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diff --git a/old/60140-0.txt b/old/60140-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 397eb02..0000000 --- a/old/60140-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2758 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, New Paths through Old Palestine, by Margaret -Slattery - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: New Paths through Old Palestine - - -Author: Margaret Slattery - - - -Release Date: August 20, 2019 [eBook #60140] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEW PATHS THROUGH OLD PALESTINE*** - - -E-text prepared by Richard Tonsing, MFR, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 60140-h.htm or 60140-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/60140/60140-h/60140-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/60140/60140-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/newpathsthrougho00slatuoft - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - - - - -NEW PATHS THROUGH OLD PALESTINE - - -[Illustration: - - Instead of the soft-footed camels, the motor truck stood at the gates - of the Holy City.] - - -NEW PATHS THROUGH OLD PALESTINE - -by - -MARGARET SLATTERY - - -[Illustration] - - - - - - -Printed in U. S. A. - -The Pilgrim Press. -Boston Chicago - -Copyright 1921 -by -Sidney A. Weston - -The Pilgrim Press -Boston - - - - - - TO - - M. R. H. - - THE UNDERSTANDING COMPANION - OF THE PILGRIMAGE - - - - - A WORD ABOUT THE NEW PATHS - - -From our earliest childhood when at Christmas time we gazed with intense -interest at the Wise-men on their gaily caparisoned camels, those great -awkward ships of the desert have been associated in our minds with -Palestine. The Child held close in Mary’s arms as she sat upon the -donkey while Joseph urged it on through the day and the night in the -hurried flight into Egypt has made that faithful little beast a part of -Palestine. - -We saw both the donkeys with loaded panniers driven along by wandering -Arabs and the strings of camels, soft-footed, heads held proudly high, -moving off over the yellow sands up to the hills. But we sat in a modern -train, with comfortable leather seats, and a madly puffing engine -dragged us over the wind-blown sands up through the hills of Judea to -the little modern station just without the walls of Jerusalem. Once when -we stopped at old Lydda we heard a rushing, whirring sound over our -heads. It grew louder and, as we searched the sky, a plane swept out -from the soft clouds into the clear blue, came down nearer, nearer to -earth, rose again, and passed out of sight. It had come from the City of -Zion: it would go into Egypt. - -The Wilderness, the Dead Sea and the forty long years of wandering, the -victories over the Philistines, the waters of Jordan parted for the -passing of the hosts of Jehovah, the tumbling walls of Jericho, the -spots where “the arm of the Lord prevailed”: with these we had long been -familiar. They were associated in our minds with tents, with much -cattle, with slow beasts of burden, with men, women, and children who -moved leisurely in times of peace and fled in wild confusion in times of -war. - -The Wilderness, the Dead Sea, the Jordan, and Jericho we saw. A motor -car driven by the son of an Arab chief took us over and past them all in -less than a day! - -Old Palestine still lies between the great desert and the seas. The -women still grind the corn, stand gossiping about the well, and wrap -their babies in swaddling clothes. The shepherds wander through the bare -hills with their sheep and lead them, when spring comes, to the green -pastures and the still waters. But there are _New Paths Through Old -Palestine_. They cross age-worn desert-ways, go down into the shadows of -deep valleys, climb hoary mountains, follow Elijah’s chariot through -great spaces of the sky. The new paths bring new days fraught with -possibilities. In time they _may_ bring a new Palestine: not the mystic -land of the Zionists but the promised land of which the prophets and -poets of Israel sang. Old Palestine died in nineteen-fourteen with the -rest of the world that was and will never be again. New Palestine is -born. What its future shall be depends upon the souls of those who -follow the new paths. They may lead only to temporary triumph, to the -selfish goals of the kingdoms of men: they _may_ lead to the Kingdom of -God. - -[Illustration: - - Margaret Slattery.] - - NOVEMBER 1, 1921. - - “_Ah no! that sacred land - Where fell the wearied feet of the lone Christ - Robs not the soul of faith._” - —_Richard Watson Gilder._ - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - I GO UP TO JERUSALEM 3 - - I GO OVER TO BETHLEHEM 21 - - I GO DOWN TO JERICHO 39 - - I GO TO BETHANY 61 - - I GO OUT TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES 79 - - I GO TO THE GARDEN 97 - - I GO DOWN INTO EGYPT 113 - - - - - I GO UP TO JERUSALEM - - - _Our feet are standing - Within thy gates, O Jerusalem, - Jerusalem, that art builded - As a city that is compact together.— - Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. - Peace be within thy walls, - And prosperity within thy palaces._ - - _Praise Jehovah, O Jerusalem; - Praise thy God, O Zion, - For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; - He hath blessed thy children within thee. - He maketh peace in thy borders._ - —_Psalms 122, 147._ - - - - - I GO UP TO JERUSALEM - - -There was a moon that night. Now it was half hidden by soft clouds, now -clear, brilliant, white against a velvet sky. We stood crowded close to -the heavy ropes stretched across the bridge, which had swung open to -permit one boat after another to pass. We were at Kantara on the Suez. -Across the canal was the train dimly lighted, standing on the tracks -that seemed half buried in the soft, yellow, desert sand. We waited -impatiently. Nearly three hours had passed since the train from Port -Said had left us there to attend to baggage and troublesome passports, -and to eat a meager supper from boxes brought with us from the Port. - -Now a Japanese boat passed slowly along the canal; then a smaller craft -with cargo, flying the Dutch flag; a British boat brilliantly lighted, -its passengers, many of them in uniform, dancing on deck. The canal is -so narrow that great ships must creep slowly and carefully along, with -no place for miles where one boat may pass another. It is a miracle, -this Suez Canal, and the story of its building a most fascinating tale. -Its banks are scarred by the battles of the great war. Barbed wire, old -dugouts, the remains of hastily constructed forts reminded us of the -desperate struggle made by the Allies to protect it against the enemy in -the air and under the water. Had any one of their many attempts -successfully closed the canal, the war would have had a very different -ending. - -We had just spent nineteen and one-half hours coming through the canal -at the slow speed permitted by law—five miles an hour. Even then our -boat twice grazed the retaining wall. In a single year over three -thousand boats passed through the locks, crept along through the canal, -then hurried to far ports, east or west. - -As the fifth boat swung lazily past, a sigh of relief went up from the -crowd pressed against the ropes. A moment and the great bridge moved -back into place and we were given the signal to cross. It was a weird -group that hurried along in the moonlight—a party of Americans, a group -of British officers, some Australian soldiers, Jews from Russia -clutching their permits to enter the land of promise, Egyptians, -Syrians, Arabs in native dress. There were but few women. Our porter -found us seats close to the window in one of the compartments. We were -sorry for this later, as the fine sand sifted in and covered clothing -and baggage. No sleeping-car was possible, so we made ourselves as -comfortable as we could with bags for pillows and heavy coats for -blankets. We were most grateful for this railroad from Kantara to -Jerusalem, realizing that before the war we would have been compelled to -make the inconvenient and dangerous landing in the small boats at Jaffa. - -We made our way slowly through the night across the desert that -stretched as far as the eye could reach in the moonlight and slipped -away into blackness when the moon had set. What it had cost the men who -had laid those ties in that wilderness of sand, under the scorching rays -of a pitiless sun, no history of war can adequately relate. How often in -those days, as we looked reverently at old battlegrounds, we searched -for words with which to describe the miracles performed by the -engineering corps of the fighting armies! - -With the morning light, we began to see signs of life on the desert. -Great masses of cacti, in clumps as tall as trees, with stems as thick -as a man’s body, were growing but a few feet from our windows. Here, -during the war, the enemy had hidden their machine guns, a refuge from -which they might safely do their deadly work, practically certain that -they could not be captured. Many a brave soldier of the Allies gave up -his life in agony, caught in the cactus hedge to which the rush of -battle had driven him, and many an heroic rescue of a comrade held by -the cruel thorns took place on that desert plain. When the cactus growth -cleared and the desert was unbroken we stared in amazement at what -seemed to be a line of dark earth—a road made in the shifting sand. When -we got nearer we found it to be strips of chicken wire. This wire was -the solution of a problem that at first threatened to tie up all the -plans of Headquarters, for the heavy artillery and the loaded motor -lorries, sinking deep into the sand, made progress impossible. The wire -road was the result of the ingenuity of some of the men in the ranks. As -the fine and coarse net used alternately pressed down upon the sand it -gave the resistance that enabled the great guns and loads of supplies to -pass over places otherwise uncrossable. When they had passed, soldiers -rolled up the wire, loaded it on the camels to be used again over some -hard stretch ahead. The war over, it lay there rusting in the sand. - -Again and again, as one crossed the battlefields of Palestine, he saw -evidences of the triumph of man’s mind over earth’s obstacles. Nothing -was too ordinary, too commonplace, too insignificant to be used to -further the success of the great cause. For fresh supplies of food and -water, for “heavies” with which to batter down the defenses of the -enemy, the army was for a time dependent upon temporary tracks of -chicken wire laid in a waste of moving sand! - -Against the horizon we could see the slow moving train of camels. A -group of Arabs on horseback halted to watch us pass. We were in -Palestine, that land of small distances and great deeds. - -“I cannot believe that I am in Palestine,” said the young daughter of a -British officer who was to see her father for the first time in four -years. “I have not been able to think of it as a real land. I know, in a -way, that Moses and Joshua fought here. But think of father’s fighting -here, too!” The girl had expressed the thought of hundreds of others who -have studied the Bible stories, become familiar with the difficult -names, drawn maps and located the cities of Moses and of Paul, marked -the journeyings of Christ, but to whom the land has never been a real -land and its records, shrouded in vague mystery, have never seemed a -part of the earth. But now we knew it to be real. We began to comprehend -“the wilderness and the solitary place.” - -It is only about the size of my own state of Massachusetts, I told -myself again and again. Its greatest length is but one hundred eighty -miles and it is nowhere more than fifty-five miles wide. If I had the -railways and engines of home I could cross it in less than two hours. I -could travel its entire length easily in five or six. But the present -train, with its light engine, on a roadbed hastily made, parts of it -finished under fire from enemy guns, moves slowly. We are stopping at -Gaza. - -Once Gaza was the largest city of the old country of the Philistines. I -can almost see Samson, strong and powerful, coming down over the hill -called today Samson’s Ridge, bearing the great city gates upon his -shoulders while men stood aghast. I can see him too, blinded and -powerless, walking the treadmill of his enemies. As I look out over the -desert road, I remember the Ethiopian struggling to find the meaning of -the words of the prophet Isaiah and young Philip running by his chariot, -eagerly responding to the invitation to sit with him and explain the -prophecy. Riding along through the dust, I can hear him talking with the -ruler about Jesus and what He had taught of God and man; and, -half-astonished at the quick response, I can hear the Ethiopian, as they -came near to a place with water, saying, “Behold, here is water, what -doth hinder me to be baptized?” But I am brought back suddenly from the -long past. Men in British uniform are on the platform of the little -station. They follow the mail bag eagerly, joking each other in clear -English accents about the probable contents. - -For eight months in nineteen hundred and seventeen, Gaza became again -the center of a great battle area. We could see the remains of the -Turkish trenches, dug deep into the earth and protected by great masses -of wire or by sand bags made from the gay colored hangings and curtains -taken from the houses of its people. But in spite of all their careful -preparations and their gallant defence, Gaza fell into the hands of the -British troops whose splendid officers and men had braved heat, terrible -thirst, sand-storms, deadly fire that robbed them of hundreds of their -comrades, that they might take this important post on the road that was -to lead them through untold suffering up to Jerusalem, as it had led -other armies of days long ago. The British Tommies read their Bibles in -their spare time these days. They read over again the battles of -Israelites and Philistines which they had found very stupid when they -were boys in Sunday schools but which are exceedingly interesting to -them now. As they fought, step by step, for possession of that same -land, they asked themselves if, battling against a foe to whom the -desert was home, on trackless wastes whose every spring and rock was -known, they could ever win. Never for a moment did they hesitate in -their answer, but many a brave young officer and many a hardy soldier of -Australia or New Zealand must have had misgivings as he looked at the -cactus hedge, miles deep, or out over the still, barren, hopeless desert -hills. - -We left Gaza to climb slowly up to Lydda, now called Ludd, where we were -obliged to change cars. On all sides were signs of the fighting of two -years before, and now and then white crosses or Turkish graves reminded -us of the terrible price youth has paid throughout the long centuries of -history to make this land holy indeed. - -As we climbed up into the hills, it began to rain, the air was fresh and -cool, the vineyards here and there on the hillsides brought great relief -after the glare of the sands through which we had been passing for so -many hours. Our first glimpse of Jerusalem was in the soft mist through -which the sun was attempting to shine. The walls looked high and -forbidding, the whole city, from its point of vantage crowning the -hilltops, seemed to look down upon us as though we were but very little -things, little and unimportant, come to gaze, without half understanding -what we should see, upon all man has dreamed and suffered in his reach -for God and happiness. - -A thrill of anticipation had passed up and down the corridor of the -train. Not a person sat in his compartment. Corridor windows were opened -and eager faces crowded about them. The face of the young girl who was -to see her father after the four years of separation was flushed with -excitement, but the face of her mother was pale and there were tears in -her eyes. She had given her two sons—one in France and one in -Mesopotamia—to the world’s great effort to preserve its freedom. I shall -never forget the light in the eyes of two thin, haggard, long-bearded -Hebrews, looking out from the windows, then turning to speak with each -other in Russian words that, though unintelligible to us, seemed to be -on fire with passion. Their gestures were expressive of emotion that -could not be restrained. Long before the train stopped they were at the -door. - -The faces of young British officers on leave, coming up for the first -time to see the city for whose delivery they had prepared the way down -on the dry parched plain, were keen with interest; no detail of the -approach escaped them. The residents accustomed to the journeyings from -the Port to the city looked at us all with mild curiosity and kind -tolerance. - -From the station, the horses dragged us up through gray mud that flew -about us in showers, covering carriage, baggage, and robes,—there was no -escape from it. From the mist the walls of the “city of cities” emerged, -clear, strong, unbroken, no mark of battle upon them. As we went through -the great gate, the sun, breaking through the mist, flooded with light, -for a few moments, the narrow street and brightened the faces of the -crowd of people of every nation that poured ceaselessly in and out. We -stopped before the hotel that during the war had served as the Red -Crescent Hospital. Lunch was waiting and we sat down with the Mohammedan -in his red fez, the Bedouin in his long, beautiful, gay-colored coat, -the French officer and the British officer on leave, Jewish business -men, the Greek and the Syrian—the world, it seemed to us as we listened -to the various languages. All orders for food were given in French, and -in French men of different nations spoke with each other in courteous -greeting. - -We were in Jerusalem. Here Samuel sat; here at the gate was David’s -tower; King Solomon once lived over there on the hill in his glittering -palace and by his wealth and wisdom made himself famous throughout the -world, and here he lost his wisdom as has many another in the courts of -the women. Herod and Pilate looked out over these hills; the Crusader -stormed the walls and the Turk brought terror and slavery with his -sword. Twenty-three times in its history Jerusalem has been captured. It -has been pillaged, plundered, burned, utterly destroyed, rebuilt only to -be plundered again. Yet here it stood. Upon what unspeakable sorrow the -stars of Palestine have looked down! We gazed from our balcony out over -the low buildings of solid rock, out through the break in the wall made -that the Kaiser, on his visit to the Holy Place, might enter in great -pomp and glory with his impressive army of followers, the break redeemed -by the simplicity of the entrance of the victorious General Allenby into -the city that he had conquered without the destruction of a single -building or a foot of wall and accepted, when surrendered, as a sacred -trust placed once more in the hands of Christians. It may be that the -white crosses in long rows, out on the hillside, guarding the graves of -soldiers from every part of the British Empire, young, very young, will -continue to remind these latest conquerors of the tremendous cost of the -victory that left the city unharmed and help them govern the land with -an unselfishness of purpose that will measure up to the high standard of -their victory. - -After lunch we found that dark clouds had gathered low over the hills, -and before we could leave our room the rain came. We studied the map of -the city, searched out the location of its sacred places, read over -again the words of poet and prophet describing the days of its great -glory, when from Mount Zion king and shepherd could look over at Mount -Moriah where the smoke of the sacrifice from the temple of Jehovah -ascended to heaven. - -Late in the afternoon the rising wind scattered the clouds and the sun -set in a blaze of glory. We stood just outside the gate on the city wall -looking down across the valley over toward Bethlehem. The hills, deep -purple, reached up on every side to touch the sky. Their bare rocky -slopes became soft as velvet in the fading light. - -A young British private, leaning against a part of the parapet, took out -a khaki Testament and turned the leaves slowly. He seemed to find what -he wanted and read, following the lines with his finger. Then he closed -the book, put it back in his pocket and turned, half apologetically to a -companion not in uniform. - -“We fought out there,” he said, “the 53rd division. We fought around the -very hills where the angels sang about Peace on earth.” - -A moment of silence and the other spoke: “Yonder is the road He must -have climbed when He came up to Jerusalem.” - -“I’ll take you over it tomorrow,” was the answer. “We’ll see all the -places where He used to go. It makes the story in the Book very plain.” - -They moved away. Reluctantly, in the face of coming darkness, we left -the great wall and joined the group of Arabs who, with camels and -donkeys, were passing in and out of the gate. As we climbed the long -stairs to our room, we remembered that tomorrow would be Sunday at home. -In thousands of churches all over the world, trusting little children, -strong, courageous youth, men and women bearing heavy burdens, the old, -the sick, the missionaries would read the story of what He did and said -centuries before, in and about Jerusalem—the story that, despite the -limitations of those who have told it, has changed the world and that -must continue to change it until it shall become what He prayed it might -be—the kingdom of God upon the earth. Tomorrow we, like the young -soldier in khaki, would begin our journeys to “all the places where He -used to go.” And we hoped that for us, too, the sacred spots would “make -the story in the Book very plain.” - -In a long procession with torches the worshipers of the Greek church, -chanting an evensong for their feast day, passed beneath our balcony. A -torch lighted up the cross held high over the heads of the marchers. Out -over the hills of Bethlehem, hidden now by the night, bright stars were -shining. We fell upon our knees and worshiped Him. - - - - - I GO OVER TO BETHLEHEM - - - _There was a baby born in Bethlehem. - I know they say - That this and that’s in doubt, and, for the rest - That learned men who surely should know best - Explain how myths crept in, and followers’ tales confused the truth._ - - _I know—but anyway - There was a baby born in Bethlehem - Who lived and grew and loved and healed and taught - And died—but not to me. - When Christmas comes I see Him still arise, - The gentle, the compassionate, the wise, - Wiping Earth’s tears away, stilling her strife; - Calling, “My path is Peace; My way is Life!”_ - —_Author Unknown._ - - - - - I GO OVER TO BETHLEHEM - - -It was clear and cold. The hills of Moab were deep blue. They seemed -very near. In a low carriage that bore every mark of long service, drawn -by two thin dark horses and driven by an Arab in a dull brown Bedouin -coat, with the long, heavy head-dress falling over his shoulders and -protecting him from rain or sun, we drove out through the gate. Dark -eyes watched us curiously. The horses at first were swift of foot and -the carriage lurched and rolled down the steep grade of the valley of -Hinnom, past the former German colony, over the new bridge; then, losing -their enthusiasm, they climbed slowly. On a hillside the sheep were -feeding, but how they could find enough to sustain life on those bare -rocky slopes is hard to understand. Now we passed a flock following the -shepherd in his vari-colored coat down a steep incline and through a -valley which in the rainy season would be a rushing stream. We could -hear the lambs call, and now and then the shepherd’s reprimand to a -straying sheep. Over there were the fields of Boaz. How beautiful they -must have looked when the heavy sheaves of wheat were yellow in the sun. -The land of Moab seemed such a short distance away as we who had been -half-way round the world thought of distance, but to loyal, faithful, -loving Ruth those desert plains, rounded hills, and deep valleys meant -distance enough to separate her forever from the home and kindred she -must leave behind. The brave words came back to us: “Whither thou goest, -I will go; thy people shall be my people and thy God my God.” She -deserved the happiness she won out there in the fields as she followed -the reapers. As if agreeing with our unspoken thoughts our guide turned -and looked down at us. “Boaz, the owner of the field, married Ruth, the -Moabite girl. She was very beautiful,” he said. - -The wind was bleak on the hilltop as it was that night centuries ago and -we were glad when we reached the protection of the low stone houses of -the village of Bethlehem. Such a tiny village! Nothing was left of the -glory of that other day when the busy tax-gatherers checked up the names -of the people and the keeper of the Inn hurried about trying in vain to -find room for his guests, when officers of the army in resplendent -uniform and civil officers proud and haughty made every Jewish pilgrim -conscious of the power of great Rome. - -Nothing remains of the old inn or khan which was crowded on that night -to its very gates. Thankful indeed must both Joseph and Mary have been -for the protection of the cave with its great manger hewn out of the -rock. Over that spot to which they went so gratefully for shelter now -stands the Church of the Nativity. It is a simple beautiful church, but -the shrines within are garish indeed. - -By General Allenby’s command, the high forbidding walls of stone that -have so long divided the interior and marred its beauty have been taken -down. The walls had formerly separated the church into sections claimed -by the various faiths. The nave of the church belongs to the Greeks, one -transept to the Coptic Christians, the other to the Armenians. The -Romanists have built a church and monastery close beside the little -church of the Nativity, but worshipers could only reach the grotto to -kneel at the manger of stone through a devious, difficult underground -path. When the Turks captured Palestine they compelled the Armenians to -open a passage through their wall that the Romanists might enter. As we -stepped into the church we heard the chanting of their choir, and soon -through the door in the Armenian transept came priests and altar boys in -the rich robes of the church to say mass. We stood aside until they had -passed and only the echo of their voices could be heard floating up from -the cave below. - -Ever since the coming of the Turks, Christmas and Easter services have -been marred by desperate quarreling and bloodshed. At each service -Turkish soldiers were on guard and swords and guns punished offenders -but were unable to prevent the paying of old scores by Armenian and -Romanist, Copt and Greek. The British general was exceedingly anxious -that no such quarrels should mar the celebration of the first Christmas -and Easter after the return of the holy places into the hands of -Christians, to be theirs no matter what their creeds might be. In many -languages, he made his appeal to the people. The American Colony of -Jerusalem was asked to be present at the services to help quiet any -trouble-makers, but they did not wish to assume the responsibility. -Therefore certain individual members of the Red Cross Commission -answered the General’s appeal, and were present all day at the services, -quietly warning any of the rougher element who, as in the past days, -attempted to start trouble by taunting words. Not a British soldier was -present. The Commission members, wise, alert, and friendly, did their -work well and the day passed in dignified impressive worship for the -first time since the Turks took the Holy City. The General expressed his -gratitude in most cordial notes of thanks to the men who had so -successfully endeavored to carry out his wishes. - -We waited until the mass was over and then, with our lighted candles, -went down into the shadowy grotto. Myth and legend, superstitions weird -and fantastic have gathered about all the sacred places. While these -things mean little to the modern Christian, he is bound to respect the -reverent belief in them held by many of his comrades in the faith. With -confidence the guide tells of the hundreds of years the fire in the -hidden place has burned, not once going out, just as it has burned in -the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. If, as one kneels and -prays, holding his taper close to the opening, it is lighted by the -unseen holy fire, rich blessings will come to him and those he loves. - -I shall never forget the thin, tired, sorrow-marked face of an Armenian -woman whose taper, as she knelt murmuring prayers, suddenly caught the -sacred flame. It was transformed. She went up the shadowy steps in a -transport of joy. Nor shall I soon forget the face of a Russian woman as -she swayed back and forth on her knees in an agony of prayer. When at -last she rose she could not stand and a kindly attendant steadied her. -He spoke to her in Russian and they talked softly for a moment. She was -in Jerusalem on a pilgrimage when the war broke out. Her husband, her -son, and a son-in-law were in the Russian army. Of them she had had no -word. She had received a month since confirmation of the news of the -death of her two daughters in prison. She could not go back to her home -in the hot-bed of Bolshevism. She took a taper from the hand of a priest -and went toward the place of the holy fire. - -[Illustration: - - _Copyright, Underwood & Underwood_ - - “’Twas a humble birthplace, but oh, how much God gave to us that day!”] - -I was glad when we were in the fresh crisp air again, wandering through -the streets of the little village, stopping for a few moments for coffee -with a Syrian shopkeeper who wanted to sell us olive-wood beads with a -beautiful carved cross as pendant. His son, a boy of twelve, spoke -English. The father brought him out proudly. He attended a Quaker school -for boys over in Ramallah and was having a holiday. The souvenirs -offered for our inspection were poor tawdry things, but the faces of the -salesmen were so eager that we could not disappoint them. Visitors had -been exceedingly rare during the years of the war and curious friendly -eyes followed us hopefully everywhere. There had been great excitement -in the village that morning. An Indian prince who was a Christian had -visited the church, had left a gift for the priests, had made purchases -in all the little shops—his taper had been lighted by the holy fire. - -We were just about to go back to our carriage when, turning the corner -abruptly, we were face to face with the young Britisher and his friend -who had stood on the wall with us in the sunset the night before. He was -pointing out over the hills. We smiled our recognition and asked if we -too might hear of the coming of the army to Bethlehem. - -“There is not much to tell,” he said, in the way of those who have -risked all in battle. He told us a little about the difficulty of the -fighting in the Judean Hills, the gigantic task of feeding the army and -supplying it with water, the intense sufferings of the men in the cold -drizzling rain and the chilling wind on the hills. Wrapping our own -coats tightly about us, we could understand something of what they must -have endured lying out on the bare unprotected hillsides as they did -those nights before the city of Jerusalem was captured. After a moment -he pointed out to us the hill Beit Jabor two miles northwest of -Bethlehem won by the Welsh Division troops and opening the door for the -entrance into Bethlehem, showed us the great house just south of -Bethlehem where the Turks had seven mountain guns turned upon the road -over which the troops must pass. But a thick heavy impenetrable fog -settled down and, taking the risk, the heavy guns of the British passed -up the road within easy reach of the enemy had they known. “Whenever a -fog settled down like that, to our advantage, the boys would say, ‘the -Lord sent a great fog,’ or ‘the Lord hath covered the moon with a -cloud’; but when rain or moonlight favored the enemy they said nothing.” -He smiled. “The war is over,” he said, “yet it seems as if at any moment -this silence might be interrupted by the booming of a gun.” “God -forbid!” said our guide fervently. “We have had enough of guns.” We -echoed his words heartily as we said a warm word of appreciation of what -British arms had done and went back to our carriage. - -Two miles or more outside the village we looked down upon the place of -Rachel’s tomb. There have been few more beautiful stories of devoted -service for love than that of Jacob who had “loved Rachel” and laid her -there with a breaking heart. The simple, homely record of the joys and -sorrows of every-day life written in the Book that is so full of human -interest seems very real indeed as one looks into the faces of men and -women about him, almost any one of whom might have played the part of -hero or heroine without change of costume on a stage with scenery set. A -little further down the long hill we stopped while the guide pointed to -the place where the shepherds had watched their flocks. It was a plain -lying close between the higher hills. Even on a chilly night it would be -a sheltered spot and, huddled dose together with the fire blazing near -and the watchman at the gate of the fold, shepherds and sheep would be -safe and warm. So they lay that night when the dark sky was suddenly -flooded with light and voices sang over the awestruck hills of Judea. - -We looked back at the little spot on the hill that was Bethlehem, where -that night was born the baby who turned the world upside down—the baby -who inspired the world’s best art, its finest literature, its greatest -music,—there in that little town with its stone houses, its irregular -streets, its simple people struggling with poverty! There was Bethlehem, -the city of David, the shepherd boy of the hills, strongest and best of -all the sons of Jesse, born to be a king and through his long line of -descendants at last to give to the world the King of kings. - -When we stopped at the desk for our keys and to ask for a fire in the -little square stove in our room the clerk, in hesitating, careful -English, said, “You have found it cold out on the hills. You have seen -Bethlehem. It is a small place, Bethlehem. There is little there that a -man may do. Many travelers are disappointed by Bethlehem.” - -“That depends upon how much one sees when he looks at Bethlehem,” I -thought. For me it held no disappointment. - -That night in the great hall, around the stove that could not warm it, -men talked of the future of Palestine. A good friend, who understood -many languages and spoke Arabic fluently, interpreted much of the talk -for us. The present population of Palestine, Jews, Christians and -Mohammedans, is not even a million! Jews and Christians together number -perhaps less than one-third. The Mohammedans make up most of the -population and are found in every city and village. Arabic is the -language of the people, but in Jerusalem and in Jaffa most European -languages are freely spoken. The people who live in the towns are called -Madaniyeh, the villagers are the Fellaheen, and those who live in tents, -whom we called Bedouin, are Arabs. Despite its rocky, unpromising -hillsides and its deserts, Palestine is an agricultural country and that -must be its future, the men told each other. Wheat and barley, maize and -lentils, figs, watermelons, grapes, pomegranates, mulberries, apricots, -tomatoes, oranges, and olives could be easily raised. We heard glowing -descriptions of the Jaffa oranges and some sent later to our room -fulfilled all that had been said of them. There was much talk of the day -when the cultivation of raisins and the manufacture of olive oil would -make men rich; talk of the bananas that could be made to grow in large -quantities at Jericho and of the date palms that would make Gaza prosper -once more. There must be new plows, new machinery of many sorts. They -talked of the Zionist movement, but the talk was cut short by an Arab -who would not hear of it and, as some faces darkened and voices grew -louder, our friend rose and took us to our room. Sometimes in these days -a friendly talk about Palestine’s future ends in hot words and even -blows. The Arab does not want Palestine to be passed over into the hands -of the Jews. Many of the Jerusalem Jews express no pleasure whatever -over an influx of their brothers from many lands. The problems of -Palestine today are very grave and only great wisdom, unselfishness and -patience will solve them. - -After trying in vain to warm ourselves over our small wood stove we put -on our heavy coats and stepped out upon our little balcony. There was no -moon. Save for a light over the Jaffa gate and soft rays from the -windows of our hotel, Jerusalem was dark. The narrow little street at -our left was black. The stars were clear, sparkling, very near. One star -seemed larger and brighter than all the rest. As if unconscious of my -presence my friend sang softly: - - “O little town of Bethlehem, - How still we see thee lie! - Above thy deep and dreamless sleep - The silent stars go by. - Yet in thy dark streets shineth, - The everlasting Light; - The hopes and fears of all the years - Are met in thee tonight.” - -We hurried to our beds with their gay colored hangings and lay buried -under blankets and rugs for warmth. For a long time, gazing out into the -darkness, I could see the star. - -O little town of Bethlehem! Small indeed—but spreading over all the -earth. Only a few days before in America millions of children had heard -its story, hugged their precious gifts, and thought of the angels and -the shepherds. Thousands of parents, forgetting the pressure of dull -gray days, filled with problems of food, clothing and shelter had smiled -upon their own children and thought tenderly of the Child, and many men -and women without a child to love remembered the days of their own -childhood and greeted each other with “Merry Christmas.” Small -indeed—but I had heard the children of Japan with beaming faces sing its -story; I had heard the youth of China with strong, beautifully serious -faces tell of white gifts to be given in the name of the Child who found -His way into the world out there on the hilltop of Judea; in India I had -heard the story told by a girl whose face shone in the telling, as rows -and rows of little dark faces looked up at her. I knew that in the sands -of African deserts, in the snows of Arctic lands, in the farthermost -islands of the sea, they had heard of Bethlehem. A long line of familiar -words surged through my mind—democracy, freedom, liberty, justice for -all, the brotherhood of man, love—as women may say it in Christian -lands: ... how many of them were also born with Him that night in -Bethlehem! - -No, “thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah art not the least among the -princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a ruler ... and his name -shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, -Prince of Peace.” - -The wounded, hungry, puzzled world—the memory of the sufferings I had -looked upon pressed hard upon me. I closed my eyes to pray that men may -have the courage so to love and the faith so to act that the Prince may -soon come into the possession of His kingdom. - -When I opened my eyes, low over the hills against the blackness of the -sky the star was still shining. - - - - - I GO DOWN TO JERICHO - - - “_He passed by on the other side._” - - _That ‘other side’ is trodden smooth - And worn by footsteps passing all the day; - Where lie the bruised ones faint and torn - Is seldom more than an untrodden way. - Our selfish hearts are for our feet the guide, - They lead us by upon the other side._ - —_Author Unknown._ - - - - - I GO DOWN TO JERICHO - - -An interested group surrounded us that morning at nine o’clock as the -car which was to take us down to the Dead Sea and the Jordan drew up to -the door of the hotel. I call it a car by courtesy. It had seen hard -service. It had a battered running board, a mudguard with many dents, a -front seat bending in the middle to the breaking point, no windshield -and no horn. We protested, but our guide said it was the best that could -be had. - -“It is the engine that is important,” he said, “the engine and the brake -both are good. As for the horn, no fear—he is a horn with his mouth.” He -was a most successful human horn as we found when we passed through the -gate into the traffic outside the wall. Our guide was not an enthusiast -on the subject of motor vehicles. As we swept around the hairpin curves -he was restless. “The Arab is not the temperament for a driver of cars,” -he said seriously, “he is the temperament for a horse.” And again after -a pause, “It is well to go to Jericho in a carriage. The inn near -Elijah’s Spring is a good place for a rest, and three days—it is a good -time for the trip.” - -There was little traffic passing after we turned onto the long -hill—donkeys with panniers loaded with products to be exchanged in the -markets of Jerusalem, a boy driving a few sheep slowly up the steep -hill, a lone Arab on his horse. The air was still, crisp, and very -clear. We were exceedingly thankful for the road built by the Turks in -excellent fashion for the visit of the Kaiser twenty-three years before -and carefully repaired by the British troops for military service. We -passed the rest house built that William Hohenzollern might refresh -himself before approaching the Holy City. Lower and lower into the -valley we went. The road now had a thin covering of soft gray mud. -Suddenly, turning to avoid a huge rock that had rolled down the hillside -into the road, the car skidded. A second and the light machine had -crashed into the retaining wall of rock and cement. The axle bent, the -front wheels turned at an angle, we were thrown back and forth in our -shaky seat. The car stopped. We heard the sickening thud of the rocks as -they fell to the dry bed of the stream below. Then we climbed down -carefully over the loosened mass of cement. “Thank God we are to live!” -said the guide reverently. The driver was trying to turn the wheels -back. He pushed the car into the road. The engine would still run but -the axle looked hopeless. The guide spoke again—“As I have said, a -carriage is better for Jericho.” After all our effort, we had failed to -impress him with the fact that for us to give three days to the trip was -impossible. “Of old,” he continued, “they fell here among the thieves. -We have fallen among the rocks.” We could not help smiling at his look -of dismay as he walked around the car again and again. He was so proud -of his record of over thirty years as guide to whose care was due the -fact that no serious mishaps had ever befallen any of his people. We -were so grateful that we were not lying down there among the jagged -rocks in the dry bed of the stream that our present difficulty seemed -slight indeed. We were midway between Jerusalem and Jericho. If no help -came we could walk in either direction twelve and a half miles though -the prospect was not tempting. While we were discussing it we heard a -rumbling, then a horn. It was a British hospital car taking an officer -down to Jericho. It was pay day for the soldiers and he was late. The -driver of his car felt sure that with a little help the axle might be -repaired enough to enable our driver to crawl back to Jerusalem, but the -steering gear had been damaged and it would be an uncertain venture. A -lorrie was on its way to Jerusalem and was to wait at the Good Samaritan -Inn to give a message to the officer. He would leave instructions for -them to help our driver back to the city and he could get aid for us. -The men in the lorrie which came along according to schedule looked the -car over with the air of expert mechanics. They spent a half hour or -more on it with the help of our driver and then the little Ford turned -and climbed slowly and bravely up the hill, keeping with greatest -difficulty close to the safe side of the road. The lorrie was out of -sight in a few moments flying along to make up for lost time. It would -take word of our trouble and send another car. - -[Illustration: - - There lay the boat in which one might row across the Jordan to the - land of Moab.] - -There was nothing to do but wait and nothing to see but bare hills. We -climbed one great rocky mound only to see more hills with deeper valleys -lying between as far as the eye could reach. They reminded us of the -hills in the most desolate part of the Mormon trail in our own American -desert. The sun rose higher and the heat became almost unbearable. We -drew down our hats, put on our dark glasses and sat on the rocks in the -dry bed of the stream. There was not a sound, not a bird note, no -bleating of sheep. There were caves in the side of the hill. They looked -dark, cool, and inviting, they had sheltered many people good and bad -during the long centuries, but the guide warned us that they were full -of vermin and unclean. There was a tiny boulder half-way up the hill -which made on one side a narrow strip of shade and we made ourselves as -small as possible and sat there. - -Noon came and we ate our chicken and hard boiled eggs, French bread, -figs, dates and oranges made ready by the hotel, and drank the water in -our thermos bottles sparingly. A group of Arabs clattered past us over -on the road. One sang a couplet in a clear, ringing voice and the others -joined as in a chorus. They did not see us, or, if they did, made no -sign. “When the Turks ruled Palestine,” said our guide, “we could not -sit here so safe. There was much danger on this road and no man traveled -over it at nightfall.” He told us tales of brigands in league with -Turkish high officials with whom they shared their spoil that would have -made excellent material for certain types of American motion pictures. -Suddenly the simple story that Jesus told to the crowd in answer to the -half-mocking question of the keen Jewish lawyer came vividly before us. -It was in these hills, in the desperate loneliness of them, that the -certain man, stripped of all his goods, beaten and half dead, lay -helpless. He might wait for help for many an hour before out of this -place of emptiness any would come! How could Priest and Levite pass him -by on the other side and leave him in this forsaken spot that their own -journey might be undisturbed? To them he was only a man robbed by the -bandits. He would die as had many another. It was a common thing, and, -inhuman as it seems, they went on to their task of holy worship and to -the seat of judgment. - -How keen was the mind of Christ! How quickly and unerringly He put his -finger upon the very center of sin! It was easy to see, coming down the -narrow camel path in the hills, the hated Samaritan with the spirit of -justice, mercy, and brotherhood in his soul. He stopped—the man one -would least expect to stop—and rescued with generous tenderness the -suffering victim of thieves, while the servants of Jehovah and his law -passed by on the other side, doing in that day even as, in all the days -since, the followers of the letter and not of the spirit of the law have -done. - -There was only one answer to the question the lawyer had asked of Jesus -and he was forced to give it—“He that showed mercy.” I doubt if any who -had heard the question, “But who is my neighbor?” ever forgot the -answer, or the command that followed it: “Go and do thou likewise.” - -I was so lost in a new sense of the significance and sincerity of His -wonderful teaching that I did not see our guide make his way toward the -road. “A car comes,” he called, but we, lacking his desert-trained -senses, heard nothing. Two or three minutes and we could see it coming -rapidly along the white road on the farther hillside. The guide was -overjoyed when he saw the new driver. “Ah!” he said, “this is the man I -wanted. He drives anything that can go. Through the war he drove over -hills with no road—always safe! He speaks English, too.” He examined the -car. It had both windshield and horn. It had an extra tire and seats -that were straight. Hope revived. - -“We shall now get quickly back to Jerusalem,” said the guide. “Tomorrow, -perhaps, we shall have the carriage.” “To Jerusalem!” we said. “It is -only one o’clock. With such a driver we can surely get to the Dead Sea -and the Jordan. If it is late we can stay tonight at the Inn near -Elijah’s Spring and go back to Jerusalem in the morning. Our time is -short and we cannot take another whole day.” Jamil looked at the driver. -“They are Americans,” he said, “and when they will go, they will go!” -After a moment he added, “The sun has been very hot. Perhaps for you it -has dried the roads.” - -So we climbed the steep grade, ran along a level strip, then a steeper -grade to the Inn of the Good Samaritan where Arab traders and men of the -caravans stop for coffee. There was a tank in the yard where one could -buy gasoline! - -The road before us was down grade now, and the driver more than lived up -to his reputation. Once Jamil turned to show us a Mohammedan mosque in -ruins in a desolate spot high up in the hills and again to point out a -tomb. “It is the tomb of Moses by the word of the Mohammedans,” he said; -“but we do not believe it, for no man knoweth where God hath buried him. -He never came into the land so we shall not believe it.” - -Neither of us who took it will ever forget that ride through the -Wilderness. There was no road. Two deep ruts here and there marked our -way. We wound through soft ooze turning now into the rut, now out again. -On every side were hillocks of soft gray sand. “This is a good place to -ride the donkey’s back,” said Jamil as we bounced up and down in the -car, but he smiled. We told him we had motored to Germany over the -shell-torn roads fording the bridgeless streams and this seemed very -simple. Three miles of it and we were on a rough road close by the Dead -Sea. - -It lay still and calm, a blue gray thing crossed here and there by -ribbons of silver where the sun glistened upon it. I should have said it -had no motion but for the tiny little ripples that broke on the pebbly -beach made frosty with salt deposit. A thousand feet and more below the -Mediterranean it lay there. Sitting beside it we were lower than any -submarine has ever been. The city of Jerusalem is two thousand five -hundred feet above the level of the sea so our descent had been over -thirty-five hundred feet since morning. It was very warm. Though the -great body of water lay there now so still, Jamil told us that when the -Turks were using it to transport supplies, fierce storms swept over it, -thunder roared in the hills and over the plains, and giant waves dashed -upon the smooth shore. We looked across the fourteen miles of sea to the -plateau in the hills of Moab and knew that there was no living thing in -it nor on its whole great stretch of fifty miles! Hungrily it swallows -up the rivers and the tiny streams, the Jordan alone pouring millions of -gallons into it every day, but never, never does it send out even a tiny -streamlet. It grants no answer to the plea of the thirsty land that -seems to reach down into it hopefully. We put our hands into the water -four times as heavy as the Atlantic and they were covered with an oily -salty deposit that would not come off until we had scrubbed with hot -water. Suddenly we heard a sound—the bleating of a sheep. It was so -welcome in that dead silence! Beyond the bend in the shoreline was a -tiny house with children and the sheep! - -We walked slowly along over the smooth gaily colored little pebbles to -the spot, half a mile beyond, where the car was waiting. But we turned -to look back again and again. The great silent sea held for us the awful -fascination of _death_. - -There was a road of a sort across the plain to the Jordan. When the -river is in flood this plain is covered inches deep with ooze, rank -vegetable growths spring up, the brown bushes are green, clouds of -mosquitoes, scorpions, vipers and all manner of crawling things make -their home here for a season; but now there were only long cracks that -crossed and recrossed in the dried mud. Twice our wheels spun round in -pockets of soft gray clay, but small thick boards, a spade and dry sand -helped us out. A turn and we could see the river! - -To one who has never studied the geography of Palestine or to whom books -of travel are strangers, that first sight of the Jordan must bring far -greater disappointment than to one in a way prepared for the dark, muddy -stream whose swift current hurries on ceaselessly, gathering silt as it -goes. Within its normal banks it is such a narrow stream! We stopped for -a moment in the house where sweet Turkish coffee and oranges were served -us and where the boats used by fishermen and by tourists who like to row -across to touch the land of Moab lay moored to a tiny wharf. The banks -were steep here and soft willows bent over them. We sat down in the -little boat that swung lazily at its moorings. It seemed the strangest -and the most wonderful of rivers, this little muddy stream! Over it the -great hosts of Israel passed; along its banks John, coming out of the -desert, preached the kingdom of heaven to the multitude; and here came -even Jesus Himself to be baptized in the waters His presence made -sacred. We dipped our bottles carefully into the stream and filled them -with water as all pilgrims do. We listened to the stories of the feast -days when pilgrims come down to the river to worship there; we read the -story of Naaman and understood why the proud leper of the king’s court, -even at the command of the stern prophet, hesitated to bathe in its -waters. We lived in another day. Proud armies marched over the plain -toward Jericho and we could almost hear Joshua’s ringing commands. We -were brought back to our own day suddenly by the sound of a voice, a -very American voice, singing in the distance, “Roll, Jordan, Roll.” We -looked at each other in amazement. After a moment’s silence the voice -rang out again, nearer now: - - “Some day I’m going to murder the bugler! - Some day you’re going to find him dead! - I’ll amputate his reveille - And stamp upon it heavily, - And spend the rest of my life in bed.” - -We climbed out of the boat and up the bank. A man in the early thirties -stood there with a sapling, root and all, in his hand. He was an -American working with the British under a commission for reforestation. -He was most enthusiastic over his work and painted for us a wonderful -picture of the hills, now bare and desolate, and the banks of the river, -with the low scrubby growth, transformed some future day into valuable -fruit and olive orchards, irrigated pastures, great stretches of light -timberland. Jamil shook his head. “There is much talk these days about -the changes that are coming to this land, but we shall see—we shall see -and _then_ we shall believe,” he said. Our friend went into the little -house for food and rest and we stood in silence watching the stream -which artists for centuries have painted, the river which has always -stood for separation, under whose spell poets have written their sad -hymns—watched it rushing on pouring more and more water into the Sea -that is _Dead_. - -The dunes, yellow and gray, between which we rode on to Jericho were -round as though a giant hand had played with them, smoothed them over, -and left them there. Twice we passed low stone houses with cisterns of -water cut in deep rock hidden below the surface, and there were oranges -and green things in the garden in the midst of the desert. It was cooler -and the air was soft and balmy. The walls of Jericho—City of -Palms—though now there are none, had indeed fallen, but there was no -fear upon the faces of the people. The once mighty city is now but an -ordinary village of lower class Arabs, with a supply station, a few -shops, and the hotel where British officers live. Traces of recent -battle over the very ground where the men of Joshua had routed the -ancient enemy were all about us. The story of the taking of Jericho from -the Turks by British troops when the river at its flood had to be -bridged by boats and the temperature ran to 120° and more, is as -thrilling, as fascinating, and as triumphant as that of Joshua himself. - -Passing through the center of the town, we came to the orange groves. -The air was fragrant with the perfume of thousands of jonquils growing -wild along the edges of the irrigated section. The children offered two -huge bunches for sale and we rejoiced in them. Our driver took twenty -bunches for a friend to sell in Jerusalem. He tucked them away neatly in -the folded top of the car. We bought delicious oranges and our machine -became a chariot of delight. We went out to Elijah’s Spring, whose -waters, made sweet and wholesome by the prophet, were responsible for -the luxuriant flowers and delicious fruit, past the home of Rahab who -had saved the spies in Joshua’s day, stopping for a moment at the spot -where the sycamore tree had sheltered the rich publican Zacchæus when he -determined to see Jesus. It was easy to imagine the consternation that -filled the city when it became known that Jesus had commanded him to -come down because He would be a guest in his house that day—the house of -a _publican_. It was on this road, too, that Bartimæus met Jesus and, -despite the demand of the multitude that he be quiet, continued to cry -aloud until the Healer saw him, opened his eyes and set his soul on fire -with gratitude. How close the multitude must have pressed in those -narrow streets, as driven by curiosity and longing for help, they -followed Him! How often the body and soul of the Master must have cried -out for the shelter of the mountain, the stillness of that waiting -desert where in the night God could come very near with a new message -and new strength for the coming day! It was at times like these, when -half carelessly they pointed out to us the spots where on common days -Jesus passed by, changing forever the lives that He touched, that we -loved Him. - -The sun was creeping on toward the horizon. We must turn back toward -Jerusalem. Every foot of the road the driver assured us he knew. He -would leave us in the Inn with the guide if we wished and send for us -early in the morning, but he would get back to Jerusalem. So would we -and he was content. He got all possible speed out of the car. It must -climb back over those thirty-five hundred feet we had come down such a -short time since. - -We stopped a moment to peer at the lonely monastery where monks still -live on the Mount of Temptation and pray daily for all who are tempted. -The road which had been so lonely in the morning was stirring with life. -Groups of Arabs on horses and little swift-footed donkeys moved aside to -let us pass. Twice at a signal from a man riding ahead on horseback we -stopped to let a great caravan pass us. The leading camels wore gorgeous -trappings and tinkling bells. Once a camel without cargo, following in -dignified fashion behind two others, stood perfectly still, trembled, -then turned and ran ahead of us. We were amazed to see how swiftly he -ran. In vain the rider of the other camel shouted and called. Had it not -been for a friendly companion, who, coming down the hill, drove his own -camel straight across the path, spoke soothingly to the great beast -while a man on a donkey grasped his chain, he might have led us a chase -all the way to Jerusalem. They did not attempt to take their prisoner -past us in the road but turned off into a deep defile. When we looked -back from the hilltop they were again on the road moving on toward -Jericho. But most of the camels bearing their burdens merely sniffed and -passed us by in scorn. - -It grew very cold as we reached the heights and the discarded robes and -coats were welcome. We could see shepherds and sheep seeking places of -shelter. Sometimes we caught glimpses of herds of goats reluctantly -following or plunging ahead silhouetted against a soft violet sky. The -sun set calmly and we missed the blazing glory. Suddenly it was night. -We were glad to be well past the scene of our morning’s mishap and -nearing Jerusalem. When we stopped at the door of the hotel, Jamil gave -a sigh of relief. “We have had a wonderful day,” we said. “We have had a -day of miracles,” was his answer in a solemn, devout tone. Both he and -the driver were most happy a moment later when they received their extra -fee. - -Dinner was over for most of the guests, but we were given a warm corner -and more food than it would be possible to eat in many meals. We found -that the entire hotel had joined in Jamil’s sigh of relief when we -returned. There was a snapping wood fire in the little stove and hot -water bottles that made the great curtained beds seem more inviting. The -maid wished us “sleep without dreaming.” - -But for a long time, lying there in the darkness, I dreamed with my eyes -wide open. Dreamed of the forty years wandering in the wilderness while -one generation passed and a new one was born. Dreamed of the kings and -the prophets, of David hunted like a wild thing through the desolate -hills and caves, of captives marching across the sands to Babylon. -Dreamed of the Man who, with weary feet, in the heat and the dust -_walked_ about the Jordan Valley, through Jericho, walked up the long, -long hills even to Jerusalem with men and women following, always -_seeking_, only a few sharing. Dreamed of the demand that He made upon -all who did have the courage to share—that they love God—and the -challenge that they love their fellow men as He loved them, ... dreamed -of the day when the challenge would be answered and the other man’s -welfare would become each man’s passion. - - - - - I GO TO BETHANY - - - _I tell you when I looked upon these fields, - And stony valleys,—through the purple veil - Of twilight, or what time the Orient sun - Made shining jewels of the barren rocks,— - Something within me trembled; for I said: - This picture once was mirrored in His eyes; - This sky, that lake, those hills, this loveliness, - To Him familiar were; this is the way - To Bethany._ - —_Richard Watson Gilder._ - - - - - I GO TO BETHANY - - -One afternoon when we were driving about the busy semi-modern streets -that lie outside the walls of Jerusalem we suggested to Jamil, our -guide, that some afternoon we walk to Bethany. He answered briefly that -it was too far and turned to call our attention to the well-equipped -postoffice, the modern looking shops, the Italian hospital, the -well-built hospices of the French, Italians and Russians which before -the war were thronged at the feasts with devout pilgrims. There was an -atmosphere of western life about the outer city. Signs over some of the -shops looked amazingly like New York’s East Side. Books, pictures and -maps, school supplies, men and boys’ clothing of every sort, girls and -women on the streets dressed in European fashion, together with Cairo -papers in French and English, helped us to see the trend of the new, -growing city without the walls. The streets were wide and well kept. The -church of St. George was an artistic, beautiful reminder of the reason -why the word of the capture of the Holy City had been received with -solemn joy in every English household. We passed the dignified Damascus -Gate and the Sheep Gate before which camels knelt grunting and little -groups of sheep huddled close each around its shepherd; lorries passed -us on the road, then a motor taking General Storrs to confer with the -High Commissioner on important business. We stopped to visit the British -High School for girls, doing its work against great odds in a former -German orphanage poorly equipped for school work. The girls of twelve -nationalities with most excellent _ésprit de corps_ were studying there; -the principal, a real educator, formerly head of the girls’ school at -Beirut had wise, far-seeing plans for the future of the school and, -through it, for the welfare of the city. As I listened to them I wished -that my purse were well filled that I might make some of them possible -now in the day of crisis when the whole future of Palestine is in the -making. Surely there are new paths through old Palestine. - -When we again entered the city through the Jaffa Gate it seemed -centuries older than when we had left it, so great was the contrast -between the air, sunshine, and breathing spaces outside the walls and -the narrow, dark, and crowded little cobble-stoned alleys, shared by man -and beast, where no full ray of sun ever shines. Only the flat roofs of -the houses save the people within the city from life in a semi-dungeon. -It was this plunge back into the city of age-old days and deeds that -made us long the more to walk leisurely to Bethany and so, on Saturday -night, we told Jamil we should not need him until Monday morning at -nine. - -We left the city just after noon on Sunday by St. Stephen’s Gate, -stopping reverently for a few moments close by the steep hillside to -think of the brave words of the young martyr as he looked into the hard -faces of his accusers and his wonderful address, recalling to them each -step of their history and the reason for each great defeat. We -remembered the daring words: “Which of the prophets have not your -fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the -coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and -murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and -have not kept it.” In fierce anger they ground their teeth and hissed -their reproaches at him. But he did not even see them. Suddenly, looking -up to heaven, they heard him saying, “Behold, I see the heavens opened -and the Son of Man on the right hand of God.” It was enough. Seizing -him, they rushed him through the narrow street and cast him out of the -city. They laid their garments at the feet of a keen young man named -Saul, who watched with approval as they hurled down upon their helpless, -suffering victim the jagged stones of the hillside. But above the noise -of their mutterings of revenge the young man Saul heard the words of -prayer: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And again, “Lord, lay not their -sin to their charge.” And Stephen died—but Saul never forgot. - -From St. Stephen’s Gate the smooth, broad road makes a steep descent -down to the valley of the brook Kedron, then it climbs again around the -shoulder of Olivet, where we stopped to look back at the city with the -dome of the mosque of Omar glistening in the sun. The air was clear and -the hills, with the light, shifting clouds above them, changed color -every moment. Jamil had told us that the hills about Jerusalem bore -always “a luxuriant crop of stones” and his words seemed true indeed, a -crop made even more abundant by the heavy shell-fire of the months past. -Still, in little square patches between the ridges, men were plowing. -One plowman had a thin, patient ox and a donkey together under what -seemed a heavy yoke. Here and there thick vines leaned against sunny -walls as in the days when Jesus used them for the text of His great -sermon “I—the vine: ye—the branches. Without me, ye can do nothing.” - -It was when we walked out a little from the main road to Bethany to look -over into a deep valley that we saw a carpenter at work in his sunny -yard, making yokes for the oxen. He worked deftly with his clumsy tools -at his primitive bench. The court-yard was swept clean, save for the -corner where the shavings fell. There were green things growing in a -garden. After a moment a woman appeared in the doorway. She looked -curiously at us but answered our smile. “Ing-leesh?” she queried. We -shook our heads. “American,” we said very distinctly. The man at the -bench turned quickly. A shower of words in the Hebrew tongue and a -motion to wait answered us. The woman hurried into the house and was -back in a moment with a photograph in her hand—a man, a woman, two -children. The photograph was taken in _New York_! She pointed proudly to -the word. As we were about to leave, being limited to conversation by -means of nods, smiles and gestures only, a boy came from the rear of the -house. He had great, dark, dreamy eyes, his head was a mass of thick -curls, in his hands he had two irregular blocks of wood which he gave to -his father. He smiled at us shyly, but turned to look again with frank -interest and curiosity when his mother repeated the word American. - -It was hard to tear ourselves away from this picture of the carpenter -with his little son and the mother at the door, but there was no excuse -for lingering. We could only hope that this young son of a carpenter -might sometime know the story of that other Son, of whose early days in -the village of Nazareth he served so forcibly to remind us. - -[Illustration: - - It was here that He came to talk with one who seemed to understand—and - there were so few.] - -It is not a long walk to Bethany, a little over four miles they told us, -and we soon saw the low gray stone houses with their roofs of mud not -far ahead. As we approached the village, a veritable host of children -rushed to meet us, calling, with a score of accents, words supposed to -be English. At first we covered our ears then motioned to one child to -speak. We learned that they were offering their services as guides. The -moment we appeared to understand, the babel began again. “Mary and -Martha,” they called. “Simon-Lazarus, I will show.” When we spoke they -listened, but only for a moment. “You cannot all be our guides,” I said. -“If you all follow we will go back to Jerusalem and no one will have -_back-sheesh_—not one. We shall not look at the house of Mary and -Martha.” The tallest among them, a lad of fourteen, he told me -afterward, evidently repeated our words and he emphasized them with a -flourish of a stout cane which he carried. He showed us a soiled card -with a name written upon it which he said was his. We chose him and one -other guide, a little girl of six who had pointed to herself proudly, -saying, “I know—I know, Mary—Martha—Lazarus.” At a word from a villager -passing on his donkey the children scattered and it was a great relief. - -Our young guide knew the method perfectly. Driving the dogs out of the -way with his cane, he led us up a steep path to the house of a man who -was a dwarf, badly crippled. He was to take us to the tomb of Lazarus -which he did, when we had paid the piastres he asked. He insisted upon -telling us the story before we went down the long winding stone steps -worn smooth by the passing of men’s feet for centuries. He told it in -very graphic fashion. We had only the dripping candles to light our way. -Following him, we could hear his call at each turn, “Have care! Have -care!” We decided not to make the entire descent of sixty steps but -contented ourselves with looking down from the fortieth step into the -black pit below. The air and sunshine were most welcome when we climbed -back and, giving more piastres for the shepherds’ slings the old dwarf -took from his pocket, we left him happy. We stood for a few moments at -the entrance to the tomb, thinking of all that spot had meant in the -centuries since it was recorded that, in warm human sympathy with the -suffering sisters, “Jesus wept.” - -We stood a long time on the wall of the ruins that covered the spot -where the home of the three friends of Jesus had stood. It looked out -over the valley on one side and toward Jerusalem on the other. Our -guides, big and little, sat down on the stones and were silent. Nowhere -in our journeys through Palestine did we trouble our souls over the -arguments of men as to exact spots and identical places. If not to the -place of this ruined wall, then to some spot near by Jesus came. Came to -receive rest for His body and comfort for His soul. Came to forget for -the moment Jerusalem with its noise and confusion, its need and its -hate. Came to talk with one who seemed to understand and sympathize—and -there were so few. What it would mean to us today if we could know the -many things about which Jesus talked that have never been recorded for -us! We remembered that it was from Bethany over the hills through which -we had come that Jesus made his way to Jerusalem on the day when He -found the colt and rode triumphantly through the streets to the temple, -amidst the shouted hosannas and waving palms that filled the Pharisees -with jealous anger. It was here that he may have spent the nights of -that last crowded week until the night of the Supper when he sought the -Garden. One could feel, standing there looking toward Jerusalem, -something of the agonizing sorrow that swept over that household when -they learned of the trial that was a mockery of justice and the -condemnation of their beloved friend to death on a cross. - -When we were ready to leave, the young guide asked if we would like to -go into one of the houses and see the upper room where a guest may -sleep. We hesitated to walk in this fashion into a home but he explained -that we were sure of a welcome and a little _back-sheesh_ would pay. - -The upper room was a dean and quiet spot. There were small woven rugs, a -cot with handmade covers spread over it. A bed roll stood in the corner. -There was a heavy metal basin for washing and two lamps, ages old, -filled with oil. The window was open toward the road that leads to -Jericho. It was a place where one might rest his soul. “Many guests came -to this room before the war,” said the boy, “the family is large. Some -live far away in Damascus. They come for the feasts. But not since the -war—there is not money and some have died.” The _back-sheesh_ was -accepted gratefully with many words of thanks by the two women below—one -very young with a baby in her arms. - -Our next stop was at the spot where once had stood the home of Simon the -leper where a woman did the Great Teacher high honor as she broke her -very precious box of alabaster and, in an abandonment of love and -gratitude, poured the fragrant perfume over His head. We could hear the -petulant voices of those who complained because the ointment had not -been sold for a good price and the money given to the poor. But Jesus -understood. - -“This is all for Bethany,” said the guide of fourteen years. “It is not -large and it is poor.” We did not need his words to make us realize it. -The little girl who had called herself _guide_ so proudly had not spoken -a word, but, as she had climbed over the steep places, had waited -patiently, had listened intently to the boy, and had given us at every -turn a smile which we remembered for many a day, she had earned her fee. -When she received it she ran madly toward a house near by and -disappeared. The boy walked with us courteously to the edge of the -village. In response to our query as to where he had learned English he -said, “Off a merchant I worked for since I was six. He lives just -outside the city.” The “off” with which he began his sentence sounded as -though the merchant might at one time have lived in America. - -At the outskirts of the village, where we had met them as we entered, -were the children. They ran beside us shrieking “_back-sheesh_” and -holding out their very dirty little hands. We shook our heads -vehemently. It meant nothing. Then we stopped and reminded them that we -had paid our two guides and all the people who had helped us, but that -they had done nothing for us. “We are poor,” said a girl with a baby in -her arms as though that were reason enough for her demand. I shall never -forget the thin face, the piercing black eyes of a boy, perhaps ten. -“America rich,” he said, “plendy, plendy, _plendy_ money.” There was the -deepest reproof in his voice. - -“Some people are _very_ poor,” I said, “the children cry for bread. In -the winter they are very cold. There are many very poor people in -America.” - -“No,” said the boy stoutly, and I saw that he did not believe me, but he -repeated what I had said to the others. It was very hard to refrain from -giving them money, but we remembered the request that we should not help -to train a new generation of beggars and steeled our hearts. When we -started on again a few accompanied us but we paid no attention and one -by one they dropped out, having followed us almost a mile. Some said -good-bye cheerfully, others made gestures of disgust. One lone lad still -walked patiently beside us. He had great hollows under his eyes and, now -that we could see him separated from the others, we noticed how very -thin and pale he was, how ragged and dirty. In his arms he carried a -baby whose eyes were in a pitiable condition, one so swollen that it was -entirely closed. He said faintly in a weak, tired voice, -“_back-sheesh—back-sheesh_” over and over. He looked as though in dogged -determination he would follow us back to the city gates. Unable to -resist the pleading we yielded, gave him some coins, watched the light -come into his eyes, saw him turn and make his way slowly back—one of -these little ones who so easily perish while waiting for the coming of -the kingdom of God—the kingdom that Jesus said was _theirs_. It may be -that the school now being opened in the little village will help to -bring them their rights. - -When we told Jamil next day of the children he said, “Ah, that is why -you should have me! The guide saves you. You should not go alone, and -walking you cannot get away.” - -“Where are the parents of these children,” we asked. - -“Poor,” he said slowly, “very, very poor. Always poor and the war has -made it very hard. It will be better now, but they have learned bad -habits.” - -A turn in the road and the village was entirely out of sight. We -overtook a flock of sheep and for a time walked slowly behind them. The -bleating of the lambs who seemed weary sounded like the voices of the -children. The shepherd turned into a narrow path between the hills, -called in clear, urging cadences, and the sheep followed him. We climbed -up from the road and sat on the rocks under gnarled old trees. A tower -on the mount of Olives stood out clear against the sky. We read aloud of -the Holy City from the words of the prophets and the Psalms of David. - -Night would soon steal down over the valleys, so reluctantly we moved on -past a cluster of tiny stone houses, past the cemetery of the Hebrews, -when, flying up the hill at reckless speed, shaking us rudely back from -the past into the present, came a motor rushing toward Bethany. Bethany -that seemed to be out of the world of motors! It was the doctor’s car -from the hospital, they told us when we described it. Just before the -road drops abruptly into the valley we stopped to look again at the -City. There was always something strangely gripping in the sight. The -words of Jesus wrung from Him as, in deep compassion that was agony, He -looked at the City, feeling the weight of its sin, its pain, its need, -came back to us—“O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets and -stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy -children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, -and ye would not!” We hurried on through St. Stephen’s Gate. - -On the hills it was light but in the narrow streets with their gateways -and buttresses it was quite dark. We took out our faithful flashlights, -and with our canes to help over the shadowed steps went rapidly up to -the hotel that stood as a strong and sheltering friend in the faint glow -that still lingered in the western sky. - -“Not much in Bethany,” they said to us at the desk as they had said of -Bethlehem. “Too far to walk for the few stone houses and the ruins.” - -How could they know what we saw in Bethany? How could they know the -overwhelming sympathy that surged in upon us as we stood on the walls of -“the house of Mary and Martha,” looked upon the hills and valleys He saw -in their purpling shadows, thought how much harder the friendship and -fellowship of that home must have made it to remain true to the message -that was to take Him to Jerusalem to die, thought of the short day of -triumph, waving palms and lavish praise, thought of his youth and his -glorious undaunted soul! - -No, they did not know what we saw in Bethany. - - - - - I GO OUT TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES - - - _He turneth a wilderness into a pool of water, - And a dry land into watersprings - And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, - That they may prepare a city for habitation, - And sow fields and plant vineyards._ - - - _Instead of the thorn shall come up the figtree; and instead of the - briar shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to Jehovah for - a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off._ - - _The latter glory of this place shall be greater than the former, - and in this place will I give peace, saith Jehovah._ - - —_The Bible._ - - - - - I GO OUT TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES - - -Before we met our carriage at the Damascus Gate to ride out to the -farthest point on the Mount of Olives we walked through David Street to -the Wailing Place of the Jews. Every book we had studied warned us of -the unspeakable condition of the narrow filthy streets in this Jewish -quarter of Jerusalem the Golden. But they were all written before -British arms had captured the Holy City and, even in these short months, -made it in so many ways a new Jerusalem. In the windows of the shops we -had seen the quaint pictures of the water-carrier with his leather bag, -but not one had we seen in the streets of the city. The menace of the -water bag with its myriad germs is already a thing of the past. For the -first time in all its long history, under rulers of many great faiths -and names, the City has water, plenty of water, fresh, clear, safe. What -that simple statement means can be appreciated only by those who know by -experience what a priceless boon water is to cities that have little. -One could change the whole record and history of Oriental cities with -water systems! - -When the history of Palestine in the war is fully recorded, one of the -most thrilling chapters will be written about the lead pipes now -standing boldly in the city streets two feet above the ground, capped by -very modern shining faucets. The girls and women who come to them with -their water jars beamed with joy as they watched the silver stream -pouring out in the sun. For four hundred years the Turks ruled in -Jerusalem and in all that time no attempt was made to establish a water -system although more than once the inhabitants were taxed with the -promise of water that was some day to come. In a little over two months -the British engineers had brought running water into every street of the -city. New paths are so rapidly making their way through old Palestine! - -For its water Jerusalem had depended upon winter rains to fill its great -cisterns. The houses had underground reservoirs, some of which had not -been cleaned in more than twenty years. At the Mosque of Omar was a -large reservoir where the water from the springs about Solomon’s Pools -flowed down through a great aqueduct built by the Romans when Herod -ruled over the Jews. The searching engineers had found springs in the -hills with fresh, pure water running to waste and, at the rate of -fourteen thousand gallons an hour, it is now pumped up to the top of a -high hill, run by gravity down through a long pipe-line to a great -reservoir that has been built and carefully protected on the outskirts -of the city. Direct lines take this pure water to the hospitals and into -the city streets. Despite the shrinking of the population, caused by the -evacuation of the Turk, more than ten times as much water has been used -as in previous years, which silences the oft-repeated statement that the -people would not appreciate the water if they had it. We were interested -to learn that some of the pipes had been sent to Egypt to be forwarded -for use in Palestine by the American Red Cross Commission after we -entered the war. But the Commission found that the need for water which -we had anticipated had been practically answered by the Royal Engineers. - -One is deeply impressed by the change in the record of contagious -diseases. The reduction in cholera, smallpox, typhoid, and typhus is -remarkable. Even under the sound of booming guns, children’s welfare -bureaus were organized, lessons in health given, nurses trained and -kitchens opened to provide food for the babies, the sick and the old. -The workers of the American Red Cross deserve and receive full gratitude -for their enthusiastic and intelligent work in and about the City in -those days immediately following its surrender. - -The people on David Street seemed to have lost something of the fear -that writers of the past saw in their haunted faces. It may be the fact -that now they are free. The old-time pressure and petty persecution by -corrupt officials is past. The Turkish prison no longer yawns -threateningly. A trader may go unmolested about his work. The heavy -taxation demanded in the past by a succession of officers, from the -least to the greatest, has disappeared. Contentment not known for untold -generations reigns in humble homes. - -[Illustration: - - From the brow of the Mount of Olives where they lay sleeping under - white crosses—these also “fling to us the torch.”] - -It may be for this reason that on both occasions of our visit to the -Wailing Place there were but few present and they were old men, old -women, and some very young children. Young manhood was not there, it was -hard at work. Many of the older boys and girls were in school. The -leader of the group chanting the Lamentations that morning was an old -white-haired patriarch with eyes of fire. He was the only one of the -group that did not interrupt his wailing to look at us. One tall, -strong, impressive specimen of womanhood moved along the line to quiet -some women whose wailing had become a piercing shriek or to straighten -out a child who irreverently chased a playmate up and down the path. The -guide said that her name was Miriam and that she had a son with much -money in England. Erect and fine, forceful and devout, she reminded us -of that other Miriam who led her people to victory. Here and there one -saw women’s strong faces stained with tears and marked with suffering. -They leaned against the foundation stones of the old Temple area in an -abandonment of emotion and sorrow. Near the end of the line was a very -old man leaning tremblingly upon his staff. Jamil said that he was -repeating one phrase over and over. “O God, the heathen are come into -thine inheritance!” His voice was bitter and full of anguish. A great -wave of pity swept over us for these and all they have suffered, and yet -survived. Against those massive walls of the past, Babylonian, Assyrian, -and Egyptian had hurled their hosts and battered them to earth. They had -risen again only to meet the Roman and the Saracen, the brave Crusader -and the unspeakable Turk until in very truth they lay “in heaps.” Piled -one above another, the various cities lie waiting until the hammer and -spade of the excavator shall open up all their secrets for us. Buried -deep down in the earth is that early city of the Jebusites, over it the -glorious city of Solomon, the city heroically brought again into being -by Nehemiah, the city of Herod which Titus hammered into ruins and -Hadrian rebuilt, above it the city of the Saracens built after their -wave of conquest, the city of the Crusaders, and now the city of the -Turks, standing boldly above the ruins of the long past. It stands, the -protected property of a new conqueror who loves it, whose army chose the -hardest road to victory to save it from the marks of war, whose people -have come into it with knowledge that they may overcome its ignorance, a -conqueror who bears no malice, who is tolerant of the Jew and the -Mohammedan though he worships at the Cross which they hate. - -As if reading our thoughts, the guide said quietly, “Some day it will be -only the wall for the wailing that we shall see. There will be no more -need for wailing, and the children will forget. So the young prophets -among the Jews say in the markets. We shall see.” - -We walked through a section of the Temple area and out past the Austrian -Hospice through the Damascus Gate where, according to agreement, the -carriage waited. - -The road out to the spot where the Mount of Olives drops abruptly to the -plain has been repaired, stray shell holes filled in and a large section -of new road built since that wonderful day when the last line of Turks -were driven from the position they thought secure. The air was as clear -as an October day at home and the shining city “compact together” seemed -substantial and strong. It was along the high ridge of Olivet that, in -the pressure of the days when relief workers toiled twelve and fifteen -hours without respite, they came to renew their strength. In the home of -the Greek Patriarch more than one strong soul, overcome for the moment -by the ceaseless stream of dirty, hopeless, despairing human things that -he must strive to save from the wreckage of war, found, in the white -moonlight sifting down over the hill, in the kindly stars, in the -silence and in sacred memories, courage to attempt again tasks that had -been called impossible. - -We had been gazing so steadily at the city that when the driver suddenly -stopped we turned in surprise. There on a gently sloping stretch of -ground, close to the road at the left, stood row after row of crosses -over the resting places of Scot and Londoner, Welshman and Irishman, -Indian and Anzac who had paid for the Holy City with his life. On some -of the crosses fresh green garlands were hanging, and on one a wreath -with English holly. - -We got down from our carriage and walked slowly along, looking now at -the crosses and now at the place where in agony of soul Christ had -prayed for the strength to meet the test of Calvary that has made the -Cross forever the symbol which shall mark the spots on earth most sacred -to us. These lying out on the hillside had also been to Calvary. - -A little farther on in the road we passed men in the British uniform. -They had survived the terrible test of those wind-swept hills with the -rain falling in torrents, the benumbing cold, the soft, thick, gray mud, -the night in the open with no shelter save a little wall of stones built -up with care only to be blown over by a sudden vicious blast, with -little food and only the ammunition that could reach them on the backs -of the pack donkeys. It was through this they had won that peaceful city -lying contentedly there in the sun, even the shining dome of its -Mohammedan Mosque unharmed. - -The German hospice, Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, lies out on this road. It -is exceedingly well built and untouched by shell fire. Although the Turk -utterly demolished the mosque of Nebi Samwill and shot away its stately -minaret, he turned no gun on this that was German property. Even when -his airmen, flying over Olivet, knew that an enemy signal station had -been set up in the garden of the hospice no shot fell upon it. “This -house,” said Jamil, “is like a German castle on the inside. The tower -was built higher than any tower on the Mount, the trees set out with -care. The picture of the Saviour is painted in the chapel and the -pictures of the Kaiser and the Kaiserin are on the long wall. It was -common talk at the beginning of the war that the Crown Prince should -live here when he became King in Palestine. Now it is the Headquarters -for the British Army.... It is the Will of God!” he added solemnly after -a moment. We took a picture of the hospice with two British Tommies -standing at the gate. - -We had to leave our carriage and walk to the point where the Greek -Church tower looks down over the stretch of rugged upland crossed by -many a wadi, over the walled-in level spaces where green things were -growing, over the plains of the Jordan and the Dead Sea so blue in the -distance, away to the far mountains of Moab. It was a wonderful picture -at which one could look for long hours and come back to enjoy again and -again. It was from this point of vantage that the relief workers watched -the taking of Jericho. In the grove we found the “husks that swine did -eat,” lying about on the ground. Jamil picked one of the long brown pods -from the tree and under the pressure of his urging we tasted it. It was -sweeter than sugar cane, nauseatingly sweet. It took no imagination to -understand why one would accept it as food only as a last resort. In -this grove we found the hyssop which the women at the hospice use both -as medicine and for the whitening of their clothes. In a sunny sheltered -spot we found violets, although we were wearing our warmest wraps. - -Jamil sat down on a stone to talk with a workman while we, wandering -about on the slopes of the hill, found a warm sheltered spot looking -toward Mount Moriah. In all the days that we were in Jerusalem we could -not fully sense the fact that the Christian was now free to visit all -the sacred places, that the Temple area was open to him, that he might -enter the sacred Mosque of Omar which once it had been death to enter. -_The Turk had gone!_ We took out the Book and read the old instructions -for the building of the Tabernacle, read the orders for the building of -Solomon’s temple and the majestic words of its dedication when at last -the building was finished:—“and Solomon stood before the Altar and -said—‘O Jehovah, God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven -above or on the earth beneath; who keepest covenants in loving kindness -with thy servants that walk before thee with all their hearts.... But -will God in very deed dwell on the earth? behold the heaven and the -heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I -have builded!... When thy people Israel are smitten down before the -enemy because they have sinned against thee; if they turn again to thee -and confess thy name and pray and make supplication unto thee in this -house then hear thou in heaven and forgive thy people Israel and bring -them again unto the land which thou gavest to their fathers.’” Of -Solomon’s Temple scarce a vestige remains, yet Israel again is returning -to the land of its fathers. We read of the visits of Jesus to the new -temple which, great as it was, had so little of the glory of the old. -How it must have thrilled Him, a little country boy from the village of -Nazareth, when He saw it for the first time at the great feast. He seems -to have had no fear, as with all simplicity He pressed near to the great -doctors of learning, listening eagerly and asking keen questions, the -keenest questions that can be asked—those that leap from the alert and -hungry mind of a boy of twelve. - -And we read of that other day when He heard the quarrelings and -cursings, saw the gross wickedness of the bargainings of the -money-changers and those who bought and sold the sacrifices, and cried -aloud in words of burning denunciation, “My house shall be called of all -nations the house of prayer but ye have made it a den of thieves!” - -Little wonder that the scribes and Pharisees looked aghast at the crowds -that pressed to hear as He taught daily in the temple, or that they -demanded by whose authority He did these things and asked each other -helplessly what they could do, since “the people were very attentive to -Him,” and “the whole world had gone after Him.” In the temple courts how -keen were His answers to their clever questioning designed to condemn -Him, so keen that after awhile none dared ask Him any more questions. -Yet when the teaching was over and, leaving the half-hostile, -half-admiring crowd, He went out to the Mount of Olives to pray—then He -knew that He must die. - -It all seemed very real as we sat looking down upon the City. So real -that we dreaded to read of the days before Him, of the hard way that the -rulers of the synagogue, because of their jealous conservatism, the -desire to make their own places secure, the fear lest the people should -follow Him as prophet and leave them as priests, had already in their -hearts condemned Him to go. So we closed the Book. - -Leaving the carriage again at the Damascus Gate we wandered back past -the convents, through Christian Street. The city was becoming a very -live thing to us. The children smiled at us as we passed through the -narrow arcade to our hotel. Oranges and dainty soft spring flowers from -the valley were in our room. - -“I have lived thousands of years today,” said my friend. “I have been -fighting all the battles from the days of King David to the days of King -George and I am weary.” I smiled in sympathy, for one does not live in -days or years in Palestine but in centuries. The march of events over -broken cobblestones, past walls crumbling with age, catches one in its -onward sweep and leaves him breathless as he hurries on from what has -been to what is, and from what is to what is to be. - -We took up our American mail. The steady tread of history’s myriad -marchers halted for a moment. The clippings from the papers told us of -the wedding of a girl whom we love. Across the top of the clipping was -written in the girl’s own hand, “Unspeakable happiness. The greatest day -of my life!” Names of guests, the most minute details as to flowers and -gowns followed. In another clipping we read of the divorce of a girl we -had known in school. She had been married twenty years. I remembered the -account of her wedding. In the hall we heard laughter. Marie was -listening to the extravagant compliments of Alphonse. A letter from a -boy of eleven asked for stamps from Egypt and Palestine. “I want them -more than anything in the world,” he wrote. The next letter brought a -clipping making passing reference in six short lines to a critical -misunderstanding in the Far East. While we were reading it, a woman came -to tell us a story of great sorrow and desperate need. The wild storm of -human wrath and revenge that swept over Russia had left her, who had -never known anything but love, happiness and plenty, stranded, utterly -alone, with not even a ruble of her vast estates. - -It is a confusing world. Great events and small jostle each other along -its highways. Wrapped securely about with affairs of self, old and young -fail to see the momentous hours of human destiny as they pass—pass so -swiftly, to leave them on some future day dumb with surprise, aghast at -the significance of the things which, having eyes, they saw not and, -having ears, they heard not. It is a most confusing and perplexing -world, but alas for him who does not love it, pity for him who does not -believe in it, shame upon him who will not share the task of saving it. - -Tomorrow would be Sunday and we would go to the Garden. - - - - - I GO TO THE GARDEN - - - _Who fathoms the Eternal Thought? - Who talks of scheme and plan? - The Lord is God! He needeth not - The poor device of man._ - - _I walk with bare, hushed feet the ground - Ye tread with boldness shod; - I dare not fix with mete and bound - The Love and Power of God._ - - _Ye praise His Justice; even such - His pitying love I deem: - Ye seek a King; I fain would touch - The robe that hath no seam._ - - _Ye see the curse which overbroods - A world of pain and loss; - I hear our Lord’s Beatitudes - His prayer upon the Cross._ - —_John G. Whittier._ - - - - - I GO TO THE GARDEN - - -Light clouds hung over the city that Sunday morning when we looked out -at the tower of David, one of the oldest monuments of Jerusalem, -standing directly across the open space in front of our balcony. It -still looks the part it long played as a watch-tower and a place of -refuge and strong defense. The people call it the Citadel, and until the -coming of the British it served as a garrison for Turkish soldiers. -During our first days in Jerusalem we had walked about Mount Zion, had -read of the various controversies waged over exact locations, had gone -into the House of Caiaphas, the House of Annas, and had looked at the -upper room. They may or may not have been the exact spots made tragic or -sacred by that last week of the Great Life. It did not matter to us. The -stone courtyards, the little chapels, the marks of Crusaders’ crosses, -the burial stones made us conscious indeed of the triumphs and tragedies -of men and nations that had written themselves from that hilltop into -the history of Palestine and so into the making of the world. It was -very easy, standing in that upper room, bare now save for an ancient -picture, to imagine the long table, the couches, the reclining -disciples. One is almost overwhelmed as he realizes the effect of that -simple supper of bread and wine upon the characters of succeeding -generations of men. What breaks in the ranks of Christendom the varied -interpretations of its significance have made! To what heights of -spiritual power, to what depths of shame, sorrow and repentance has it -led those who, following His request, have celebrated it in remembrance -of Him. In wonderful cathedrals, in rude chapels, in the lonely spots of -earth, in the jungle, in the desert, on the islands of the sea, in the -hospitals, in prison, on the fields of war kneeling before improvised -altars within sight of the no man’s land which tomorrow would be their -graves, men have heard the words: “As oft as ye eat this bread and drink -this wine—” - -How intensely He struggled, in those hours in the upper room, to make -them understand that He loved them, to lead them to a comprehension of -the meaning of service, to help them to accept the great commission His -death would leave them to fulfil. - -[Illustration: - - _Copyright, Underwood & Underwood_ - - Out there on the wind-swept hills, without priest or altar, we could - better understand the words of the Book.] - -We could almost hear the voice of our Lord saying: “Behold the hour -cometh, yea is now come, that ye shall be scattered every man to his own -and shall leave me alone: yet—I am not alone because the Father is with -me. - -“These things have I 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._” - -It was easy to see Peter standing by the fire in the place which they -showed to us and to hear the cowardly words, “I never knew him,” but -easier still, as though a beam of light had fallen upon a dark picture, -to hear Jesus saying, “Tell my disciples _and Peter_.... Peter, lovest -thou me?... Peter, feed my sheep.” - -From the background of Mount Zion we went to the Garden, not to the -formal garden of Latin or Greek, with their chapels, their neat little -gardens, their oranges and their olive trees planted about with fragrant -flowers and green grass, though they are very beautiful, terraced there -upon the steep sloping hillside. We went instead to the Armenian Garden, -kept as nature made it, a wall with the vine leaning over it, a fallen -trunk covered with doll moss, and the olive trees, large and small, gray -green with twisted boughs ages old, grass as in a meadow, with lilies of -the field nodding here and there in sunny spaces, though it was still -winter. A soft mist hung about the hill and settled in low lines over -the Garden. In one of the trees, hugging a branch, was a tiny gray bird. -We could hear its song in the silence. - -The friend who had come with us had been often in the Garden. He told us -of the beautiful service of the Relief Workers here on Easter morning, -of the night after Allenby entered Jerusalem when the workers filled -with joy over the manner of the victory came to this sacred spot to pray -in gratitude and for strength for the long wearying days of toil which -lay ahead. He told us of the Armenian girl, kneeling early one morning -in the damp grass, trying to repeat Gethsemane’s prayer. She was a -graduate of the American Woman’s College, was teaching in a girls’ high -school when deportation orders came, and from then until her rescue had -been an Arab’s slave in his dirty tent. - -It was very still. The walls of the city shut out its sounds, and it was -too early for regular traffic along the road to Bethany. A British Tommy -climbed over the wall and sat upon a great rock under a gnarled old -tree, his hat in his hand. Pictures of the old masters painted on walls -of cathedrals, hanging in great galleries, hymns tender and sweet that -had thrilled the souls of thousands, poetry that had comforted man in -his deepest hours of need, shadowy forms of Crusaders who had dared the -perils of sea and land, hunger and thirst and the swords of the enemy, -the monk, the pilgrim, the student searching for truth:—all these passed -before us under the olive trees and went out into the mist. - -Suddenly the day seemed to fade and that night of centuries ago came -stealing into the Garden. Kneeling there under the olive trees, we saw -Love make its supreme sacrifice and were not ashamed of the overwhelming -emotion that stirred our souls to greater depths than ever had been -touched before. We read the words softly—“if possible—if -possible—nevertheless thy will be done.” The rest of the picture was not -so hard to look upon for He had triumphed. He rose from His prayer a -_Conqueror_. - -There was more than one grassy hollow near the sheltering wall where the -disciples might have slept in the open, as did many at the time of the -Passover. Regretful, He wakened them. The Roman soldiers with staves and -smoking torches were coming down over the hill. His doom was sealed. -What the law gave them no right to do, misunderstanding, cunning, and -craft had done. Judas kissed him. We read the rest of the story from a -little book that made it very plain.[1] Then we prayed, but not with -words—there were no words. - -Footnote 1: - - _By an Unknown Disciple_—Hodder and Stoughton. - -On the little bridge that crosses over the Kedron to the Bethany road we -stood for a long time looking back, loathe to leave. We remembered the -white crosses of yesterday standing in long rows over there on the other -side of the mount. He was not alone in the Garden! With Him there had -gathered through the centuries an understanding multitude, young and -loving life as did He, who had met their own Gethsemanes and gone out -from them bravely to die. - -Again we went through St. Stephen’s Gate and along the path where the -Roman guards had led their prisoner. We stopped at Pilate’s Hall. Like a -king indeed he met the false testimony of his accusers, the cynical -questions of Pilate, the jesting soldiers who had seen many a man -condemned to die but none who met the madness of a multitude that cried -“Crucify! Crucify!” with such dignity and calm. No wonder Rousseau cried -aloud as he studied the story, “Socrates died like a philosopher, but -Jesus died like a God!” With what ardent devotion have the great artists -of the past attempted to paint for us those scenes. So vivid were they -as we stood there in Jerusalem, looking up at the tower of Antonius -where Jesus suffered the scourging, that their reality pierced our -souls. - -When the fickle crowd left the hall shouting curses as they had shouted -hosannas, they moved along the narrow street which still bears the name -Via Dolorosa. - -Opposite the Pretorium is a convent. In it are orphans and stray waifs -picked up about Palestine. The ravages of war have added to the usual -number and the place is crowded. On this Sunday they were at service, -and the clean happy faces as they sang made us feel that it was because -of the Sorrowful Way over which He had walked that they were sheltered -and fed. Although intended for Jews, Turk and Armenian, Jew and Gentile -sat together in the Chapel of Love and Forgiveness. It is under this -convent, many feet below the level of the present street that one finds -bits of the old Roman pavement over which the multitude, curious, cruel, -mocking, followed Him to the place of crucifixion. - -Each spot along the Via Dolorosa is marked—the place where the Master -took up His cross, the turn in the narrow street where in answer to the -tears and prayers of the women He said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep -not for me, but weep for yourself and your children,” the spot where, -staggering from weakness, He fell beneath His cross and Simon lifted it -and carried it to the hill of Death, dumbly sharing the Saviour’s pain. -At each place of suffering as we passed, we saw men and women praying -and making the sign of the cross. All men walked silently. - -Via Dolorosa, since the coming of the British, is scrupulously clean. -The houses of stone with beautiful doorways and old carvings on the -doorposts make a solid unbroken wall on either side, and very early the -street is quite dark. Narrow and not even a mile in length, it stands -out in the memory above all the great highways of the world. - -We did not follow the narrow streets to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre -where reverent worshipers were at that moment kneeling before the tomb, -or kissing the stone upon which are the marks of the three crosses. It -seemed incredible to us at first that this small church could cover both -the spot which was called Calvary and the tomb in the garden of Joseph -of Arimathea. Within the church are the chapels of the Greeks, the -Romans, the Armenians and the Copts. In each are beautiful shrines with -very precious lamps studded with jewels, lamps that burn in honor of -each of the four Christian groups. Once there were four great doors of -entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but so frequent were the -quarrels of those coming to worship that these doors were closed leaving -only one way of entrance. The key to this door is still held by a -Mohammedan according to the command of General Allenby, in memory of the -fact that the Caliph Omar spared and continually protected this Church. -Priceless jewels are hidden within it, the gifts of Pilgrims from every -land. Its treasury is the richest in the world. Jamil saw it when it was -shown to the former German Emperor for whom he interpreted, but could -never find it again, so devious were the ways that led to it. The -Kaiser’s gift, presented as with impressive ceremony he knelt to pray, -was of great value—in gold. - -But it was not to this church of the Holy Sepulchre with its wonderful -shrines, its most sacred associations reaching back into the long past, -filled with memories of devout men and women, rich and great, poor and -lowly, young and strong, weak and old, who had reverently worshiped -before the rent in the rock, the place where the soldiers parted His -garments, the tomb in the solid stone down in the very bowels of the -earth, worn smooth as glass by the feet of pilgrims who, like Peter and -John, must stoop to enter it, and Golgotha, reached by winding steps cut -in the rock and leading up almost to the roof of the church—it was not -this place which we sought as we came from the garden of Gethsemane, -following Him along the Sorrowful Way. It was out on the hills beyond -the Damascus Gate to the spot called Gordon’s Calvary that we went, not -because we cared to enter into all the reasons why many believe it to be -the place of suffering, rather than the other, but because out there on -the wind-swept rocks under a darkening sky, with a garden in the little -valley and the tombs cut in solid rock, their “great stones” lying -near—out there with no priest and no altars it was easier to read the -words of the Book and try to understand them. - -It was on this Mount of Calvary, looking down upon the city, that there -came to us an overwhelming sense of the sin of selfishness and greed. In -the ruins of Belgium we had felt it, in the tumult of war on the -battlefields of France we had seen what it could do, in the records of -the desperate struggles of the Peace Table we had caught glimpses of its -power, in China we saw its work, in Korea we looked upon its suffering -victims, and here on Calvary the weight of the world sorely wounded and -dismayed by sin, pressed hard upon us. It would not have been possible -to bear had we not read also of the stone rolled away and the great -triumphant Victory. - -A deep conviction settled down upon us until it possessed every muscle -and fiber of body and mind, until it possessed our souls—the thing that -He preached and that only can save the world. His great command that man -love his God and serve his neighbor—this principle alone can rescue -humanity from the abyss of chaos into which blind greed, individual and -national, has plunged it. As the pilgrims knelt at the Holy Sepulchre, -we knelt there under the open skies on the hill that is called Calvary -to accept again His first great commandment, and the second that is like -unto it, in repentance and humility to pray for pardon for past failures -and strength for new endeavors. - -That night at evening service in clear soprano voice a boy in the choir -sang: - - There is a green hill far away - Without the city wall - Where the dear Lord was crucified - Who died to save us all. - Oh dearly, dearly has He loved - And we must love Him too, - And trust in His redeeming blood - And try His works to do. - - There was no other good enough - To pay the price of sin: - He only could unlock the gate - Of Heaven and let us in. - Oh dearly, dearly has He loved - And we must love Him too, - And trust in His redeeming blood - And try His works to do. - -The echo of the last line followed us home. There is work to be -done—challenging, mighty world-building tasks—and for the doing of them -those who call themselves servants and followers of Him whose brave, -suffering footsteps we had traced from the Garden along the Sorrowful -Way to Calvary have waited too long. - - - - - I GO DOWN INTO EGYPT - - - _The strings of camels come in single file - Bearing their burdens o’er the desert sand; - Swiftly the boats go plying on the Nile - The needs of men to meet on every hand. - But still I wait - For the messenger of God who cometh late._ - —_Author Unknown._ - - - - - I GO DOWN INTO EGYPT - - -It was sitting on a housetop overlooking Jerusalem on the last day of -our visit to the Holy City that we heard in detail the story of the -official entry of the British forces. The woman who told us had spent -the years of the war as well as most of her life in Jerusalem though she -is an American. Her children were born there, she speaks many of its -languages, she knows its people and she loves it. She is one of the -women appointed by Lord Samuel, the High Commissioner, to serve on an -advisory council to assist the government in establishing policies for -the protection and betterment of women. She is the Christian -representative, the others being Mohammedan and Hebrew. - -The story, as she told it, revealing all the fear and anxiety of those -hard years, the pressure of uncertainty, the daily, hourly struggle for -food with sufficient nourishment to keep the children and the old people -alive, made us feel again, as so many times before, the sharp stab of -the fact that it is not those who bear arms alone who go to war. Little -faces, whose right it is to be round and rosy, covered with smiles, must -be pale and wan, yes, must even forget how to smile, as millions of -little ones have forgotten since nineteen hundred and fourteen. Old -faces, whose right it is to bear the marks of peace and contentment -after the struggle of the years, must be left instead with marks of pain -and anguish as have millions of the aged since nineteen hundred and -fourteen. He is a cruel monster, War, and if man, after what he has seen -these past years, does not imprison him, starve him, and leave him to -die, then man deserves the bitterness of the fate that will be his. - -[Illustration: - - When we opened our eyes, the Nile lay almost at our feet.] - -Threatened deportation, first by the German, then by the Turk, had been -again and again postponed for the little group known as the American -Colony but finally word came that in ten days all must go. The men of -military age, though neutral, had been ordered away a week before and -were expecting the arrival of a Turkish officer at any moment, to tell -them the time had come. Food was very scarce, there was no sugar, little -flour, and no fats. The woman who told us the story was herself doing -all-day and sometimes all-night duty as a nurse in the Red Crescent -Hospital which was our present hotel. Some of the letters she showed to -us proved what a consolation she must have been to the young British -soldiers, who lay with the Turks, prisoners, and sorely wounded. The -thundering of the guns had been drawing nearer but, despite rumors that -crept into the streets and the hospital wards that the Turks were slowly -losing ground, they themselves reported progress. Great airplanes droned -over the city, cannon roared in the hills. One afternoon there was -unusual commotion in the open space before the hotel and, standing by -the window, our friend saw the Germans making hurried preparations for -leaving. Signal wires, telephone wires, rugs, removable furniture, tons -of supplies, went out through the Jaffa Gate. The Turkish General -visited her—he must leave the wounded in her care. The German doctors -would go with the troops. He would leave two days’ provisions and -medicines, after that— - -When he had gone, half afraid to believe it, she whispered the word to -the British patients. They were nearly mad with joy, and there was -little sleeping that night. “When? When?” they would whisper as she or -her helper passed them. She could only answer, “I do not know. We have -provisions for two days.” Very early in the morning, before it was fully -light, the Mayor of the city, one of the direct descendants of Mohamet, -sent her a message saying that he was about to surrender the city. - -At half-past eight that morning the outposts saw the white flag -approaching. General Shea was the officer sent by General Allenby to -accept the surrender of the city. At half-past twelve Jerusalem had -passed into the hands of the British, guards were placed at all public -buildings, and instructions given to the Chief of Police. The joy of the -people—Jew, Christian, and Moslem—was shown in the crowds that filled -the street, the tears and embraces, the shrill cries in many tongues. -Even the Turkish sick and wounded in the hospital showed relief. For the -twenty-third time in its history Jerusalem had surrendered. But this -time there were no cries for mercy, no bitterness, no wailing, no -terrible fear of the conqueror. - -Outside the walls the guns banged and hammered at the Turkish defences. -Much had to be done before Jerusalem was safe from attack, but although, -spurred on by advices from Germany, the Turks made an attempt to -recapture the City, it was a disastrous failure. - -One of the young men joined us on the roof and contributed his share of -the description of the next thrilling days. It was on December 11th, -1917, that General Allenby, Commander-in-Chief, took formal possession -of the City. He would not enter through the break in the old wall made -when the former Kaiser with his great retinue entered as a Crusader. -Indeed orders have been given to have the break closed. Allenby would -carry no flag. On foot and accompanied by a Guard that altogether -numbered about one hundred fifty, he stood on Mount Zion on the steps of -the Citadel at the entrance to David’s Tower. He had been met outside -the narrow gate by the Guard representing all branches, faiths and races -that make up the British Army. Behind him, as he stood on the steps with -his staff, were the leading men of the City, ready to listen to the -reading of the Proclamation. There were no shouts of victory, no -trumpets, no evidence of the spirit of triumph over a foe. The -Proclamation was read in Arabic and English, in Hebrew and Greek, in -Russian, in French and Italian. As the people, standing respectfully in -the open spaces and upon the housetops, heard each in his own tongue -that all men might “pursue their lawful business without fear,” and the -promise that “every Holy Place, revered and held sacred by any faith, -will be defended and protected,” a look, first of incredulity, then of -confidence, passed over their faces. Many Mohammedans ran from the -square to repeat the words in homes from which some fearful ones had not -dared to come. Murmurs and gestures of approval were given on every -side. The windows of the Red Crescent Hospital were filled with faces of -those who, though very ill or badly wounded, could not miss this -significant moment of the Great War. All the promises made that day have -been sacredly kept, our friends told us. - -In the old Turkish barrack square the Commander-in-Chief met the heads -of all the religious communities. The sheikhs in charge of the Mosque of -Omar, the representatives of the Priests and Patriarchs of the Latin, -Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and Coptic churches who had been deported by -the Turks, the heads of the Jewish communities, the Syrian Church, the -Greek Catholic, the Abyssinian and the Anglican Churches, all were -there. It was indeed a cosmopolitan company as to religious faiths. “The -bright color of the holiday dress which most of the people had put on, I -can see in detail at this moment,” said our friend. “Not one step in -that simple ceremony shall I ever forget. In two hours, leaving guards -over all holy places, with Mohammedan officers and soldiers from the -Indian regiments to guard the Mosque of Omar, the General walked back -through the Old Jaffa Gate as he had come, received the salute of his -troops, entered his car and went down to the fighting area.” - -The relief workers took up the heavy burden of bringing food to the -people whose thin bodies and pale faces showed the effect of months of -starvation diet. All supplies must come up over roads muddy and torn by -heavy traffic, crowded with army food and equipment that must have -right-of-way. The task was one that taxed patience and energies to the -utmost. The health commission assumed the equally great task of clearing -the streets of unspeakable filth left in the wake of the Turkish rule, -our friends shouldered their burden of securing medical attention and -food for the sick, helpless and wounded men. - -“Only gradually,” said our friend walking up and down on the roof, her -cheeks flushed by the memories of days so vividly recalled, “did we come -to realize that this Holy City was _free_. It was as though we had been -going about in heavy chains that, suddenly taken from us, had left us -too dazed to move. We unconsciously looked for old restrictions, old -threats, old taxes suddenly to be laid upon us. Despite the glory of its -past,” she added, leaning far over the parapet to look out upon it, “the -City in all its long history was never so truly the City of Zion as -now.” - -When we went back to our hotel, standing at the windows from which the -wounded had looked, we felt that though other scenes of many cities in -many lands would fade with the years, the description of that day when a -victorious army under the leadership of a great General, a true soldier, -and a Christian gentleman had, beneath the shadow of the Tower, -proclaimed a message of possession more truly in accord with the word -and teaching of Jesus than any ever recorded in history, would never -leave us. - -The sunset that night was more glorious than any we had seen. The hills -were on fire with it, the Gate was gold. Then the valleys darkened, the -streets were still, the crowd of Arab and Greek, Jew and Moslem, the -shepherds, the merchant with his camels, the shopmen and the traveler, -all sought shelter. It was night, and we looked for the last time out on -the hills to the place where the stars shone over Bethlehem. Never did -more reluctant pilgrims leave a Holy Place. - -The train, going twice each week down from Jerusalem and connecting with -the train for Cairo, had begun to carry both sleeping compartments and -dining car. We boarded it late that night at the foot of the long hill. -Before it was light, we had pulled out of the Jerusalem station and did -not get even one more glimpse of the city set on a hill. Instead when we -opened our eyes we were almost out of the Judean Hills and soon were -moving along through desert-rimmed lowlands. Then the desert itself lay -about us for hours, livened by occasional caravans that also were going -down to Egypt. Once an airplane flew over us and on into the glare of -the cloudless sky. We thought often of Joseph and Mary and the Child -fleeing through this lonely desert, to find in alien Egypt refuge from -the jealous wrath of the Roman king. How rapidly the world has learned -to cover time and space since then! How slow has been its progress -toward the kingdom the Child, whom Herod feared, had come to build. God -grant that now over the new paths through old Palestine messengers -bearing Good Will may come with all speed. - -At Kantara we saw a company of Jews sent by the Zionists into Palestine. -They were a weary group, their faces bore marks of deep suffering. They -spoke Russian only, so we could not talk with them. They were going by -train to Haifa. We could only hope that their sorrows were over and that -in the land of their fathers they would find peace, a chance to forget, -shelter, food and a home. But we could not feel sure. The threatening -words we had heard from the lips of the Arab, the protests on the part -of the Jews that there was not land enough in Palestine capable of -bearing crops to give food to those who now struggled to live, the -bitter race hatreds and religious feuds very near the surface always -ready to burst into flame,—these things made us doubtful. The -transformation within a generation of this land of Palestine into a safe -and happy home for all the Jews of all the world seems but the futile -day dream of children when one faces conditions as they are. Many lands -have done many things to the Jew who once in simplicity worshiped the -God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and tried sincerely, not only to obey -the great commandments of Moses, but to teach them to his children. -Whether again they can gather from all lands and bring with them the -best who shall say? It may be that the fervent exhortations of rabbis, -the wisdom of judges, the training of educators, the science of -agriculturists, the modern irrigation miracles of engineers, the proper -placing of peoples, will make of Palestine a modern state where the -dream of economists, political and social, will one day be demonstrated -in action. The only spot we saw that seemed like the coming of the day -was Ramallah, the city that had to be taken by storm before the troops -could reach Jerusalem and visited by us to see the splendid work of the -schools of the Quakers who for long years have given learning and new -life to children of Syrian and Armenian, and now and then to a Moslem or -a Jew. From that little town between six and seven hundred Jews and -Syrians had emigrated to America. Since the war many had returned and -were rapidly building the city. Others had sent money to rebuild the -homes of their families. These homes were of stone built two stories -high with the flat roof but with plenty of space for light and air. -Gardens surrounded many of them and trees were being planted everywhere. -The children were well nourished, well clothed, and well trained. It -helped us to have more confidence in the dreams with the fulfilment of -which all Christendom is in sympathy. If only patience and unselfishness -can be set as watchmen over against the door of enthusiasm! We were told -that the Hebrew High Commissioner of Jerusalem looks to Ramallah as a -prophecy. - -We sat for a while on the journey from Kantara to Cairo with a British -officer and a nurse who had seen hard service during the war and is now -in charge of a number of stations where the native nurses meet her to -report progress and receive further instructions. She helps them to -understand the care of mothers and young babies and trains them to fight -the terrible diseases of the eye that result in a staggering percentage -of blindness. The native girls are taking up their work with enthusiasm, -even the little children are sharing in the campaign against flies. -“That is a far harder campaign than any we have ever waged when you -consider the people you have to train to fight,” said the officer. And -remembering the flies on our days at Suez and Port Said, we could agree -with him. It was nearly midnight when she left the train at a little -station in the sand. Her man-servant was waiting with her horse and we -watched her ride off to her hospital out there somewhere in the -blackness. “No finer women on God’s earth than those who wear that -uniform,” said the officer. - -A half hour or more and he left us. He was a lover of the desert and -almost made us forget how pitiless, how cruel, how destitute of all that -makes life for most of us, it is. He knew the names of all the stars and -when they would appear in the velvet sky over his great stretch of -camps. He loved the cold of the night and was not afraid of the heat of -midday, he loved the sunrise and sunsets and “the desert-folk worth many -times the puny men of cities.” He, too, rode off into the darkness. - -At last—Cairo—and we left the train through the long station, bright as -day. A car was waiting. The luxury of our room made us feel that we had -entered fairyland. It had been so long since we had seen the things for -rest, comfort and cleanliness that had in our past been common -necessities, that now after these months of journeying about the world -they seemed extravagances indeed! - -The next morning we looked through the open French windows with their -rose hangings, out upon the Pyramids and the Nile. The river lay almost -at our feet. The beauty of it was intoxicating in the soft light of the -rising sun. When my friend broke the silence she said, “It is indeed -beautiful,” then smiling she added “but,— - - If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, - Let my right hand forget her skill. - Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, - If I remember thee not, - If I prefer not Jerusalem - Above my chief joy.... - - - Awake, awake, put on thy strength; put on thy beautiful garments, O - Jerusalem, the holy city.... Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit - on thy throne, O Jerusalem.—Peace be unto thee, O Zion.” - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - - 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - - 2. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as - printed. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEW PATHS THROUGH OLD PALESTINE*** - - -******* This file should be named 60140-0.txt or 60140-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/0/1/4/60140 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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