quoted +John again, "'that a man lay down his life for +his friends.' He is the propitiation for our sins; +and not ours only, but also for the sins of the +whole world."</p> + +<p>It was hard for the child to understand this at +first; but this gentle disciple who walked beside +him had walked long beside the Master, and in the +Master's own way and words taught Joel life's +greatest lesson.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 103px;"> +<img src="images/drop_t.png" width="103" height="100" alt="T" /> +</div><div class='unindent'><br />HEY went back to their simple lives +again,—those hardy fishermen, the +busy carpenter, and the boy. Phineas +was silent and grave. For him, hope +still lay dead in that garden tomb near Golgotha; +but Joel sang as he worked.</div> + +<p>The appointed time was nearing when the +Master was to meet them on the mountain. As +often as he could, Joel stole away from the moody +man at the work-bench, and went down to the +beach for more cheerful companionship.</p> + +<p>One morning, seeing a fishing-boat that he +recognized pulling in quickly to shore, he ran +down to see what luck his friends had had during +the night.</p> + +<p>He held up his hands in astonishment at the +great haul of fish the boat held.</p> + +<p>"We have been with the Master," explained +one of the men. "We toiled all night, and took +nothing till we met Him."</p> + +<p>Joel listened eagerly while they told him of +that meeting in the early dawn, and of the meal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> +they ate together, while the sun came up over +the Galilee, and the blue waves whispered their +gladness to the beach, as they heard the Master's +voice once more.</p> + +<p>"Oh, to think that He is in Galilee again!" +exclaimed Joel. That thought added purpose +and meaning to each new day. Every morning +he woke with the feeling, "Maybe I shall see +Him before the sun goes down." Every night +he went to sleep saying, "He is somewhere near! +No telling how soon I may be with Him!"</p> + +<p>When the day came on which they were to go +to the mountain, Joel was up very early in the +morning. He bathed and dressed himself with +the care of a priest about to enter the inner courts +on some holy errand.</p> + +<p>When he started to the mountain, Abigail +noticed that he wore his finest headdress of white +linen. His tunic was spotless, and, from the corners +of his brown and white striped mantle, the +blue fringes that the Law prescribed hung smooth +as silk.</p> + +<p>He did not wait for Phineas or any of his +friends. Long before the time, he had climbed +the rocky path, and was sitting all alone in the +deep shadowed stillness.</p> + +<p>The snapping of a twig startled him; the falling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> +of a leaf made him look up hopefully. Any +minute the Master might come.</p> + +<p>His heart beat so loud it seemed to him that +the wood-birds overhead must surely hear it, and +be frightened away.</p> + +<p>Imagine that scene, you who can,—you who +have just seen the earth close over your best-beloved; +who have awakened in the lonely +night, with that sudden sickening remembrance +of loss; who have longed, with a longing like a +constant ache, for the voice and the smile and +the footstep that have slipped hopelessly beyond +recall.</p> + +<p>Think of what it would mean, if you knew now, +beyond doubt, that all that you had loved and +lost would be given back to you before the passing +of another hour!</p> + +<p>So Joel waited, restless, burning, all in a quiver +of expectancy.</p> + +<p>Steps began to wind around the base of the +mountain. One familiar face after another came +in sight, then strange ones, until, by and by, +five hundred people had gathered there, and +were sitting in reverent, unbroken silence. The +soft summer wind barely stirred the leaves; even +the twitter of nestlings overhead was hushed.</p> + +<p>After awhile, thrilled by some unseen influence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> +as a field of grain is swayed by the passing wind, +they bowed their heads. The Master stood before +them, His hands outspread in blessing.</p> + +<p>Joel started forward with a wild desire to throw +himself at His feet, and put his arms around them; +but a majesty he had never seen before in that +gentle face restrained him.</p> + +<p>He listened to the voice as it rose and fell with +all its old winning tenderness. As you would +listen could the dead lips you love move again; +as you would greedily snatch up every word, +and hide it in your heart of hearts, so Joel +listened.</p> + +<p>"I go to prepare a place for you. I will come +again and receive you unto myself, that where I +am there ye may be also.... Peace I leave +with you.... Not as the world giveth, give +I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, +neither let it be afraid."</p> + +<p>As the beloved voice went on, promising the +Comforter that should come when He was gone, +all the dread and pain of the coming separation +seemed to be lost.</p> + +<p>Boy though he was, Joel looked down the +years of his life feeling it was only a fleeting +shadow, compared with the eternal companionship +just promised him.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span></p> + +<p>He would make no moan; he would utter no +complaint: but he would take up his life's little +day, and bear it after the Master,—a cup of +loving service,—into that upper kingdom where +there was a place prepared for him.</p> + +<p>It was all over so soon. They were left alone +on the mountain-side again, with only the sunshine +flickering through the leaves, and the wood-birds +just beginning to trill to each other once +more. But the warm air seemed to still throb with +the last words He had spoken: "Lo, I am with +you alway, even unto the end of the world."</p> + +<p>Phineas came down the mountain with his face +all ashine; at last his eyes had been opened.</p> + +<p>"He and the Father are one!" he exclaimed +to the man walking beside him. "That voice is +the same that spake from the midst of the burning +bush, and from the summit of Sinai. All +these years I have followed the Master, I believed +Him to be a perfect man and a great +prophet; I believed Him to be 'the rod out of +the stem of Jesse' who through Jehovah's hand +was to redeem Israel, even as the rod in Aaron's +hand smote the floods and made a pathway for +our people.</p> + +<p>"When I saw Him put to death as a felon, all +hope died within me; even to-day I came out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> +here unbelieving. I could not think that I should +see Him. How blind we have been all these years! +God with us in the flesh, and we did not know +Him!"</p> + +<p>Joel walked on behind the two, sharing their +feeling of exaltation. As they came down into +the valley and entered Capernaum, the work-a-day +sights and noises seemed to jar on their senses, +in this uplifted mood.</p> + +<p>A man standing in an open doorway accosted +Phineas, and asked when he could commence +work on the house he had talked to him about +building.</p> + +<p>Phineas hesitated, and looked down at the +ground, as if studying some difficult problem. In +a few minutes he raised his eyes with a look of +decision.</p> + +<p>"I cannot build it for you at all," he answered.</p> + +<p>"Not build it!" echoed the man. "I thought +you were anxious for the job."</p> + +<p>"So I was," answered the carpenter; "but +when I asked for it, I had no belief that the +Master could rise from the dead. Just now, on +the mountain yonder, I have been with Him. +His command is still ringing in my ears: 'Go ye +into all the world, and preach the gospel to every +creature!'</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Henceforth I give my life to Him, even as He +gave His to me. My days are now half spent, +but every remaining one shall be used to proclaim, +as far and wide as possible, that the risen +Christ is the Son of God!"</p> + +<p>The man was startled as he looked at Phineas; +such a fire of love and purpose seemed to illuminate +his earnest face that it was completely +transformed.</p> + +<p>"Even now," exclaimed Phineas, "will I commence +my mission. You are the first one I have +met, and I must tell to you this glad new gospel. +He died for you! 'God so loved the world, that +He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever +believeth in Him should not perish, but have +everlasting life!' O my friend, if you could +only believe that as I believe it!"</p> + +<p>The man shrank back into the doorway, +strangely moved by the passionate force of his +earnestness.</p> + +<p>"I must go up to Jerusalem," continued +Phineas, "and wait till power is given us from +on high; then I can more clearly see my way. I +do not know whether I shall be directed to go into +other lands, or to come back here to carry the +news to my old neighbors. But it matters not +which path is pointed out, the mission has been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> +already given,—to tell the message to every +creature my voice can reach."</p> + +<p>"And you?" asked the man, pointing to the +companion of Phineas.</p> + +<p>"I, too, received the command," was the +answer, "and I, too, am ready to go to the world's +end, if need be!"</p> + +<p>"Surely there must be truth in what you say," +muttered the man. Then his glance fell on Joel. +"You, too?" he questioned.</p> + +<p>"Nay, he is but a lad," answered Phineas, +before Joel could find words to answer him. +"Come! we must hasten home."</p> + +<p>Joel talked little during the next few days, and +stole away often to think by himself, in the quiet +little upper chamber on the roof.</p> + +<p>Phineas was making his preparations to go back +to Jerusalem; and he urged the boy to go back +with him, and accept Simon's offer. Abigail, too, +added her persuasions to his; and even old Rabbi +Amos came down one day, and sat for an hour +under the fig-trees, painting in glowing colors the +life that might be his for the choosing.</p> + +<p>It was a very alluring prospect; it had been +the dream of his life to travel in far countries. +He pictured himself surrounded by wealth and +culture; he would be able to do so much for his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> +old friends. He could give back to Jesse and +Ruth a hundred fold, what had been bestowed on +him; and the poor—how much he could help +them, when he received a son's portion from the +wealthy Simon! O the hearts he could make +glad, all up and down the land!</p> + +<p>The old day-dreams he used to delight in danced +temptingly before him. As he stood idly beside +the work-bench one afternoon, thinking of such a +future, a soft step behind him made him turn. +The hammer fell from his hand to the grass, as he +saw the woman who came timidly to meet him.</p> + +<p>"Why, Aunt Leah!" he cried. "What brought +<i>you</i> here?"</p> + +<p>He had not seen her since the night his Uncle +Laban had driven him from home.</p> + +<p>She drew aside her veil, and looked at him. +"I heard you had been healed," she said, "and I +have always wanted to come and see you, and +tell you how glad I am; but my husband forbade +it. Child!" she cried abruptly, "how much +you look like your father! The likeness is +startling!"</p> + +<p>The discovery seemed to make her forget what +she had come to say, and she stood and stared at +him; then she remembered. "Rabbi Amos +told me of the offer you have had from a rich<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> +merchant in Bethany, and I came down here, +secretly, to beg you to accept it. In your +father's name I beg you!"</p> + +<p>Joel looked perplexed. "I hardly know what +to do," he said. "Every one advises me just as +you do; but I feel that they are all wrong. +Surely the Master meant me as well as father +Phineas and the others, when He charged us to +go and preach the gospel to every creature."</p> + +<p>A sudden interest came into the woman's face; +she took a step forward. "Joel, did <i>you</i> see Him +after He was risen?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," he answered.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I believe then that He is the Christ!" +she cried. "I have thought all the time that it +might be so, and the children are so sure of +it."</p> + +<p>"And Uncle Laban?" questioned Joel.</p> + +<p>She shook her head sadly. "He grows more +bitterly opposed every day."</p> + +<p>"Aunt Leah," he asked, coming back to the +first question, "don't you think He must have +meant me as well as those men?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, hardly," she said, hesitatingly, "you are +so young, and there are so many others to do +it; it would surely be better for you to go to +Bethany."</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p> + +<p>After she had gone home, he put away his +tools, and, like one in a dream, started slowly +towards the mountain.</p> + +<p>The same summer stillness reigned on its shady +slopes as when the five hundred had gathered +there. He climbed up near the summit, and sat +down on a high stone.</p> + +<p>To the eastward the Galilee glittered like a +sapphire in the sun; Capernaum seemed like a +great ant-hill in commotion. No wonder he +could not think among all those conflicting +voices; he was glad he had come up where it +was so still.</p> + +<p>Phineas was going away in the morning. If +Joel went also, maybe he would never look +down on that scene again.</p> + +<p>Then almost as if some living voice broke the +stillness, he heard the words: "Go ye into all +the world, and preach the gospel to every +creature!" It was the echo of the words that +had fallen from the Master's lips. Nothing once +uttered by that voice can ever die; it lives on +and on in the ever-widening circles of the +centuries, as a ripple, once started, rings shoreward +through the seas.</p> + +<p>In that instant all the things he had been considering +seemed so small and worthless. He had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> +planning to give Simon's gold and silver to the +poor; but the Master had given them His life, +Himself! Could he do less?</p> + +<p>"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least +of these, ye have done it unto me," something +seemed to say to him. Yes; he could do it for the +Master's sake, for the One who had healed him, +for the One who had died for him.</p> + +<p>Then and there, high up in the mountain's +solitudes, he found the path he was to follow; +and then he wondered how he could have thought +for an instant of making any other choice. It +was the path the Master's own feet had trod, +and the boy who had followed, knew well what +a weary way it led.</p> + +<p>For his great love's sake, he gave up the old +ambitions, the self-centred hopes, saying, in a +low tone, as if he felt the beloved Presence very +near, "Oh, I want to serve Thee truly! If I +am too young now to go out into all the world, let +me be Thy little cup-bearer here at home, to +carry the story of Thy life and love to those +around me!"</p> + +<p>The west was all alight with the glory of the +sunset; somewhere beyond its burnished portals +lay the City of the King. Joel turned from its +dazzling depths to look downward into the valley.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> +He had chosen persecution and sacrifice and +suffering, he knew, but the light on his face was +more than the halo of the summer sunset.</p> + +<p>As he went down the mountain to his life of +lowly service, a deep peace fell warm across his +heart; for the promise went with him, a staff to +bear him up through all his after life's long pilgrimage: +"<span class="smcap">Lo, I am with you alway, even +unto the end of the world!</span>"</p> + + +<div class='center'>THE END</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1ad" id="Page_1ad">[1]</a></span></p> +<div class='adtitle1'>Selections from<br /> +The Page Company's<br /> +Books for Young People<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='adtitle2'>THE BLUE BONNET SERIES<br /><br /></div> + +<div class='center'> +<i>Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, +per volume</i> $1.50<br /><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='adtitle4'>A TEXAS BLUE BONNET</div> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Caroline E. Jacobs</span>.</p> + +<p>"The book's heroine, Blue Bonnet, has the very finest +kind of wholesome, honest, lively girlishness."—<i>Chicago +Inter-Ocean.</i></p> + + +<div class='adtitle4'><br />BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY</div> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Caroline E. Jacobs and Edyth Ellerbeck Read</span>.</p> + +<p>"A healthy, natural atmosphere breathes from every +chapter."—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + + +<div><span class='adtitle4'><br />BLUE BONNET IN BOSTON;</span> <span class="smcap">Or, Boarding-School +Days at Miss North's</span>.</div> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Caroline E. Jacobs and Lela Horn Richards</span>.</p> + +<p>"It is bound to become popular because of its wholesomeness +and its many human touches."—<i>Boston Globe.</i></p> + + +<div><span class='adtitle4'><br />BLUE BONNET KEEPS HOUSE;</span> <span class="smcap">Or, The +New Home in the East</span>.</div> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Caroline E. Jacobs and Lela Horn Richards</span>.</p> + +<p>"It cannot fail to prove fascinating to girls in their +teens."—<i>New York Sun.</i></p> + + +<div class='adtitle4'><br />BLUE BONNET—DÉBUTANTE</div> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Lela Horn Richards</span>.</p> + +<p>An interesting picture of the unfolding of life for +Blue Bonnet.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2ad" id="Page_2ad">[2]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class='adtitle2'>THE YOUNG PIONEER SERIES</div> + +<div class='center'><br />By <span class="smcap">Harrison Adams</span><br /> + +<br /> +<i>Each 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume</i> $1.25<br /> +<br /></div> + + +<div class='hang1'><span class='adtitle4'>THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE OHIO;</span> <span class="smcap">Or, +Clearing the Wilderness</span>.</div> + +<p>"Such books as this are an admirable means of stimulating +among the young Americans of to-day interest in +the story of their pioneer ancestors and the early days of +the Republic."—<i>Boston Globe.</i></p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />THE PIONEER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES;</span> +<span class="smcap">Or, On the Trail of the Iroquois</span>.</div> + +<p>"The recital of the daring deeds of the frontier is not +only interesting but instructive as well and shows the +sterling type of character which these days of self-reliance +and trial produced."—<i>American Tourist, Chicago.</i></p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSISSIPPI;</span> +<span class="smcap">Or, The Homestead in the Wilderness.</span>.</div> + +<p>"The story is told with spirit, and is full of adventure."—<i>New +York Sun.</i></p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSOURI;</span> +<span class="smcap">Or, In the Country of the Sioux</span>.</div> + +<p>"Vivid in style, vigorous in movement, full of dramatic +situations, true to historic perspective, this story is a +capital one for boys."—<i>Watchman Examiner, New York +City.</i></p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE YELLOWSTONE;</span> +<span class="smcap">Or, Lost in the Land of Wonders</span>.</div> + +<p>"There is plenty of lively adventure and action and +the story is well told."—<i>Duluth Herald, Duluth, Minn.</i></p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE COLUMBIA;</span> +<span class="smcap">Or, In the Wilderness of the Great Northwest</span>.</div> + +<p>"The story is full of spirited action and contains much +valuable historical information."—<i>Boston Herald.</i></p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3ad" id="Page_3ad">[3]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class='adtitle2'>THE HADLEY HALL SERIES</div> + +<div class='center'>By <span class="smcap">Louise M. Breitenbach</span><br /><br /> + + +<i>Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume</i> $1.50<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />ALMA AT HADLEY HALL</span></div> + +<p>"The author is to be congratulated on having written +such an appealing book for girls."—<i>Detroit Free Press.</i></p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />ALMA'S SOPHOMORE YEAR</span></div> + +<p>"It cannot fail to appeal to the lovers of good things +in girls' books."—<i>Boston Herald.</i></p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />ALMA'S JUNIOR YEAR</span></div> + +<p>"The diverse characters in the boarding-school are +strongly drawn, the incidents are well developed and the +action is never dull."—<i>The Boston Herald.</i></p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />ALMA'S SENIOR YEAR</span></div> + +<p>"Incident abounds in all of Miss Breitenbach's stories +and a healthy, natural atmosphere breathes from every +Chapter."—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<div class='adtitle2'>THE GIRLS OF<br /> +FRIENDLY TERRACE SERIES</div> + +<div class='center'>By <span class="smcap">Harriet Lummis Smith</span><br /> + + +<i>Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated; per volume</i> $1.50<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />THE GIRLS OF FRIENDLY TERRACE</span></div> + +<p>"A book sure to please girl readers, for the author seems +to understand perfectly the girl character."—<i>Boston +Globe.</i></p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />PEGGY RAYMOND'S VACATION</span></div> + +<p>"It is a wholesome, hearty story."—<i>Utica Observer.</i></p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />PEGGY RAYMOND'S SCHOOL DAYS</span></div> + +<p>The book is delightfully written, and contains lots of exciting +incidents.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4ad" id="Page_4ad">[4]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class='adtitle2'>FAMOUS LEADERS SERIES</div> + +<div class='center'>By <span class="smcap">Charles H. L. Johnston</span> + + +<i>Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume</i> $1.50<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='adtitle4'>FAMOUS CAVALRY LEADERS</div> + +<p>"More of such books should be written, books that +acquaint young readers with historical personages in a +pleasant, informal way."—<i>New York Sun.</i></p> + +<p>"It is a book that will stir the heart of every boy and +will prove interesting as well to the adults."—<i>Lawrence +Daily World.</i></p> + + +<div class='adtitle4'><br />FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS</div> + +<p>"Mr. Johnston has done faithful work in this volume, +and his relation of battles, sieges and struggles of these +famous Indians with the whites for the possession of +America is a worthy addition to United States History."—<i>New +York Marine Journal.</i></p> + + +<div class='adtitle4'><br />FAMOUS SCOUTS</div> + +<p>"It is the kind of a book that will have a great fascination +for boys and young men, and while it entertains them +it will also present valuable information in regard to +those who have left their impress upon the history of the +country."—<i>The New London Day.</i></p> + + +<div class='adtitle4'><br />FAMOUS PRIVATEERSMEN AND ADVENTURERS +OF THE SEA</div> + +<p>"The tales are more than merely interesting; they are +entrancing, stirring the blood with thrilling force and +bringing new zest to the never-ending interest in the +dramas of the sea."—<i>The Pittsburgh Post.</i></p> + + +<div class='adtitle4'><br />FAMOUS FRONTIERSMEN AND HEROES +OF THE BORDER</div> + +<p>This book is devoted to a description of the adventurous +lives and stirring experiences of many pioneer heroes +who were prominently identified with the opening of the +Great West.</p> + +<p>"The accounts are not only authentic, but distinctly +readable, making a book of wide appeal to all who love +the history of actual adventure."—<i>Cleveland Leader.</i></p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5ad" id="Page_5ad">[5]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class='adtitle2'>HILDEGARDE-MARGARET SERIES</div> + +<div class='center'>By <span class="smcap">Laura E. Richards</span><br /><br /> + +Eleven Volumes</div> + +<p>The Hildegarde-Margaret Series, beginning with +"Queen Hildegarde" and ending with "The Merryweathers," +make one of the best and most popular series +of books for girls ever written.</p> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Prices"> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume</i> </td><td align="right">$1.25</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>The eleven volumes boxed as a set</i></td><td align="right">$13.75</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="List of titles"> +<tr><td align="center"><b>LIST OF TITLES</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><b>QUEEN HILDEGARDE</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><b>HILDEGARDE'S HOLIDAY</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><b>HILDEGARDE'S HOME</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><b>HILDEGARDE'S NEIGHBORS</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><b>HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><b>THREE MARGARETS</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><b>MARGARET MONTFORT</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><b>PEGGY</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><b>RITA</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><b>FERNLEY HOUSE</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><b>THE MERRYWEATHERS</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6ad" id="Page_6ad">[6]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>THE CAPTAIN JANUARY SERIES</h2> + +<div class='center'>By <span class="smcap">Laura E. Richards</span><br /> + + +<i>Each 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume.</i> <i>Net</i>, 50 cents; carriage paid, 60 cents<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />CAPTAIN JANUARY</span></div> + +<p>A charming idyl of New England coast life, whose +success has been very remarkable.</p> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="prices"> +<tr><td align="left">SAME. <i>Illustrated Holiday Edition</i></td><td align="left">$1.25</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">SAME, <span class="smcap">French Text</span>. <i>Illustrated Holiday Edition</i> </td><td align="left">$1.25</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />MELODY:</span> <span class="smcap">The Story of a Child</span>.</div> + +<div class='center'> +SAME. <i>Illustrated Holiday Edition</i> $1.25<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />MARIE</span></div> + +<p>A companion to "Melody" and "Captain January."</p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />ROSIN THE BEAU</span></div> + +<p>A sequel to "Melody" and "Marie."</p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />SNOW-WHITE;</span> <span class="smcap">Or, The House in the Wood</span>.</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />JIM OF HELLAS;</span> <span class="smcap">Or, In Durance Vile</span>, and +a companion story, <span class="smcap">Bethesda Pool</span>.</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />NARCISSA</span></div> + +<p>And a companion story, <span class="smcap">In Verona</span>, being two delightful +short stories of New England life.</p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />"SOME SAY"</span></div> + +<p>And a companion story, <span class="smcap">Neighbors in Cyrus</span>.</p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />NAUTILUS</span></div> + +<p>"'Nautilus' is by far the best product of the author's +powers, and is certain to achieve the wide success it so +richly merits."</p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />ISLA HERON</span></div> + +<p>This interesting story is written in the author's usual +charming manner.</p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />THE LITTLE MASTER</span></div> + +<p>"A well told, interesting tale of a high character."—<i>California +Gateway Gazette.</i></p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7ad" id="Page_7ad">[7]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class='adtitle2'>DELIGHTFUL BOOKS FOR LITTLE<br /> +FOLKS</div> + +<div class='center'><br />By <span class="smcap">Laura E. Richards</span><br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='adtitle4'><br />THREE MINUTE STORIES</div> + +<p>Cloth decorative, 12mo, with eight plates in full color +and many text illustrations by Josephine Bruce.</p> + +<div class='center'> +<i>Net</i> $1.25; carriage paid $1.40<br /> +</div> + +<p>"Little ones will understand and delight in the stories +and poems."—<i>Indianapolis News.</i></p> + + +<div class='adtitle4'><br />FIVE MINUTE STORIES</div> + +<div class='center'> +Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated $1.25<br /> +</div> + +<p>A charming collection of short stories and clever poems +for children.</p> + + +<div class='adtitle4'><br />MORE FIVE MINUTE STORIES</div> + +<div class='center'> +Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated $1.25<br /> +</div> + +<p>A noteworthy collection of short stories and poems +for children, which will prove as popular with mothers +as with boys and girls.</p> + + +<div class='adtitle4'><br />FIVE MICE IN A MOUSE TRAP</div> + +<div class='center'> +Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated $1.25<br /> +</div> + +<p>The story of their lives and other wonderful things +related by the Man in the Moon, done in the vernacular +from the lunacular form by Laura E. Richards.</p> + + +<div class='adtitle4'><br />WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE</div> + +<div class='center'> +Cloth, 8vo, illustrated $1.25<br /> +</div> + +<p>The title most happily introduces the reader to the +charming home life of Doctor Howe and Mrs. Julia +Ward Howe, during the childhood of the author.</p> + + +<div class='adtitle4'><br />A HAPPY LITTLE TIME</div> + +<div class='center'> +Cloth, 8vo, illustrated $1.25<br /> +</div> + +<p>Little Betty and the happy time she had will appeal +strongly to mothers as well as to the little ones who will +have this story read to them, and appeal all the more +on account of its being such a "real" story.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8ad" id="Page_8ad">[8]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class='adtitle2'>THE BOYS' STORY OF THE<br /> +RAILROAD SERIES</div> + +<div class='center'>By <span class="smcap">Burton E. Stevenson</span><br /> +<br /> + +<i>Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume</i> $1.50<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />THE YOUNG SECTION-HAND;</span> <span class="smcap">Or, The Adventures +of Allan West</span>.</div> + +<p>"A thrilling story, well told, clean and bright. The +whole range of section railroading is covered in the story, +and it contains information as well as interest."—<i>Chicago +Post.</i></p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />THE YOUNG TRAIN DISPATCHER</span></div> + +<p>"A vivacious account of the varied and often hazardous +nature of railroad life, full of incident and adventure, +in which the author has woven admirable advice about +honesty, manliness, self-culture, good reading, and the +secrets of success."—<i>Congregationalist.</i></p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />THE YOUNG TRAIN MASTER</span></div> + +<p>"It is a book that can be unreservedly commended to +anyone who loves a good, wholesome, thrilling, informing +yarn."—<i>Passaic News.</i></p> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />THE YOUNG APPRENTICE;</span> <span class="smcap">Or, Allan West's +Chum</span>.</div> + +<p>"The story is intensely interesting, and one gains an +intimate knowledge of the methods and works in the +great car shops not easily gained elsewhere."—<i>Baltimore +Sun.</i></p> + +<p>"It appeals to every boy of enterprising spirit, and at +the same time teaches him some valuable lessons in honor, +pluck, and perseverance."—<i>Cleveland Plain Dealer.</i></p> + +<p>"The lessons that the books teach in development of +uprightness, honesty and true manly character are sure +to appeal to the reader."—<i>The American Boy.</i></p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9ad" id="Page_9ad">[9]</a></span></p> + + + + +<div class='adtitle2'>THE LITTLE COLONEL BOOKS</div> + +<div class='center'><span class='small'>(Trade Mark)</span><br /> +<br /> +By <span class="smcap">Annie Fellows Johnston</span><br /> + +<br /> +<i>Each large 12mo, cloth, illustrated, per volume</i> $1.50<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />THE LITTLE COLONEL STORIES</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class='small'>(Trade Mark)</span></span><br /> +</div> + +<p>Being three "Little Colonel" stories in the Cosy Corner +Series, "The Little Colonel," "Two Little Knights of +Kentucky," and "The Giant Scissors," in a single volume.</p> + + +<div class='unindent'> +<span class='adtitle4'><br />THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HOUSE PARTY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class='small'>(Trade Mark)</span></span>)<br /> + +<span class='adtitle4'><br />THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HOLIDAYS</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class='small'>(Trade Mark)</span></span>)<br /> + +<span class='adtitle4'><br />THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HERO</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class='small'>(Trade Mark)</span></span>)<br /> + +<span class='adtitle4'><br />THE LITTLE COLONEL AT BOARDING-SCHOOL</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class='small'>(Trade Mark)</span></span>)<br /> + +<span class='adtitle4'><br />THE LITTLE COLONEL IN ARIZONA</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class='small'>(Trade Mark)</span></span>)<br /> + +<span class='adtitle4'><br />THE LITTLE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS VACATION</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class='small'>(Trade Mark)</span></span>)<br /> + +<span class='adtitle4'><br />THE LITTLE COLONEL, MAID OF HONOR</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class='small'>(Trade Mark)</span></span>)<br /> + +<span class='adtitle4'><br />THE LITTLE COLONEL'S KNIGHT COMES RIDING</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class='small'>(Trade Mark)</span></span>)<br /> + +<span class='adtitle4'><br />MARY WARE: THE LITTLE COLONEL'S CHUM</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class='small'>(Trade Mark)</span></span>)<br /> + +<span class='adtitle4'><br />MARY WARE IN TEXAS</span><br /> + +<span class='adtitle4'><br />MARY WARE'S PROMISED LAND</span><br /> +</div> + +<div class='center'> +<i>These twelve volumes, boxed as a set</i>, $18.00.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10ad" id="Page_10ad">[10]</a></span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='adtitle3'><br />SPECIAL HOLIDAY EDITIONS</div> + +<div class='center'> +<i>Each small quarto, cloth decorative, per volume</i> $1.25<br /> +</div> + +<p>New plates, handsomely illustrated with eight full-page +drawings in color, and many marginal sketches.</p> + + +<div class='unindent'> +<span class='adtitle4'><br />THE LITTLE COLONEL</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class='small'>(Trade Mark)</span></span>)<br /> +<br /> +<span class='adtitle4'><br />TWO LITTLE KNIGHTS OF KENTUCKY</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class='adtitle4'><br />THE GIANT SCISSORS</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class='adtitle4'><br />BIG BROTHER</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='adtitle3'>THE JOHNSTON JEWEL SERIES</div> + +<div class='center'> +<i>Each small 16mo, cloth decorative, with frontispiece and decorative text borders, per volume</i> <i>Net</i> $0.50<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='hang1'><span class='adtitle4'>IN THE DESERT OF WAITING:</span> <span class="smcap">The Legend +of Camelback Mountain</span>.</div> + +<div class='hang1'><span class='adtitle4'>THE THREE WEAVERS:</span> <span class="smcap">A Fairy Tale for +Fathers and Mothers as Well as for Their +Daughters</span>.</div> + +<div class='hang1'><span class='adtitle4'>KEEPING TRYST:</span> <span class="smcap">A Tale of King Arthur's +Time</span>.</div> + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'>THE LEGEND OF THE BLEEDING HEART</span></div> + +<div class='hang1'><span class='adtitle4'>THE RESCUE OF PRINCESS WINSOME:</span> +<span class="smcap">A Fairy Play for Old and Young</span>.</div> + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'>THE JESTER'S SWORD</span></div> + +<div class='center'>———————</div> + +<div class='unindent'><span class='adtitle4'><br />THE LITTLE COLONEL'S GOOD TIMES BOOK</span></div> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Uniform in size with the Little Colonel Series </td><td align="right">$1.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bound in white kid (morocco) and gold </td><td align="right"><i>Net</i> 3.00</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Cover design and decorations by Peter Verberg.</p> + +<p>"A mighty attractive volume in which the owner may +record the good times she has on decorated pages, and +under the directions as it were of Annie Fellows Johnston."—<i>Buffalo +Express.</i></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> +<div class='tnote'><h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3> +<p>Obvious punctuation errors repaired. Varied hyphenation as in "head-dress" +and "headdress" was retained.</p> + +<p>The remaining corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections. Scroll the mouse over the word and the original text will <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'apprear'">appear</ins>.</p> + +<div><b>List of changes made</b><br /> +Page 11, word "an" removed from text. Original read (never be an any better)<br /> + +Page 32, "a good" changed to "good a" (too good a man to)<br /> + +Page 68, "persistance" changed to "persistence" (persistence with which the)<br /> + +Page 68, "coin" changed to "coins" (small bag of coins)<br /> + +Page 90, "acknowleged" changed to "acknowledged" (he acknowledged proudly)<br /> + +Page 101, "That" changed to "that" (unto you that)<br /> + +Page 114, "Was" changed to "was" (was Joel's constant)<br /> + +Page 116, "kness" changed to "knees" (his knees in readiness)</div> </div> + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Joel: A Boy of Galilee, by Annie Fellows Johnston + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE *** + +***** This file should be named 39231-h.htm or 39231-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/2/3/39231/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Joel: A Boy of Galilee + +Author: Annie Fellows Johnston + +Illustrator: L. J. Bridgman + +Release Date: March 23, 2012 [EBook #39231] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover] + + + + +JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE. + + + + +Works of + +ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON + + +The Little Colonel Series + +(_Trade Mark, Reg. U. S. Pat. Of._) + +Each one vol., large 12mo, cloth, illustrated + + The Little Colonel Stories $1.50 + (Containing in one volume the three + stories, "The Little Colonel," "The + Giant Scissors," and "Two Little + Knights of Kentucky.") + The Little Colonel's House Party 1.50 + The Little Colonel's Holidays 1.50 + The Little Colonel's Hero 1.50 + The Little Colonel at Boarding-School 1.50 + The Little Colonel in Arizona 1.50 + The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation 1.50 + The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor 1.50 + The Little Colonel's Knight Comes Riding 1.50 + Mary Ware: The Little Colonel's Chum 1.50 + Mary Ware in Texas 1.50 + Mary Ware's Promised Land 1.50 + The above 12 vols., _boxed_, as a set 18.00 + + * * * * * + + The Little Colonel Good Times Book 1.50 + The Little Colonel Doll Book--First Series 1.50 + The Little Colonel Doll Book--Second Series 1.50 + + +Illustrated Holiday Editions + +Each one vol., small quarto, cloth, illustrated, and printed in color + + The Little Colonel $1.25 + The Giant Scissors 1.25 + Two Little Knights of Kentucky 1.25 + Big Brother 1.25 + + +Cosy Corner Series + +Each one vol., thin 12mo, cloth, illustrated + + The Little Colonel $.50 + The Giant Scissors .50 + Two Little Knights of Kentucky .50 + Big Brother .50 + Ole Mammy's Torment .50 + The Story of Dago .50 + Cicely .50 + Aunt 'Liza's Hero .50 + The Quilt that Jack Built .50 + Flip's "Islands of Providence" .50 + Mildred's Inheritance .50 + + +Other Books + + Joel: A Boy of Galilee $1.50 + In the Desert of Waiting Net .50 + The Three Weavers Net .50 + Keeping Tryst Net .50 + The Legend of the Bleeding Heart Net .50 + The Rescue of the Princess Winsome Net .50 + The Jester's Sword Net .50 + Asa Holmes 1.00 + Travelers Five Along Life's Highway 1.25 + + THE PAGE COMPANY + 53 Beacon Street Boston, Mass. + +[Illustration: "'THEN TAKE YOURSELF OUT OF MY SIGHT FOR EVER'" + + (_See page 96_)] + + + + +_NEW ILLUSTRATED EDITION_ + +JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE + +By + +ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON + + Author of "The Little Colonel Series," "Big Brother," + "Ole Mammy's Torment," "Asa Holmes," etc. + + With Pictures by L. J. BRIDGMAN + + [Illustration] + + BOSTON + THE PAGE COMPANY + PUBLISHERS + + + + + _Copyright, 1895_ + BY ROBERTS BROTHERS + + _Copyright, 1904_ + BY THE PAGE COMPANY + + _All rights reserved_ + + Eleventh Impression, October, 1910 + Twelfth Impression, March, 1915 + Thirteenth Impression, March, 1918 + + THE COLONIAL PRESS + C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. + + + + +PUBLISHER'S PREFACE + + +IN this volume, it has been the purpose of the author to present to +children, through "Joel," as accurate a picture of the times of the +Christ as has been given to older readers through "Ben Hur." With this +in view, the customs of the private and public life of the Jews, the +temple service with its sacerdotal rites, and the minute observances of +the numerous holidays have been studied so carefully that the +descriptions have passed the test of the most critical inspection. An +eminent rabbi pronounces them correct in every detail. + +While the story is that of an ordinary boy, living among shepherds and +fishermen, it touches at every point the gospel narrative, making Joel, +in a natural and interesting way, a witness to the miracles, the death, +and the resurrection of the Nazarene. + +It was with the deepest reverence that the task was undertaken, and the +fact that the little book is accomplishing its mission is evinced not +only by the approval accorded its first editions by so many, from Bible +students to bishops, but by the boys and girls here and in distant +lands. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + + "'THEN TAKE YOURSELF OUT OF MY SIGHT FOR + EVER'" (_See page 96_) _Frontispiece_ + + "HE LOOKED DOWN AT PHINEAS, AND SMILED + BLISSFULLY" 34 + + "'I PEEPED OUT 'TWEEN 'E WOSE-VINES'" 82 + + "NOT A WORD WAS SAID" 104 + + "'WE TALKED LATE'" 139 + + "'YOU BUT MOCK ME, BOY'" 184 + + "A DARK FIGURE WENT SKULKING OUT INTO THE + NIGHT" 203 + + "'THE STONE IS GONE!'" 233 + + + + +JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +IT was market day in Capernaum. Country people were coming in from the +little villages among the hills of Galilee, with fresh butter and eggs. +Fishermen held out great strings of shining perch and carp, just dipped +up from the lake beside the town. Vine-dressers piled their baskets with +tempting grapes, and boys lazily brushed the flies from the dishes of +wild honey, that they had gone into the country before day-break to +find. + +A ten-year-old girl pushed her way through the crowded market-place, +carrying her baby brother in her arms, and scolding another child, who +clung to her skirts. + +"Hurry, you little snail!" she said to him. "There's a camel caravan +just stopped by the custom-house. Make haste, if you want to see it!" + +Their bare feet picked their way quickly over the stones, down to the +hot sand of the lake shore. The children crept close to the shaggy +camels, curious to see what they carried in their huge packs. But before +they were made to kneel, so that the custom-house officials could +examine the loads, the boy gave an exclamation of surprise. + +"Look, Jerusha! Look!" he cried, tugging at her skirts. "What's that?" + +Farther down the line, came several men carrying litters. On each one +was a man badly wounded, judging by the many bandages that wrapped him. + +Jerusha pushed ahead to hear what had happened. One of the drivers was +telling a tax-gatherer. + +"In that last rocky gorge after leaving Samaria," said the man, "we were +set upon by robbers. They swarmed down the cliffs, and fought as +fiercely as eagles. These men, who were going on ahead, had much gold +with them. They lost it all, and might have been killed, if we had not +come up behind in such numbers. That poor fellow there can hardly live, +I think, he was beaten so badly." + +The children edged up closer to the motionless form on the litter. It +was badly bruised and blood-stained, and looked already lifeless. + +"Let's go, Jerusha," whispered the boy, whimpering and pulling at her +hand. "I don't like to look at him." + +With the heavy baby still in her arms, and the other child tagging +after, she started slowly back towards the market-place. + +"I'll tell you what we'll do," she exclaimed. "Let's go up and get the +other children, and play robbers. We never did do that before. It will +be lots of fun." + +There was a cry of welcome as Jerusha appeared again in the +market-place, where a crowd of children were playing tag, regardless of +the men and beasts they bumped against. They were all younger than +herself, and did not resent her important air when she called, "Come +here! I know a better game than that!" + +She told them what she had just seen and heard down at the beach, and +drew such a vivid picture of the attack, that the children were ready +for anything she might propose. + +"Now we'll choose sides," she said. "I'll be a rich merchant coming up +from Jerusalem with my family and servants, and the rest of you can be +robbers. We'll go along with our goods, and you pounce out on us as we +go by. You may take the baby as a prisoner if you like," she added, with +a mischievous grin. "I'm tired of carrying him." + +A boy sitting near by on a door-step, jumped up eagerly. "Let me play, +too, Jerusha!" he cried. "I'll be one of the robbers. I know just the +best places to hide!" + +The girl paused an instant in her choosing to say impatiently, although +not meaning to be unkind, "Oh, no, Joel! We do not want you. You're too +lame to run. You can't play with us!" + +The bright, eager look died out of the boy's face, and an angry light +shone in his eyes. He pressed his lips together hard, and sat down again +on the step. + +There was a patter of many bare feet as the children raced away. Their +voices sounded fainter and fainter, till they were lost entirely in the +noise of the busy street. + +Usually, Joel found plenty to amuse and interest him here. He liked to +watch the sleepy donkeys with their loads of fresh fruit and vegetables. +He liked to listen to the men as they cried their wares, or chatted over +the bargains with their customers. There was always something new to be +seen in the stalls and booths. There was always something new to be +heard in the scraps of conversation that came to him where he sat. + +Down this street there sometimes came long caravans; for this was "the +highway to the sea,"--the road that led from Egypt to Syria. Strange, +dusky faces sometimes passed this way; richly dressed merchant princes +with their priceless stuffs from beyond the Nile; heavy loads of +Babylonian carpets; pearls from Ceylon, and rich silks for the court of +the wicked Herodias, in the town beyond. Fisherman and sailor, rabbi and +busy workman passed in an endless procession. + +Sometimes a Roman soldier from the garrison came by with ringing step +and clanking sword. Then Joel would start up to look after the erect +figure, with a longing gaze that told more plainly than words, his +admiration of such strength and symmetry. + +But this morning the crowd gave him a strange, lonely feeling,--a hungry +longing for companionship. + +Two half-grown boys passed by on their way to the lake, with fish nets +slung over their shoulders. He knew the larger one,--a rough, +kind-hearted fellow who had once taken him in his boat across the lake. +He gave Joel a careless, good-natured nod as he passed. A moment after +he felt a timid pull at the fish net he was carrying, and turned to see +the little cripple's appealing face. + +"Oh, Dan!" he cried eagerly. "Are you going out on the lake this +morning? Could you take me with you?" + +The boy hesitated. Whatever kindly answer he may have given, was rudely +interrupted by his companion, whom Joel had never seen before. + +"Oh, no!" he said roughly. "We don't want anybody limping along after +us. You can't come, Jonah; you would bring us bad luck." + +"My name isn't Jonah!" screamed the boy, angrily clinching his fists. +"It's Joel!" + +"Well, it is all the same," his tormentor called back, with a coarse +laugh. "You're a Jonah, any way." + +There were tears in the boy's eyes this time, as he dragged himself back +again to the step. + +"I hate everybody in the world!" he said in a hissing sort of whisper. +"I hate'm! I hate'm!" + +A stranger passing by turned for a second look at the little cripple's +sensitive, refined face. A girlishly beautiful face it would have been, +were it not for the heavy scowl that darkened it. + +Joel pulled the ends of his head-dress round to hide his crooked back, +and drew the loose robe he wore over his twisted leg. + +Life seemed very bitter to him just then. He would gladly have changed +places with the heavily laden donkey going by. + +"I wish I were dead," he thought moodily. "Then I would not ache any +more, and I could not hear when people call me names!" + +Beside the door where he sat was a stand where tools and hardware were +offered for sale. A man who had been standing there for some time, +selecting nails from the boxes placed before him, and had heard all that +passed, spoke to him. + +"Joel, my lad, may I ask your help for a little while?" The friendly +question seemed to change the whole atmosphere. + +Joel drew his hands across his eyes to clear them of the blur of tears +he was too proud to let fall, and then stood up respectfully. "Yes, +Rabbi Phineas, what would you have me to do?" + +The carpenter gathered up some strips of lumber in one hand, and his +hammer and saws in the other. + +"I have my hands too full to carry these nails," he answered. "If you +could bring them for me, it would be a great service." + +If the man had offered him pity, Joel would have fiercely resented it. +His sensitive nature appreciated the unspoken sympathy, the fine tact +that soothed his pride by asking a service of him, instead of seeking to +render one. + +He could not define the feeling, but he gratefully took up the bag of +nails, and limped along beside his friend to the carpenter's house at +the edge of the town. He had never been there before, although he met +the man daily in the market-place, and long ago had learned to look +forward to his pleasant greeting; it was so different from most +people's. Somehow the morning always seemed brighter after he had met +him. + +The little whitewashed house stood in the shade of two great fig-trees +near the beach. A cool breeze from the Galilee lifted the leaves, and +swayed the vines growing around the low door. + +Joel, tired by the long walk, was glad to throw himself on the grass in +the shade. It was so still and quiet here, after the noise of the street +he had just left. + +An old hen clucked around the door-step with a brood of downy, yellow +chickens. Doves cooed softly, somewhere out of sight. The carpenter's +bench stood under one of the trees, with shavings and chips all around +it. Two children were playing near it, building houses of the scattered +blocks; one of them, a black-eyed, sturdy boy of five, kept on playing. +The other, a little girl, not yet three, jumped up and followed her +father into the house. Her curls gleamed like gold as she ran through +the sunshine. She glanced at the stranger with deep-blue eyes so like +her father's that Joel held out his hand. + +"Come and tell me your name," he said coaxingly. But she only shook the +curls all over her dimpled face, and hurried into the house. + +"It's Ruth," said the boy, deigning to look up. "And mine is Jesse, and +my mother's is Abigail, and my father's is Phineas, and my grandfather's +is--" + +How far back he would have gone in his genealogy, Joel could not guess; +for just then his father came out with a cool, juicy melon, and Jesse +hurried forward to get his share. + +"How good it is!" sighed Joel, as the first refreshing mouthful slipped +down his thirsty throat. "And how cool and pleasant it is out here. I +did not know there was such a peaceful spot in all Capernaum." + +"Didn't you always live here?" asked the inquisitive Jesse. + +"No, I was born in Jerusalem. I was to have been a priest," he said +sadly. + +"Well, why didn't you be one then," persisted the child, with his mouth +full of melon. + +Joel glanced down at his twisted leg, and said nothing. + +"Why?" repeated the boy. + +Phineas, who had gone back to his work-bench, looked up kindly. "You ask +too many questions, my son. No one can be a priest who is maimed or +blemished in any way. Some sad accident must have befallen our little +friend, and it may be painful for him to talk about it." + +Jesse asked no more questions with his tongue; but his sharp, black eyes +were fixed on Joel like two interrogation points. + +"I do not mind telling about it," said Joel, sitting up straighter. +"Once when I was not much older than you, just after my mother died, my +father brought me up to this country from Jerusalem, to visit my Aunt +Leah. + +"I used to play down here by the lake, with my cousins, in the +fishermen's boats. There was a boy that came to the beach sometimes, a +great deal larger than I,--a dog of a Samaritan,--who pulled my hair +and threw sand in my eyes. He was so much stronger than I, that I could +not do anything to him but call him names. But early one morning he was +swimming in the lake. I hid his clothes in the oleander bushes that +fringe the water. Oh, but he was angry! I wanted him to be. But I had to +keep away from the lake after that. + +"One day some older children took me to the hills back of the town to +gather almonds. This Rehum followed us. I had strayed away from the +others a little distance, and was stooping to put the nuts in my basket, +when he slipped up behind me. How he beat me! I screamed so that the +other children came running back to me. When he saw them coming, he gave +me a great push that sent me rolling over a rocky bank. It was not very +high, but there were sharp stones below. + +"They thought I was dead when they picked me up. It was months before I +could walk at all; and I can never be any better than I am now. Just as +my father was about to take me back to Jerusalem, he took a sudden +fever, and died. So I was left, a poor helpless burden for my aunt to +take care of. It has been six years since then." + +Joel threw himself full length on the grass, and scowled up at the sky. + +"Where is that boy that hurt you," asked Jesse. + +"Rehum?" questioned Joel. "I wish I knew," he muttered fiercely. "Oh, +how I hate him! I can never be a priest as my father intended. I can +never serve in the beautiful temple with the white pillars and golden +gates. I can never be like other people, but must drag along, deformed +and full of pain as long as I live. And it's all his fault!" + +A sudden gleam lit up the boy's eyes, as lightning darts through a +storm-cloud. + +"But I shall have my revenge!" he added, clinching his fists. "I cannot +die till I have made him feel at least a tithe of what I have suffered. +'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth!' That is the least that can +satisfy me. Oh, you cannot know how I long for that time! Often I lie +awake late into the night, planning my revenge. Then I forget how my +back hurts and my leg pains; then I forget all the names I have been +called, and the taunts that make my life a burden. But they all come +back with the daylight; and I store them up and add them to his account. +For everything he has made me suffer, I swear he shall pay for it +four-fold in his own sufferings!" + +Ruth shrank away, frightened by the wild, impassioned boy who sat up, +angrily staring in front of him with eyes that saw nothing of the sweet, +green-clad world around him. The face of his enemy blotted out all the +sunny landscape. One murderous purpose filled him, mind and soul. + +Nothing was said for a little while. The doves as before cooed of peace, +and Phineas began a steady tap-tap with his hammer. + +A pleasant-faced woman came out of the door with a water-jar on her +head, and passed down the path to the public well. She gave Joel a +friendly greeting in passing. + +"Wait, mother!" lisped Ruth, as she ran after her. The woman turned to +smile at the little one, and held out her hand. Her dress, of some soft, +cotton material, hung in long flowing folds. It was a rich blue color, +caught at the waist with a white girdle. The turban wound around her +dark hair was white also, and so was the veil she pushed aside far +enough to show a glimpse of brown eyes and red cheeks. She wore a broad +silver bracelet on the bare arm which was raised to hold the water-jar, +and the rings in her ears and talismans on her neck were of quaintly +wrought silver. + +"I did not know it was so late," said Joel, rising to his feet. "Time +passes so fast here." + +"Nay, do not go," said Phineas. "It is a long walk back to your home, +and the sun is very hot. Stay and eat dinner with us." + +Joel hesitated; but the invitation was repeated so cordially, that he +let Jesse pull him down on the grass again. + +"Now I'll tickle your lips with this blade of grass," said the child. +"See how long you can keep from laughing." + +When Abigail came back with the water, both the boys were laughing as +heartily as if there had never been an ache or pain in the world. She +smiled at them approvingly, as she led the way into the house. + +Joel looked around with much curiosity. It was like most of the other +houses of its kind in the town. There was only one large square room, in +which the family cooked, ate, and slept; but on every side it showed +that Phineas had left traces of his skilful hands. + +There was a tiny window cut in one wall; most of the houses of this +description had none, but depended on the doorway for light and air. +Several shelves around the walls held the lamp and the earthenware +dishes. The chest made to hold the rugs and cushions which they spread +down at night to sleep on, was unusually large and ornamental. A broom, +a handmill, and a bushel stood in one corner. + +Near the door, a table which Phineas had made, stood spread for the +mid-day meal. + +There was broiled fish on one of the platters, beans and barley bread, a +dish of honey, and a pitcher of milk. The fare was just the same that +Joel was accustomed to in his uncle's house; but something made the +simple meal seem like a banquet. It may have been that the long walk had +made him hungrier than usual, or it may have been because he was treated +as the honored guest, instead of a child tolerated through charity. + +He watched his host carefully, as he poured the water over his hands +before eating, and asked a blessing on the food. + +"He does not keep the law as strictly as my Uncle Laban," was his inward +comment. "He asked only one blessing, and Uncle Laban blesses every kind +of food separately. But he must be a good man, even if he is not so +strict a Pharisee as my uncle, for he is kinder than any one I ever knew +before." + +It was wonderful how much Joel had learned, in his eleven short years, +of the Law. His aunt's husband had grown to manhood in Jerusalem, and, +unlike the simple Galileans among whom he now lived, tried to observe +its most detailed rules. + +The child heard them discussed continually, till he felt he could +neither eat, drink, nor dress, except by these set rules. He could not +play like other children, and being so much with older people had made +him thoughtful and observant. + +He had learned to read very early; and hour after hour he spent in the +house of Rabbi Amos, the most learned man of the town, poring over his +rolls of scriptures. Think of a childhood without a picture, or a +story-book! All that there was to read were these old records of Jewish +history. + +The old man had taken a fancy to him, finding him an appreciative +listener and an apt pupil. So Joel was allowed to come whenever he +pleased, and take out the yellow rolls of parchment from their velvet +covers. + +He was never perfectly happy except at these times, when he was reading +these old histories of his country's greatness. How he enjoyed chasing +the armies of the Philistines, and fighting over again the battles of +Israel's kings! Many a tale he stored away in his busy brain to be +repeated to the children gathered around the public fountain in the cool +of the evening. + +It mattered not what character he told them of,--priest or prophet, +judge or king,--the picture was painted in life-like colors by this +patriotic little hero-worshipper. + +Here and at home he heard so many discussions about what was lawful and +what was not, that he was constantly in fear of breaking one of the many +rules, even in as simple a duty as washing a cup. + +So he watched his host closely till the meal was over, finding that in +the observance of many customs, he failed to measure up to his uncle's +strict standard. + +Phineas went back to his work after dinner. He was greatly interested in +Joel, and, while he sawed and hammered, kept a watchful eye on him. He +was surprised at the boy's knowledge. More than once he caught himself +standing with an idle tool in hand, as he listened to some story that +Joel was telling to Jesse. + +After a while he laid down his work and leaned against the bench. "What +do you find to do all day, my lad?" he asked, abruptly. + +"Nothing," answered Joel, "after I have recited my lessons to Rabbi +Amos." + +"Does your aunt never give you any tasks to do at home?" + +"No. I think she does not like to have me in her sight any more than she +is obliged to. She is always kind to me, but she doesn't love me. She +only pities me. I hate to be pitied. There is not a single one in the +world who really loves me." + +His lips quivered, but he winked back the tears. Phineas seemed lost in +thought a few minutes; then he looked up. "You are a Levite," he said +slowly, "so of course you could always be supported without needing to +learn a trade. Still you would be a great deal happier, in my opinion, +if you had something to keep you busy. If you like, I will teach you to +be a carpenter. There are a great many things you might learn to make +well, and, by and by, it would be a source of profit to you. There is no +bread so bitter as the bread of dependence, as you may learn when you +are older." + +"Oh, Rabbi Phineas!" cried Joel. "Do you mean that I may come here every +day? It is too good to be true!" + +"Yes; if you will promise to stick to it until you have mastered the +trade. If you are as quick to learn with your hands as you have been +with your head, I shall have reason to be proud of such a pupil." + +Joel's face flushed with pleasure, and he sprang up quickly, saying, +"May I begin right now? Oh, I'll try _so_ hard to please you!" + +Phineas laid a soft pine board on the bench, and began to mark a line +across it with a piece of red chalk. + +"Well, you may see how straight a cut you can make through this plank." + +He picked up a saw, and ran his fingers lightly along its sharp teeth. +But he paused in the act of handing it to Joel, to ask, "You are sure, +now, that your uncle and aunt will consent to such an arrangement?" + +"Yes indeed!" was the emphatic answer. "They will be glad enough to have +me out of the way, and learning something useful." + +The saw cut slowly through the wood; for the weak little hand was a +careful one, and the boy was determined not to swerve once from the +line. He smiled with satisfaction as the pieces fell apart, showing a +clean, straight edge. + +"Well done!" said Phineas, kindly. "Now let me see you drive a nail." +Made bold by his first success, Joel pounded away vigorously, but the +hammer slipped more than once, and his unpractised fingers ached with +the blows that he had aimed at the nail's head. + +"You'll soon learn," said Phineas, with an encouraging pat on the boy's +shoulder. "Gather up those odds and ends under the bench. When you've +sawed them into equal lengths, I'll show you how to make a box." + +Joel bent over his work with almost painful intensity. He fairly held +his breath, as he made the measurements. He gripped the saw as if his +life depended on the strength of his hold. Phineas smiled at his +earnestness. + +"Be careful, my lad," he said. "You will soon wear out at that rate." + +It seemed to Joel that there never had been such a short afternoon. He +had stopped to rest several times, when Phineas had insisted upon it; +but this new work had all the fascination of an interesting game. The +trees threw giant shadows across the grass, when he finally laid his +tools aside. His back ached with so much unusual exercise, and he was +very tired. + +"Rabbi Phineas," he asked gently, after a long pause, "what makes you so +good to me? What makes you so different from other people? While I am +with you, I feel like I want to be good. Other people seem to rub me the +wrong way, and make me cross and hateful; then I feel like I'd rather +be wicked than not. Why this afternoon, I've scarcely thought of Rehum +at all. I forgot at times that I am lame. When you talk to me, I feel +like I did that day Dan took me out on the lake. It seemed a different +kind of a world,--all blue sky and smooth water. I felt if I could stay +out there all the time, where it was so quiet and comforting, that I +could not even hate Rehum as much as I do." + +A surprised, pleased look passed over the man's face. "Do I really make +you feel that way, little one? Then I am indeed glad. Once when I was a +young boy living in Nazareth, I had a playmate who had that influence +over me and all the boys he played with. I never could be selfish and +impatient when he was with me. His very presence rebuked such +thoughts,--when we were children playing together, like my own two +little ones there, and when we were older grown, working at the same +bench. It has been many a long year since I left Nazareth, but I think +of him daily. Even now, after our long separation, the thought of his +blameless life inspires me to a higher living. Yes," he went on +musingly, more to himself than the boy, "it was like music. Surely no +white-robed priest in the holy temple ever offered up more acceptable +praise than the perfect harmony of his daily life." + +Joel's lips trembled. "If I had ever had one real friend to care for +me--not just pity me, you know--maybe I would have been different. But I +have never had a single one since my father died." + +Phineas smiled, and held out his hand. "You have one now, my lad, never +forget that." + +The strong brown hand closed in a warm grasp, and Joel drew it, with a +grateful impulse, to his lips. Ruth came up with wondering eyes. She +could not understand what had passed; but Joel's eyes were full of +tears, and she vaguely felt that he needed comfort. She had a pet pigeon +in her arms, that she carried everywhere with her. + +"Here," she lisped, holding out the snowy winged bird. "Boy, take it! +Boy, keep it!" + +Joel looked up inquiringly at Phineas. "Take it," he said, in a low +tone. "Let it be the omen of a happier life commencing for you." + +"I never had a pet of any kind before," said Joel, in delight, smoothing +the white wings folded contentedly against his breast. "But she loves +it so, I dislike to take it from her. How beautiful it is!" + +"My little Ruth is a born comforter," said Phineas, tossing her up in +his arms. "Shall Joel take the pigeon home with him, little daughter?" + +"Yes," she answered, nodding her head. "Boy cried." + +"I'll name it 'Little Friend,'" said Joel, rising with it in his arms. +"I'll take it home with me, and keep it until after the Sabbath, to make +me feel sure that this day has not been just a dream; but I will bring +it back next time I come. I can see it here every day, and it will be +happier here. Oh, Rabbi Phineas, I can never thank you enough for this +day!" + +It was a pitiful little figure that limped away homeward in the fading +light, with the white pigeon in his arms. + +Looking anxiously up in the sky, Joel saw one star come twinkling out. +The Sabbath would soon begin, and then he must not be found carrying +even so much as this one poor little pigeon. The slightest burden would +be unlawful. + +As he hurried on, the loud blast of a trumpet, blown from the roof of +the synagogue, signalled the laborers in the fields to stop all work. +He knew that very soon it would sound again, to call the town people +from their tasks; and at the third blast, the Sabbath lamp would be +lighted in every home. + +Fearful of his uncle's displeasure at his tardiness, he hurried +painfully onward, to provide food and a resting-place for his "little +friend" before the second sounding of the trumpet. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +EARLY in the morning after the Sabbath, Joel was in his accustomed place +in the market, waiting for his friend Phineas. His uncle had given a +gruff assent, when he timidly asked his approval of the plan. + +The good Rabbi Amos was much pleased when he heard of the arrangement. +"Thou hast been a faithful student," he said, kindly. "Thou knowest +already more of the Law than many of thy elders. Now it will do thee +good to learn the handicraft of Phineas. Remember, my son, 'the balm was +created by God before the wound.' Work, that is as old as Eden, has been +given us that we might forget the afflictions of this life that fleeth +like a shadow. May the God of thy fathers give thee peace!" + +With the old man's benediction repeating itself like a solemn refrain in +all his thoughts, Joel stood smoothing the pigeon in his arms, until +Phineas had made his daily purchases. Then they walked on together in +the cool of the morning, to the little white house under the fig-trees. +Phineas was surprised at his pupil's progress. To be sure, the weak arms +could lift little, the slender hands could attempt no large tasks. But +the painstaking care he bestowed on everything he attempted, resulted in +beautifully finished work. If there was an extra smooth polish to be put +on some wood, or a delicate piece of joining to do, Joel's deft fingers +seemed exactly suited to the task. + +Before the winter was over, he had made many pretty little articles of +furniture for Abigail's use. + +"May I have these pieces of fine wood to use as I please?" he asked of +Phineas, one day. + +"All but that largest strip," he answered. "What are you going to make?" + +"Something for Ruth's birthday. She will be three years old in a few +weeks, Jesse says, and I want to make something for her to play with." + +"What are you going to make her?" inquired Jesse, from under the +work-bench. "Let me see too." + +"Oh, I didn't know you were anywhere near," answered Joel, with a start +of alarm. + +"Tell me!" begged Jesse. + +"Well, if you will promise to keep her out of the way while I am +finishing it, and never say a word about it--" + +"I'll promise," said the child, solemnly. He had to clap his hand over +his mouth a great many times in the next few weeks, to keep his secret +from telling itself, and he watched admiringly while Joel carved and +polished and cut. + +One of the neighbors had come in to talk with Abigail the day he +finished it, and as the children were down on the beach, playing in the +sand, he took it in the house to show to the women. It was a little +table set with toy dishes, that he had carved out of wood,--plates and +cups and platters, all complete. + +The visitor held up her hands with an exclamation of delight. After +taking up each little highly polished dish to admire it separately, she +said, "I know where you might get a great deal of money for such work. +There is a rich Roman living near the garrison, who spends money like a +lord. No price is too great for him to pay for anything that pleases his +fancy. Why don't you take some up there, and offer them for sale?" + +"I believe I will," said Joel, after considering the matter. "I'll go +just as soon as I can get them made." + +Ruth spread many a little feast under the fig-trees; but after the first +birthday banquet, Jesse was her only guest. Joel was too busy making +more dishes and another little table, to partake of them. + +The whole family were interested in his success. The day he went up to +the great house near the garrison to offer them for sale, they waited +anxiously for his return. + +"He's sold them! He's sold them!" cried Jesse, hopping from one foot to +the other, as he saw Joel coming down the street empty-handed. Joel was +hobbling along as fast as he could, his face beaming. + +"See how much money!" he cried, as he opened his hand to show a shining +coin, stamped with the head of Caesar. "And I have an order for two more. +I'll soon have a fortune! The children liked the dishes so much, +although they had the most beautiful toys I ever saw. They had images +they called dolls. Some of them had white-kid faces, and were dressed as +richly as queens. I wish Ruth had one." + +"The law forbids!" exclaimed Phineas. "Have you forgotten that it is +written, 'Thou shalt not make any likeness of anything in the heavens +above or the earth beneath, or the waters under the earth'? She is happy +with what she has, and needs no strange idols of the heathen to play +with." + +Joel made no answer; but he thought of the merry group of Roman children +seated around the little table he had made, and wished again that Ruth +had one of those gorgeously dressed dolls. + +Skill and strength were not all he gained by his winter's work; for some +of the broad charity that made continual summer in the heart of Phineas +crept into his own embittered nature. He grew less suspicious of those +around him, and smiles came more easily now to his face than scowls. + +But the strong ambition of his life never left him for an instant. To +all the rest of the world he might be a friend; to Rehum he could only +be the most unforgiving of enemies. + +The thought that had given him most pleasure when the wealthy Roman had +tossed him his first earnings, was not that his work could bring him +money, but that the money could open the way for his revenge. + +That thought, like a dark undercurrent, gained depth and force as the +days went by. As he saw how much he could do in spite of his lameness, +he thought of how much more he might have accomplished, if he had been +like other boys. It was a constant spur to his desire for revenge. + +One day Phineas laid aside his tools much earlier than usual, and +without any explanation to his wondering pupil, went up into the town. + +When he returned, he nodded to his wife, who sat in the doorway +spinning, and who had looked up inquiringly as he approached. + +"Yes, it's all arranged," he said to her. Then he turned to Joel to ask, +"Did you ever ride on a camel, my boy?" + +"No, Rabbi," answered the boy, in surprise, wondering what was coming +next. + +"Well, I have a day's journey to make to the hills in Upper Galilee. A +camel caravan passes near the place where my business calls me, as it +goes to Damascus. I seek to accompany it for protection. I go on foot, +but I have made arrangements for you to ride one of the camels." + +"Oh, am I really to go, too?" gasped Joel, in delighted astonishment. +"Oh, Rabbi Phineas! How did you ever think of asking me?" + +"You have not seemed entirely well, of late," was the answer. "I thought +the change would do you good. I said nothing about it before, for I had +no opportunity to see your uncle until this afternoon; and I did not +want to disappoint you, in case he refused his permission." + +"And he really says I may go?" demanded the boy, eagerly. + +"Yes, the caravan moves in the morning, and we will go with it." + +There was little more work done that day. Joel was so full of +anticipations of his journey that he scarcely knew what he was doing. +Phineas was busy with preparations for the comfort of his little family +during his absence, and went into town again. + +On his return he seemed strangely excited. Abigail, seeing something was +amiss, watched him carefully, but asked no questions. He took a piece of +timber that had been laid away for some especial purpose, and began +sawing it into small bits. + +"Rabbi Phineas," ventured Joel, respectfully, "is that not the wood you +charged me to save so carefully?" + +Phineas gave a start as he saw what he had done, and threw down his saw. + +"Truly," he said, smiling, "I am beside myself with the news I have +heard. I just now walked ten cubits past my own house, unknowing where I +was, so deeply was I thinking upon it. Abigail," he asked, "do you +remember my friend in Nazareth whom I so often speak of,--the son of +Joseph the carpenter? Last week he was bidden to a marriage in Cana. It +happened, before the feasting was over, the supply of wine was +exhausted, and the mortified host knew not what to do. Six great jars of +stone had been placed in the room, to supply the guests with water for +washing. _He changed that water into wine!_" + +"I cannot believe it!" answered Abigail, simply. + +"But Ezra ben Jared told me so. He was there, and drank of the wine," +insisted Phineas. + +"He could not have done it," said Abigail, "unless he were helped by the +evil one, or unless he were a prophet. He is too good a man to ask help +of the powers of darkness; and it is beyond belief that a son of Joseph +should be a prophet." + +To this Phineas made no answer. His quiet thoughts were shaken out of +their usual routine as violently as if by an earthquake. + +Joel thought more of the journey than he did of the miracle. It seemed +to the impatient boy that the next day never would dawn. Many times in +the night he wakened to hear the distant crowing of cocks. At last, by +straining his eyes he could distinguish the green leaves of the vine on +the lattice from the blue of the half-opened blossoms. By that token he +knew it was near enough the morning for him to commence saying his first +prayers. + +Dressing noiselessly, so as not to disturb the sleeping family, he +slipped out of the house and down to the well outside the city-gate. +Here he washed, and then ate the little lunch he had wrapped up the +night before. A meagre little breakfast,--only a hard-boiled egg, a bit +of fish, and some black bread. But the early hour and his excitement +took away his appetite for even that little. + +Soon all was confusion around the well, as the noisy drivers gathered to +water their camels, and make their preparations for the start. + +Joel shrunk away timidly to the edge of the crowd, fearful that his +friend Phineas had overslept himself. + +In a few minutes he saw him coming with a staff in one hand, and a small +bundle swinging from the other. + +Joel had one breathless moment of suspense as he was helped on to the +back of the kneeling camel; one desperate clutch at the saddle as the +huge animal plunged about and rose to its feet. Then he looked down at +Phineas, and smiled blissfully. + +[Illustration: "HE LOOKED DOWN AT PHINEAS, AND SMILED BLISSFULLY"] + +Oh, the delight of that slow easy motion! The joy of being carried along +without pain or effort! Who could realize how much it meant to the +little fellow whose halting steps had so long been taken in weariness +and suffering? + +Swinging along in the cool air, so far above the foot-passengers, it +seemed to him that he looked down upon a new earth. Blackbirds flew +along the roads, startled by their passing. High overhead, a lark had +not yet finished her morning song. Lambs bleated in the pastures, and +the lowing of herds sounded on every hill-side. + +Not a sight or sound escaped the boy; and all the morning he rode on +without speaking, not a care in his heart, not a cloud on his horizon. + +At noon they stopped in a little grove of olive-trees where a cool +spring gurgled out from the rocks. + +Phineas spread out their lunch at a little distance from the others; and +they ate it quickly, with appetites sharpened by the morning's travel. +Afterwards Joel stretched himself out on the ground to rest, and was +asleep almost as soon as his eyelids could shut out the noontide glare +of the sun from his tired eyes. + +When he awoke, nearly an hour afterward, he heard voices near him in +earnest conversation. Raising himself on his elbow, he saw Phineas at a +little distance, talking to an old man who had ridden one of the +foremost camels. + +They must have been talking of the miracle, for the old man, as he +stroked his long white beard, was saying, "But men are more wont to be +astonished at the sun's eclipse, than at his daily rising. Look, my +friend!" + +He pointed to a wild grape-vine clinging to a tree near by. "Do you see +those bunches of half-grown grapes? There is a constant miracle. Day by +day, the water of the dew and rain is being changed into the wine of the +grape. Soil and sunshine are turning into fragrant juices. Yet you feel +no astonishment." + +"No," assented Phineas; "for it is by the hand of God it is done." + +"Why may not this be also?" said the old man. "Even this miracle at the +marriage feast in Cana?" + +Phineas started violently. "What!" he cried. "Do you think it possible +that this friend of mine is the One to be sent of God?" + +"Is not this the accepted time for the coming of Israel's Messiah?" +answered the old man, solemnly. "Is it not meet that he should herald +his presence by miracles and signs and wonders?" + +Joel lay down again to think over what he had just heard. Like every +other Israelite in the whole world, he knew that a deliverer had been +promised his people. + +Time and again he had read the prophecies that foretold the coming of a +king through the royal line of David; time and again he had pictured to +himself the mighty battles to take place between his down-trodden race +and the haughty hordes of Caesar. Sometime, somewhere, a universal +dominion awaited them. He firmly believed that the day was near at hand; +but not even in his wildest dreams had he ever dared to hope that it +might come in his own lifetime. + +He raised himself on his elbow again, for the old man was speaking. + +"About thirty years ago," he said slowly, "I went up to Jerusalem to be +registered for taxation, for the emperor's decree had gone forth and no +one could escape enrolment. You are too young to remember the taking of +that census, my friend; but you have doubtless heard of it." + +"Yes," assented Phineas, respectfully. + +"I was standing just outside the Joppa gate, bargaining with a man for a +cage of gold finches he had for sale, which I wished to take to my +daughter, when we heard some one speaking to us. Looking up we saw +several strange men on camels, who were inquiring their way. They were +richly dressed. The trappings and silver bells on their camels, as well +as their own attire, spoke of wealth. Their faces showed that they were +wise and learned men from far countries. + +"We greeted them respectfully, but could not speak for astonishment when +we heard their question: + +"'Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star +in the East, and have come to worship him.' The bird-seller looked at +me, and I looked at him in open-mouthed wonder. The men rode on before +we could find words wherewith to answer them. + +"All sorts of rumors were afloat, and everywhere we went next day, +throughout Jerusalem, knots of people stood talking of the mysterious +men, and their strange question. Even the king was interested, and +sought audience with them." + +"Could any one answer them?" asked Phineas. + +"Nay! but it was then impressed on me so surely that the Christ was +born, that I have asked myself all these thirty years, 'Where is he that +is born king of the Jews?' For I too would fain follow on to find and +worship him. As soon as I return from Damascus, I shall go at once to +Cana, and search for this miracle-worker." + +The old man's earnest words made a wonderful impression on Joel. All the +afternoon, as they rose higher among the hills, the thought took +stronger possession of him. He might yet live, helpless little cripple +as he was, to see the dawn of Israel's deliverance, and a son of David +once more on its throne. + +Ride on, little pilgrim, happy in thy day-dreams! The time is coming; +but weary ways and hopeless heart-aches lie between thee and that +to-morrow. The king is on his way to his coronation, but it will be with +thorns. + +Ride on, little pilgrim, be happy whilst thou can! + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +IT was nearly the close of the day when the long caravan halted, and +tents were pitched for the night near a little brook that came splashing +down from a cold mountain-spring. + +Joel, exhausted by the long day's travel, crowded so full of new +experiences, was glad to stretch his cramped limbs on a blanket that +Phineas took from the camel's back. + +Here, through half-shut eyes, he watched the building of the camp-fire, +and the preparations for the evening meal. + +"I wonder what Uncle Laban would do if he were here!" he said to +Phineas, with an amused smile. "Look at those dirty drivers with their +unwashed hands and unblessed food. How little regard they have for the +Law. Uncle Laban would fast a lifetime rather than taste anything that +had even been passed over a fire of their building. I can imagine I see +him now, gathering up his skirts and walking on the tips of his sandals +for fear of being touched by anything unclean." + +"Your Uncle Laban is a good man," answered Phineas, "one careful not to +transgress the Law." + +"Yes," said the boy. "But I like your way better. You keep the fasts, +and repeat the prayers, and love God and your neighbors. Uncle Laban is +careful to do the first two things; I am not so sure about the others. +Life is too short to be always washing one's hands." + +Phineas looked at the little fellow sharply. How shrewd and old he +seemed for one of his years! Such independence of thought was unusual in +a child trained as he had been. He scarcely knew how to answer him, so +he turned his attention to spreading out the fruits and bread he had +brought for their supper. + +Next morning, after the caravan had gone on without them, they started +up a narrow bridle-path, that led through hillside-pastures where flocks +of sheep and goats were feeding. + +The dew was still on the grass, and the air was so fresh and sweet in +this higher altitude that Joel walked on with a feeling of strength and +vigor unknown to him before. + +"Oh, look!" he cried, clasping his hands in delight, as a sudden turn +brought them to the upper course of the brook whose waters, falling far +below, had refreshed them the night before. + +The poetry of the Psalms came as naturally to the lips of this +beauty-loving little Israelite as the breath he drew. + +Now he repeated, in a low, reverent voice, "'The Lord is my shepherd; I +shall not want.' Oh, Rabbi Phineas, did you ever know before that there +could be such green pastures and still waters?" + +The man smiled at the boy's radiant, upturned face. "'Yea, the earth is +the Lord's and the fulness thereof,'" he murmured. "We have indeed a +goodly heritage." + +Hushed into silence by the voice of the hills and the beauty on every +side, they walked on till the road turned again. + +Just ahead stood a house unusually large for a country district; +everything about it bore an air of wealth and comfort. + +"Our journey is at an end now," said Phineas. "Yonder lies the house of +Nathan ben Obed. He owns all those flocks and herds we have seen in +passing this last half hour. It is with him that I have business; and we +will tarry with him until after the Sabbath." + +They were evidently expected, for a servant came running out to meet +them. He opened the gate and conducted them into a shaded court-yard. +Here another servant took off their dusty sandals, and gave them water +to wash their feet. + +They had barely finished, when an old man appeared in the doorway; his +long beard and hair were white as the abba he wore. + +Phineas would have bowed himself to the ground before him, but the old +man prevented it, by hurrying to take both hands in his, and kiss him on +each cheek. + +"Peace be to thee, thou son of my good friend Jesse!" he said. "Thou art +indeed most welcome." + +Joel lagged behind. He was always sensitive about meeting strangers; but +the man's cordial welcome soon put him at his ease. + +He was left to himself a great deal during the few days following. The +business on which the old man had summoned Phineas required long +consultations. + +One day they rode away together to some outlying pastures, and were gone +until night-fall. Joel did not miss them. He was spending long happy +hours in the country sunshine. There was something to entertain him, +every way he turned. For a while he amused himself by sitting in the +door and poring over a roll of parchment that Sarah, the wife of Nathan +ben Obed, brought him to read. + +She was an old woman, but one would have found it hard to think so, had +he seen how briskly she went about her duties of caring for such a large +household. + +After Joel had read for some little time, he became aware that some one +was singing outside, in a whining, monotonous way, and he laid down his +book to listen. The voice was not loud, but so penetrating he could not +shut it out, and fix his mind on his story again. So he rolled up the +parchment and laid it on the chest from which it had been taken; then +winding his handkerchief around his head, turban fashion, he limped out +in the direction of the voice. + +Just around the corner of the house, under a great oak-tree, a woman sat +churning. From three smooth poles joined at the top to form a tripod, a +goat-skin bag hung by long leather straps. This was filled with cream; +she was slapping it violently back and forth in time to her weird song. + +Her feet were bare, and she wore only a coarse cotton dress. But a gay +red handkerchief covered her black hair, and heavy copper rings hung +from her nose and ears. + +The song stopped suddenly as she saw Joel. Then recognizing her master's +guest, she smiled at him so broadly that he could see her pretty white +teeth. + +Joel hardly knew what to say at this unexpected encounter, but bethought +himself to ask the way to the sheep-folds and the watch-tower. "It is a +long way there," said the woman, doubtfully; Joel flushed as he felt her +black eyes scanning his misshapen form. + +Just then Sarah appeared in the door, and the maid repeated the question +to her mistress. + +"To be sure," she said. "You must go out and see our shepherds with +their flocks. We have a great many employed just now, on all the +surrounding hills. Rhoda, call your son, and bid him bring hither the +donkey that he always drives to market." + +The woman left her churning, and presently came back with a boy about +Joel's age, leading a donkey with only one ear. + +Joel knew what that meant. At some time in its life the poor beast had +strayed into some neighbor's field, and the owner of the field had been +at liberty to cut off an ear in punishment. + +The boy that led him wore a long shirt of rough hair-cloth. His feet and +legs were brown and tanned. A shock of reddish sunburned hair was the +only covering for his head. There was a squint in one eye, and his face +was freckled. + +He made an awkward obeisance to his mistress. + +"Buz," she said, "this young lad is your master's guest. Take him out +and show him the flocks and herds, and the sheep-folds. He has never +seen anything of shepherd life, so be careful to do his pleasure. Stay!" +she added to Joel. "You will not have time to visit them all before the +mid-day meal, so I will give you a lunch, and you can enjoy an entire +day in the fields." + +As the two boys started down the hill, Joel stole a glance at his +companion. "What a stupid-looking fellow!" he thought; "I doubt if he +knows anything more than this sleepy beast I am riding. I wonder if he +enjoys any of this beautiful world around him. How glad I am that I am +not in his place." + +Buz, trudging along in the dust, glanced at the little cripple on the +donkey's back with an inward shiver. + +"What a dreadful lot his must be," he thought. "How glad I am that I am +not like he is!" + +It was not very long till the shyness began to wear off, and Joel found +that the stupid shepherd lad had a very busy brain under his shock of +tangled hair. His eyes might squint, but they knew just where to look in +the bushes for the little hedge-sparrow's nest. They could take unerring +aim, too, when he sent the smooth sling-stones whizzing from the sling +he carried. + +"How far can you shoot with it?" asked Joel. + +For answer Buz looked all around for some object on which to try his +skill; then he pointed to a hawk slowly circling overhead. Joel watched +him fit a smooth pebble into his sling; he had no thought that the boy +could touch it at such a distance. The stone whizzed through the air +like a bullet, and the bird dropped several yards ahead of them. + +"See!" said Buz, as he ran to pick it up, and display it proudly. "I +struck it in the head." + +Joel looked at him with increasing respect. "That must have been the +kind of sling that King David killed the giant with," he said, handing +it back after a careful examination. + +"King David!" repeated Buz, dully, "seems to me I have heard of him, +sometime or other; but I don't know about the giant." + +"Why where have you been all your life?" cried Joel, in amazement. "I +thought everybody knew about that. Did you never go to a synagogue?" + +Buz shook his bushy head. "They don't have synagogues in these parts. +The master calls us in and reads to us on the Sabbath; but I always get +sleepy when I sit right still, and so I generally get behind somebody +and go to sleep. The shepherds talk to each other a good deal about such +things, I am never with them though. I spend all my time running +errands." + +Shocked at such ignorance, Joel began to tell the shepherd king's life +with such eloquence that Buz stopped short in the road to listen. + +Seeing this the donkey stood still also, wagged its one ear, and went to +sleep. But Buz listened, wider awake than he had ever been before in his +life. + +The story was a favorite one with Joel, and he put his whole soul into +it. + +"Who told you that?" asked Buz, taking a long breath when the +interesting tale was finished. + +"Why I read it myself!" answered Joel. + +"Oh, can you read?" asked Buz, looking at Joel in much the same way that +Joel had looked at him after he killed the hawk. "I do not see how +anybody can. It puzzles me how people can look at all those crooked +black marks and call them rivers and flocks and things. I looked one +time, just where Master had been reading about a great battle. And I +didn't see a single thing that looked like a warrior or a sword or a +battle-axe, though he called them all by name. There were several little +round marks that might have been meant for sling-stones; but it was more +than I could make out, how he could get any sense out of it." + +Joel leaned back and laughed till the hills rang, laughed till the tears +stood in his eyes, and the donkey waked up and ambled on. + +Buz did not seem to be in the least disturbed by his merriment, although +he was puzzled as to its cause. He only stooped to pick up more stones +for his sling as they went on. + +It was not long till they came to some of the men,--great brawny fellows +dressed in skins, with coarse matted hair and tanned faces. How little +they knew of what was going on in the busy world outside their fields! +As Joel talked to them he found that Caesar's conquests and Hero's +murders had only come to them as vague rumors. All the petty wars and +political turmoils were unknown to them. They could talk to him only of +their flocks and their faith, both as simple as their lives. + +Joel, in his wisdom learned of the Rabbis, felt himself infinitely their +superior, child though he was. But he enjoyed his day spent with them. +He and Buz ate the ample lunch they had brought, dipped up water from +the brook in cups they made of oak-leaves, and both finally fell asleep +to the droning music of the shepherd's pipes, played softly on the +uplands. + +A distant rumble of thunder aroused them, late in the afternoon; and +they started up to find the shepherds calling in their flocks. The gaunt +sheep dogs raced to and fro, bringing the straying goats together. The +shepherds brought the sheep into line with well-aimed sling-shots, +touching them first on one side, and then on the other, as oxen are +guided by the touch of the goad. + +Joel looked up at the darkening sky with alarm. "Who would have thought +of a storm on such a day!" he exclaimed. + +Buz cocked his eyes at the horizon. "I thought it might come to this," +he said; "for as we came along this morning there were no spider-webs +on the grass; the ants had not uncovered the doors of their hills; and +all the signs pointed to wet weather. I thought though, that the time of +the latter rains had passed a week ago. I am always glad when the stormy +season is over. This one is going to be a hard one." + +"What shall we do?" asked Joel. + +Buz scratched his head. Then he looked at Joel. "You never could get +home on that trifling donkey before it overtakes us; and they'll be +worried about you. I'd best take you up to the sheep-fold. You can stay +all night there, very comfortably. I'll run home and tell them where you +are, and come back for you in the morning." + +Joel hesitated, appalled at spending the night among such dirty men; but +the heavy boom of thunder, steadily rolling nearer, silenced his +half-spoken objection. By the time the donkey had carried him up the +hillside to the stone-walled enclosure round the watch-tower, the +shepherds were at the gates with their flocks. + +Joel watched them go through the narrow passage, one by one. Each man +kept count of his own sheep, and drove them under the rough sheds put up +for their protection. + +A good-sized hut was built against the hillside, where the shepherds +might find refuge. Buz pointed it out to Joel; then he turned the donkey +into one of the sheds, and started homeward on the run. + +Joel shuddered as a blinding flash of lightning was followed by a crash +of thunder that shook the hut. The wind bore down through the trees like +some savage spirit, shrieking and moaning as it flew. Joel heard a +shout, and looked out to the opposite hillside. Buz was flying along in +break-neck race with the storm. At that rate he would soon be home. How +he seemed to enjoy the race, as his strong limbs carried him lightly as +a bird soars! + +At the top he turned to look back and laugh and wave his arms,--a sinewy +little figure standing out in bold relief against a brazen sky. + +Joel watched till he was out of sight. Then, as the wind swooped down +from the mountains, great drops of rain began to splash through the +leaves. + +The men crowded into the hut. One of them started forward to close the +door, but stopped suddenly, with his brown hairy hand uplifted. + +"Hark ye!" he exclaimed. + +Joel heard only the shivering of the wind in the tree-tops; but the +man's trained ear caught the bleating of a stray lamb, far off and very +faint. + +"I was afraid I was mistaken in my count; they jostled through the gate +so fast I could not be sure." Going to a row of pegs along the wall, he +took down a lantern hanging there and lit it; then wrapping his coat of +skins more closely around him, and calling one of the dogs, he set out +into the gathering darkness. + +Joel watched the fitful gleam of the lantern, flickering on unsteadily +as a will-o'-the-wisp. A moment later he heard the man's deep voice +calling tenderly to the lost animal; then the storm struck with such +fury that they had to stand with their backs against the door of the hut +to keep it closed. + +Flash after flash of lightning blinded them. The wind roared down the +mountain and beat against the house till Joel held his breath in terror. +It was midnight before it stopped. Joel thought of the poor shepherd out +on the hills, and shuddered. Even the men seemed uneasy about him, as +hour after hour passed, and he did not come. + +Finally he fell asleep in the corner, on a pile of woolly skins. In the +gray dawn he was awakened by a great shout. He got up, and went to the +door. There stood the shepherd. His bare limbs were cut by stones and +torn by thorns. Blood streamed from his forehead where he had been +wounded by a falling branch. The mud on his rough garments showed how +often he had slipped and fallen on the steep paths. + +Joel noticed, with a thrill of sympathy, how painfully he limped. But +there on the bowed shoulders was the lamb he had wandered so far to +find; and as the welcoming shout arose again, Joel's weak little cheer +joined gladly in. + +"How brave and strong he is," thought the boy. "He risked his life for +just one pitiful little lamb." + +The child's heart went strangely out to this rough fellow who stood +holding the shivering animal, sublimely unconscious that he had done +anything more than a simple duty. + +Joel, who felt uncommonly hungry after his supperless night, thought he +would mount the donkey and start back alone. But just as he was about to +do so, a familiar bushy head showed itself in the door of the sheepfold. +Buz had brought him some wheat-cakes and cheese to eat on the way back. + +Joel was so busy with this welcome meal that he did not talk much. Buz +kept eying him in silence, as if he longed to ask some question. At +last, when the cheese had entirely disappeared, he found courage to ask +it. + +"Were you always like that?" he said abruptly, motioning to Joel's back +and leg. Somehow the reference did not wound him as it generally did. He +began to tell Buz about the Samaritan boy who had crippled him. He never +was able to tell the story of his wrongs without growing passionately +angry. He had worked himself into a white heat by the time he had +finished. + +"I'd get even with him," said Buz, excitedly, with a wicked squint of +his eyes. + +"How would you do it?" demanded Joel. "Cripple him as he did me?" + +"Worse than that!" exclaimed Buz, stopping to take deliberate aim at a +leaf overhead, and shooting a hole exactly through the centre with his +sling. "I'd blind him as quick as that! It's a great deal worse to be +blind than lame." + +Joel closed his eyes, and rode on a few moments in darkness. Then he +opened them and gave a quick glad look around the landscape. "My! What +if I never could have opened them again," he thought. "Yes, Buz, you're +right," he said aloud. "It _is_ worse to be blind; so I shall take +Rehum's eyesight also, some time. Oh, if that time were only here!" + +Although the subject of the miracle at Cana had been constantly in the +mind of Phineas, and often near his lips, he did not speak of it to his +host until the evening before his departure. + +It was just at the close of the evening meal. Nathan ben Obed rose +half-way from his seat in astonishment, then sank back. + +"How old a man is this friend of yours?" he asked. + +"About thirty, I think," answered Phineas. "He is a little younger than +I." + +"Where was he born?" + +"In Bethlehem, I have heard it said, though his home has always been in +Nazareth." + +"Strange, strange!" muttered the man, stroking his long white beard +thoughtfully. + +Joel reached over and touched Phineas on the arm. "Will you not tell +Rabbi Nathan about the wonderful star that was seen at that time?" he +asked, in a low tone. + +"What was that?" asked the old man, arousing from his reverie. + +When Phineas had repeated his conversation with the stranger on the day +of his journey, Nathan ben Obed exchanged meaning glances with his +wife. + +"Send for the old shepherd Heber," he said. "I would have speech with +him." + +Rhoda came in to light the lamps. He bade her roll a cushioned couch +that was in one corner to the centre of the room. + +"This old shepherd Heber was born in Bethlehem," he said; "but since his +sons and grandsons have been in my employ, he has come north to live. He +used to help keep the flocks that belonged to the Temple, and that were +used for sacrifices. His has always been one of the purest of lives; and +I have never known such faith as he has. He is over a hundred years old, +so must have been quite aged at the time of the event of which he will +tell us." + +Presently an old, old man tottered into the room, leaning on the +shoulders of his two stalwart grandsons. They placed him gently on the +cushions of the couch, and then went into the court-yard to await his +readiness to return. Like the men Joel had seen the day before, they +were dressed in skins, and were wild-looking and rough. But this aged +father, with dim eyes and trembling wrinkled hands, sat before them like +some hoary patriarch, in a fine linen mantle. + +Pleased as a child, he saluted his new audience, and began to tell them +his only story. + +As the years had gone by, one by one the lights of memory had gone out +in darkness. Well-known scenes had grown dim; old faces were forgotten; +names he knew as well as his own, could not be recalled: but this one +story was as fresh and real to him, as on the night he learned it. + +The words he chose were simple, the voice was tremulous with weakness; +but he spoke with a dramatic fervor that made Joel creep nearer and +nearer, until he knelt, unknowing, at the old man's knee, spell-bound by +the wonderful tale. + +"We were keeping watch in the fields by night," began the old shepherd, +"I and my sons and my brethren. It was still and cold, and we spoke but +little to each other. Suddenly over all the hills and plains shone a +great light,--brighter than light of moon or stars or sunshine. It was +so heavenly white we knew it must be the glory of the Lord we looked +upon and we were sore afraid, and hid our faces, falling to the ground. +And, lo! an angel overhead spake to us from out of the midst of the +glory, saying, 'Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great +joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the +city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a +sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, +lying in a manger.' + +"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host +praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, +good-will toward men!' + +"Oh, the sound of the rejoicing that filled that upper air! Ever since +in my heart have I carried that foretaste of heaven!" + +The old shepherd paused, with such a light on his upturned face that he +seemed to his awestruck listeners to be hearing again that same angelic +chorus,--the chorus that rang down from the watch-towers of heaven, +across earth's lowly sheep-fold, on that first Christmas night. + +There was a solemn hush. Then he said, "And when they were gone away, +and the light and the song were no more with us, we spake one to +another, and rose in haste and went to Bethlehem. And we found the Babe +lying in a manger with Mary its mother; and we fell down and worshipped +Him. + +"Thirty years has it been since the birth of Israel's Messiah; and I sit +and wonder all the day,--wonder when He will appear once more to His +people. Surely the time must be well nigh here when He may claim His +kingdom. O Lord, let not Thy servant depart until these eyes that +beheld the Child shall have seen the King in His beauty!" + +Joel remained kneeling beside old Heber, perfectly motionless. He was +fitting together the links that he had lately found. A child, heralded +by angels, proclaimed by a star worshipped by the Magi! A man changing +water into wine at only a word! + +"I shall yet see Him!" exclaimed the voice of old Heber, with such +sublime assurance of faith that it found a response in every heart. + +There was another solemn stillness, so deep that the soft fluttering of +a night-moth around the lamp startled them. + +Then the child's voice rang out, eager and shrill, but triumphant as if +inspired: "Rabbi Phineas, _He_ it was who changed the water into +wine!--This friend of Nazareth and the babe of Bethlehem are the same!" + +The heart of the carpenter was strangely stirred, but it was full of +doubt. Not that the Christ had been born,--the teachings of all his +lifetime led him to expect that; but that the chosen One could be a +friend of his,--the thought was too wonderful for him. + +The old shepherd sat on the couch, feebly twisting his fingers, and +talking to himself. He was repeating bits of the story he had just told +them: "And, lo, an angel overhead!" he muttered. Then he looked up, +whispering softly, "Glory to God in the highest--and peace, yes, on +earth peace!" + +"He seems to have forgotten everything else," said Nathan, signalling to +the men outside to lead him home. "His mind is wiped away entirely, that +it may keep unspotted the record of that night's revelation. He tells it +over and over, whether he has a listener or not." + +They led him gently out, the white-haired, white-souled old shepherd +Heber. It seemed to Joel that the wrinkled face was illuminated by some +inner light, not of this world, and that he lingered among men only to +repeat to them, over and over, his one story. That strange sweet story +of Bethlehem's first Christmas-tide. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Next morning a goodly train set out from the gates of Nathan ben Obed. +It was near the time of the feast of the Passover, and he, with many of +his household, was going down to Jerusalem. + +The family and guests went first on mules and asses. Behind them +followed a train of servants, driving the lambs, goats, and oxen to be +offered as sacrifices in the temple, or sold in Jerusalem to other +pilgrims. + +All along the highway, workmen were busy repairing the bridges, and +cleaning the springs and wells, soon to be used by the throngs of +travellers. + +All the tombs near the great thoroughfares were being freshly +white-washed; they gleamed with a dazzling purity through the green +trees, only to warn passers-by of the defilement within. For had those +on their way to the feast approached too near these homes of the dead, +even unconsciously, they would have been accounted unclean, and unfit +to partake of the Passover. Nothing escaped Joel's quick sight, from the +tulips and marigolds flaming in the fields, to the bright-eyed little +viper crawling along the stone-wall. + +But while he looked, he never lost a word that passed between his friend +Phineas and their host. The pride of an ancient nation took possession +of him as he listened to the prophecies they quoted. + +Every one they met along the way coming from Capernaum had something to +say about this new prophet who had arisen in Galilee. When they reached +the gate of the city, a great disappointment awaited them. _He had been +there, and gone again._ + +Nathan ben Obed and his train tarried only one night in the place, and +then pressed on again towards Jerusalem. Phineas went with them. + +"You shall go with us next year," he said to Joel; "then you will be +over twelve. I shall take my own little ones too, and their mother." + +"Only one more year," exclaimed Joel, joyfully. "If that passes as +quickly as the one just gone, it will soon be here." + +"Look after my little family," said the carpenter, at parting. "Come +every day to the work, if you wish, just as when I am here; and +remember, my lad, you are almost a man." + +Almost a man! The words rang in the boy's thoughts all day as he pounded +and cut, keeping time to the swinging motion of hammer and saw. Almost a +man! But what kind of one? Crippled and maimed, shorn of the strength +that should have been his pride, beggared of his priestly birthright. + +Almost, it might be, but never in its fulness, could he hope to attain +the proud stature of a perfect man. + +A fiercer hate sprang up for the enemy who had made him what he was; and +the wild burning for revenge filled him so he could not work. He put +away his tools, and went up the narrow outside stairway that led to the +flat roof of the carpenter's house. It was called the "upper chamber." +Here a latticed pavilion, thickly overgrown with vines, made a cool +green retreat where he might rest and think undisturbed. + +Sitting there, he could see the flash of white sails on the blue lake, +and slow-moving masses of fleecy clouds in the blue of the sky above. +They brought before him the picture of the flocks feeding on the +pastures of Nathan ben Obed. + +Then, naturally enough, there flashed through his mind a thought of Buz. +He seemed to see him squinting his little eyes to take aim at a leaf +overhead. He heard the stone whirr through it, as Buz said: "I'd blind +him!" + +Some very impossible plans crept into Joel's day-dreams just then. He +imagined himself sitting in a high seat, wrapped in robes of state; +soldiers stood around him to carry out his slightest wish. The door +would open and Rehum would be brought forth in fetters. + +"What is your will concerning the prisoner, O most gracious sovereign," +the jailer would ask. + +Joel closed his eyes, and waved his hand before an imaginary audience. +"Away with him,--to the torture! Wrench his limbs on the rack! Brand his +eyelids with hot irons! Let him suffer all that man can suffer and live! +Thus shall it be done unto the man on whom the king delighteth to take +vengeance!" + +Joel was childish enough to take a real satisfaction in this scene he +conjured up. But as it faded away, he was man enough to realize it could +never come to pass, save in his imagination; he could never be in such a +position for revenge, unless,-- + +That moment a possible way seemed to open for him. Phineas would +probably see his friend of Nazareth at the Passover. What could be more +natural than that the old friendship should be renewed. He whose hand +had changed the water into wine should finally cast out the alien king +who usurped the throne of Israel, for one in whose veins the blood of +David ran royal red,--what was more to be expected than that? + +The Messiah would come to His kingdom, and then--and then--the thought +leaped to its last daring limit. + +Phineas, who had been His earliest friend and playfellow, would he not +be lifted to the right hand of power? Through him, then, lay the royal +road to revenge. + +The thought lifted him unconsciously to his feet. He stood with his arms +out-stretched in the direction of the far-away Temple, like some young +prophet. David's cry of triumph rose to his lips: "Thou hast girded me +with strength unto the battle," he murmured. "Thou hast also given me +the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me!" + +A sweet baby voice at the foot of the steps brought him suddenly down +from the height of his intense feeling. + +"Joel! Joel!" called little Ruth, "where is you?" + +Then Jesse's voice added, "We're all a-coming up for you to tell us a +story." + +Up the stairs they swarmed to the roof, the carpenter's children and +half-a-dozen of their little playmates. + +Joel, with his head still in the clouds, told them of a mighty king who +was coming to slay all other kings, and change all tears--the waters of +affliction--into the red wine of joy. + +"H'm! I don't think much of that story," said Jesse, with out-spoken +candor. "I'd rather hear about Goliath, or the bears that ate up the +forty children." + +But Joel was in no mood for such stories, just then. On some slight +pretext he escaped from his exacting audience, and went down to the +sea-shore. Here, skipping stones across the water, or writing idly in +the sand, he was free to go on with his fascinating day-dreams. + +For the next two weeks the boy gave up work entirely. He haunted the +toll-gates and public streets, hoping to hear some startling news from +Jerusalem. He was so full of the thought that some great revolution was +about to take place, that he could not understand how people could be +so indifferent. All on fire with the belief that this man of Nazareth +was the one in whom lay the nation's hope, he looked and longed for the +return of Phineas, that he might learn more of Him. + +But Phineas had little to tell when he came back. He had met his friend +twice in Jerusalem,--the same gentle quiet man he had always known, +making no claims, working no wonders. Phineas had heard of His driving +the moneychangers out of the Temple one day, and those who sold doves in +its sacred courts, although he had not witnessed the scene. + +The carpenter was rather surprised that He should have made such a +public disturbance. + +"Rabbi Phineas," said Joel, with a trembling voice, "don't you think +your friend is the prophet we are expecting?" + +Phineas shook his head. "No, my lad, I am sure of it now." + +"But the herald angels and the star," insisted the boy. + +"They must have proclaimed some one else. He is the best man I ever +knew; but there is no more of the king in His nature, than there is in +mine." + +The man's positive answer seemed to shatter Joel's last hope. Downcast +and disappointed, he went back to his work. Only with money could he +accomplish his life's object, and only by incessant work could he earn +the shining shekels that he needed. + +Phineas wondered sometimes at the dogged persistence with which the +child stuck to his task, in spite of his tired, aching body. + +He had learned to make sandal-wood jewel-boxes, and fancifully wrought +cups to hold the various dyes and cosmetics used by the ladies of the +court. + +Several times, during the following months, he begged a sail in some of +the fishing-boats that landed at the town of Tiberias. Having gained the +favor of the keeper of the gates, by various little gifts of his own +manufacture, he always found a ready admittance to the palace. + +To the ladies of the court, the sums they paid for his pretty wares +seemed trifling; but to Joel the small bag of coins hidden in the folds +of his clothes was a little fortune, daily growing larger. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +IT was Sabbath morning in the house of Laban the Pharisee. Joel, sitting +alone in the court-yard, could hear his aunt talking to the smaller +children, as she made them ready to take with her to the synagogue. + +From the upper chamber on the roof, came also a sound of voices, for two +guests had arrived the day before, and were talking earnestly with their +host. Joel already knew the object of their visit. + +They had been there before, when the preaching of John Baptist had drawn +such great crowds from all the cities to the banks of the Jordan. They +had been sent out then by the authorities in Jerusalem to see what +manner of man was this who, clothed in skins and living in the +wilderness, could draw the people so wonderfully, and arouse such +intense excitement. Now they had come on a like errand, although on +their own authority. + +Another prophet had arisen whom this John Baptist had declared to be +greater than himself. They had seen Him drive the moneychangers from the +Temple; they had heard many wild rumors concerning Him. So they followed +Him to His home in the little village of Nazareth, where they heard Him +talk in the synagogue. + +They had seen the listening crowd grow amazed at the eloquence of His +teaching, and then indignant that one so humble as a carpenter's son +should claim that Isaiah's prophecies had been fulfilled in Himself. + +They had seen Him driven from the home of His boyhood, and now had come +to Capernaum that they might be witnesses in case this impostor tried to +lead these people astray by repeating His claims. + +All this Joel heard, and more, as the earnest voices came distinctly +down to him through the deep hush of the Sabbath stillness. It shook his +faith somewhat, even in the goodness of this friend of his friend +Phineas, that these two learned doctors of the Law should consider Him +an impostor. + +He stood aside respectfully for them to pass, as they came down the +outside stairway, and crossed the court-yard on their way to the +morning service. + +Their long, flowing, white robes, their broad phylacteries, their +dignified bearing, impressed him greatly. He knew they were wise, good +men whose only aim in life was to keep the letter of the Law, down to +its smallest details. He followed them through the streets until they +came to the synagogue. They gave no greeting to any one they passed, but +walked with reverently bowed heads that their pious meditation might not +be disturbed by the outside world. His aunt had already gone by the way +of the back streets, as it was customary for women to go, her face +closely veiled. + +The synagogue, of finely chiselled limestone, with its double rows of +great marble pillars, stood in its white splendor, the pride of the +town. It had been built by the commander of the garrison who, though a +Roman centurion, was a believer in the God of the Hebrews, and greatly +loved by the whole people. + +Joel glanced up at the lintel over the door, where Aaron's rod and a pot +of manna carved in the stone were constant reminders to the daily +worshippers of the Hand that fed and guided them from generation to +generation. + +Joel limped slowly to his place in the congregation. In the seats of +honor, facing it, sat his uncle and his guests, among the rulers of the +synagogue. + +For a moment his eyes wandered curiously around, hoping for a glimpse of +the man whose fame was beginning to spread all over Galilee. It had been +rumored that He would be there. But Joel saw only familiar faces. The +elders took their seats. + +During the reading of the usual psalm, the reciting of a benediction, +and even the confession of the creed, Joel's thoughts wandered. When the +reader took up his scroll to read the passages from Deuteronomy, the boy +stole one more quick glance all around. But as the whole congregation +arose, and turned facing the east, he resolutely fixed his mind on the +duties of the hour. + +The eighteen benedictions, or prayers, were recited in silence by each +devout worshipper. Then the leader repeated them aloud, all the +congregation responding with their deep Amen! and Amen! Joel always +liked that part of the service and the chanting that followed. + +Another roll of parchment was brought out. The boy looked up with +interest. Probably one of his uncle's guests would be invited to read +from it, and speak to the people. + +No, it was a stranger whom he had not noticed before, sitting behind one +of the tall elders, who was thus honored. + +Joel's heart beat so fast that the blood throbbed against his ear-drums, +as he heard the name called. It was the friend of his friend Phineas, +_the Rabbi Jesus_. + +Joel bent forward, all his soul in his eyes, as the stranger unrolled +the book, and began to read from the Prophets. The words were old +familiar ones; he even knew them by heart. But never before had they +carried with them such music, such meaning. When He laid aside the roll, +and began to speak, every fibre in the boy's being thrilled in response +to the wonderful eloquence of that voice and teaching. + +The whole congregation sat spell-bound, forgetful of everything except +the earnestness of the speaker who moved and swayed them as the wind +does the waving wheat. + +Suddenly there arose a wild shriek, a sort of demon-like howl that +transfixed them with its piercing horror. Every one turned to see the +cause of the startling sound. There, near the door, stood a man whom +they all knew,--an unhappy creature said to be possessed of an unclean +spirit. + +"Ha!" he cried, in a blood-curdling tone. "What have we to do with Thee, +Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know Thee, who thou +art, the holy One of God!" + +There was a great stir, especially in the woman's gallery; and those +standing nearest him backed away as far as possible. + +Every face was curious and excited, at this sudden interruption,--every +face but one; the Rabbi Jesus alone was calm. + +"Hold thy peace and come out of him!" He commanded. There was one more +shriek, worse than before, as the man fell at His feet in a convulsion; +but in a moment he stood up again, quiet and perfectly sane. The wild +look was gone from his eyes. Whatever had been the strange spell that +had bound him before, he was now absolutely free. + +There was another stir in the woman's gallery. Contrary to all rule or +custom, an aged woman pushed her way out. Down the stairs she went, +unveiled through the ranks of the men, to reach her son whom she had +just seen restored to reason. With a glad cry she fell forward, +fainting, in his arms, and was borne away to the little home, now no +longer darkened by the shadow of a sore affliction. + +Little else was talked about that day, until the rumor of another +miracle began to spread through the town. Phineas, stopping at Laban's +house on his way home from an afternoon service, confirmed the truth of +it. + +One of his neighbors had been dangerously ill with a fever that was +common in that part of the country; she was the mother-in-law of Simon +bar Jonah. It was at his home that the Rabbi Jesus had been invited to +dine. + +As soon as He entered the house, they besought Him to heal her. Standing +beside her, He rebuked the fever; and immediately she arose, and began +to help her daughter prepare for the entertainment of their guest. + +"Abigail was there yesterday," said Phineas, "to carry some broth she +had made. She thought then it would be impossible for the poor creature +to live through the night. I saw the woman a few hours ago, and she is +perfectly well and strong." + +That night when the sun was setting, and the Sabbath was at an end, a +motley crowd streamed along the streets to the door of Simon bar Jonah. +Men carried on couches; children in their mother's arms; those wasted by +burning fevers; those shaken by unceasing palsy; the lame; the blind; +the death-stricken,--all pressing hopefully on. + +What a scene in that little court-yard as the sunset touched the wan +faces and smiled into dying eyes. Hope for the hopeless! Balm for the +broken in body and spirit! There was rejoicing in nearly every home in +Capernaum that night, for none were turned away. Not one was refused. It +is written, "He laid His hand on every one of them, and healed them." + +That he might not seem behind his guests in zeal and devotion to the +Law, the dignified Laban would not follow the crowds. + +"Let others be carried away by strange doctrines and false prophets, if +they will," he declared; "as for me and my household, we will cling to +the true faith of our fathers." + +So the three sat in the upper chamber on the roof, and discussed the new +teacher with many shakes of their wise heads. + +"It is not lawful to heal on the Sabbath day," they declared. "Twice +during the past day He has openly transgressed the Law. He will lead all +Galilee astray!" + +But Galilee cared little how far the path turned from the narrow faith +of the Pharisees, so long as it led to life and healing. + +Down in the garden below, the children climbed up on the grape-arbor, +and peered through the vines at the surging crowds which they would have +joined, had it not been for Laban's strict commands. + +One by one they watched people whom they knew go by, some carried on +litters, some leaning on the shoulders of friends. One man crawled +painfully along on his hands and knees. + +After awhile the same people began to come back. + +"Look, quick, Joel!" one of the children cried; "there goes Simon ben +Levi. Why, his palsy is all gone! He doesn't shake a bit now! And +there's little Martha that lives out near Aunt Rebecca's! Don't you know +how white and thin she looked when they carried her by a little while +ago? See! she is running along by herself now as well as we are!" + +The children could hardly credit their own sense of sight, when +neighbors they had known all their lives to be bed-ridden invalids came +back cured, singing and praising God. + +It was a sight they never could forget. So they watched wonderingly till +darkness fell, and the last happy-hearted healed one had gone home to a +rejoicing household. + +While the fathers on the roof were deciding they would have naught of +this man, the children in the grape-arbor were storing up in their +simple little hearts these proofs of his power and kindness. + +Then they gathered around Joel on the doorstep, while he repeated the +story that the old shepherd Heber had told him, of the angels and the +star, and the baby they had worshipped that night in Bethlehem. + +"Come, children," called his Aunt Leah, as she lit the lamp that was to +burn all night. "Come! It is bed-time!" + +His cousin Hannah lingered a moment after the others had gone in, to +say, "That was a pretty story, Joel. Why don't you go and ask the good +man to straighten your back?" + +Strange as it may seem, this was the first time the thought had occurred +to him that he might be benefited himself. He had been so long +accustomed to thinking of himself as hopelessly lame, that the wonderful +cures he had witnessed had awakened no hope for himself. A new life +seemed to open up before him at the little girl's question. He sat on +the doorstep thinking about it until his Uncle Laban came down and +crossly ordered him to go to bed. + +He went in, saying softly to himself, "I will go to him to-morrow; yes, +early in the morning!" + +Strange that an old proverb should cross his mind just then. "Boast not +thyself of to-morrow. Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +WHEN Joel went out on the streets next morning, although it was quite +early, he saw a disappointed crowd coming up from the direction of +Simon's house on the lake shore. + +"Where have all these people been?" he asked of the baker's boy, whom he +ran against at the first corner. + +The boy stopped whistling, and rested his basket of freshly baked bread +against his knee, as he answered:-- + +"They were looking for the Rabbi who healed so many people last night. +Say! do you know," he added quickly, as if the news were too good to +keep, "he healed my mother last night. You cannot think how different it +seems at home, to have her going about strong and well like she used to +be." + +Joel's eyes brightened. "Do you think he'll do anything for me, if I go +to him now?" he asked wistfully. "Do you suppose he could straighten out +such a crooked back as mine? Look how much shorter this leg is than the +other. Oh, _do_ you think he could make them all right?" + +The boy gave him a critical survey, and then answered, emphatically, +"Yes! It really does not look like it would be as hard to straighten you +as old Jeremy, the tailor's father. He was twisted all out of shape, you +know. Well, I'll declare! There he goes now!" + +Joel looked across the street. The wrinkled face of the old +basket-weaver was a familiar sight in the market; but Joel could hardly +recognize the once crippled form, now restored to its original +shapeliness. + +"I am going right now," he declared, starting to run in his excitement. +"I can't wait another minute." + +"But he's gone!" the boy called after him. "That's why the people are +all coming back." + +Joel sat down suddenly on a ledge projecting from the stone-wall. +"Gone!" he echoed drearily. It was as if he had been starving, and the +life-giving food held to his famished lips had been suddenly snatched +away. Both his heart and his feet felt like lead when he got up after +awhile, and dragged himself slowly along to the carpenter's house. + +[Illustration: "'I PEEPED OUT 'TWEEN 'E WOSE--VINES'"] + +It was such a bitter disappointment to be so near the touch of healing, +and then to miss it altogether. + +No cheerful tap of the hammer greeted him. The idle tools lay on the +deserted workbench. "Disappointed again!" he thought. Then the doves +cooed, and he caught a glimpse of Ruth's fair hair down among the garden +lilies. + +"Where is your father, little one?" he called. + +"Gone away wiv 'e good man 'at makes everybody well," she answered. Then +she came skipping down the path to stand close beside him, and say +confidentially: "I saw Him--'e good man--going by to Simon's house. I +peeped out 'tween 'e wose-vines, and He looked wite into my eyes wiv His +eyes, and I couldn't help loving Him!" + +Joel looked into the beautiful baby face, thinking what a picture it +must have made, as framed in roses it smiled out on the Tender-hearted +One, going on His mission of help and healing. + +With her little hand in his, she led him back to hope, for she took him +to her mother, who comforted him with the assurance that Phineas +expected to be home soon, and doubtless his friend would be with him. + +So there came another time to work by himself and dream of the hour +surely dawning. And the dreams were doubly sweet now; for side by side +with his hope of revenge, was the belief in his possible cure. + +They heard only once from the absent ones. Word came back that a leper +had been healed. Joel heard it first, down at the custom-house. He had +gotten into the way of strolling down in that direction after his work +was done; for here the many trading-vessels from across the lake, or +those that shipped from Capernaum, had to stop and pay duty. Here, too, +the great road of Eastern commerce passed which led from Damascus to the +harbors of the West. So here he would find a constant stream of +travellers, bringing the latest news from the outside world. + +The boy did not know, as he limped up and down the water's edge, longing +for some word from his absent friends, that near by was one who watched +almost as eagerly as himself. + +It was Levi-Matthew, one of the officials, sitting in the seat of +custom. Sprung from the same priestly tribe as Joel, he had sunk so low, +in accepting the office of tax-gatherer, that the righteous Laban would +not have touched him so much as with the tip of his sandal. + +"Bears and lions," said a proverb, "might be the fiercest wild beasts in +the forests; but publicans and informers were the worst in cities." + +One could not bear witness in the courts, and the disgrace extended to +the whole family. They were even classed with robbers and murderers. No +doubt there was deep cause for such a feeling; as a class they were +unscrupulous and unjust. There might have been good ones among their +number, but the company they kept condemned them to the scorn of high +and low. + +When a Jew hates, or a Jew scorns, be sure it is thoroughly done; there +is no half-way course for his intense nature to take. + +So this son of Levi, sitting in the seat of custom, and this son of Levi +strolling past him, were, socially, as far apart as the east is from the +west,--as unlike as thorn and blossom on the same tribal stem. + +Matthew knew all the fishermen and ship-owners that thronged the busy +beach in front of him. The sons of Jonah and of Zebedee passed him +daily; and he must have wondered when he saw them throw down their nets +and leave everything to follow a stranger. + +He must have wondered also at the reports on every tongue, and the +sights he had seen himself of miraculous healing. But while strangely +drawn towards this new teacher from Nazareth, it could have been with no +thought that the hand and the voice were for him. He was a publican, and +how could they reach to such depths? + +A caravan had just stopped. The pack-animals were being unloaded, bales +and packages opened, private letters pried into. The insolent officials +were tossing things right and left, as they made a list of the taxable +goods. + +Joel was watching them with as much interest as if he had not witnessed +such scenes dozens of times before, till he noticed a group gathering +around one of the drivers. He was telling what he had seen on his way to +Capernaum. Several noisy companions kept interrupting him to bear +witness to the truth of his statements. + +"And he who but a moment before had been the most miserable of lepers +stood up before us all, cleansed of his leprosy. His skin was soft and +fair as a child's, and his features were restored to him," said the +driver. + +Joel and Levi-Matthew stood side by side. At another time the boy might +have drawn his clothes away to keep from brushing against the despised +tax-gatherer. But he never noticed now that their elbows touched. + +When he had heard all there was to be told, he limped away to carry the +news to Abigail. To know that others were being cured daily made him all +the more impatient for the return of this friend of Phineas. + +The publican turned again to his pen and his account-book. He, too, +looked forward with a burning heart to the return of the Nazarene, +unknowing why he did so. + +At last Joel heard of the return, in a very unexpected way. There were +guests in the house of Laban again. One of the rabbis who had been there +before, and a scribe from Jerusalem. Now there were longer conferences +in the upper chamber, and graver shakings of the head, over this false +prophet whose fame was spreading wider. + +The miracle of healing the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda, when he +had gone down to Jerusalem to one of the many feasts, had stirred Judea +to its farthest borders. So these two men had been sent to investigate. + +On the very afternoon of their arrival, a report flew through the +streets that the Rabbi Jesus was once more in the town. Their host led +them with all the haste their dignity would allow, to the house where He +was said to be preaching. The common people fell back when they saw +them, and allowed them to pass into the centre of the throng. + +The Rabbi stood in the doorway, so that both those in the house and +without could distinctly hear Him. The scribe had never seen Him before, +and in spite of his deep-seated prejudice could not help admiring the +man whom he had come prepared to despise. It was no wild fanatic who +stood before him, no noisy debater whose fiery eloquence would be likely +to excite and inflame His hearers. + +He saw a man of gentlest dignity; truth looked out from the depths of +His calm eyes. Every word, every gesture, carried with it the conviction +that He who spoke taught with God-given authority. + +The scribe began to grow uneasy as he listened, carried along by the +earnest tones of the speaker. + +There was a great commotion on the edge of the crowd, as some one tried +to push through to the centre. + +"Stand back! Go away!" demanded angry voices. + +The scribe was a tall man, and by stretching a little, managed to see +over the heads of the others. Four men, bearing a helpless paralytic, +were trying to carry him through the throngs; but they would not make +room for this interruption. + +After vainly hunting for some opening through which they might press, +the men mounted the steep, narrow staircase on the outside of the +building, and drew the man up, hammock and all, to the flat roof on +which they stood. + +There was a sound of scraping and scratching as they broke away the +brush and mortar that formed the frail covering of the roof. Then the +people in the room below saw slowly coming down upon them between the +rafters, this man whom no obstacle could keep back from the Great +Physician. + +But the paralyzed hands could not lift themselves in supplication; the +helpless tongue could frame no word of pleading,--only the eyes of the +sick man could look up into the pitying face bent over him, and implore +a blessing. + +The scribe leaned forward, confidently expecting to hear the man bidden +to arise. To his surprise and horror, the words he heard were: "Son, thy +_sins_ be forgiven thee!" + +He looked at Laban and his companion, and the three exchanged meaning +glances. When they looked again at the speaker, His eyes seemed to read +their inmost thoughts. + +"Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?" He asked, with startling +distinctness. "Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy +sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? +But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive +sins," here He turned to the helpless form lying at His feet, "I say +unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way unto thine house." + +The man bounded to his feet, and picking up the heavy rug on which he +had been lying, went running and leaping out of their midst. + +Without a word, Laban and his two guests drew their clothes carefully +around them, and picked their way through the crowd. Phineas, who stood +at the gate, gave them a respectful greeting. Laban only turned his eyes +away with a scowl, and passed coldly on. + +"The man is a liar and a blasphemer!" exclaimed the scribe, as they sat +once more in the privacy of Laban's garden. + +"Only God can forgive sins!" added his companion. "This paralytic should +have taken a sin-offering to the priest. For only by the blood of +sacrifice can one hope to obtain pardon." + +"Still He healed him," spoke up the scribe, musingly. + +"Only through the power of Satan!" interrupted Laban. "When He says He +can forgive sins, He blasphemes." + +The other Pharisee leaned forward to say, in an impressive whisper: +"Then you know the Law on that point. He should be stoned to death, His +body hung on a tree, and then buried with shame!" + +It was not long after that Joel, just back from a trip to Tiberias in a +little sailing-boat, came into the garden. He had been away since early +morning, so had heard nothing of what had just occurred; he had had good +luck in disposing of his wares, and was feeling unusually cheerful. +Hearing voices in the corner of the garden, he was about to pass out +again, when his uncle called him sternly to come to him at once. + +Surprised at the command, he obeyed, and was questioned and +cross-questioned by all three. It was very little he could tell them +about his friend's plans; but he acknowledged proudly that Phineas had +always known this famous man from Nazareth, even in childhood, and was +one of his most devoted followers. + +"This man Phineas is a traitor to the faith!" roared Laban. "He is a +dangerous man, and in league with these fellows to do great evil to our +nation." + +The scribe and the rabbi nodded approvingly. + +"Hear me, now!" he cried, sternly. "Never again are you to set foot over +his threshold, or have any communication whatsoever with him or his +associates. I make no idle threat; if you disobey me in this, you will +have cause to wish you had never been born. You may leave us now!" + +Too surprised and frightened to say a word, the child slipped away. To +give up his daily visit to the carpenter's house, was to give up all +that made his life tolerable; while to be denied even speaking to his +associates, meant to abandon all hope of cure. + +But he dared not rebel; obedience to those in authority was too +thoroughly taught in those days to be lightly disregarded. But his uncle +seemed to fear that his harsh command would be eluded in some way, and +kept such a strict watch over him, that he rarely got beyond the borders +of the garden by himself. + +One day he was all alone in the grape-arbor, looking out into the +streets that he longed to be in, since their freedom had been denied +him. + +A little girl passed, carrying one child in her arms, and talking to +another who clung to her skirts. It was Jerusha. + +Joel threw a green grape at her to attract her attention, and then +beckoned her mysteriously to come nearer. She set the baby on the +ground, and gave him her bracelet to play with, while she listened to a +whispered account of his wrongs through the latticed arbor. + +"It's a shame!" she declared indignantly. "I'll go right down to the +carpenter's house and tell them why you cannot go there any more. And +I'll keep watch on all that happens, and let you know. I go past here +every day, and if I have any news, I'll toss a pebble over the wall and +cluck like a hen. Then if nobody is watching, you can come to this hole +in the arbor again." + +The next day, as Joel was going in great haste to the baker's, whither +his aunt had sent him, he heard some one behind him calling him to wait. +In another moment Jerusha was in speaking distance, nearly bent double +with the weight of her little brother, whom she was carrying as usual. + +"There!" she said, with a puff of relief, as she put him on his own +feet. "Wait till I get my breath! It's no easy thing to carry such a +load and run at the same time! How did you get out?" + +"There was an errand to be done, and no one else to do it," answered +Joel, "so Aunt sent me." + +"Oh, I've got such news for you!" she exclaimed. "Guess what has +happened! Your Rabbi Jesus has asked Levi-Matthew to be one of His +followers, and go around with Him wherever He goes. Think of it! One of +those horrid tax-gatherers! He settled his accounts and gave up his +position in the custom-house yesterday. And he is getting ready for a +great feast. I heard the butcher and the wine-dealer both telling about +the big orders he had given them. + +"All the publicans and low common people that are his friends are +invited. Yes, and so is your friend the carpenter. Think of that, now! +He is going to sit down and eat with such people! Of course respectable +folks will never have anything more to do with him after that! I guess +your uncle was right about him, after all!" + +Both the little girl's face and manner expressed intense disgust. + +Joel was shocked. "Oh, are you sure?" he cried. "You certainly must be +mistaken! It cannot be so!" + +"I guess I know what I see with my own eyes, and hear with my own ears!" +she retorted, angrily. "My father says they are a bad lot. People that +go with publicans are just as unclean themselves. If you know so much +more than everybody else, I'll not trouble myself to run after you with +any more news. Mistaken, indeed!" + +With her head held high, and her nose scornfully turned up, she jerked +her little brother past him, and went quickly around the corner of the +street. + +The indignation of some of the rabbis knew no bounds. "It has turned out +just as I predicted," said the scribe to Laban, at supper. "They are +nothing but a set of gluttons and wine-bibbers!" + +There was nothing else talked of during the entire meal. How Joel's +blood boiled as he listened to their conversation! The food seemed to +choke him. As they applied one coarse epithet after another to his +friend Phineas, all the kindness and care this man had ever given him +seemed to rise up before him. But when they turned on the Nazarene, all +the stories Joel had heard in the carpenter's house of His gentle +sinless childhood, all the tokens he had seen himself of His pure +unselfish manhood, seemed to cry out against such gross injustice. + +It was no light thing for a child to contradict the doctors of the Law, +and, in a case of this kind, little less than a crime to take the stand +Joel did. + +But the memory of two faces gave him courage: that of Phineas as it had +looked on him through all those busy happy hours in the carpenter's +home; the other face he had seen but once, that day of healing in the +synagogue,--who, having once looked into the purity of those eyes, the +infinite tenderness of that face, could sit calmly by and raise no voice +against the calumny of his enemies? + +The little cripple was white to the lips, and he trembled from head to +foot as he stood up to speak. + +The scribe lifted up both hands, and turned to Laban with a meaning +shrug of the shoulders. "To think of finding such heresy in your own +household!" he exclaimed. "Among your own children!" + +"He is no child of mine!" retorted Laban. "Nor shall he stay among +them!" Then he turned to Joel. + +"Boy, take back every word you have just uttered! Swear you will +renounce this man,--this son of perdition,--and never have aught to say +well of Him again!" + +Joel looked around the table, at each face that shone out pale and +excited in the yellow lamplight. His eyes were dilated with fear; his +heart thumped so in the awful pause that followed, that he thought +everybody else must hear it. + +"I cannot!" he said hoarsely. "Oh, I cannot!" + +"Then take yourself out of my sight forever. The doors of this house +shall never open for you again!" + +There was a storm of abuse from the angry man at this open defiance of +his authority. With these two cold, stern men to nod approval at his +zealousness, he went to greater lengths than he might otherwise have +done. + +With one more frightened glance around the table, the child hurried out +of the room. The door into the street creaked after him, and Joel limped +out into the night, with his uncle's curse ringing in his ears. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +PHINEAS, going along the beach that night, in the early moonlight, +towards his home, saw a little figure crouched in the shadow of a low +building beside the wharf. It was shaking with violent sobs. He went up +to the child, and took its hands down from its wet face, with a +comforting expression of pity. Then he started back in surprise. It was +Joel! + +"Why, my child! My poor child!" he exclaimed, putting his arm around the +trembling, misshapen form. "What is the meaning of all this?" + +"Uncle Laban has driven me away from home!" sobbed the boy. "He was +angry because you and Rabbi Jesus were invited to Levi-Matthew's feast. +He says I have denied the faith, and am worse than an infidel. He says I +am fit only to be cast out with the dogs and publicans!--and--and--" he +ended with a wail. "Oh, he sent me away with his curse!" + +Phineas drew him closer, and stroked the head on his shoulder in pitying +silence. + +"Fatherless and motherless and lame!" the boy sobbed bitterly. "And now, +a homeless outcast, blighted by a curse, I have been sitting here with +my feet in the dark water, thinking how easy it would be to slip down +into it and forget; but, Rabbi Phineas, that face will not let me,--that +face of your friend,--I keep seeing it all the time!" + +Phineas gathered the boy so close in his arms that Joel could feel his +strong, even heart-beats. + +"My child," he said solemnly, "call me no more, Rabbi! Henceforth, it is +to be _father_ Phineas. You shall be to me as my own son!" + +"But the curse!" sobbed Joel. "The curse that is set upon me! It will +blight you too!" + +"Nay," was the quiet answer; "for it is written, 'As the bird by +wandering, as the swallow by flying, _so the curse, causeless, shall not +come_.'" + +But the boy still shook as with a chill. His face and hands were burning +hot. + +"Come!" said Phineas. He picked him up in his strong arms, and carried +him down the beach to Abigail's motherly care and comforting. + +"He will be a long time getting over the shock of this," she said to +her husband, when he was at last soothed to sleep. + +"Ah, loyal little heart!" he answered, "he has suffered much for the +sake of his friendship with us!" + +Poor little storm-tossed bark! In the days that followed he had reason +to bless the boisterous winds, that blew him to such a safe and happy +harbor! + + * * * * * + +Over on the horns of Mount Hattin, the spring morning began to shine. +The light crept slowly down the side of the old mountain, till it fell +on a little group of men talking earnestly together. It was the Preacher +of Galilee, who had just chosen twelve men from among those who followed +Him to help Him in His ministry. + +They gathered around Him in the fresh mountain dawn, as He pictured the +life in store for them. Strange they did not quail before it, and turn +back disheartened. Nay, not strange! For in the weeks they had been with +Him, they had learned to love Him so, that His "follow me," that drew +them from the toll-gate and fishing-boat, was stronger than ties of home +and kindred. + +Just about this time, Phineas and Joel were starting out from Capernaum +to the mountain. Hundreds of people were already on the way; people who +had come from all parts of Judea, and beyond the Jordan. Clouds of dust +rose above the highway as the travellers trudged along. + +Joel was obliged to walk slowly, so that by the time they reached the +plain below, a great multitude had gathered. + +"Let's get close," he whispered. He had heard that those who barely +touched the garments of the strange Rabbi were made whole, and it was +with the hope that he might steal up and touch Him unobserved that he +had begged Phineas to take him on such a long, painful walk. + +"There is too great a crowd, now," answered Phineas. "Let us rest here +awhile, and listen. Let me lift you up on this big rock, so that you can +see. 'Sh! He is speaking!" + +Joel looked up, and, for the second time in his life, listened to words +that thrilled him like a trumpet call,--words that through eighteen +hundred years have not ceased to vibrate; with what mighty power they +must have fallen when, for the first time, they broke the morning +stillness of those mountain wilds! + +Joel forgot the press of people about him, forgot even where he was, as +sentence after sentence seemed to lift him out of himself, till he +could catch glimpses of lofty living such as he had never even dreamed +of before. + +Round by round, he seemed to be carried up some high ladder of thought +by that voice, away from all that was common and low and earthly, to a +summit of infinite love and light. + +Still the voice led on, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, 'An eye +for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'" + +Joel started so violently at hearing his own familiar motto, that he +nearly lost his balance on the rock. + +"But I say unto you that you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite +thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.... Ye have heard +that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine +enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, +do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use +you, and persecute you." + +Poor little Joel, it was a hard doctrine for him to accept! How could he +give up his hope of revenge, when it had grown with his growth till it +had come to be as dear as life itself? + +He heard little of the rest of the sermon, for through it all the words +kept echoing, "Bless them that curse you! Do good to them that hate +you! Pray for them which despitefully use you!" + +"Oh, I can't! I can't!" he groaned inwardly. + +"I have found a chance for you to ride home," said Phineas, when the +sermon was over, and the people began to file down the narrow mountain +paths. "But there will be time for you to go to Him first, for healing. +You have only to ask, you know." + +Joel took an eager step forward, and then shrank back guiltily. "Not +now," he murmured, "some other time." He could not look into those clear +eyes and ask a blessing, when he knew his heart was black with hate. + +After all his weeks of waiting the opportunity had come; but he dared +not let the Sinless One look into his soul. + +Phineas began an exclamation of surprise, but was interrupted by some +one asking him a question. Joel took advantage of this to climb up +behind the man who had offered him a ride. All the way home he weighed +the two desires in his mind,--the hope of healing, and the hope of +revenge. + +By the time the two guardian fig-trees were in sight, he had decided. He +would rather go helpless and halting through life than give up his +cherished purpose. + +But there was no sleep for him that night, after he had gone up to his +little chamber on the roof. He seemed to see that pleading face on the +mountain-side; it came to him again and again, with the words, "Bless +them that curse you! Pray for them that despitefully use you!" + +All night he fought against yielding to it. Time and again he turned +over on his bed, and closed his eyes; but it would not let him alone. + +He thought of Jacob wrestling with the angel till day-break, and knew in +his heart that the sweet spirit of forgiveness striving with his selfish +nature was some heavenly impulse from another world. + +At last when the cock-crowing commenced at dawn, and the stars were +beginning to fade, he drew up his crooked little body, and knelt with +his face to the kindling east. + +"Father in heaven," he prayed softly, "bless mine enemy Rehum, and +forgive all my sins,--fully and freely as I now forgive the wrong he has +done to me." + +A feeling of light-heartedness and peace, such as he had never known +before, stole over him. He could not settle himself to sleep, though +worn out with his night's long vigil. + +[Illustration: "NOT A WORD WAS SAID"] + +Hastily slipping on his clothes, he tiptoed down the stairs, and limped, +bare-headed, down to the beach. The lake shimmered and glowed under the +faint rose and gray of the sky like a deep opal. The early breeze blew +the hair back from his pale face with a refreshing coolness. + +It seemed to him the world had never looked one half so beautiful +before, as he stood there. + +A firm tread on the gravel made him turn partly around. A man was coming +up the beach; it was the friend of Phineas. As if drawn by some +uncontrollable impulse, Joel started to meet Him, an unspoken prayer in +his pleading little face. + +Not a word was said. For one little instant Joel stood there by the +shining sea, his hand held close in the loving hand of the world's +Redeemer. For one little instant he looked up into His face; then the +man passed on. + +Joel covered his face with his hands, seeming to hear the still small +voice that spoke to the prophet out of the whirlwind. + +"He is the Christ!" he whispered reverently,--"He is the Christ!" + +In his exalted feeling all thought of a cure had left him; but as he +walked on down the beach, he noticed that he no longer limped. He was +moving along with strong, quick strides. He shook himself and threw +back his shoulders; there was no pain in the movement. He passed his +hands over his back and down his limbs. + +Oh, he was straight and strong and sinewy! He seemed a stranger to +himself, as running and leaping, then stopping to look down and feel his +limbs again, he ran madly on. + +Suddenly he cast his garments aside and dived into the lake. Before his +injury, he had been able to swim like a fish, now he reached out with +long powerful strokes that sent him darting through the cold water with +a wonderful sense of exhilaration. + +Then he dressed again, and went on running and leaping and climbing till +he was exhausted, and his first wild delirious joy began to subside into +a deep quiet thankfulness. Then he went home, radiant in the happiness +of his new-found cure. + +But more than the mystery of the miracle, more than the joy of the +healing, was the remembrance of that moment, that one little moment, +when he felt the clasp of the Master's hand, and seemed wrapped about +with the boundless love of God. + +From that moment, he lived but to serve and to follow Him. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +HIGH up among the black lava crags of Perea stood the dismal fortress of +Macherus. Behind its close prison bars a restless captive groped his way +back and forth in a dungeon cell. Sometimes, at long intervals, he was +given such liberty as a chained eagle might have, when he was led up +into one of the towers of the gloomy keep, and allowed to look down, +down into the bottomless gorges surrounding it. For months he had chafed +in the darkness of his underground dungeon; escape was impossible. + +It was John Baptist, brought from the wild, free life of the desert to +the tortures of the "Black Castle." Here he lay at the mercy of Herod +Antipas, and death might strike at any moment. More than once, the +whimsical monarch had sent for him, as he sat at his banquets, to be the +sport of the passing hour. + +The lights, the color, the flash of gems may have dazzled his eyes for a +brief space, accustomed as they were to the midnight darkness of his +cell; but his keen vision saw, under the paint and purple of royal +apparel, the corrupt life of king and court. + +Pointing his stern, accusing finger at the uneasy king, he cried, "It is +not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife!" With words that stung +like hurtling arrows, he laid bare the blackened, beastly life that +sought to hide its foulness under royal ermine. + +Antipas cowered before him; and while he would gladly have been freed +from a man who had such power over him, he dared not lift a finger +against the fearless, unflinching Baptist. + +But the guilty Herodias bided her time, with blood-thirsty impatience; +his life should pay the penalty of his bold speech. + +Meanwhile he waited in his cell, with nothing but memories to relieve +the tediousness of the long hours. Over and over again he lived those +scenes of his strange life in the desert,--those days of his +preparation,--the preaching to the multitudes, the baptizing at the ford +of the Jordan. + +He wondered if his words still lived; if any of his followers still +believed on him. But more than all, he wondered what had become of that +One on whom he had seen the spirit of God descending out of heaven in +the form of a dove. + +"Where art Thou now?" he cried. "If Thou art the Messiah, why dost Thou +not set up Thy kingdom, and speedily give Thy servant his liberty?" The +empty room rang often with that cry; but the hollow echo of his own +words was the only answer. + +One day the door of his cell creaked back far enough to admit two men, +and then shut again, leaving them in total darkness. In that momentary +flash of light, he recognized two old followers of his, Timeus bar Joram +and Benjamin the potter. + +With a cry of joy he groped his way toward them, and clung to their +friendly hands. + +"How did you manage to penetrate these Roman-guarded walls?" he asked, +in astonishment. + +"I knew the warden," answered Benjamin. "A piece of silver conveniently +closes his eyes to many things. But we must hasten! Our time is +limited." + +They had much to tell of the outside world. Pilate had just given +special offence, by appropriating part of the treasure of the Temple, +derived from the Temple tax, to defray the cost of great conduits he had +begun, with which to supply Jerusalem with water. + +Stirred up by the priests and rabbis, the people besieged the government +house, crying loudly that the works be given up. Armed with clubs, +numbers of soldiers in plain clothes surrounded the great mob, and +killed so many of the people that the wildest excitement prevailed +throughout all Judea and Galilee. + +There was a cry for a national uprising to avenge the murder. + +"They only need a leader!" exclaimed John. "Where is He for whom I was +but a voice crying in the wilderness? Why does He not show Himself?" + +"We have just come from the village of Nain," said Timeus bar Joram. "We +saw Him stop a funeral procession and raise a widow's son to life. He +was followed by a motley throng whom He had healed of all sorts of +diseases; and there were twelve men whom He had chosen as life-long +companions. + +"We questioned some of them closely, and they gave us marvellous reports +of the things He had done." + +"Is it not strange," asked Benjamin the potter, "that having such power +He still delays to establish His kingdom?" + +The captive prophet made no answer for awhile. Then he groped in the +thick darkness till his hand rested heavily on Benjamin's arm. + +"Go back, and say that John Baptist asks, 'Art Thou the Coming One, or +must we look for another?'" + +Days passed before the devoted friends found themselves once more inside +the prison walls. They had had a weary journey over rough hills and +rocky by-paths. + +"What did He say?" demanded the prisoner, eagerly. + +"Go and tell John what ye saw and heard: that the blind receive sight; +the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed; the deaf hear; the dead are +raised; and the poor have the gospel preached unto them." + +The man stood up, his long hair hanging to his shoulder, his hand +uplifted, and his eyes dilated like a startled deer that has caught the +sound of a coming step. + +"The fulfilment of the words of Isaiah!" he cried. "For he hath said, +'Your God will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be +opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame +man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing!' Yea, he _hath_ +bound up the broken-hearted; and he shall yet 'proclaim liberty to the +captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to +proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord!'" + +Then with both hands clasped high above his head, he made the prison +ring with the cry, "The kingdom is at hand! The kingdom is at hand! I +shall soon be free!" + +Not long after that, the castle blazed with the lights of another +banquet. The faint aroma of wines, mingled with the heavy odor of +countless flowers, could not penetrate the grim prison walls. Nor could +the gay snatches of song and the revelry of the feast. No sound of +applause reached the prisoner's ear, when the daughter of Herodias +danced before the king. + +Sitting in darkness while the birthday banqueters held high carnival, he +heard the heavy tramp of soldiers' feet coming down the stairs to his +dungeon. The great bolts shot back, the rusty hinges turned, and a +lantern flickered its light in his face, as he stood up to receive his +executioners. + +A little while later his severed head was taken on a charger to the +smiling dancing girl. She stifled a shriek when she saw it; but the +wicked Herodias looked at it with a gleam of triumph in her treacherous +black eyes. + +When the lights were out, and the feasters gone, two men came in at the +warden's bidding,--two men with heavy hearts, and voices that shook a +little when they spoke to each other. They were Timeus and Benjamin. +Silently they lifted the body of their beloved master, and carried it +away for burial; and if a tear or two found an unaccustomed path down +their bearded cheeks, no one knew it, under cover of the darkness. + +So, out of the Black Castle of Macherus, out of the prison-house of a +mortal body, the white-souled prophet of the wilderness went forth at +last into liberty. + +For him, the kingdom was indeed at hand. + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile in the upper country, Phineas was following his friend from +village to village. He had dropped his old familiar form of address, so +much was he impressed by the mysterious power he saw constantly +displayed. + +Now when he spoke of the man who had been both friend and playfellow, +it was almost reverently that he gave Him the title of Master. + +It was with a heavy heart that Joel watched them go away. He, too, +longed to follow; but he knew that unless he took the place at the +bench, Phineas could not be free to go. + +Gratitude held him to his post. No, not gratitude alone; he was learning +the Master's own spirit of loving self-sacrifice. As he dropped the +plumb-line over his work, he measured himself by that perfect life, and +tried to straighten himself to its unbending standard. + +He had his reward in the look of pleasure that he saw on the carpenter's +face when Phineas came in, unexpectedly, one day, dusty and +travel-stained. + +"How much you have accomplished!" he said in surprise. "You have filled +my place like a grown man." + +Joel stretched his strong arms with a slight laugh. "It is a pleasure to +work now," he said. "It seems so queer never to have a pain, or that +worn-out feeling of weakness that used to be always with me. At first I +was often afraid it was all a happy dream, and could not last. I am +getting used to it now. Where is the Master?" Joel asked, as Phineas +turned towards the house. + +"He is the guest of Simon. He will be here some days, my son. I know you +wish to be with Him as much as possible, so I shall not expect your help +as long as He stays." + +"If I could only do something for Him!" was Joel's constant thought +during the next few days. Once he took a coin from the little money bag +that held his hoarded savings--a coin that was to have helped buy his +revenge--and bought the ripest, juiciest pear he could find in the +market. Often he brought Him water, fresh and cold from the well when He +looked tired and warm from His unceasing work. + +Wherever the Master turned, there, close beside Him, was a beaming +little face, so full of love and childish sympathy that it must have +brought more refreshment to His thirsty soul than either the choice +fruit or the cooling water. + +One evening after a busy day, when He had talked for hours to the people +on the seashore who had gathered around the boat in which He sat, He +sent away the multitude. + +"Let us pass over unto the other side," He said. + +Joel slipped up to Andrew, who was busily arranging their sails. "Let me +go, too!" he whispered pleadingly. + +"Well," assented the man, carelessly, "You can make yourself useful, I +suppose. Will you hand me that rope?" + +Joel sprang to obey. Presently the boat pushed away from the shore, and +the town, with its tumult and its twinkling lights, was soon left far +behind. + +The sea was like glass, so calm and unruffled that every star above +could look down and see its unbroken reflection in the dark water below. + +Joel, in the hinder part of the ship, lay back in his seat with a sigh +of perfect enjoyment. The smooth gliding motion of the boat rested him; +the soft splash of the water soothed his excited brain. He had seen his +Uncle Laban that afternoon among other of the scribes and Pharisees, and +heard him declare that Beelzebub alone was responsible for the wonders +they witnessed. + +Joel's indignation flared up again at the memory. He looked down at the +Master, who had fallen asleep on a pillow, and wondered how anybody +could possibly believe such evil things about Him. + +It was cooler out where they were now. He wondered if he ought not to +lay some covering over the sleeping form. He took off the outer mantle +that he wore, and bent forward to lay it over the Master's feet. But he +drew back timidly, afraid of wakening Him. "I'll wait awhile," he said +to himself, folding the garment across his knees in readiness. + +Several times he reached forward to lay it over Him, and each time drew +back. Then he fell asleep himself. + +From its situation in the basin of the hills, the Galilee is subject to +sudden and furious storms. The winds, rushing down the heights, meet and +clash above the water, till the waves run up like walls, then sink again +into seething whirlpools of danger. + +Joel, falling asleep in a dead calm, awoke to find the ship rolling and +tossing and half-full of water. The lightning's track was followed so +closely by the crash of thunder, there was not even pause enough between +to take one terrified gasp. + +Still the Master slept. Joel, drenched to the skin, clung to the boat's +side, expecting that every minute would be his last. It was so dark and +wild and awful! How helpless they were, buffetted about in the fury of +the storm! + +As wave after wave beat in, some of the men could no longer control +their fear. + +"Master!" they called to the sleeping man, as they bent over Him in +terror. "Carest Thou not that we perish?" + +He heard the cry for help. The storm could not waken Him from His deep +sleep of exhaustion, but at the first despairing human voice, He was up, +ready to help. + +Looking up at the midnight blackness of the sky, and down at the wild +waste of waters, He stretched out His hand. + +"_Peace!_" he commanded in a deep voice. "_Be still!_" The storm sank to +earth as suddenly as a death-stricken raven; a great calm spread over +the face of the waters. The silent stars shone out in their places; the +silent sea mirrored back their glory at His feet. + +The men huddled fearfully together. "What manner of man is this?" they +asked, one of another. "Even the wind and the sea obey Him!" + +Joel, looking up at the majestic form, standing so quietly by the +railing, thought of the voice that once rang out over the night of +Creation with the command, "Let there be light!" At its mere bidding +light had flowed in across the darkness of primeval night. + +Just so had this voice thrilled the storm with its "Peace! Be still!" +into utter calm. + +The child crouched at His feet, burying his face in his mantle, and +whispering, in awe and adoration, "He _is_ the Christ! He is the son of +God!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +AFTER that night of the voyage to the Gadarenes, Joel ceased to be +surprised at the miracles he daily witnessed. Even when the little +daughter of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, was called back to life, +it did not seem so wonderful to him as the stilling of the tempest. + +Many a night after Phineas had gone away again with the Master to other +cities, Joel used to go down to the beach, and stand looking across the +water as he recalled that scene. + +The lake had always been an interesting place to him at night. He liked +to watch the fishermen as they flashed their blazing torches this way +and that. A sympathetic thrill ran through him as they sighted their +prey, and raised their bare sinewy arms to fling the net or fly the +spear. + +But after that morning of healing, and that night of tempest, it seemed +to be a sacred place, to be visited only on still nights, when the town +slept, and heaven bent nearer in the starlight to the quiet earth. + +The time of the Passover was drawing near,--the time that Joel had been +looking forward to since Phineas had promised him a year ago that he +should go to Jerusalem. + +The twelve disciples who had been sent out to all the little towns +through Galilee, to teach the things they had themselves been taught, +and work miracles in the name of Him who had sent them, began to come +slowly back. They had an encouraging report to bring of their work; but +it was shadowed by the news they had heard of the murder of John +Baptist. + +Joel joined them as soon as they came into Capernaum, and walked beside +Phineas as the footsore travellers pressed on a little farther towards +Simon's house. + +"When are we going to start for Jerusalem?" was his first eager +question. + +Phineas looked searchingly into his face as he replied, "Would you be +greatly disappointed, my son, not to go this year?" + +Joel looked perplexed; it was such an unheard of thing for Phineas to +miss going up to the Feast of the Passover. + +"These are evil times, my Joel," he explained. "John Baptist has just +been beheaded. The Master has many enemies among those in high places. +It would be like walking into a lion's den for Him to go up to +Jerusalem. + +"Even here He is not safe from the hatred of Antipas, and after a little +rest will pass over into the borders of the tetrarch Philip. We have no +wish to leave Him!" + +"Oh, why should He be persecuted so?" asked Joel, looking with +tear-dimmed eyes at the man walking in advance of them, and talking in +low earnest tones to John, who walked beside Him. + +"You have been with Him so much, father Phineas. Have _you_ ever known +Him to do anything to make these men His enemies?" + +"Yes," said Phineas. "He has drawn the people after Him until they are +jealous of His popularity. He upsets their old traditions, and teaches a +religion that ignores some of the Laws of Moses. I can easily see why +they hate Him so. They see Him at such a long distance from themselves, +they can not understand Him. Healing on the Sabbath, eating with +publicans and sinners, disregarding the little customs and ceremonies +that in all ages have set apart our people as a chosen race, are crimes +in their eyes. + +"If they only could get close enough to understand Him; to see that His +pure life needs no ceremonies of multiplied hand-washings; that it is +His broad love for His fellow-men that makes Him stoop to the lowest +classes,--I am sure they could not do otherwise than love Him. + +"Blind fanatics! They would put to death the best man that ever lived, +because He is so much broader and higher than they that the little +measuring line of their narrow creed cannot compass Him!" + +"Is He never going to set up His kingdom?" asked Joel. "Does He never +talk about it?" + +"Yes," said Phineas; "though we are often puzzled by what He says, and +ask ourselves His meaning." + +They had reached the house by this time, and as Simon led the way to its +hospitable door, Phineas said, "Enter with them, my lad, if you wish. I +must go on to my little family, but will join you soon." + +To Joel's great pleasure, he found they were to cross the lake at once, +to the little fishing port of Bethsaida. It was only six miles across. + +"We have hardly had time to eat," said Andrew to Joel, as they walked +along towards the boat "I will be glad to get away to some desert +place, where we may have rest from the people that are always pushing +and clamoring about us." + +"How long before you start?" asked Joel. + +"In a very few minutes," answered Andrew; "for the boat is in +readiness." + +Joel glanced from the street above the beach to the water's edge, as if +calculating the distance. + +"Don't go without me," he said as, breaking into a run, he dashed up the +beach at his utmost speed. He was back again in a surprisingly quick +time, with a cheap little basket in his hand; he was out of breath with +his rapid run. + +"Didn't I go fast?" he panted. "I could not have done that a few weeks +ago. Oh, it feels so good to be able to run when I please! It is like +flying." + +He lifted the cover of the basket. "See!" he said. "I thought the Master +might be hungry; but I had no time to get anything better. I had to stop +at the first stall I came to." + +At the same time the boat went gliding out into the water with its +restful motion, thousands of people were pouring out of the villages on +foot, and hurrying on around the lake, ahead of them. + +The boat passed up a narrow winding creek, away from the sail-dotted +lake; its green banks seemed to promise the longed-for quiet and rest. +But there in front of them waited the crowds they had come so far to +avoid. + +They had brought their sick for healing. They needed to be helped and +taught; they were "as sheep without a shepherd!" He could not refuse +them. + +Joel found no chance to offer the food he had bought so hastily with +another of his hoarded coins,--the coins that were to have purchased his +revenge. + +As the day wore on, he heard the disciples ask that the multitudes might +be sent away. + +"It would take two hundred pennyworth of bread to feed them," said +Philip, "and even that would not be enough." + +Andrew glanced over the great crowds and stroked his beard thoughtfully. +"There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, +but what are they among so many?" + +Joel hurried forward and held out his basket with its little +store,--five flat round loaves of bread, not much more than one hungry +man could eat, and two dried fishes. + +He hardly knew what to expect as the people were made to sit down on the +grass in orderly ranks of fifties. + +His eyes grew round with astonishment as the Master took the bread, gave +thanks, and then passed it to the disciples, who, in turn, distributed +it among the people. Then the two little fishes were handed around in +the same way. + +Joel turned to Phineas, who had joined them some time ago. "Do you see +that?" he asked excitedly. "They have been multiplied a thousand fold!" + +Phineas smiled. "We drop one tiny grain of wheat into the earth," he +said, "and when it grows and spreads and bears dozens of other grains on +its single stalk, we are not astonished. When the Master but does in an +instant, what Nature takes months to do, we cry, 'a miracle!' 'Men are +more wont to be astonished at the sun's eclipse, than at its daily +rising,'" he quoted, remembering his conversation with the old +traveller, on his way to Nathan ben Obed's. + +A feeling of exaltation seized the people as they ate the mysterious +bread; it seemed that the days of miraculous manna had come again. By +the time they had all satisfied their hunger, and twelve basketfuls of +the fragments had been gathered up, they were ready to make Him their +king. The restlessness of the times had taken possession of them; the +burning excitement must find vent in some way, and with one accord they +demanded Him as their leader. + +Joel wondered why He should refuse. Surely no other man he had ever +known could have resisted such an appeal. + +The perplexed fisherman, at Jesus's command, turned their boat homeward +without Him. To their simple minds it seemed that He had made a mistake +in resisting the homage forced upon Him by the people; they longed for +the time to come when they should be recognized as the honored officials +in the new kingdom. Many a dream of future power and magnificence must +have come to them in the still watches of the night, as they drifted +home in the white light of the Passover moon. + +Many a time in the weeks that followed, Joel slipped away to his +favorite spot on the beech, a flat rock half hidden by a clump of +oleander bushes. Here, with his feet idly dangling in the ripples, he +looked out over the water, and recalled the scenes he had witnessed +there. + +It seemed so marvellous to him that the Master could have ever walked +on those shining waves; and yet he had seen Him that night after the +feeding of the multitudes. He had seen, with his own frightened eyes, +the Master walk calmly towards the boat across the unsteady water, and +catch up the sinking Peter, who had jumped overboard to meet Him. It +grieved and fretted the boy that this man, of God-given power and such +sweet unselfish spirit, could be so persistently misunderstood by the +people. He could think of nothing else. + +He had not been with the crowds that pressed into the synagogue the +Sabbath after the thousands had been fed; but Phineas came home with +grim lips and knitted brows, and told him about it. + +"The Master knew they followed Him because of the loaves and fishes," he +said. "He told them so. + +"When we came out of the door, I could not help looking up at the lintel +on which is carved the pot of manna; for when they asked Him for a sign +that they might believe Him, saying, 'Our fathers ate manna in the +wilderness!' He answered: 'I am the bread of life! Ye have seen me, and +yet believe not!' + +"While He talked there was a murmuring all over the house against Him, +because He said that He had come down from heaven. Your uncle Laban was +there. I heard him say scornfully: 'Is not this the son of Joseph, whose +father and mother we know? How doth He now say, "I am come down out of +heaven"?' Then he laughed a mocking little laugh, and nudged the man who +stood next to him. There are many like him; I could feel a spirit of +prejudice and persecution in the very air. Many who have professed to be +His friends have turned against Him." + +While Phineas was pouring out his anxious forebodings to his wife and +Joel, the Master was going homeward with His chosen twelve. + +"Would ye also go away?" He asked wistfully of His companions, as He +noted the cold, disapproving looks of many who had only the day before +been fed by Him, and who now openly turned their backs on Him. + +Simon Peter gave a questioning glance into the faces of his companions; +then he pressed a step nearer. "Lord, to whom shall we go?" he answered +impulsively. "Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed, +and know that Thou art the Holy One of God." + +The others nodded their assent, all but one. Judas Iscariot clutched the +money bags he held, and looked off across the lake, to avoid the +searching eyes that were fixed upon him. + +These honest Galileans were too simple to suspect others of dark +designs, yet they had never felt altogether free with this stranger from +Judea. He had never seemed entirely one of them. They did not see in his +crafty quiet manners, the sheep's clothing that hid his wolfish nature; +but they could feel his lack of sympathetic enthusiasm. + +He had been one of those who followed only for the loaves and fishes of +a temporal kingdom, and now, in his secret soul, he was sorry he had +joined a cause in whose final success he was beginning to lose faith. + +The sun went down suddenly that night behind a heavy cloud, as a +gathering storm began to lash the Galilee and rock the little boats +anchored at the landings. + +The year of popularity was at an end. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +ABIGAIL sat just inside the door, turning the noisy hand-mill that +ground out the next day's supply of flour. The rough mill-stones grated +so harshly on each other that she did not hear the steps coming up the +path. A shadow falling across the door-way made her look up. + +"You are home early, my Phineas," she said, with a smile. "Well, I shall +soon have your supper ready. Joel has gone to the market for some honey +and--" + +"Nay! I have little wish to eat," he interrupted, "but I have much to +say to you. Come! the work can wait." + +Abigail put the mill aside, and brushing the flour from her hands, sat +down on the step beside him, wondering much at his troubled face. + +He plunged into his subject abruptly. "The Master is soon going away," +he said, "that those in the uttermost parts of Galilee may be taught of +Him. And He would fain have others beside the twelve He has chosen to go +with Him on His journey." + +"And you wish to go too?" she questioned, as he paused. + +"Yes! How can I do otherwise? And yet how can I leave you and the little +ones alone in these troubled times? You cannot think how great the +danger is. Remember how many horrors we have lately heard. The whole +country is a smouldering volcano, ready to burst into an eruption at any +moment. A leader has only to arise, and all Israel will take up arms +against the powers that trample us under foot." + +"Is not this prophet, Jesus, He who is to save Israel?" asked Abigail. +"Is He not even now making ready to establish His kingdom?" + +"I do not understand Him at all!" said Phineas, sadly. "He does talk of +a kingdom in which we are all to have a part; but He never seems to be +working to establish it. He spends all His time in healing diseases and +forgiving penitent sinners, and telling us to love our neighbors. + +"Then, again, why should He go down to the beach, and choose for His +confidential friends just simple fishermen. They have neither influence +nor money. As for the choice of that publican Levi-Matthew, it has +brought disgrace on the whole movement. He does not seem to know how to +sway the popular feeling. I believe He might have had the support of the +foremost men of the nation, if He had approached them differently. + +"He shocks them by setting aside laws they would lay down their lives +rather than violate. He associates with those they consider unclean; and +all His miracles cannot make them forget how boldly He has rebuked them +for hypocrisy and unrighteousness. They never will come to His support +now; and I do not see how a new government can be formed without their +help." + +Abigail laid her hand on his, her dark eyes glowing with intense +earnestness, as she answered: "What need is there of armies and human +hands to help? + +"Where were the hosts of Pharaoh when our fathers passed through the Red +Sea? Was there bloodshed and fighting there? + +"Who battled for us when the walls of Jericho fell down? Whose hand +smote the Assyrians at Sennacherib? Is the Lord's arm shortened that He +cannot save? + +"Why may not His prophet speak peace to Jerusalem as easily as He did +the other night to the stormy sea? Why may not His power be multiplied +even as the loaves and fishes? + +"Why may not the sins and backslidings of the people be healed as well +as Joel's lameness; or the glory of the nation be quickened into a new +life, as speedily as He raised the daughter of Jairus? + +"Isaiah called Him the Prince of Peace. What are all these lessons, if +not to teach us that the purposes of God do not depend on human hands to +work out their fulfilment?" + +Her low voice thrilled him with its inspiring questions, and he looked +down into her rapt face with a feeling of awe. + +"Abigail," he said softly, "'my source of joy,'--you are rightly named. +You have led me out of the doubts that have been my daily torment. I see +now, why He never incites us to rebel against the yoke of Caesar. In the +fulness of time He will free us with a breath. + +"How strange it should have fallen to my lot to have been His playmate +and companion. My wonder is not that He is the Messiah; but that I +should have called Him friend, all these years, unknowing." + +"How long do you expect to be away?" she asked, after a pause, suddenly +returning to the first subject. + +"Several months, perhaps. There is no telling what insurrections and +riots may arise, all through this part of the country. Since the murder +of John Baptist, Herod has come back to his court in Tiberias. I dislike +to leave you here alone." + +Abigail, too, looked grave, and neither spoke for a little while. "I +have it!" she exclaimed at length, with a pleased light in her eyes. "I +have often wished I could make a long visit in the home of my girlhood. +The few days I have spent in my father's house, those few times I have +gone with you to the feasts, have been so short and unsatisfactory. Can +I not take Joel and the children to Bethany? Neither father nor mother +has ever seen little Ruth, and we could be so safe and happy there till +your return." + +"Why did I not come to you before with my worries?" asked Phineas. "How +easily you make the crooked places straight!" + +Just then the children came running back from the market. Abigail went +into the house with the provisions they had brought, leaving their +father to tell them of the coming separation and the long journey they +had planned. + +A week later, Phineas stood at the city gate, watching a little company +file southward down the highway. He had hired two strong, +gayly-caparisoned mules from the owner of the caravan. Abigail rode on +one, holding little Ruth in her arms; Joel mounted the other, with Jesse +clinging close behind him. + +Abigail, thinking of the joyful welcome awaiting her in her old home, +and the children happy in the novelty of the journey, set out gayly. + +But Phineas, thinking of the dangers by the way, and filled with many +forebodings, watched their departure with a heavy heart. + +At the top of a little rise in the road, they turned to look back and +wave their hands. In a moment more they were out of sight. Then Phineas, +grasping his staff more firmly, turned away, and started on foot in the +other direction, to follow to the world's end, if need be, the friend +who had gone on before. + +It was in the midst of the barley harvest. Jesse had never been in the +country before. For the first time, Nature spread for him her great +picture-book of field and forest and vineyard, while Abigail read to him +the stories. + +First on one side of the road, then the other, she pointed out some spot +and told its history. + +Here was Dothan, where Joseph went out to see his brothers, dressed in +his coat of many colors. There was Mount Gilboa, where the arrows of the +Philistines wounded Saul, and he fell on his own sword and killed +himself. Shiloh, where Hannah brought little Samuel to give him to the +Lord; where the Prophet Eli, so old that his eyes were too dim to see, +sat by the gate waiting for news from the army, and when word was +brought back that his two sons were dead, and the Ark of the Covenant +taken, here it was that he fell backward from his seat, and his neck was +broken. + +All these she told, and many more. Then she pointed to the gleaners in +the fields, and told the children to notice how carefully Israel still +kept the commandment given so many centuries before: "When ye reap the +harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy +field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou +shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of +thy vineyard, thou shalt leave them for the poor and the stranger." + +At Jacob's well, where they stopped to rest, Joel lifted Jesse up, and +let him look over the curb. The child almost lost his balance in +astonishment, when his own wondering little face looked up at him from +the deep well. He backed away from it quickly, and looked carefully into +the cup of water Joel handed him, for more than a minute, before he +ventured to drink. + +The home to which Abigail was going was a wealthy one. Her father, +Reuben, was a goldsmith, and for years had been known in Jerusalem not +only for the beautifully wrought ornaments and precious stones that he +sold in his shop near the Temple, but for his rich gifts to the poor. + +"Reuben the Charitable," he was called, and few better deserved the +name. His business took him every day to the city; but his home was in +the little village of Bethany, two miles away. It was one of the largest +in Bethany, and seemed like a palace to the children, when compared to +the humble little home in Capernaum. + +Joel only looked around with admiring eyes; but Jesse walked about, +laying curious little fingers on everything he passed. The bright +oriental curtains, the soft cushions and the costly hangings, he +smoothed and patted. Even the silver candlesticks and the jewelled cups +on the side table were picked up and examined, when his mother happened +to have her back turned. + +[Illustration: "'WE TALKED LATE'"] + +There were no pictures in the house; the Law forbade. But there were +several mirrors of bright polished metal, and Jesse never tired of +watching his own reflection in them. + +Ruth stayed close beside her mother. "She is a ray of God's own +sunshine," said her grandmother, as she took her in her arms for the +first time. The child, usually afraid of strangers, saw in Rebecca's +face a look so like her mother's that she patted the wrinkled cheeks +with her soft fingers. From that moment her grandmother was her devoted +slave. + +Jesse was not long in finding the place he held in his grandfather's +heart. The old man, whose sons had all died years before, seemed to +centre all his hopes on this son of his only daughter. He kept Jesse +with him as much as possible; his happiest hours were when he had the +child on his knee, teaching him the prayers and precepts and proverbs +that he knew would be a lamp to his feet in later years. + +"Nay! do not punish the child!" he said, one morning when Jesse had been +guilty of some disobedience. Abigail went on stripping the leaves +from an almond switch she just had broken off. + +"Why, father," she said, with a smile, "I have often seen you punish my +brothers for such disobedience, and have as often heard you say that one +of Solomon's wisest sayings is, 'Chasten thy son while there is hope, +and let not thy soul spare for his crying.' Jesse misses his father's +firm rule, and is getting sadly spoiled." + +"That is all true, my daughter," he acknowledged; "still I shall not +stay here to witness his punishment." + +Abigail used the switch as she had intended. The boy had overheard the +conversation, and the cries that reached his grandfather as he rode off +to the city were unusually loud and appealing. They may have had +something to do with the package the good man carried home that +night,--cakes and figs and a gay little turban more befitting a young +prince than the son of a carpenter. + +"Who lives across the street?" asked Joel, the morning after their +arrival. + +"Two old friends of mine," answered Abigail. "They came to see me last +night as soon as they heard I had arrived. You children were all asleep. +We talked late, for they wanted to hear all I could tell them of Rabbi +Jesus. He was here last year, and Martha said He and her brother Lazarus +became fast friends. Ah, there is Lazarus now!--that young man just +coming out of the house. He is a scribe, and goes up to write in one of +the rooms of the Temple nearly every day. + +"Mary says some of the copies of the Scriptures he has made are the most +beautifully written that she has ever seen." + +"See!" exclaimed Joel, "he has dropped one of the rolls of parchment he +was carrying, and does not know it. I'll run after him with it." + +He was hardly yet accustomed to the delight of being so fleet of foot; +no halting step now to hinder him. He almost felt as if he were flying, +and was by the young man's side nearly as soon as he had started. + +"Ah, you are the guest of my good neighbor, Reuben," Lazarus said, after +thanking him courteously. "Are you not the lad whose lameness has just +been healed by my best friend? My sisters were telling me of it. It must +be a strange experience to suddenly find yourself changed from a +helpless cripple to such a strong, straight lad as you are now. How did +it make you feel?" + +"Oh, I can never begin to tell you, Rabbi Lazarus," answered Joel. "I +did not even think of it that moment when He held my hand in His. I only +thought how much I loved Him. I had been starving before, but that +moment He took the place of everything,--father, mother, the home love I +had missed,--and more than that, the love of God seemed to come down and +fold me so close and safe, that I knew He was the Messiah. I did not +even notice that I was no longer lame, until I was far down the beach. +Oh, you do not know how I wanted to follow Him! If I could only have +gone with Him instead of coming here!" + +"Yes, my boy, I know!" answered the young man, gently; "for I, too, love +Him." + +This strong bond of sympathy between the two made them feel as if they +had known each other always. + +"Come walk with me a little way," said Lazarus. "I am going up to +Jerusalem to the Temple. Or rather, would you not like to come all the +way? I have only to carry these rolls to one of the priests, then I will +be at liberty to show you some of the strange sights in the city." + +Joel ran back for permission. Only stopping to wind his white linen +turban around his head, he soon regained his new-found friend. + +His recollection of Jerusalem was a very dim, confused one. Time and +time again he had heard pilgrims returning from the feasts trying to +describe their feelings when they had come in sight of the Holy City. +Now as they turned with the road, the view that rose before him made him +feel how tame their descriptions had been. + +The morning sun shone down on the white marble walls of the Temple and +the gold that glittered on the courts, as they rose one above the other; +tower and turret and pinnacle shot back a dazzling light. + +It did not seem possible to Joel that human hands could have wrought +such magnificence. He caught his breath, and uttered an exclamation of +astonishment. + +Lazarus smiled at his pleasure. "Come," he said, "it is still more +beautiful inside." + +They went very slowly through Solomon's Porch, for every one seemed to +know the young man, and many stopped to speak to him. Then they crossed +the Court of the Gentiles. It seemed like a market-place; for cages of +doves were kept there for sale, and lambs, calves, and oxen bleated and +lowed in their stalls till Joel could scarcely hear what his friend was +saying, as they pushed their way through the crowd, and stood before the +Gate Beautiful that led into the Court of the Women. + +Here Lazarus left Joel for a few moments, while he went to give the +rolls to the priest for whom he had copied them. + +Joel looked around. Then for the first time since his healing, he +wondered if it would be possible for him to ever take his place among +the Levites, or become a priest as he had been destined. + +While he wondered, Lazarus came back and led him into the next court. +Here he could look up and see the Holy Place, over which was trained a +golden vine, with clusters of grapes as large as a man's body, all of +purest gold. Beyond that he knew was a heavy veil of Babylonian +tapestry, hyacinth and scarlet and purple, that veiled in awful darkness +the Holy of Holies. + +As he stood there thinking of the tinkling bells, the silver trumpets, +the clouds of incense, and the mighty songs, a great longing came over +him to be one of those white-robed priests, serving daily in the +Temple. + +But with the wish came the recollection of a quiet hillside, where only +bird-calls and whirr of wings stirred the stillness; where a breeze from +the sparkling lake blew softly through the grass, and one Voice only was +heard, proclaiming its glad new gospel under the open sky. + +"No," he thought to himself; "I'd rather be with Him than wear the High +Priest's mitre." + +It was almost sundown when they found themselves on the road homeward. +They had visited place after place of interest. + +Lazarus found the boy an entertaining companion, and the friendship +begun that day grew deep and lasting. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +"WHAT are you looking for, grandfather?" called Jesse, as he pattered up +the outside stairs to the roof, where Reuben stood, scanning the sky +intently. + +"Come here, my son," he called. "Stand right here in front of me, and +look just where I point. What do you see?" + +The child peered anxiously into the blue depths just now lit up by the +sunset. + +"Oh, the new moon!" he cried. "Where did it come from?" + +"Summer hath dropped her silver sickle there, that Night may go forth to +harvest in her star-fields," answered the old man. Then seeing the look +of inquiry on the boy's face, hastened to add, "Nay, it is the censer +that God's hand set swinging in the sky, to remind us to keep the +incense of our praises ever rising heavenward. Even now a messenger may +be running towards the Temple, to tell the Sanhedrin that it has +appeared. Yea, other eyes have been sharper than mine, for see! Already +the beacon light has been kindled on the Mount of Olives!" + +Jesse watched the great bonfire a few minutes, then ran to call his +sister. By the time they were both on the roof, answering fires were +blazing on the distant hilltops throughout all Judea, till the whole +land was alight with the announcement of the Feast of the New Moon. + +"I wish it could be this way every night, don't you, Ruth?" said Jesse. +"Are you not glad we are here?" + +The old man looked down at the children with a pleased smile. "I'll show +you something prettier than this, before long," he said. "Just wait till +the Feast of Weeks, when the people all come to bring the first fruits +of the harvests. I am glad your visit is in this time of the year, for +you can see one festival after another." + +The day the celebration of the Feast of Weeks commenced, Reuben left his +shop in charge of the attendants, and gave up his entire time to Joel +and Jesse. + +"We must not miss the processions," he said. "We will go outside the +gates a little way, and watch the people come in." + +They did not have long to wait till the stream of people from the upper +countries began to pour in; each company carried a banner bearing the +name of the town from which it came. A white ox, intended for a +peace-offering, was driven first; its horns were gilded, and its body +twined with olive wreaths. + +Flocks of sheep and oxen for the sacrifice, long strings of asses and +camels bearing free-will gifts to the Temple, or old and helpless +pilgrims that could not walk, came next. + +There were wreaths of roses on the heads of the women and children; +bands of lilies were tied around the sheaves of wheat. Piled high in the +silver vessels of the rich, or peeping from the willow baskets of the +poor, were the choicest fruits of the harvest. + +Great bunches of grapes from whose purple globes the bloom had not been +brushed, velvety nectarines, tempting pomegranates, mellow pears, juicy +melons,--these offerings of fruit and flowers gleamed all down the long +line, for no one came empty-handed up this "Hill of the Lord." + +As they drew near the gates, a number of white-robed priests from the +Temple met them. Reuben lifted Jesse in his arms that he might have a +better view. "Listen," he said. Joel climbed up on a large rock. + +A joyful sound of flutes commenced, and a mighty chorus went up: "I was +glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Our +feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem!" + +Voice after voice took up the old psalm, and Reuben's deep tones joined +with the others, as they chanted, "Peace be within thy walls, and +prosperity within thy palaces!" + +Following the singing pilgrims to the Temple, they saw the priests take +the doves that were to be for a burnt-offering, and the first fruits +that were to be laid on the altars. + +Jesse held fast to his grandfather's hand as they passed through the +outer courts of the Temple. He was half frightened by the din of voices, +the stamping and bellowing and bleating of the animals as they were +driven into the pens. + +He had seen one sacrificial service; the great stream of blood pouring +over the marble steps of the altar, and the smoke of the burnt-offering +were still in his mind. It made him look pityingly now at the +gentle-eyed calves and the frightened lambs. He was glad to get away +from them. + +Soon after the time of this rejoicing was over, came ten solemn days +that to Joel were full of interest and mystery. They were the days of +preparation for the Fast of the Atonement. Disputes between neighbors +were settled, and sins confessed. + +The last great day, the most solemn of all, was the only time in the +whole year when the High Priest might draw aside the veil, and enter +into the Holy of Holies. + +With all his rich robes and jewels laid aside, clad only in simple +white, with bare feet and covered head, he had to go four times into the +awful Presence. Once to offer incense, once to pray, to sprinkle the +blood of a goat towards the mercy-seat, and then to bring out the +censer. + +That was the day when two goats were taken; by casting lots one was +chosen for a sacrifice. On the other the High Priest laid the sins of +the people, and it was driven out into the wilderness, to be dashed to +pieces from some high cliff. + +Tears came into Joel's eyes, as he watched the scape-goat driven away +into the dreary desert. He pitied the poor beast doomed to such a death +because of his nation's sins. + +Then came the closing ceremonies, when the great congregation bowed +themselves three times to the ground, with the High Priest shouting +solemnly, "Ye are clean! Ye are clean! Ye are clean!" + +Joel was glad when the last rite was over, and the people started to +their homes, as gay now as they had been serious before. + +"When are we going back to our other home?" asked Ruth, one day. + +"Why, are you not happy here, little daughter?" said Abigail. "I thought +you had forgotten all about the old place." + +"I want my white pigeons," she said, with a quivering lip, as if she had +suddenly remembered them. "I don't want my father not to be here!" she +sobbed; "and I want my white pigeons!" + +Abigail picked her up and comforted her. "Wait just a little while. I +think father will surely come soon. I will get my embroidery, and you +may go with me across the street." + +Ruth had been shy at first about going to see her mother's friends; but +Martha coaxed her in with honey cakes she baked for that express +purpose, and Mary told her stories and taught her little games. + +After a while she began to flit in and out of the house as fearlessly as +a bright-winged butterfly. + +One day her mother was sitting with the sisters in a shady corner of +their court-yard, where a climbing honeysuckle made a cool sweet arbor. +Ruth was going from one to the other, watching the bright embroidery +threads take the shape of flowers under their skilful fingers. Suddenly +she heard the faint tinkle of a silver bell. While she stood with one +finger on her lip to listen, Lazarus came into the court-yard. + +"See what I have brought you, little one," he said. "It is to take the +place of the pigeons you are always mourning for." + +It was a snow-white lamb, around which he had twined a garland of many +colored flowers, and from whose neck hung the little silver bell she had +heard. + +At first the child was so delighted she could only bury her dimpled +fingers in the soft fleece, and look at it in speechless wonder. Then +she caught his hand, and left a shy little kiss on it, as she lisped, +"Oh, you're so good! You're so good!" + +After that day Ruth followed Lazarus as the white lamb followed Ruth; +and the sisters hardly knew which sounded sweeter in their quiet home, +the tinkling of the silver bell, or the happy prattle of the baby +voice. + +Abigail spent many happy hours with her friends. One day as they sat in +the honeysuckle arbor, busily sewing, Ruth and Jesse came running +towards them. + +"I see my father coming, and another man," cried the boy. "I'm going to +meet them." + +They all hastened to the door, just as the tired, dusty travellers +reached it. + +"Peace be to this house, and all who dwell therein," said the stranger, +before Phineas could give his wife and friends a warmer greeting. + +"We went first to your father's house, but, finding no one at home, came +here," said Phineas. + +"Come in!" insisted Martha. "You look sorely in need of rest and +refreshment." + +But they had a message to deliver before they could be persuaded to eat +or wash. + +"The Master is coming," said Phineas. "He has sent out seventy of His +followers, to go by twos into every town, and herald His approach, and +proclaim that the day of the Lord is at hand. We have gone even into +Samaria to carry the tidings there." + +"At last, at last!" cried Mary, clasping her hands. "Oh, to think that I +have lived to see this day of Israel's glory!" + +"Tell us what the Master has been doing," urged Abigail, after the men +had been refreshed by food and water. + +First one and then the other told of miracles they had seen, and +repeated what He had taught. Even the children crept close to listen, +leaning against their father's knees. + +"There has been much discussion about the kingdom that is to be formed. +While we were in Peter's house in Capernaum, some of the disciples came +quarrelling around Him, to ask who should have the highest positions. I +suppose those who have followed Him longest think they have claim to the +best offices." + +"What did He say?" asked Abigail, eagerly. + +Phineas laid his hand on Ruth's soft curls. "He took a little child like +this, and set it in our midst, and said that he who would be greatest in +His kingdom, must become even like unto it!" + +"Faith and love and purity on the throne of the Herods," cried Martha. +"Ah, only Jehovah can bring such a thing as that to pass!" + +"Are you going to stay at home now, father?" asked Jesse, anxiously. + +"No, my son. I must go on the morrow to carry my report to the Master, +of the reception we have had in every town. But I will soon be back +again to the Feast of Tabernacles." + +"Carry with you our earnest prayer that the Master will abide with us +when He comes again to Bethany," said Martha, as her guests departed. +"No one is so welcome in our home, as the friend of our brother +Lazarus." + +The preparation for the Feast of the Tabernacles had begun. "I am going +to take the children to the city with me to-day!" said Reuben, one +morning, "to see the big booth I am having built. It will hold all our +family, and as many friends as may care to share it with us." + +Jesse was charmed with the great tent of green boughs. + +"I wish I could have been one of the children that Moses led up out of +Egypt," he said, with a sigh. + +"Why, my son?" asked Reuben. + +"So's I could have wandered around for forty years, living in a tent +like this. How good it smells, and how pretty it is! I wish you and +grandmother would live here all the time!" + +The next day Phineas joined them. It was a happy family that gathered in +the leafy booth for a week of out-door rejoicing in the cool autumn +time. + +"Where is the Master?" asked Abigail. + +"I know not," answered her husband. "He sent us on before." + +"Will He be here, I wonder?" she asked, and that question was on nearly +every lip in Jerusalem. + +"Will He be here?" asked the throngs of pilgrims who had heard of His +miracles, and longed to see the man who could do such marvellous things. + +"Will He be here?" whispered the scribes to the Pharisees. "Let Him +beware!" + +"Will He be here?" muttered Caiaphas the High Priest. "Then better one +man should die, than that the whole community perish." + +The sight that dazzled the eyes of the children that first evening of +the week, was like fairyland; a blaze of lanterns and torches lit up the +whole city. + +In the Court of the Women, in the Temple, all the golden lamps were lit, +twinkling and burning like countless stars. + +On the steps that separated this court from the next one, stood three +thousand singers, the sons and daughters of the tribe of Levi. Two +priests stood at the top of the steps, and as each gave the signal on a +great silver trumpet, the burst of song that went up from the vast choir +seemed to shake the very heavens. Harps and psalters and flutes swelled +with the rolling waves of the organ's melody. To the sound of this +music, men marched with flaming torches in their hands, and the marching +and a weird torch-dance were kept up until the gates of the Temple +closed. + +In the midst of all the feasting and the gayeties that followed, the +long-expected Voice was heard in the arcades of the Temple. + +The Child of Nazareth was once more in His Father's house about His +Father's business. + +On the last great day of the feast, Joel was up at day-break, ready to +follow the older members of the family as soon as the first +trumpet-blast should sound. + +In his right hand he carried a citron, as did all the others; in his +left was a palm-branch, the emblem of joy. An immense multitude gathered +at the spring of Siloam. Water was drawn in a golden pitcher, and +carried back to be poured on the great altar, while the choir sang with +its thousands of voices, and all the people shouted, Amen and Amen! + +When the days had gone by in which the seventy bullocks had been +sacrificed, and when the ceremonies were all over, then the leaves were +stripped from the green booths, and the people scattered to their +homes. + +Long afterward, Jesse remembered only the torch-light dances, the silver +trumpets and the crowds, and the faint ringing of the fringe of bells on +the priest's robes as he carried the fire on the golden shovel to burn +the sweet-smelling incense. + +Joel's memory rang often with two cries that had startled the people. +One when the water was poured from the golden pitcher. It was the +Master's voice: "_If any man thirst, let him come unto me_." The other +was when all eyes were turned on the blazing lamps. "_I am the Light of +the World!_" + +Reuben thought oftenest of the blind man to whom he had seen sight +restored. But Lazarus was filled with anxiety and foreboding; through +his office of scribe, he had come in close contact with the men who were +plotting against his friend. Dark rumors were afloat. The air was hot +with whisperings of hate. + +He had overheard a conversation between the Temple police, and some of +the chief priests and Pharisees. + +"Why did ye not take Him, as ye were ordered?" they demanded angrily. + +"We could not," was the response; "for never man spake like this man." + +He had seen the mob searching for stones to throw at Him. Though He had +disappeared out of their midst unhurt, still Lazarus felt that some +terrible disaster was hanging threateningly over the head of his beloved +friend. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +IT was with a deep feeling of relief that the two families watched the +Master go away into Perea. Phineas still kept with Him. As the little +band disappeared down the street, Ruth hid her face in her mother's +dress and began to cry. + +"I don't want my father to go away again!" she sobbed. Abigail took her +in her lap and tried to comfort her, although there were tears in her +own eyes. + +"We will go home soon, little daughter, and then father will be with us +all the time. But we must wait first, till after the cold, rainy season, +and the Feast of Dedication." + +"What! another feast?" asked Jesse, to whom the summer had seemed one +long confusion of festivals. "Don't they have lots of them down in this +country! What's this one for?" + +"Grandfather will tell you," answered his mother. "Run out and ask him +for the story. I know you will like it." + +Seated on his grandfather's knee, Jesse doubled up his little fists, as +he heard how a heathen altar had once been set up on the great altar of +burnt-offering, and a heathen general had driven a herd of swine through +the holy Temple, making it unclean. But his breath came quick, and his +eyes shone, as the proud old Israelite told him of Judas the Maccabee, +Judas the lion-hearted, who had whipped the Syrian soldiers, purified +the Temple, and dedicated it anew to the worship of Jehovah. + +"Our people never forget their heroes," ended the old man. "Every year, +in every home, no matter how humble, one candle is lighted at the +beginning of the feast; the next night, two, and the next night, three, +and so on, till eight candles shine out into the winter darkness. + +"For so the brave deeds of the Maccabees burn in the memory of every +child of Abraham!" + +The feast came and went. While the candles burned in every home, and the +golden lamps in the great Temple blazed a welcome, the Nazarene came +back to His Father's house, to be once more about His Father's business. + +Joel caught a glimpse of Him walking up and down the covered porches in +front of the Gate Beautiful. The next moment he was pushing and +elbowing his way through the jostling crowds, till he stood close beside +Him. + +After that, the services that followed were a blank. He saw only one +face,--the face that had looked into his beside the Galilee, and drawn +from his heart its intensest love. He heard only one voice,--the voice +he had longed for all these weeks and days. Just to be near Him! To be +able to reach out reverent fingers and only touch the clothes He wore; +to look up in His face, and look and look with a love that never +wearied,--that was such happiness that Joel was lost to everything else! + +But after a while he began to realize that it was for no friendly +purpose that the chief priests came pressing around with questions. + +"If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly," they demanded. Then up and +down through the long Porch of Solomon, among all its white marble +pillars, they repeated His answer:-- + +"The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. I and +my Father are one!" + +"Blasphemy!" shouted a mocking voice behind Him. "Blasphemy!" echoed +Pharisee and Sadducee for once agreed. The crowds pushed and shoved +between the pillars; some ran out for stones. In the confusion of the +uproar, as they turned to lay violent hands on Him, He slipped out of +their midst, and went quietly away. + +Joel hunted around awhile for the party he had come with, but seeing +neither Phineas nor Lazarus, started back to Bethany on the run. A cold +winter rain had begun to fall. + +None of Reuben's family had gone into Jerusalem that day on account of +the weather, but were keeping the feast at home. + +They were startled when the usually quiet boy burst excitedly into the +house, and told them what he had just seen. + +"O mother Abigail!" he cried, throwing himself on his knees beside her. +"If He goes away again may I not go with Him? I cannot go back to +Galilee and leave Him, unknowing what is to happen. If He is to be +persecuted and driven out, and maybe killed, let me at least share His +suffering, and be with Him at the last!" + +"You forget that He has all power, and that His enemies can do Him no +harm," said Abigail, gently. "Has He not twice walked out unharmed, +before their very eyes, when they would have taken Him? And besides what +good could you do, my boy? You forget you are only a child, and might +not be able to stand the hardships of such a journey." + +"I am almost fourteen," said Joel, stretching himself up proudly. "And I +am as strong now as some of the men who go with Him. _He_ gave me back +my strength, you know. Oh, you do not know how I love Him!" he cried. +"When I am away from Him, I feel as you would were you separated from +Jesse and Ruth and father Phineas. My heart is always going out after +Him!" + +"Child, have you no care for us?" she responded reproachfully. + +"Oh, do not speak so!" he cried, catching up her hand and kissing it. "I +_do_ love you; I can never be grateful enough for all you have done for +me. But, O mother Abigail, you could never understand! You were never +lame and felt the power of His healing. You were never burning with a +wicked hatred, and felt the balm of His forgiveness! You cannot +understand how He draws me to Him!" + +"Let the boy have his way," spoke up Reuben. "I, too, have felt that +wonderful power that draws all men to Him. Gladly would I part with +every shekel I possess, if I thereby might win Him the favor of the +authorities." + +When once more a little band of fugitives followed their Master across +the Jordan, Joel was with them. + +The winter wore away, and they still tarried. Day by day, they were +listening to the simple words that dropped like seeds into their +memories, to spring up in after months and bear great truths. Now they +heard them as half understood parables,--the good Samaritan, the barren +fig-tree, the prodigal son, the unjust steward. + +There was one story that thrilled Joel deeply,--the story of the lost +sheep. For he recalled that stormy night in the sheepfold of Nathan ben +Obed, and the shepherd who searched till dawn for the straying lamb. + +It was only long afterwards that he realized it was the Good Shepherd +Himself who told the story, when He was about to lay down His own life +for the lost sheep of Israel. + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile in Bethany, Rabbi Reuben and his wife rejoiced that their +daughter's visit stretched out indefinitely. + +Jesse openly declared that he intended to stay there always, and learn +to be a goldsmith like his grandfather. + +Ruth, too, was happy and contented, and seemed to have forgotten that +she ever had any other home. As the early spring days came on, she lived +almost entirely out in the sunshine. She had fallen into the habit of +standing at the gate to watch for Lazarus every evening when he came +back from the Temple. As soon as she saw him turn the corner into their +street, she ran to meet him, her fair curls and white dress fluttering +in the wind. + +No matter how tired he was, or what cares rested heavily on his mind, +the pale face always lighted up, and his dark eyes smiled at her coming. + +"Lazarus does not seem well, lately," she heard Martha say to her mother +one day. "I have been trying to persuade him to rest a few days; but he +insists he cannot until he has finished the scroll he is illuminating." + +A few days after that he did not go to the city as usual. Ruth peeped +into the darkened room where he was resting on a couch; his eyes were +closed, and he was so pale it almost frightened her. + +He did not hear her when she tiptoed into the room and out again; but +the fragrance of the little stemless rose she laid on his pillow aroused +him. He opened his eyes and smiled languidly, as he caught sight of her +slipping noiselessly through the door. + +Her mother, sewing by the window, looked out and saw her running across +the street. Jesse was out in front of the house, playing with a ball. + +"Who is that boy talking to Jesse?" asked Abigail of Rebecca, who stood +in the doorway, holding out her arms as Ruth came up. + +"Why, that is little Joseph, the only son of Simon the leper. Poor +child!" + +"Simon the leper," repeated Abigail. "A stranger to me." + +"Surely not. Have you forgotten the wealthy young oil-seller who lived +next the synagogue? He has the richest olive groves in this part of the +country." + +"Not the husband of my little playmate Esther!" cried Abigail. "Surely +he has not been stricken with leprosy!" + +"Yes; it is one of the saddest cases I ever heard of. It seems so +terrible for a man honored as he has been, and accustomed to every +luxury, to be such a despised outcast." + +"Poor Esther!" sighed Abigail. "Does she ever see him?" + +"Not now. The disease is fast destroying him; and he is such a hideous +sight that he has forbidden her to ever try to see him again. Even his +voice is changed. Of course he would be stoned if he were to come back. +He never seeks the company of other lepers. She has had a room built for +him away from the sight of men. Every day a servant carries him food and +tidings. It is well that they have money, or he would be obliged to live +among the tombs with others as repulsive-looking as himself, and such +company must certainly be worse than none. Sometimes little Joseph is +taken near enough to speak to him, that he may have the poor comfort of +seeing his only child at a distance." + +"What if it were my Phineas!" exclaimed Abigail, her tears dropping fast +on the needlework she held. "Oh, it is a thousand times worse than +death!" + +Out in the street the boys were making each other's acquaintance in the +off-hand way boys of that age have. + +"My name is Jesse. What's yours?" + +"Joseph." + +"Where do you live?" + +"Around the corner, next to the synagogue." + +"My father is a carpenter. What's yours?" + +Joseph hesitated. "He used to be an oil-seller," he said finally. "He +doesn't do anything now." + +"Why?" persisted Jesse. + +"He is a leper now," was the reluctant answer. + +A look of distress came over Jesse's face. He had seen some lepers once, +and the sight was still fresh in his mind. As they were riding down from +Galilee, Joel had pointed them out to him. A group of beggars with +horrible scaly sores that had eaten away their flesh, till some were +left without lips or eyelids; one held out a deathly white hand from +which nearly all the fingers had dropped. Their hair looked like white +wire, and they called out, in shrill, cracked voices, "Unclean! Unclean! +Come not near us!" + +"How terrible to have one's father like that," thought Jesse. A lump +seemed to come up in his throat; his eyes filled with tears at the bare +idea. Then, boy-like, he tossed up his ball, and forgot all about it in +the game that followed. + +Several days after he met Joseph and a servant who was carrying a large, +covered basket and a water-bottle made of skin. + +"I'm going to see my father, now," said Joseph. "Ask your mother if you +can come with me." + +Jesse started towards his home, then turned suddenly. "No, I'm not going +to ask her, for she'll be sure to say no. I am just going anyhow." + +"You'll catch it when you get home!" exclaimed Joseph. + +"Well, it cannot last long," reasoned Jesse, whose curiosity had gotten +the better of him. "I believe I'd rather take a whipping than not to +go." + +Joseph looked at him in utter astonishment. + +"Yes, I would," he insisted; "so come on!" + +A short walk down an unfrequented road, in the direction of Jericho, +took them to a lonely place among the bare cliffs. A little cabin stood +close against the rocks, with a great sycamore-tree bending over it. +Near by was the entrance to a deep cave, always as cool as a cellar, +even in the hottest summer days. + +At the mouth of the cave sat Simon the leper. He stood up when he saw +them coming, and wrapped himself closely in a white linen mantle that +covered him from head to foot. It was a ghostly sight to Jesse; but to +Joseph, so long accustomed to it, there seemed nothing strange. + +At a safe distance the servant emptied his basket on a large flat rock, +and poured the water into a stone jar standing near. Last of all, he +laid a piece of parchment on the stone. It was Esther's daily letter to +her exiled husband. + +No matter what storms swept the valley, or what duties pressed at home, +that little missive was always sent. She had learned to write for his +sake. By all his friends he was accounted dead; but her love, stronger +than death, bridged the gulf that separated them. She lived only to +minister to his comfort as best she could. + +Simon did not send as long a message in return as this trusted messenger +usually carried. He had much to say to his boy, and the sun was already +high. + +Jesse, lagging behind in the shelter of the rock, heard the tender words +of counsel and blessing that came from the white-sheeted figure with a +feeling of awe. + +As the father urged his boy to be faithful to every little duty, careful +in learning the prayers, and above all obedient to his mother, Jesse's +conscience began to prick him sorely. + +"I believe I know somebody that could cure him," he said, as they picked +their way over the rocks, going home. "'Cause He made Joel well." + +"Who's Joel?" asked Joseph. + +"A boy that lives with us. He was just as lame, and limped way over when +he walked. Now he is as straight as I am. All the sick people where I +lived went to Him, and they got well." + +Joseph shook his head. "Lepers can't be cured. Can they, Seth?" he +asked, appealing to the servant. + +"No, lepers are just the same as dead," answered Seth. "There's no help +for them." + +Jesse was in a very uncomfortable frame of mind, as, hot and dusty, he +left his companion and dragged home at a snail's pace. + +Next morning Joseph was waiting for him out in front. "Well, did she +whip you?" he asked, with embarrassing frankness. + +"No," said Jesse, a little sheepishly. "She put me to bed just as soon +as I had eaten my dinner, and made me stay there till this morning." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +RUTH went every day to ask for her sick friend, sometimes with a bunch +of grapes, sometimes with only a flower in her warm little hand. + +But there came a time when Martha met her, with eyes all swollen and red +from crying, and told her they had sent to the city for a skilful +physician. + +In the night there came a loud knocking at the door, and a call for +Rabbi Reuben to come quickly, that Lazarus was worse. At day-break a +messenger was sent clattering away to hurry over the Jordan in hot +haste, and bring back from Perea the only One who could help them. + +The noise awakened Ruth; she sat up in surprise to see her mother +dressed so early. The outer door was ajar, and she heard the message +that the anxious Martha bade the man deliver: "Lord, he whom Thou lovest +is sick." + +"He will come right away and make him well, won't He, mother?" she asked +anxiously. + +"Surely, my child," answered Abigail. "He loves him too well to let him +suffer so." + +But the day wore on, and the next; still another, and He did not come. + +Ruth stole around like a frightened shadow, because of the anxious looks +on every face. + +"Why doesn't He come?" she wondered; and on many another lip was the +same question. + +She was so quiet, no one noticed when she stole into the room where her +friend lay dying. Mary knelt on one side of the bed, Martha on the +other, watching the breath come slower and slower, and clinging to the +unresponsive hands as if their love could draw him back to life. + +Neither shed a tear, but seemed to watch with their souls in their eyes, +for one more word, one more look of recognition. + +Abigail sat by the window, weeping softly. Ruth had never seen her +mother cry before, and it frightened her. She glanced at her +grandfather, standing by the foot of the bed; two great tears rolled +slowly down his cheeks, and dropped on his long beard. + +A sudden cry from Mary, as she fell fainting to the floor, called her +attention to the bed again. Martha was silently rocking herself to and +fro, in an agony of grief. + +Still the child did not understand. Those in the room were so busy +trying to bring Mary back to consciousness, that no one noticed Ruth. + +Drawn by some impulse she could not understand, the child drew nearer +and nearer. Then she laid her soft little hand on his, thinking the +touch would surely make him open his eyes and smile at her again; it had +often done so before. + +But what was it that made her start back terrified, and shrink away +trembling? It was not Lazarus she had touched, but the awful mystery of +death. + +"I did not know that a little child could feel so deeply," said Abigail +to her mother, when she found that Ruth neither ate nor played, but +wandered aimlessly around. + +"I shall keep her away from the funeral." + +But all her care could not keep from the little one's ears the mournful +music of the funeral dirge, or the wailing of the mourners, who gathered +to do honor to the young man whom all Bethany knew and loved. + +Many friends came out from Jerusalem to follow the long procession to +the tomb. There was a long eulogy at the grave; but the most impressive +ceremony was over at last, and the great stone had to be rolled into the +opening that formed the doorway. + +Then the two desolate sisters went back to their lonely home and empty +life, wondering how they could go on without the presence that had been +such a daily benediction. + +The fourth day after his death, as Martha sat listlessly looking out of +the green arbor with unseeing eyes, Ruth ran in with a radiant face. + +"He's come!" she cried. "He's come, and so has my father. Hurry! He is +waiting for you!" + +Martha drew her veil about her, and mechanically followed the eager +child to the gate, where Phineas met her with the same message. + +"Oh, why did He not come sooner?" she thought bitterly, as she pressed +on after her guide. + +Once outside of the village, she drew aside her veil. There stood the +Master, with such a look of untold sympathy on His worn face, that +Martha cried out, "Lord, if Thou hadst been here my brother had not +died!" + +"Thy brother shall rise again," He said gently. + +"Yes, I know he shall rise again in the resurrection, at the last day," +she said brokenly. "That brings hope for the future; but what comfort is +there for the lonely years we must live without him?" The tears streamed +down her face again. + +Then for the first time came those words that have brought balm into +thousands of broken hearts, and hope into countless tear-blind eyes. + +"I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me shall never +die. Believest thou this?" + +Martha looked up reverently. "Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the +Christ, the Son of God which should come into the world." + +A great peace came over her troubled spirit as she hurried to her home, +where the many friends still sat who had come to comfort them. A number +of them were from Jerusalem, and she knew that among them were some who +were unfriendly to her brother's friend. + +So she quietly called her sister from the room, whispering, "The Master +is come, and calleth for thee!" + +Those who sat there thought they were going to the grave to weep, as was +the custom. So they rose also, and followed at a little distance. + +Mary met Him with the same exclamation that her sister had uttered, and +fell at His feet. + +He, seeing in her white face the marks of the deep grief she had +suffered, was thrilled to the depths of His humanity by the keenest +sympathy. His tears fell too, at the sight of hers. + +"Behold how He loved Lazarus!" said a man to the one who stood beside +him. + +"Why did He not save him then?" was the mocking answer. + +"They say He has the power to open the eyes of the blind, and even to +raise the dead. Let Him show it in this case!" + +It was a curious crowd that followed Him to the door of the tomb: men +who hated Him for the scorching fire-brands of rebuke He had thrown into +their corrupt lives; men who feared Him as a dangerous teacher of false +doctrines; men who knew His good works, but hesitated either to accept +or refuse; and men who loved Him better than life,--all waiting, +wondering what He would do. + +"Roll the stone away!" He commanded; a dozen strong shoulders bent to do +His bidding. Then He looked up and spoke in a low tone, but so +distinctly that no one lost a word. + +"Father," He said,--He seemed to be speaking to some one just beside +Him,--"I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me, and I knew that Thou +hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, +that they may believe that Thou hast sent me." + +A cold shiver of expectancy ran over those who heard. Then He cried, in +a loud voice, "_Lazarus, come forth!_" There was a dreadful pause. Some +of the women clutched each other with frightened shrieks; even strong +men fell back, as out of the dark grave walked a tall figure wrapped in +white grave-clothes. + +His face was hidden in a napkin. "Loose him, and let him go," said the +Master, calmly. + +Phineas stepped forward and loosened the outer bands. When the napkin +fell from his face, they saw he was deathly white; but in an instant a +warm, healthful glow took the place of the corpse-like pallor. + +Not till he spoke, however, could the frightened people believe that it +was Lazarus, and not a ghost they saw. + +Never had there been such a sight since the world began: the man who had +lain four days in the tomb, walking side by side with the man who had +called him back to life. + +The streets were full of people, laughing, shouting, crying, fairly +beside themselves with astonishment. + +Smiths left their irons to cool on the anvils; bakers left their bread +to burn in the ovens; the girl at the fountain dropped her half-filled +pitcher; and a woman making cakes ran into the street with the dough in +her hands. + +Every house in the village stood empty, save one where a sick man moaned +for water all unheeded, and another where a baby wakened in its cradle +and began to cry. + +Long after the reunited family had gone into their home with their +nearest friends, and shut the door on their overwhelming joy, the crowds +still stood outside, talking among themselves. + +Many who had taken part against the Master before, now believed on +account of what they had seen. But some still said, more openly than +before, "He is in league with the evil one, or He could not do such +things." These hurried back to Jerusalem, to spread the report that this +dangerous man had again appeared, almost at the very gates of the great +Capital. + +That night there was a secret council of the chief priests and the +Pharisees. "What shall we do," was the anxious question. "If we let Him +alone, all men will believe on Him; and the Romans shall come and take +away both our place and our nation." + +Every heart beat with the same thought, but only Caiaphas put it in +words. At last he dared repeat what he had only muttered to himself +before: "It is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, +and that the whole nation perish not." + +While the streets were still full of people, Jesse crept up to Joel, as +they sat together in the court-yard. "Don't you think it would be just +as easy to cure a leper as to raise Rabbi Lazarus from the dead?" + +"Yes, indeed!" answered Joel, positively, "I've seen it done." + +"Oh, have you?" cried the boy, in delight. "Then Joseph can have his +father back again." + +He told him the story of Simon the leper, and of his visit to the lonely +cave. + +Joel's sympathies were aroused at once. Ever since his own cure, he had +felt that he must bring every afflicted one in the wide world to the +great source of healing. + +Just then a man stopped at the gate to ask for Phineas. Joel had learned +to know him well in the weeks they had been travelling together; it was +Thomas. + +The boy sprang up eagerly. "Do you know when the Master is going to +leave Bethany?" he asked. + +"In the morning," answered Thomas, "and right glad I am that it is to be +so soon. For when we came down here, I thought it was but to die with +Him. He is beset on all sides by secret enemies." + +"And will He go out by the same road that we came?" + +"It is most probable." + +Joel waited for no more information from him, but went back to Jesse to +learn the way to the cave. + +Jesse was a little fellow, but a keen-eyed one, and was able to give +Joel the few simple directions that would lead him the right way. + +"Oh, I'm so glad you are going!" he exclaimed. "Shall I run and tell +Joseph what you are going to do?" + +"No, do not say a word to any one," answered Joel. "I shall be back in a +very short time." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +SIMON the leper sat at the door of his cave. He held a roll of vellum in +his unsightly fingers; it was a copy of the Psalms that Lazarus had once +made for him in happier days. + +Many a time he had found comfort in these hope-inspiring songs of David; +but to-day he was reading a wail that seemed to come from the depths of +his own soul: + +"Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and Thou hast afflicted me with all Thy +waves. Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me. Thou hast made me an +abomination unto them. I am shut up and I cannot come forth. Lord, I +have called daily upon Thee. I have stretched out my hands unto Thee. +Wilt Thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise again and +praise Thee? Lord, why casteth Thou off my soul? Why hidest Thou Thy +face from me?" + +The roll dropped to the ground, and he hid his face in his hands, +crying, "How long must I endure this? Oh, why was I not taken instead of +Lazarus?" + +The sound of some one scrambling over the rocks made him look up +quickly. + +Seth never made his visits at this time of the day, and strangers had +never before found the path to this out-of-the-way place. + +Joel came on, and stopped by the rock where the water-jar stood. + +Simon stood up, covering himself with his mantle, and crying out, +warningly, "Beware! Unclean! Come no further!" + +"I bring you news from the village," said Joel. The man threw out his +hand with a gesture of alarm. + +"Oh, not of my wife Esther," he cried, imploringly, "or of my little +Joseph! I could not bear to hear aught of ill from them. My heart is +still sore for the death of my friend Lazarus. I went as near the +village as I dared, and heard the dirge of the flutes and the wailing of +the women, when they laid him in the tomb. I have sat here ever since in +sackcloth and ashes." + +"But Lazarus lives again!" exclaimed Joel, simply. He had seen so many +miracles lately, that he forgot the startling effect such an +announcement would have on one not accustomed to them. + +[Illustration: "'YOU BUT MOCK ME, BOY'"] + +The man stood petrified with astonishment. At last he said bitterly, +"You but mock me, boy; at least leave me to my sorrow in peace." + +"No!" cried Joel. "As the Lord liveth, I swear it is the truth. Have you +not heard that Messiah has come? I have followed Him up and down the +country, and know whereof I speak. At a word from Him the dumb sing, the +blind see, and the lame walk. I was lame myself, and He made me as you +see me now." + +Joel drew himself up to his fullest height. Simon looked at him, +completely puzzled. + +"Why did you take the trouble to come and tell me that,--a poor despised +leper?" he finally asked. + +"Because I want everybody else to be as happy as I am. He cured me. He +gave me back my strength. Then why should not my feet be always swift to +bring others to Him for the same happy healing? He Himself goes about +all the time doing good. I know there is hope for you, for I have seen +Him cleanse lepers." + +Simon trembled, as the full meaning of the hope held out to him began to +make itself clear to his confused mind: health, home, Esther, +child,--all restored to him. It was joy too great to be possible. + +"Oh, if I could only believe it!" he cried. + +"Lazarus was raised when he had been four days dead. All Bethany can +bear witness to that," persisted Joel. The words poured out with such +force and earnestness, as he described the scene, that Simon felt +impelled to believe him. + +"Where can I find this man?" he asked. + +Joel pointed down the rocky slope. "Take that road that leads into +Bethany. Come early in the morning, and as we all pass that way, call to +Him. He never refuses any who have faith to believe that He can grant +what they ask." + +When Joel was half-way down the hill, he turned back. "If He should not +pass on the morrow," he said, "do not fail to be there on the second +day. We will surely leave here soon." + +Simon stood in bewilderment till the boy had passed down the hill; he +began to fear that this messenger had been only the creation of a dream. +He climbed upon the cliff and peered down into the valley. No, he had +not been deceived; the boy was no mirage of his thirsty soul, for there, +he came out into full sight again, and now, he was climbing the opposite +hillside. + +"How beautiful upon the mountain are the feet of him who bringeth good +tidings!" he murmured. "Oh, what a heaven opens out before me, if this +lad's words are only true!" + +Next morning, after they left Bethany, Joel looked anxiously behind +every rock and tree that they passed; but Simon was not to be seen. + +Presently Joel saw him waiting farther down the road; he was kneeling in +the dust. The white mantle, that in his sensitiveness was always used to +hide himself from view, was cast aside, that the Great Healer might see +his great need. + +He scanned the approaching figures with imploring eyes. He was looking +for the Messiah,--some one in kingly garments, whose jewelled sceptre's +lightest touch would lay upon him the royal accolade of health. + +These were evidently not the ones he was waiting for. These were only +simple wayfarers; most of them looked like Galileans. + +He was about to rise up with his old warning cry of unclean, when he +caught sight of Joel. But where was the princely Redeemer of prophecy? + +Nearer and nearer they came, till he could look full in their faces. No +need now to ask on which one he should call for help; indeed, he seemed +to see but one face, it was so full of loving pity. + +"O Thou Messiah of Israel!" he prayed. "Thou didst call my friend +Lazarus from the dead, O pass me not by! Call me from this living death! +Make me clean!" + +The eyes that looked down into his seemed to search his soul. "Believest +thou that I can do this?" + +The pleading faith in Simon's eyes could not be refused. "Yea, Lord," he +cried, "Thou hast but to speak the word!" + +He waited, trembling, for the answer that meant life or death to him. + +"I will. Be thou clean!" He put out His hand to raise the kneeling man +to his feet. "Go and show thyself to the priests," He added. + +The party passed on, and Simon stood looking after them. _Was_ it the +Christ who had passed by? Where were His dyed garments from Bozrah? The +prophet foretold Him as glorious in apparel, travelling in the greatness +of His strength. No sceptre of divine power had touched him; it was only +the clasp of a warm human hand he had felt. He looked down at himself. +Still a leper! His faith wavered; but he remembered he had not obeyed +the command to show himself to the priests. Immediately he started +across the fields on a run, towards the road leading into Jerusalem. + +Far down the highway Joel heard a mighty shout; he turned and looked +back. There on the brow of a hill, sharply outlined against the sky, +stood Simon. His arms were lifted high up towards heaven; for as he ran, +in obedience to the command, the leprosy had gone from him. He was +pouring out a flood of praise and thanksgiving, in the first ecstasy of +his recovery, at the top of his voice. + +Joel thought of the tiresome ceremonies to be observed before the man +could go home, and wished that the eight days of purification were over, +that the little family might be immediately reunited. + +Meanwhile, Seth, with his basket and water-bottle, was climbing the hill +toward the cave. For the first time in seven years since he had +commenced these daily visits, no expectant voice greeted him. He went +quite close up to the little room under the cliff; he could see through +the half-open door that it was empty. Then he cautiously approached the +mouth of the cave, and called his master. A hundred echoes answered him, +but no human voice responded. Call after call was sent ringing into the +hollow darkness. The deep stillness weighed heavily upon him; he began +to be afraid that somewhere in its mysterious depths lay a dead body. + +The fear mastered him. Only stopping to put down the food and pour out +the water, he started home at the top of his speed. + +As he reached the road, a traveller going to Bethany hailed him. "What +think you that I saw just now?" asked the stranger. "A man running with +all his might towards Jerusalem. Tears of joy were streaming down his +cheeks, and he was shouting as he ran, 'Cleansed! Cleansed! Cleansed!' +He stopped me, and bade me say, if I met a man carrying a basket and +water-skin, that Simon the leper has just been healed of the leprosy. He +will be home as soon as the days of purification are over." + +Seth gazed at him stupidly, feeling that he must be in a dream. Esther, +too, heard the message unbelievingly. Yet she walked the floor in a +fever of excitement, at the bare possibility of such a thing being true. + +The next morning, she sent Seth, as usual, with the provisions. But he +brought them back, saying the place was still deserted. + +Then she began to dare to hope; although she tried to steel herself +against disappointment, by whispering over and over that she could never +see him again, she waited impatiently for the days to pass. At last they +had all dragged by. + +The new day would begin at sunset, the very earliest time that she might +expect him. The house was swept and garnished as if a king were coming. +The table was set with the choicest delicacies Seth could find in the +Jerusalem markets. + +The earliest roses, his favorite red ones, were put in every room. In +her restless excitement nothing in her wardrobe seemed rich enough to +wear. She tried on one ornament after another before she was suited. +Then, all in white, with jewels blazing in her ears, on her throat, on +her little white hands, and her eyes shining like two glad stars, she +sat down to wait for him. + +But she could not keep still. This rug was turned up at the corner; that +rose had dropped its petals on the floor. She would have another kind of +wine on the table. + +At last she stepped out of the door in her little silken-bound sandals, +and climbed the outside stairs to the roof, to watch for him. + +The sun was entirely out of sight, but the west was glorious with the +red gold of its afterglow. Looking up the Mount of Olives, she could see +the smoke of the evening sacrifice rising as the clouds of incense +filled the Temple. Surely he must be far on the way by this time. + +Her heart almost stopped beating as she saw a figure coming up the road, +between the rows of palm-trees. She strained her eyes for a nearer view, +then drew a long tremulous breath. It was Lazarus; there went the two +children and the lamb to meet him. All along the street, people were +standing in the doors to see him go past; he was still a wonder to them. + +She shaded her eyes with her hand, and looked again. But while her gaze +searched the distant road, some one was passing just below, under the +avenue of leafy trees, with quick impatient tread; some one paused at +the vine-covered door; some one was leaping up the stairs three steps at +a time; some one was coming towards her with out-stretched arms, crying, +"Esther, little Esther, O my wife! My God-given one!" + +For the first time in seven years, she turned to find herself in her +husband's arms. Strong and well, with the old light in his eyes, the old +thrill in his voice, the glow of perfect health tingling through all his +veins, he could only whisper tremulously, as he held her close, "Praise +God! Praise God!" + +No wonder he seemed like a stranger to Joseph. But the clasp of the +strong arms, and the deep voice saying "my son," so tenderly, were +inexpressibly dear to the little fellow kept so long from his birthright +of a father's love. + +He was the first to break the happy silence that fell upon them. "What a +good man Rabbi Jesus must be, to go about making people glad like this +all the time!" + +"It is He who shall redeem Israel!" exclaimed Simon. "To God be the +glory, who hath sent Him into this sin-cursed world! Henceforth all that +I have, and all that I am, shall be dedicated to His service!" + +Kneeling there in the dying daylight, with his arms around the wife and +child so unexpectedly given back to him, such a heart-felt prayer of +gratitude went upward to the good Father that even the happiest angels +must have paused to listen, more glad because of this great +earth-gladness below. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +"I THINK there will be an unusual gathering of strangers at the Passover +this year," said Rabbi Reuben to Lazarus, as they came out together from +the city, one afternoon. "The number may even reach three millions. A +travelling man from Rome was in my shop to-day. He says that in the +remotest parts of the earth, wherever the Hebrew tongue is found, one +may hear the name of the Messiah. + +"People pacing the decks of the ships, crossing the deserts, or trading +in the shops, talk only of Him and His miracles; they have aroused the +greatest interest even in Athens and the cities of the Nile. The very +air seems full of expectancy. I cannot but think great things are about +to come to pass. Surely the time is now ripe for Jesus to proclaim +Himself king. I cannot understand why He should hide Himself away in the +wilderness as if He feared for His safety." + +Lazarus smiled at the old man, with a confident expression. "Be sure, my +friend, it is only because the hour has not yet come. What a sight it +will be when He does stand before the tomb of our long dead power, to +call back the nation to its old-time life and grandeur. I can well +believe that with Him all things are possible." + +"Would that this next Passover were the time!" responded Reuben. "How I +would rejoice to see His enemies laid low in the dust!" + +Already, on the borders of Galilee, the expected king had started toward +His coronation. Many of the old friends and neighbors from Capernaum had +joined their band, to go on to the Paschal feast. + +They made slow progress, however, for at every turn in the road they +were stopped by outstretched hands and cries for help. Nearly every step +was taken to the sound of some rejoicing cry from some one who had been +blessed. + +Joel could not crowd all the scenes into his memory; but some stood with +clear-cut distinctness. There were the ten lepers who met them at the +very outset; and there was blind Bartimeus begging by the wayside. He +could never forget the expression of that man's face, when his eyes +were opened, and for the first time he looked out on the glory of the +morning sunshine. + +Joel quivered all over with a thrill of sympathy, remembering his own +healing, and realizing more than the others what had been done for the +blind beggar. + +Then there was Zaccheus, climbing up to look down through the sycamore +boughs that he might see the Master passing into Jericho, and Zaccheus +scrambling down again in haste to provide entertainment for his honored +guest. + +There was the young ruler going away sorrowful because the sacrifice +asked of him was more than he was willing to make. But there was one +scene that his memory held in unfading colors:-- + +Roses and wild honeysuckle climbing over a bank by the road-side. +Orange-trees dropping a heavy fragrance with the falling petals of their +white blossoms. In the midst of the shade and the bloom the mothers from +the village near by, gathering with their children, all freshly washed +and dressed to find favor in the eyes of the passing Prophet. + +Babies cooed in their mother's arms. Bright little faces smiled out from +behind protecting skirts, to which timid fingers clung. As they waited +for the coming procession, and little bare feet chased each other up and +down the bank, the happy laughter of the older children filled all the +sunny air. + +As the travellers came on, the women caught up their children and +crowded forward. It was a sight that would have made almost any one +pause,--those innocent-eyed little ones waiting for the touch that would +keep them always pure in heart,--that blessing their mothers coveted for +them. + +But some of the disciples, impatient at the many delays, seeing in the +rosy faces and dimpled limbs nothing that seemed to claim help or +attention, spoke to the women impatiently. "Why trouble ye the Master?" +they said. "Would ye stop the great work He has come to do for matters +of such little importance?" + +Repelled by the rebuke, they fell back. But there was a look of +displeasure on His face, such as they had never seen before, as Jesus +turned toward them. + +"Suffer the little children to come unto me," He said, sternly, "and +forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven!" + +Then holding out His hands He took them up in His arms and blessed +them, every one, even the youngest baby, that blinked up at Him +unknowingly with its big dark eyes, received its separate blessing. + +So fearlessly they came to Him, so lovingly they nestled in His arms, +and with such perfect confidence they clung to Him, that He turned again +to His disciples. "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive +the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." + +Met at all points as He had been by loathsome sights, ragged beggars, +and diseases of all kinds, this group of happy-faced children must have +remained long in His memory, as sweet as the unexpected blossoming of a +rose in a dreary desert. + +At last the slow journey drew towards a close. The Friday afternoon +before the Passover found the tired travellers once more in Bethany. +News of their coming had been brought several hours before by a man +riding down from Jericho. His swift-footed beast had overtaken and +passed the slow procession far back on the road. + +There was a joyful welcome for the Master in the home of Lazarus. The +cool, vine-covered arbor was a refreshing change from the dusty road. +Here were no curious throngs and constant demands for help. + +Away from the sights that oppressed Him, away from the clamor and the +criticism, here was a place where heart and body might find rest. The +peace of the place, and the atmosphere of sympathy surrounding Him, must +have fallen like dew on His thirsty soul. Here, for a few short days, He +who had been so long a houseless wanderer was to know the blessedness of +a home. + +Several hours before the first trumpet blast from the roof of the +synagogue proclaimed the approaching Sabbath, Simon hurried to his home. + +"Esther," he called in great excitement, "I have seen Him! The Christ! I +have knelt at His feet. I have looked in His face. And, oh, only +think!--He has promised to sit at our table! To-morrow night, such a +feast as has never been known in the place shall be spread before Him. +Help me to think of something we may do to show him especial honor." + +Esther sprang up at the news. "We have very little time to prepare," she +said. "Seth must go at once into the city to make purchases. To-morrow +night, no hireling hand shall serve him. I myself shall take that lowly +place, with Martha and Mary to aid me. Abigail, too, shall help us, for +it is a labor of love that she will delight to take part in. I shall go +at once to ask them." + +The long, still Sabbath went by. The worshippers in the synagogue looked +in vain for other miracles, listened in vain for the Voice that wrought +such wonders. + +Through the unbroken rest of that day He was gathering up His strength +for a coming trial. Something of the approaching shadow may have been +seen in His tender eyes; some word of the awaiting doom may have been +spoken to the brother and sisters sitting reverently at his feet,--for +they seemed to feel that a parting was at hand, and that they must crowd +the flying hours with all the loving service they could render Him. + +That night at the feast, as Esther's little white hands brought the +water for the reclining guests to wash, and Martha and Abigail placed +sumptuously filled dishes before them, Mary paused in her busy passing +to and fro; she longed to do some especial thing to show her love for +the honored guest. + +Never had His face worn such a look of royalty; never had He seemed so +much the Christ. The soft light of many candles falling on His worn +face seemed to reveal as never before the divine soul soon to leave the +worn body where it now tarried. + +An old Jewish custom suddenly occurred to her. She seemed to see two +pictures: one was Aaron, standing up in the rich garments of the +priesthood, with his head bowed to receive the sacred anointing; the +other was Israel's first king, on whom the hoary Samuel was bestowing +the anointing that proclaimed his royalty. Token of both priesthood and +kingship,--oh, if she dared but offer it! + +No one noticed when she stepped out after awhile, and hurried swiftly +homeward. Hidden away in a chest in her room, was a little alabaster +flask, carefully sealed. It held a rare sweet perfume, worth almost its +weight in gold. + +She took it out with trembling fingers, and hid it in the folds of her +long flowing white dress. Her breath came quick, and her heart beat +fast, as she slipped in behind the guests again. The color glowed and +paled in her cheeks, as she stood there in the shadow of the curtains, +hesitating, half afraid to venture. + +At last, when the banquet was almost over, she stepped noiselessly +forward. There was a hush of surprise at this unusual interruption, +although every one there was familiar with the custom, and recognized +its deep meaning and symbolism. + +First on His head, then on His feet, she poured the costly perfume. +Bending low in the deepest humility, she swept her long soft hair across +them to wipe away the crystal drops. The whole house was filled with the +sweet, delicate odor. + +Some of those who saw it, remembered a similar scene in the house of +another Simon, in far away Galilee; but only the Anointed One could feel +the deep contrast between the two. + +That Simon, the proud Pharisee, condescending and critical and scant in +hospitality; this Simon, the cleansed leper, ready to lay down his life, +in his boundless love and gratitude. That woman, a penitent sinner, +kneeling with tears before His mercy; this woman, so pure in heart that +she could see God though hidden in the human body of the Nazarene. That +anointing, to His priesthood at the beginning of His ministry; this +anointing, to His kingdom, now almost at hand. No one spoke as the +fragrance rose and spread itself like the incense of a benediction. It +seemed a fitting close to this hour of communion with the Master. + +Across this eloquent silence that the softest sound would have jarred +upon, a cold, unfeeling voice broke harshly. + +[Illustration: "A DARK FIGURE WENT SKULKING OUT INTO THE NIGHT"] + +It was Judas Iscariot who spoke. "Why was all this ointment wasted?" he +asked. "It would have been better to have sold it and given it to the +poor." + +Simon frowned indignantly at this low-browed guest, who was so lacking +in courtesy, and Mary looked up distressed. + +"Let her alone!" said the Master, gently. "Ye have the poor with you +always, and whensoever ye will, ye may do them good: but me ye have not +always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my +body to the burying." + +A dark look gleamed in the eyes of Judas,--there was that reference +again to His burial. There seemed to be no use of making any further +pretence to follow Him any longer. His kingdom was a delusion,--a vague, +shadowy, spiritual thing that the others might believe in if they chose. +But if there was no longer any hope of gaining by His service, he would +turn to the other side. + +That night there was another secret council of some of the Sanhedrin, +and Judas Iscariot was in their midst. + +When the lights were out, and the Temple police were making their final +rounds, a dark figure went skulking out into the night, and wound its +way through the narrow streets,--the dark figure that still goes +skulking through the night of history,--the man who covenanted for +thirty pieces of silver to betray his Lord. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +"WHO is that talking in the house?" asked Joel of Abigail the morning +after the feast. He had been playing in the garden with Jesse, and +paused just outside the door as he heard voices. + +"Only father and Phineas, now," answered Abigail. "Simon the oil-seller +has just been here, and I am sure you could not guess his errand. It was +about you." + +"About me?" echoed Joel, in surprise. + +"Yes, I never knew until this morning that you were the one who +persuaded him to go to the Master for healing. He says if it had not +been for you, he would still be an outcast from home. During these weeks +you have been away, he has been hoping to find some trace of you, for he +longs to express his gratitude. Last night at the feast, he learned your +name, and now he has just been here to talk to Phineas and father about +you. His olive groves yield him a large fortune every year, and he is in +a position to do a great deal for you, if you will only let him." + +"What does he want to do?" asked Joel. + +"He has offered a great deal: to send you to the best schools in the +country; to let you travel in foreign lands, and see life as it is in +Rome and Athens and the cities of Egypt. Then when you are grown, he +offers to take you in business with himself, and give you the portion of +a son. It is a rare chance for you, my boy." + +"Yes," answered Joel, flushing with pleasure at the thought of all he +might be able to see and learn. He seemed lost for a few minutes in the +bright anticipation of such a tempting future; then his face clouded. + +"But I would have to leave everybody I love," he cried, "and the home +where I have been so happy! I cannot do it, mother Abigail; it is too +much to ask." + +"Now you talk like a child," she answered, half impatiently; but there +was a suspicion of tears in her eyes as she added, "Joel, you have grown +very dear to us. It will be hard to give you up, for you seem almost +like an own son. But consider, my boy; it would not be right to turn +away from such advantages. Jesse and Ruth will be well provided for. All +that my father has will be theirs some day. But Phineas is only a poor +carpenter, and cannot give you much beyond food and clothing. I heard +him say just now that he clearly thought it to be your duty to accept, +and he had no doubt but that you would." + +"But I cannot be with the Master!" cried Joel, as the thought suddenly +occurred to him that he could no longer follow Him as he had been doing, +if he was to be sent away to study and travel. + +"No; but think what you may be able to do for His cause, if you have +money and education and influence. It seems to me that for His sake +alone, you ought to consent to such an arrangement." + +That was the argument that Phineas used when he came out; and the boy +was sadly bewildered between the desire to be constantly with his +beloved Master, and his wish to serve Him as they suggested. + +It was in this perplexed state of mind that he started up to Jerusalem +with Jesse and his grandfather. + +The streets were rapidly filling with people, coming up to the Feast of +the Passover, and Joel recognized many old friends from Galilee. + +"There is Rabbi Amos!" he exclaimed, as he caught sight of an old man in +the door of a house across the street. "May I run and speak to him?" + +"Certainly!" answered Reuben. "You know your way so well about the +streets that it makes no difference if we do get separated. Jesse and I +will walk on down to the shop. You can meet us there." + +Rabbi Amos gave Joel a cordial greeting. "I am about to go back to the +Damascus gate," he said. "I have just been told that the Nazarene will +soon make His entrance into the city, and a procession of pilgrims are +going out to meet Him. I have heard much of the man since He left +Capernaum, and I have a desire to see Him again. Will you come?" + +The old man hobbled along so painfully, leaning on his staff, that they +were a long time in reaching the gate. The outgoing procession had +already met the coming pilgrims, and were starting to return. The way +was strewn with palm branches and the clothes they had taken off to lay +along the road in front of the man they wished to honor. Every hand +carried a palm branch, and every voice cried a Hosannah. + +At first Joel saw only a confused waving of the green branches, and +heard an indistinct murmur of voices; but as they came nearer, he caught +the words, "Hosannah to the Son of David!" + +"Look!" cried Rabbi Amos, laying his wrinkled, shaking hand heavily on +Joel's shoulder. "Look ye, boy, the voice of prophecy! No Roman +war-horse bears the coming victor! It is as Zechariah foretold! That the +king should come riding upon the colt of an ass,--the symbol of peace. +So David rode, and so the Judges of Israel came and went!" + +Joel's eyes followed the gesture of the tremulous, pointing finger. +There came the Master, right in the face of His enemies, boldly riding +in to take possession of His kingdom. + +At last! No wandering now in lonely wildernesses! No fear of the jealous +scribe or Pharisee! The time had fully come. With garments strewn in the +way, with palms of victory waving before Him, with psalm and song and +the shouting of the multitude, He rode triumphantly into the city. + +Joel was roused to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, to see His best +beloved friend so honored. People understood Him now; they appreciated +Him. The demonstrations of the multitude proved it. He was so happy and +excited, he scarcely knew what he was doing. He had no palm branch to +wave, but as the head of the procession came abreast with him, and he +saw the face of the rider, he was almost beside himself. + +He waved his empty hands wildly up and down, cheering at the top of his +voice; but his shrillest Hosannahs were heard only by himself. They were +only a drop in that mighty surf-beat of sound. + +Scarcely knowing what to expect, yet prepared for almost anything, they +followed the procession into the city. When they reached the porch of +the Temple, the Master had disappeared. + +"I wonder where He has gone," said Joel, in a disappointed tone. "I +thought they would surely crown Him." + +"He evidently did not wish it to be," answered Rabbi Amos. "It would be +more fitting that the coronation take place at the great feast. Wait +until the day of the Passover." + +As they sat in the Court of the Gentiles, resting, Joel told Rabbi Amos +of the offer made him by the wealthy oil-dealer Simon. + +"Accept it, by all means!" was the old man's advice. "We have seen +enough just now to know that a new day is about to dawn for Israel. In +Bethany, you will be much nearer the Master than in Capernaum; for +surely, after to-day's demonstration, He will take up His residence in +the capital. In time you may rise to great influence in the new +government soon to be established." + +The old rabbi's opinion weighed heavily with Joel, and he determined to +accept Simon's offer. Then for awhile he was so full of his new plans +and ambitions, he could think of nothing else. + +All that busy week he was separated from the Master and His disciples; +for it was the first Passover he had ever taken part in. After it was +over, he was to break the ties that bound him to the carpenter's family +and the simple life in Galilee, and go to live in Simon's luxurious home +in Bethany. + +So he stayed closely with Phineas and Abigail, taking a great interest +in all the great preparations for the feast. + + * * * * * + +Reuben chose, from the countless pens, a male lamb a year old, without +blemish. About two o'clock the blast of two horns announced that the +priests and Levites in the Temple were ready, and the gates of the inner +courts were opened, that all might bring the lambs for examination. + +The priests, in two long rows, caught the blood in great gold and silver +vessels, as the animals were killed, and passed it to others behind, +till it reached the altar, at the foot of which it was poured out. + +Then the lamb was taken up and roasted in an earthen oven, and the feast +commenced at sunset on Thursday. The skin of the lamb, and the earthen +dishes used, were generally given to the host, when different families +lodged together. + +As many as twenty were allowed to gather at one table. Reuben had +invited Nathan ben Obed, and those who came with him, to partake of his +hospitality. Much to Joel's delight, a familiar shock of sunburned hair +was poked in at the door, and he recognized Buz's freckled face, +round-eyed and open mouthed at this first glimpse of the great city. + +During the first hour they were together, Buz kept his squinting eyes +continually on Joel. He found it hard to believe that this straight, +sinewy boy could be the same pitiful little cripple who had gone with +him to the sheepfolds of Nathan ben Obed. + +"Say," he drawled, after awhile, "I know where that fellow is who made +you lame. I was so upset at seeing you this way that I forgot to tell +you. He had a dreadful accident, and you have already had your wish, for +he is as blind as that stone." + +"Oh, how? Who told you?" cried Joel, eagerly. + +"I saw him myself, as we came through Jericho. He had been nearly beaten +to death by robbers a few weeks before. It gave him a fever, and both +eyes were so inflamed and bruised that he lost his sight." + +"Poor Rehum!" exclaimed Joel. + +"Poor Rehum!" echoed Buz, in astonishment. "What do you mean by poor +Rehum? Aren't you glad? Isn't that just exactly what you planned; or did +you want the pleasure of punching them out yourself?" + +"No," answered Joel, simply; "I forgave him a year ago, the night before +I was healed." + +"You forgave him!" gasped Buz,--"you forgave him! A dog of a Samaritan! +Why, how could you?" + +Buz looked at him with such a wondering, puzzled gaze that Joel did not +attempt to explain. Buz might be ignorant of a great many things, but he +knew enough to hate the Samaritans, and look down on them with the +utmost contempt. + +"I don't really believe you could understand it," said Joel, "so it is +of no use to try to tell you how or why. But I did forgive him, fully +and freely. And if you will tell me just where to find him, I will go +after him early in the morning and bring him back with me. The Hand +that straightened my back can open his eyes; for I have seen it done +many times." + +All during the feast, Buz kept stealing searching glances at Joel. He +could hardly tell which surprised him most, the straightened body or the +forgiving spirit. It was so wonderful to him that he sat speechless. + +At the same time, in an upper chamber in another street, the Master and +His disciples were keeping the feast together. It was their last supper +with Him, although they knew it not. Afterwards they recalled every word +and every incident, with loving memory that lingered over each detail; +but at the time they could not understand its full import. + +The gates were left open on Passover night. While the Master and His +followers walked out to the Garden of Gethsemane, where they had often +gone together, Joel was questioning Buz as to the exact place where he +was to find his old enemy. + +"I'll go out very early in the morning," said Joel, as his head touched +the pillow. "Very early in the morning, for I want Rehum's eyes to be +open just as soon as possible, so that he can see the Master's face. +Lord help me to find him to-morrow," he whispered, and with a blessing +on his lips for the one he had so long ago forgiven, his eyes closed +softly. + +Sleep came quickly to him after the fatigue and excitement of the day. +In his dreams he saw again the Master's face as He made His triumphal +entrance into the city; he heard again the acclamations of the crowd. +Then he saw Rabbi Amos and Simon and little Ruth. There was a confused +blending of kindly faces; there was a shadow-like shifting of indistinct +but pleasant scenes. In the fair dreamland where he wandered, fortune +smiled on him, and all his paths were peace. + +Sleep on, little disciple, happy in thy dreaming; out in Gethsemane's +dark garden steals one to betray thy Lord! By the light of glimmering +lanterns and fitful torches they take Him now. Armed with swords and +staves, they lead Him out from the leafy darkness into the moon-flooded +highroad. + +Now He stands before the High Priest,--alone, unfriended. Sleep, and +wake not at the cock's shrill crowing, for there is none to make answer +for Him, and one who loved Him hath thrice denied! + +Dream on! In the hall of Pilate now, thorn-crowned and purple-clad, Him +whom thou lovest; scourged now, and spat upon. This day, indeed, shall +He come into His kingdom, but well for thee, that thou seest not the +coronation. + +Sleep on, little disciple, be happy whilst thou can! + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +IT was so much later than he had intended, when Joel awoke next morning, +that without stopping for anything to eat, he hurried out of the city, +and took the road by which the Master had made such a triumphal entry a +few days before. + +Faded branches of palms still lay scattered by the wayside, thickly +covered with dust. + +All unconscious of what had happened the night before, and what was even +at that very moment taking place, Joel trudged on to Bethany at a rapid +pace, light-hearted and happy. + +For six days he had been among enthusiastic Galileans who firmly +believed that before the end of Passover week they should see the +overthrow of Rome, and all nations lying at the feet of a Jewish king. +How long they had dreamed of this hour! + +He turned to look back at the city. The white and gold of the Temple +dazzled his eyes, as it threw back the rays of the morning sun. He +thought of himself as he had stood that day on the roof of the +carpenter's house, stretching out longing arms to this holy place, and +calling down curses on the head of his enemy, Rehum. + +Could he be the same boy? It seemed to him now that that poor, crippled +body, that bitter hatred, that burning thirst for revenge, must have +belonged to some one else, he felt so well, so strong, so full of love +to God and all mankind. + +A little broken-winged sparrow fluttered feebly under a hedgerow. He +stopped to gather a handful of ripe berries for it, and even retraced +his steps to a tiny spring he had noticed farther back, to bring it +water in the hollow of a smooth stone. + +He did not find Rehum at the place where Buz had told him to inquire. +His father had taken him to his home, somewhere in Samaria. + +Joel turned back, tired and disappointed. He was glad to lie down, when +he reached Bethany again, and rest awhile. A peculiar darkness began to +settle down over the earth. Joel was perplexed and frightened; he knew +it could not be an eclipse, for it was the time of the full moon. +Finally he started back to Jerusalem, although it was like travelling in +the night, for the darkness had deepened and deepened for nearly three +hours, and the mysterious gloom made him long to be with his friends. + +His first thought was to find the Master, and he naturally turned toward +the Temple. Just as he started across the Porch of Solomon, the darkness +was lifted, and everything seemed to dance before his eyes. He had never +experienced an earthquake shock before, but he felt sure that this was +one. + +He braced himself against one of the pillars. How the massive columns +quivered! How the hot air throbbed! The darkness had been awful, but +this was doubly terrifying. + +The earth had scarcely stopped trembling, when an old white-bearded +priest ran across the Court of the Gentiles; his wrinkled hands, raised +above his head, shook as with palsy. The scream that he uttered seemed +to transfix Joel with horror. + +"_The veil of the Temple is rent in twain!_" he cried,--"_The veil of +the Temple is rent in twain!_" + +Then with a convulsive shudder he fell forward on his face. Joel's knees +shook. The darkness, the earthquake, and now this mighty force that had +laid bare the Holy of Holies, filled him with an undefined dread. + +He ran past the prostrate priest into the inner court, and saw for +himself. There hung the heavy curtain of Babylonian tapestry, in all its +glory of hyacinth and scarlet and purple, torn asunder from top to +bottom. No earthquake shock could have made that ragged gash. The wrath +of God must have come down and laid mighty fingers upon it. + +He ran out of the Temple, and towards the house where he had slept the +night before. + +The earthquake seemed to have shaken all Jerusalem into the streets. +Strange words were afloat. A question overheard in passing one excited +group, an exclamation in another, made him run the faster. + +At Reuben's shop he found Jesse and Ruth both crying from fright. The +attendant who had them in charge told him that his friends had been gone +nearly all day. + +"Where?" demanded Joel. + +"I do not know exactly. They went out with one of the greatest +multitudes that ever passed through the gates of the city. Not only +Jews, but Greeks and Romans and Egyptians. You should have seen the +camels and the chariots, the chairs and the litters!" exclaimed the man. + +A sudden fear fell upon the boy that this was the day that the One he +loved best had been made king, and he had missed it,--had missed the +greatest opportunity of his life. + +"Was it to follow Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth?" he demanded eagerly. + +The man nodded. + +"To crown Him?" was the next breathless question. + +"No; to crucify Him." + +The unexpected answer was almost a death-thrust. Joel stood a moment, +dumb with horror. The blood seemed to stand still in his veins; there +was a roaring in his ears; then everything grew black before him. He +clutched blindly at the air, then staggered back against the wall. + +"No, _no_, _no_, NO!" he cried; each word was louder than the last. "I +will not believe it! You do not speak truth!" + +He ran madly from the shop, down the street, and through the city gate. +Out on the highway he met the returning multitude, most of them in as +great haste as he. + +Everything he saw seemed to confirm the truth of what he had just heard, +but he could not believe it. + +"No, no, no!" he gasped, in a breathless whisper, as he ran. "No, no, +no! It cannot be! He is the Christ! The Son of God! They could not be +able to do it, no matter how much they hated Him!" + +But even as he ran he saw the hill where three crosses rose. He turned +sick and cold, and so weak he could scarcely stand. Still he stumbled +resolutely on, but with his face turned away from the sight he dared not +look upon, lest seeing should be knowing what he feared. + +At last he reached the place, and, shrinking back as if from an expected +blow, he slowly raised his eyes till they rested on the face of the dead +body hanging there. + +The agonized shriek on his lips died half uttered, as he fell +unconscious at the foot of the cross. + +A long time after, one of the soldiers happening to notice him, turned +him over with his foot, and prodded him sharply with his spear. It +partially aroused him, and in a few moments he sat up. Then he looked up +again into the white face above him; but this time the bowed head awed +him into a deep calm. + +The veil of the Temple was rent indeed, and through this pierced body +there shone out from its Holy of Holies the Shekinah of God's love for a +dying world. It uplifted Joel, and drew him, and drew him, till he +seemed to catch a faint glimpse of the Father's face; to feel himself +folded in boundless pardon, in pity so deep, and a love so unfathomed, +that the lowest sinner could find a share. But while he gazed and gazed +into the white face, so glorified in its marble stillness, Joseph of +Arimathea stood between him and the cross, giving directions, in a low +tone, for the removal of the body. + +It seemed to waken Joel out of his trance; and when the bloodstained +form was stretched gently on the ground, he forgot his glimpse of +heavenly mysteries, he saw no longer the uplifted Christ. He saw +instead, the tortured body of the man he loved; the friend for whom he +would gladly have given his life. + +Almost blinded by the rush of tears, he groped his way on his knees +toward it. A mantle of fine white linen had been laid over the lifeless +body; but one hand lay stretched out beside Him with a great bloody +nail-hole through the palm,--it was the hand that had healed him; the +hand that had fed the hungry multitudes; the hand that had been laid in +blessing on the heads of little children, waiting by the roadside! With +the thought of all it had done for him, with the thought of all it had +done for all the countless ones its warm, loving touch had comforted, +came the remembrance of the torture it had just suffered. Joel lay down +beside it with a heart-broken moan. + +Men came and lifted the body in its spotless covering. Joel did not look +up to see who bore it away. + +The lifeless hand still hung down uncovered at His side. With his eyes +fixed on that, Joel followed, longing to press it to his lips with +burning kisses; but he dared not so much as touch it with trembling +fingers,--a sense of his unworthiness forbade. + +As the silent procession went onward, Joel found himself walking beside +Abigail. She had pushed her veil aside that she might better see the +still form borne before them; she had stood near by through all those +hours of suffering. Her wan face and swollen eyes showed how the force +of her sympathy and grief had worn upon her. + +Joel glanced around for Phineas. He was one of those who walked before +with the motionless burden, his strong brown hands tenderly supporting +the Master's pierced feet; his face was as rigid as stone, and seemed to +Joel to have grown years older since the night before. + +Another swift rush of tears blinded Joel, as he looked at the set, +despairing face, and then at what he carried. + +O friend of Phineas! O feet that often ran to meet him on the grassy +hillsides of Nazareth, that walked beside him at his daily toil, and led +him to a nobler living!--Thou hast climbed the mountain of Beatitudes! +Thou hast walked the wind-swept waters of the Galilee! But not of this +is he thinking now. It is of Thy life's unselfish pilgrimage; of the +dust and travel stains of the feet he bears; of the many steps, taken +never for self, always for others; of the cure and the comfort they have +daily carried; of the great love that hath made their very passing by to +be a benediction. + +It seemed strange to Joel that, in the midst of such overpowering +sorrow, trivial little things could claim his attention. Years afterward +he remembered just how the long streaks of yellow sunshine stole under +the trees of the garden; he could hear the whirr of grasshoppers, +jumping up in the path ahead of them; he could smell the heavy odor of +lilies growing beside an old tomb. + +The sorrowful little group wound its way to a part of the garden where a +new tomb had been hewn out of the rock; here Joseph of Arimathea +motioned them to stop. They laid the open bier gently on the ground, and +Joel watched them with dry eyes but trembling lips, as they noiselessly +prepared the body for its hurried burial. + +From time to time as they wound the bands of white linen, powdered with +myrrh and aloes, they glanced up nervously at the sinking sun. The +Sabbath eve was almost upon them, and the old slavish fear of the Law +made them hasten. A low stifled moaning rose from the lips of the women, +as the One they had followed so long was lifted up, and borne forever +out of their sight, through the low doorway of the tomb. + +Strong hands rolled the massive stone in place that barred the narrow +opening. Then all was over; there was nothing more that could be done. + +The desolate mourners sat down on the grass outside the tomb, to watch +and weep and wait over a dead hope and a lost cause. + +A deep stillness settled over the garden as they lingered there in the +gathering twilight. They grew calm after awhile, and began to talk in +low tones of the awful events of the day just dying. + +Gradually, Joel learned all that had taken place. As he heard the story +of the shame and abuse and torture that had been heaped upon the One he +loved better than all the world, his face grew white with horror and +indignation. + +"Oh, wasn't there _one_ to stand up for Him?" he cried, with clasped +hands and streaming eyes. "Wasn't there _one_ to speak a word in His +defence? O my Beloved!" he moaned. "Out of all the thousands Thou didst +heal, out of all the multitudes Thou didst bless, not one to bear +witness!" + +He rocked himself to and fro on his knees, wringing his hands as if the +thought brought him unspeakable anguish. + +"Oh, if I had only been there!" he moaned. "If I could only have stood +up beside Him and told what He had done for me! O my God! My God! How +can I bear it? To think He went to His death without a friend and +without a follower, when I loved Him so! All alone! Not one to speak for +Him, not one!" + +Groping with tear-blinded eyes towards the tomb, the boy stretched his +arms lovingly around the great stone that stopped its entrance; then +suddenly realizing that he could never go any closer to the One inside, +never see Him again, he leaned his head hopelessly against the rock, and +gave way to his feeling of utter loneliness and despair. + +How long he stood there, he did not know. When he looked up again, the +women had gone, and it was nearly dark. Phineas and several other men +lingered in the black shadows of the trees, and Joel joined them. + +Roman guards came presently. A stout cord was stretched across the +stone, its ends firmly fastened, and sealed with the seal of Caesar. A +watch-fire was kindled near by; then the Roman sentinels began their +steady tramp! tramp! as they paced back and forth. + +High overhead the stars began to set their countless watch-fires in the +heavens; then the white full moon of the Passover looked down, and all +night long kept its silent vigil over the forsaken tomb of the sleeping +Christ. + + * * * * * + +Abigail had found shelter for the night with friends, in a tent just +outside the city; but Joel and Phineas took their way back to Bethany. + +Little was said as they trudged along in the moonlight. Joel thought +only of one thing,--his great loss, the love of which he had been +bereft. But to Phineas this death meant much more than the separation +from the best of friends; it meant the death of a cause on which he had +staked his all. He must go back to Galilee to be the laughing-stock of +his old neighbors. He who they trusted would have saved Israel had been +put to death as a felon,--crucified between two thieves! The cause was +lost; he was left to face an utter failure. + +When the moon went down that morning over the hills of Judea, there were +many hearts that mourned the Man of Nazareth, but not a soul in all the +universe believed on Him as the Son of God. + +Hope lay dead in the tomb of Joseph, with a great stone forever walling +it in. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +"WAKE up, Joel! Wake up! I bring you good tidings, my lad!" It was +Abigail's voice ringing cheerily through the court-yard, as she bent +over the boy, fast asleep on the hard stones. + +All the long Sabbath day after the burial, he had sat listlessly in the +shady court-yard, his blank gaze fixed on the opposite wall. No one +seemed able to arouse him from his apathy. He turned away from the food +they brought him, and refused to enter the house when night came. + +Towards morning he had gone over to the fountain for a long draught of +its cool water; then overcome by weakness from his continued fast, and +exhausted by grief, he fell asleep on the pavement. + +Abigail came in and found him there, with the red morning sun beating +full in his face. She had to shake him several times before she could +make him open his eyes. + +He sat up dizzily, and tried to collect his thoughts. Then he +remembered, and laid his head wearily down again, with a groan. + +"Wake up! Wake up!" she insisted, with such eager gladness in her voice +that Joel opened his eyes again, now fully aroused. + +"What is it?" he asked indifferently. + +"_He is risen!_" she exclaimed joyfully, clasping her hands as she +always did when much excited. "I went to His tomb very early in the +morning, while it was yet dark, with Mary and Salome and some other +women. The stone had been rolled aside; and while we wondered and wept, +fearing His enemies had stolen Him away, He stood before us, with His +old greeting on His lips,--'All hail!'" + +Joel rubbed his eyes and looked at her. "No, no!" he said wearily, "I am +dreaming again!" + +He would have thrown himself on the ground as before, his head pillowed +on his arm, but she would not let him. She shook his hands with a +persistence that could not be refused, talking to him all the while in +such a glad eager voice that he slowly began to realize that something +had made her very happy. + +"What is it, Mother Abigail?" he asked, much puzzled. + +"I do not wonder you are bewildered," she cried. "It is such blessed, +such wonderful news. Why He is _alive_, Joel, He whom Thou lovest! Try +to understand it, my boy! I have just now come from the empty tomb. I +saw Him! I spoke with Him! I knelt at His feet and worshipped!" + +By this time all the family had come out. Reuben looked at his daughter +pityingly, as she repeated her news; then he turned to Phineas. + +"Poor thing!" he said, in a low tone. "She has witnessed such terrible +scenes lately, and received such a severe shock, that her mind is +affected by it. She does not know what she is saying. Did not you +yourself help prepare the body for burial, and put it in the tomb?" + +"Yes," answered Phineas, "and helped close it with a great stone, which +no one man could possibly move by himself. And I saw it sealed with the +seal of Caesar; and when I left it was guarded by Roman sentinels in +armor. No man could have opened it." + +"But Abigail talks of angels who sat in the empty tomb, and who told +them He had risen," replied her father. + +Joel, who had overheard this low-toned conversation, got up and stood +close beside them. He had begun to tremble from weakness and +excitement. + +[Illustration: "'THE STONE IS GONE!'"] + +"Father Phineas," he asked, "do you remember the story we heard from the +old shepherd, Heber? The angels told of His birth; maybe she _did_ see +them in His tomb." + +"How can such things be?" queried Reuben, stroking his beard in +perplexity. + +"That's just what you said when Rabbi Lazarus was brought back to life," +piped Jesse's shrill voice, quite unexpectedly, at his grandfather's +elbow. He had not lost a word of the conversation. "Why don't you go and +see for yourself if the tomb is empty?" + +Abigail had gone into the house with her mother, and now the summons to +breakfast greeted them. She saw she could not convince them of the truth +of her story, so she said no more about it; but her happy face was more +eloquent than words. + +All day snatches of song kept rising to her lips,--old psalms of +thanksgiving, and half whispered hallelujahs. At last Joel and Phineas +were both so much affected by her continued cheerfulness, that they +began to believe there must be some great cause for it. + +Finally, in the waning afternoon, they took the road that led from +Bethany to the garden where they firmly believed that the Master still +lay buried. + +As they came in sight of the tomb, Joel clutched Phineas by the arm, and +pointed, with a shaking finger, to the dark opening ahead of of them. + +"See!" he said, pointing into its yawning darkness. "She was right! The +stone is gone!" + +It was some time before they could muster up courage to go nearer and +look into the sepulchre. When at last they did so, neither spoke a word, +but, after one startled look into each other's eyes, turned and left the +garden. + +It was growing dark as they hurried along the highway homeward. Two men +came half running towards the city, in great haste to reach the gates +before they should be closed for the night. They were two disciples well +known to Phineas. + +He stopped them with the question that was uppermost in his mind. + +"Yes, He is risen," answered one of the men, breathlessly. "We have seen +Him. Hosanna to the Highest! He walked along this road with us as we +went to Emmaus." + +"Ah, how our hearts burned as He talked with us by the way!" +interrupted the other man. + +"Only this hour He sat at meat with us," cried the first speaker. "He +broke bread with us, and blessed it as He always used to do. We are +running back to the city now to tell the other disciples." + +Phineas would have laid a detaining hand on them, but they hurried on, +and left him standing in the road, looking wistfully after them. + +"It must be true," said Joel, "or they could not have been so nearly +wild with joy." + +Phineas sadly shook his head. "I wish I could think so," he sighed. + +"Let us go home," urged Abigail, the next day, "the Master has bidden +His brethren meet Him in Galilee. Let us go. There is hope of seeing Him +again in our old home!" + +Joel, now nearly convinced of the truth of her belief, was also anxious +to go. But Phineas lingered; his plodding mind was slower to grasp such +thoughts than the sensitive woman's or the imaginative boy's. One after +another he sought out Peter and James and John, and the other disciples +who had seen the risen Master, and questioned them closely. Still he +tarried for another week. + +One morning he met Thomas, whose doubts all along had strengthened his +own. He ran against him in the crowded street in Jerusalem. Thomas +seized his arm, and, turning, walked beside him a few paces. + +"_It is true!_" he said, in a low intense tone, with his lips close to +his ear. "I saw Him myself last night; I held His hands in mine! I +touched the side the spear had pierced! He called me by name; and I know +now beyond all doubt that the Master has risen from the dead, and that +He is the Son of God!" + +After that, Phineas no longer objected when it was proposed that they +should go back to Galilee. The story of the resurrection was too great +for him to grasp entirely, still he could not put aside such a weight of +evidence that came to him from friends whose word he had always +implicitly trusted. + +The roads were still full of pilgrims returning from the Passover. As +Phineas journeyed on with his little family, he fell in with the sons of +Jonah and Zebedee, going back to their nets and their fishing-boats. + +The order of procession was constantly shifting, and one morning Joel +found himself walking beside John, one of the chosen twelve, who seemed +to have understood his Master better than any of the others. + +The man seemed wrapped in deep thought, and took no notice of his +companion, till Joel timidly touched his sleeve. + +"Do _you_ believe it is true?" the boy asked. + +There was no surprise in the man's face at the abrupt question, he felt, +without asking, what Joel meant. A reassuring smile lighted up his face +as he laid his hand kindly on Joel's shoulder. + +"I know it, my lad; I have been with Him." The quiet positiveness with +which he spoke seemed to destroy Joel's last doubt. + +"Many things that He said to us come back to me very clearly; and I see +now He was trying to prepare us for this." + +"Tell me about them," begged Joel, "and about those last hours He was +with you. Oh, if I could only have been with Him, too!" + +John saw the tears gathering in the boy's eyes, heard the tremble in his +voice, and felt a thrill of sympathy as he recognized a kindred love in +the little fellow's heart. + +So he told Joel of the last supper they had taken together, of the hymn +they had sung, and of the watch they had failed to keep, when He took +them with Him into the garden of Gethsemane. All the little incidents +connected with those last solemn hours, he repeated carefully to the +listening boy. + +From time to time Joel brushed his hand across his eyes; but a deep calm +fell over him as John's voice went on, slowly repeating the words the +Master had comforted them with. + +"Let not your hearts be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. +In my Father's house are many mansions.... I go to prepare a place for +you. I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, +there ye may be also.... If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I +said, I go unto the Father.... These things I have spoken unto you, that +in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but +be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." + +Joel made an exclamation as if about to speak, and then stopped. "What +is it?" asked John. + +"How could He mean that He has overcome the world? Caesar still rules, +and Jerusalem is full of His enemies. I can't forget that they killed +Him, even if He has risen." + +John stooped to tie his sandal before he answered. + +"I have been fitting together different things He told us; and I begin +to see how blind we were. Once He called Himself the Good Shepherd who +would give his life for his sheep, and said, 'Therefore doth my Father +love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man +taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it +down, and I have power to take it again.'" + +They walked on in silence a few paces, then John asked abruptly, "Do you +remember about the children of Israel being so badly bitten by serpents +in the wilderness, and how Moses was commanded to set up a brazen +serpent in their midst?" + +"Yes, indeed!" answered Joel. "All who looked up at it were saved; but +those who would not died from the poisonous bites." + +"One night," continued John, "a learned man by the name of Nicodemus, +one of the rulers, came to the Master with many questions. And I +remember one of the answers He gave him. 'As Moses lifted up the serpent +in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that +whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting +life.' We did not understand Him then at all. Not till I saw Him lifted +up on the cruel cross, did I begin to dimly see what He meant." + +A light broke over Joel's face as he remembered the vision he had had +that day, kneeling at the foot of the cross; then he stopped still in +the road, with his hands clasped in dismay. There suddenly seemed to +rise before him the scenes of daily sacrifice in the Temple, when the +blood of innocent lambs flowed over the altar; then he thought of the +great Day of Atonement, when the poor scape-goat was driven away to its +death, laden with the sins of the people. + +"Oh, that must be what Isaiah meant!" he cried in distress. "'He was +brought as a lamb to the slaughter!' Oh, can it be possible that 'the +Lord hath laid on _Him_ the iniquity of us all'? What an awful +sacrifice!" + +The tears streamed down his face as the thought came over him with +overwhelming conviction, that it was for _him_ that the man he loved so +had endured all the horrible suffering of death by crucifixion. + +"Why did such a thing have to be?" he asked, looking up appealingly at +his companion. + +John looked out and up, as if he saw far beyond the narrow, hill-bound +horizon, and quoted softly: "_For God so loved the world, that He gave +His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not +perish, but have everlasting life._" + +Just as the feeling had come to him that morning by the Galilee, and +again as he gazed and gazed into the white face on the cross, Joel +seemed to feel again the love of the Father, as it took him close into +its infinite keeping. + +"'Greater love hath no man than this,'" quoted John again, "'that a man +lay down his life for his friends.' He is the propitiation for our sins; +and not ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." + +It was hard for the child to understand this at first; but this gentle +disciple who walked beside him had walked long beside the Master, and in +the Master's own way and words taught Joel life's greatest lesson. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +THEY went back to their simple lives again,--those hardy fishermen, the +busy carpenter, and the boy. Phineas was silent and grave. For him, hope +still lay dead in that garden tomb near Golgotha; but Joel sang as he +worked. + +The appointed time was nearing when the Master was to meet them on the +mountain. As often as he could, Joel stole away from the moody man at +the work-bench, and went down to the beach for more cheerful +companionship. + +One morning, seeing a fishing-boat that he recognized pulling in quickly +to shore, he ran down to see what luck his friends had had during the +night. + +He held up his hands in astonishment at the great haul of fish the boat +held. + +"We have been with the Master," explained one of the men. "We toiled all +night, and took nothing till we met Him." + +Joel listened eagerly while they told him of that meeting in the early +dawn, and of the meal they ate together, while the sun came up over the +Galilee, and the blue waves whispered their gladness to the beach, as +they heard the Master's voice once more. + +"Oh, to think that He is in Galilee again!" exclaimed Joel. That thought +added purpose and meaning to each new day. Every morning he woke with +the feeling, "Maybe I shall see Him before the sun goes down." Every +night he went to sleep saying, "He is somewhere near! No telling how +soon I may be with Him!" + +When the day came on which they were to go to the mountain, Joel was up +very early in the morning. He bathed and dressed himself with the care +of a priest about to enter the inner courts on some holy errand. + +When he started to the mountain, Abigail noticed that he wore his finest +headdress of white linen. His tunic was spotless, and, from the corners +of his brown and white striped mantle, the blue fringes that the Law +prescribed hung smooth as silk. + +He did not wait for Phineas or any of his friends. Long before the time, +he had climbed the rocky path, and was sitting all alone in the deep +shadowed stillness. + +The snapping of a twig startled him; the falling of a leaf made him +look up hopefully. Any minute the Master might come. + +His heart beat so loud it seemed to him that the wood-birds overhead +must surely hear it, and be frightened away. + +Imagine that scene, you who can,--you who have just seen the earth close +over your best-beloved; who have awakened in the lonely night, with that +sudden sickening remembrance of loss; who have longed, with a longing +like a constant ache, for the voice and the smile and the footstep that +have slipped hopelessly beyond recall. + +Think of what it would mean, if you knew now, beyond doubt, that all +that you had loved and lost would be given back to you before the +passing of another hour! + +So Joel waited, restless, burning, all in a quiver of expectancy. + +Steps began to wind around the base of the mountain. One familiar face +after another came in sight, then strange ones, until, by and by, five +hundred people had gathered there, and were sitting in reverent, +unbroken silence. The soft summer wind barely stirred the leaves; even +the twitter of nestlings overhead was hushed. + +After awhile, thrilled by some unseen influence, as a field of grain is +swayed by the passing wind, they bowed their heads. The Master stood +before them, His hands outspread in blessing. + +Joel started forward with a wild desire to throw himself at His feet, +and put his arms around them; but a majesty he had never seen before in +that gentle face restrained him. + +He listened to the voice as it rose and fell with all its old winning +tenderness. As you would listen could the dead lips you love move again; +as you would greedily snatch up every word, and hide it in your heart of +hearts, so Joel listened. + +"I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and receive you unto +myself, that where I am there ye may be also.... Peace I leave with +you.... Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be +troubled, neither let it be afraid." + +As the beloved voice went on, promising the Comforter that should come +when He was gone, all the dread and pain of the coming separation seemed +to be lost. + +Boy though he was, Joel looked down the years of his life feeling it was +only a fleeting shadow, compared with the eternal companionship just +promised him. + +He would make no moan; he would utter no complaint: but he would take up +his life's little day, and bear it after the Master,--a cup of loving +service,--into that upper kingdom where there was a place prepared for +him. + +It was all over so soon. They were left alone on the mountain-side +again, with only the sunshine flickering through the leaves, and the +wood-birds just beginning to trill to each other once more. But the warm +air seemed to still throb with the last words He had spoken: "Lo, I am +with you alway, even unto the end of the world." + +Phineas came down the mountain with his face all ashine; at last his +eyes had been opened. + +"He and the Father are one!" he exclaimed to the man walking beside him. +"That voice is the same that spake from the midst of the burning bush, +and from the summit of Sinai. All these years I have followed the +Master, I believed Him to be a perfect man and a great prophet; I +believed Him to be 'the rod out of the stem of Jesse' who through +Jehovah's hand was to redeem Israel, even as the rod in Aaron's hand +smote the floods and made a pathway for our people. + +"When I saw Him put to death as a felon, all hope died within me; even +to-day I came out here unbelieving. I could not think that I should see +Him. How blind we have been all these years! God with us in the flesh, +and we did not know Him!" + +Joel walked on behind the two, sharing their feeling of exaltation. As +they came down into the valley and entered Capernaum, the work-a-day +sights and noises seemed to jar on their senses, in this uplifted mood. + +A man standing in an open doorway accosted Phineas, and asked when he +could commence work on the house he had talked to him about building. + +Phineas hesitated, and looked down at the ground, as if studying some +difficult problem. In a few minutes he raised his eyes with a look of +decision. + +"I cannot build it for you at all," he answered. + +"Not build it!" echoed the man. "I thought you were anxious for the +job." + +"So I was," answered the carpenter; "but when I asked for it, I had no +belief that the Master could rise from the dead. Just now, on the +mountain yonder, I have been with Him. His command is still ringing in +my ears: 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every +creature!' + +"Henceforth I give my life to Him, even as He gave His to me. My days +are now half spent, but every remaining one shall be used to proclaim, +as far and wide as possible, that the risen Christ is the Son of God!" + +The man was startled as he looked at Phineas; such a fire of love and +purpose seemed to illuminate his earnest face that it was completely +transformed. + +"Even now," exclaimed Phineas, "will I commence my mission. You are the +first one I have met, and I must tell to you this glad new gospel. He +died for you! 'God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten +Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have +everlasting life!' O my friend, if you could only believe that as I +believe it!" + +The man shrank back into the doorway, strangely moved by the passionate +force of his earnestness. + +"I must go up to Jerusalem," continued Phineas, "and wait till power is +given us from on high; then I can more clearly see my way. I do not know +whether I shall be directed to go into other lands, or to come back here +to carry the news to my old neighbors. But it matters not which path is +pointed out, the mission has been already given,--to tell the message +to every creature my voice can reach." + +"And you?" asked the man, pointing to the companion of Phineas. + +"I, too, received the command," was the answer, "and I, too, am ready to +go to the world's end, if need be!" + +"Surely there must be truth in what you say," muttered the man. Then his +glance fell on Joel. "You, too?" he questioned. + +"Nay, he is but a lad," answered Phineas, before Joel could find words +to answer him. "Come! we must hasten home." + +Joel talked little during the next few days, and stole away often to +think by himself, in the quiet little upper chamber on the roof. + +Phineas was making his preparations to go back to Jerusalem; and he +urged the boy to go back with him, and accept Simon's offer. Abigail, +too, added her persuasions to his; and even old Rabbi Amos came down one +day, and sat for an hour under the fig-trees, painting in glowing colors +the life that might be his for the choosing. + +It was a very alluring prospect; it had been the dream of his life to +travel in far countries. He pictured himself surrounded by wealth and +culture; he would be able to do so much for his old friends. He could +give back to Jesse and Ruth a hundred fold, what had been bestowed on +him; and the poor--how much he could help them, when he received a son's +portion from the wealthy Simon! O the hearts he could make glad, all up +and down the land! + +The old day-dreams he used to delight in danced temptingly before him. +As he stood idly beside the work-bench one afternoon, thinking of such a +future, a soft step behind him made him turn. The hammer fell from his +hand to the grass, as he saw the woman who came timidly to meet him. + +"Why, Aunt Leah!" he cried. "What brought _you_ here?" + +He had not seen her since the night his Uncle Laban had driven him from +home. + +She drew aside her veil, and looked at him. "I heard you had been +healed," she said, "and I have always wanted to come and see you, and +tell you how glad I am; but my husband forbade it. Child!" she cried +abruptly, "how much you look like your father! The likeness is +startling!" + +The discovery seemed to make her forget what she had come to say, and +she stood and stared at him; then she remembered. "Rabbi Amos told me of +the offer you have had from a rich merchant in Bethany, and I came down +here, secretly, to beg you to accept it. In your father's name I beg +you!" + +Joel looked perplexed. "I hardly know what to do," he said. "Every one +advises me just as you do; but I feel that they are all wrong. Surely +the Master meant me as well as father Phineas and the others, when He +charged us to go and preach the gospel to every creature." + +A sudden interest came into the woman's face; she took a step forward. +"Joel, did _you_ see Him after He was risen?" + +"Yes," he answered. + +"Oh, I believe then that He is the Christ!" she cried. "I have thought +all the time that it might be so, and the children are so sure of it." + +"And Uncle Laban?" questioned Joel. + +She shook her head sadly. "He grows more bitterly opposed every day." + +"Aunt Leah," he asked, coming back to the first question, "don't you +think He must have meant me as well as those men?" + +"Oh, hardly," she said, hesitatingly, "you are so young, and there are +so many others to do it; it would surely be better for you to go to +Bethany." + +After she had gone home, he put away his tools, and, like one in a +dream, started slowly towards the mountain. + +The same summer stillness reigned on its shady slopes as when the five +hundred had gathered there. He climbed up near the summit, and sat down +on a high stone. + +To the eastward the Galilee glittered like a sapphire in the sun; +Capernaum seemed like a great ant-hill in commotion. No wonder he could +not think among all those conflicting voices; he was glad he had come up +where it was so still. + +Phineas was going away in the morning. If Joel went also, maybe he would +never look down on that scene again. + +Then almost as if some living voice broke the stillness, he heard the +words: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every +creature!" It was the echo of the words that had fallen from the +Master's lips. Nothing once uttered by that voice can ever die; it lives +on and on in the ever-widening circles of the centuries, as a ripple, +once started, rings shoreward through the seas. + +In that instant all the things he had been considering seemed so small +and worthless. He had been planning to give Simon's gold and silver to +the poor; but the Master had given them His life, Himself! Could he do +less? + +"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, ye have done it +unto me," something seemed to say to him. Yes; he could do it for the +Master's sake, for the One who had healed him, for the One who had died +for him. + +Then and there, high up in the mountain's solitudes, he found the path +he was to follow; and then he wondered how he could have thought for an +instant of making any other choice. It was the path the Master's own +feet had trod, and the boy who had followed, knew well what a weary way +it led. + +For his great love's sake, he gave up the old ambitions, the +self-centred hopes, saying, in a low tone, as if he felt the beloved +Presence very near, "Oh, I want to serve Thee truly! If I am too young +now to go out into all the world, let me be Thy little cup-bearer here +at home, to carry the story of Thy life and love to those around me!" + +The west was all alight with the glory of the sunset; somewhere beyond +its burnished portals lay the City of the King. Joel turned from its +dazzling depths to look downward into the valley. He had chosen +persecution and sacrifice and suffering, he knew, but the light on his +face was more than the halo of the summer sunset. + +As he went down the mountain to his life of lowly service, a deep peace +fell warm across his heart; for the promise went with him, a staff to +bear him up through all his after life's long pilgrimage: "LO, I AM WITH +YOU ALWAY, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD!" + + +THE END + + + + +Selections from The Page Company's Books for Young People + +THE BLUE BONNET SERIES + + _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, + per volume_ $1.50 + + +A TEXAS BLUE BONNET + +By CAROLINE E. JACOBS. + +"The book's heroine, Blue Bonnet, has the very finest kind of wholesome, +honest, lively girlishness."--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._ + + +BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY + +By CAROLINE E. 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RICHARDS + +Eleven Volumes + +The Hildegarde-Margaret Series, beginning with "Queen Hildegarde" and +ending with "The Merryweathers," make one of the best and most popular +series of books for girls ever written. + + _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_ $1.25 + + _The eleven volumes boxed as a set_ $13.75 + + +LIST OF TITLES + + QUEEN HILDEGARDE + HILDEGARDE'S HOLIDAY + HILDEGARDE'S HOME + HILDEGARDE'S NEIGHBORS + HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST + THREE MARGARETS + MARGARET MONTFORT + PEGGY + RITA + FERNLEY HOUSE + THE MERRYWEATHERS + + + + +THE CAPTAIN JANUARY SERIES + +By LAURA E. RICHARDS + + _Each 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume._ + _Net_, 50 cents; carriage paid, 60 cents + + +CAPTAIN JANUARY + +A charming idyl of New England coast life, whose success has been very +remarkable. + + SAME. _Illustrated Holiday Edition_ $1.25 + + SAME, FRENCH TEXT. _Illustrated Holiday Edition_ $1.25 + + +MELODY: THE STORY OF A CHILD. + + SAME. _Illustrated Holiday Edition_ $1.25 + + +MARIE + +A companion to "Melody" and "Captain January." + + +ROSIN THE BEAU + +A sequel to "Melody" and "Marie." + + +SNOW-WHITE; OR, THE HOUSE IN THE WOOD. + + +JIM OF HELLAS; OR, IN DURANCE VILE, and a companion story, BETHESDA +POOL. + + +NARCISSA + +And a companion story, IN VERONA, being two delightful short stories of +New England life. + + +"SOME SAY" + +And a companion story, NEIGHBORS IN CYRUS. + + +NAUTILUS + +"'Nautilus' is by far the best product of the author's powers, and is +certain to achieve the wide success it so richly merits." + + +ISLA HERON + +This interesting story is written in the author's usual charming manner. + + +THE LITTLE MASTER + +"A well told, interesting tale of a high character."--_California +Gateway Gazette._ + + + + +DELIGHTFUL BOOKS FOR LITTLE FOLKS + +By LAURA E. RICHARDS + + +THREE MINUTE STORIES + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, with eight plates in full color and many text +illustrations by Josephine Bruce. + + _Net_ $1.25; carriage paid $1.40 + +"Little ones will understand and delight in the stories and +poems."--_Indianapolis News._ + + +FIVE MINUTE STORIES + + Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated $1.25 + +A charming collection of short stories and clever poems for children. + + +MORE FIVE MINUTE STORIES + + Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated $1.25 + +A noteworthy collection of short stories and poems for children, which +will prove as popular with mothers as with boys and girls. + + +FIVE MICE IN A MOUSE TRAP + + Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated $1.25 + +The story of their lives and other wonderful things related by the Man +in the Moon, done in the vernacular from the lunacular form by Laura E. +Richards. + + +WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE + + Cloth, 8vo, illustrated $1.25 + +The title most happily introduces the reader to the charming home life +of Doctor Howe and Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, during the childhood of the +author. + + +A HAPPY LITTLE TIME + + Cloth, 8vo, illustrated $1.25 + +Little Betty and the happy time she had will appeal strongly to mothers +as well as to the little ones who will have this story read to them, and +appeal all the more on account of its being such a "real" story. + + + + +THE BOYS' STORY OF THE RAILROAD SERIES + +By BURTON E. STEVENSON + + _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_ $1.50 + + +THE YOUNG SECTION-HAND; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF ALLAN WEST. + +"A thrilling story, well told, clean and bright. The whole range of +section railroading is covered in the story, and it contains information +as well as interest."--_Chicago Post._ + + +THE YOUNG TRAIN DISPATCHER + +"A vivacious account of the varied and often hazardous nature of +railroad life, full of incident and adventure, in which the author has +woven admirable advice about honesty, manliness, self-culture, good +reading, and the secrets of success."--_Congregationalist._ + + +THE YOUNG TRAIN MASTER + +"It is a book that can be unreservedly commended to anyone who loves a +good, wholesome, thrilling, informing yarn."--_Passaic News._ + + +THE YOUNG APPRENTICE; OR, ALLAN WEST'S CHUM. + +"The story is intensely interesting, and one gains an intimate knowledge +of the methods and works in the great car shops not easily gained +elsewhere."--_Baltimore Sun._ + +"It appeals to every boy of enterprising spirit, and at the same +time teaches him some valuable lessons in honor, pluck, and +perseverance."--_Cleveland Plain Dealer._ + +"The lessons that the books teach in development of uprightness, honesty +and true manly character are sure to appeal to the reader."--_The +American Boy._ + + + + +THE LITTLE COLONEL BOOKS + +(Trade Mark) + +By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON + + _Each large 12mo, cloth, illustrated, per volume_ $1.50 + + THE LITTLE COLONEL STORIES + (Trade Mark) + +Being three "Little Colonel" stories in the Cosy Corner Series, "The +Little Colonel," "Two Little Knights of Kentucky," and "The Giant +Scissors," in a single volume. + + + THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HOUSE PARTY + (Trade Mark) + + THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HOLIDAYS + (Trade Mark) + + THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HERO + (Trade Mark) + + THE LITTLE COLONEL AT BOARDING-SCHOOL + (Trade Mark) + + THE LITTLE COLONEL IN ARIZONA + (Trade Mark) + + THE LITTLE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS VACATION + (Trade Mark) + + THE LITTLE COLONEL, MAID OF HONOR + (Trade Mark) + + THE LITTLE COLONEL'S KNIGHT COMES RIDING + (Trade Mark) + + MARY WARE: THE LITTLE COLONEL'S CHUM + (Trade Mark) + + MARY WARE IN TEXAS + + MARY WARE'S PROMISED LAND + + _These twelve volumes, boxed as a set_, $18.00. + + +SPECIAL HOLIDAY EDITIONS + + _Each small quarto, cloth decorative, per volume_ $1.25 + +New plates, handsomely illustrated with eight full-page drawings in +color, and many marginal sketches. + + + THE LITTLE COLONEL + (Trade Mark) + + TWO LITTLE KNIGHTS OF KENTUCKY + + THE GIANT SCISSORS + + BIG BROTHER + + +THE JOHNSTON JEWEL SERIES + + _Each small 16mo, cloth decorative, with frontispiece and decorative + text borders, per volume_ _Net_ $0.50 + + + IN THE DESERT OF WAITING: THE LEGEND OF CAMELBACK + MOUNTAIN. + + THE THREE WEAVERS: A FAIRY TALE FOR FATHERS AND + MOTHERS AS WELL AS FOR THEIR DAUGHTERS. + + KEEPING TRYST: A TALE OF KING ARTHUR'S TIME. + + THE LEGEND OF THE BLEEDING HEART + + THE RESCUE OF PRINCESS WINSOME: A FAIRY PLAY FOR OLD + AND YOUNG. + + THE JESTER'S SWORD + + * * * * * + + THE LITTLE COLONEL'S GOOD TIMES BOOK + + Uniform in size with the Little Colonel Series $1.50 + Bound in white kid (morocco) and gold _Net_ 3.00 + +Cover design and decorations by Peter Verberg. + +"A mighty attractive volume in which the owner may record the good times +she has on decorated pages, and under the directions as it were of Annie +Fellows Johnston."--_Buffalo Express._ + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Obvious punctuation errors repaired. Varied hyphenation as in +"head-dress" and "headdress" was retained. + +Page 11, word "an" removed from text. Original read (never be an any +better) + +Page 32, "a good" changed to "good a" (too good a man to) + +Page 68, "persistance" changed to "persistence" (persistence with which +the) + +Page 68, "coin" changed to "coins" (small bag of coins) + +Page 90, "acknowleged" changed to "acknowledged" (he acknowledged +proudly) + +Page 101, "That" changed to "that" (unto you that) + +Page 114, "Was" changed to "was" (was Joel's constant) + +Page 116, "kness" changed to "knees" (his knees in readiness) + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Joel: A Boy of Galilee, by Annie Fellows Johnston + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE *** + +***** This file should be named 39231.txt or 39231.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/2/3/39231/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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