CHAPTER XVI.
"WHO is that talking in the house?" asked Joel of Abigail the morningafter the feast. He had been playing in the garden with Jesse, andpaused just outside the door as he heard voices.
"Only father and Phineas, now," answered Abigail. "Simon the oil-sellerhas just been here, and I am sure you could not guess his errand. It wasabout you."
"About me?" echoed Joel, in surprise.
"Yes, I never knew until this morning that you were the one whopersuaded him to go to the Master for healing. He says if it had notbeen for you, he would still be an outcast from home. During these weeksyou have been away, he has been hoping to find some trace of you, for helongs to express his gratitude. Last night at the feast, he learned yourname, and now he has just been here to talk to Phineas and father aboutyou. His olive groves yield him a large fortune every year, and he is ina position to do a great deal for you, if you will only let him."
"What does he want to do?" asked Joel.
"He has offered a great deal: to send you to the best schools in thecountry; to let you travel in foreign lands, and see life as it is inRome and Athens and the cities of Egypt. Then when you are grown, heoffers to take you in business with himself, and give you the portion ofa son. It is a rare chance for you, my boy."
"Yes," answered Joel, flushing with pleasure at the thought of all hemight be able to see and learn. He seemed lost for a few minutes in thebright anticipation of such a tempting future; then his face clouded.
"But I would have to leave everybody I love," he cried, "and the homewhere I have been so happy! I cannot do it, mother Abigail; it is toomuch to ask."
"Now you talk like a child," she answered, half impatiently; but therewas a suspicion of tears in her eyes as she added, "Joel, you have grownvery dear to us. It will be hard to give you up, for you seem almostlike an own son. But consider, my boy; it would not be right to turnaway from such advantages. Jesse and Ruth will be well provided for. Allthat my father has will be theirs some day. But Phineas is only a poorcarpenter, and cannot give you much beyond food and clothing. I heardhim say just now that he clearly thought it to be your duty to accept,and he had no doubt but that you would."
"But I cannot be with the Master!" cried Joel, as the thought suddenlyoccurred to him that he could no longer follow Him as he had been doing,if he was to be sent away to study and travel.
"No; but think what you may be able to do for His cause, if you havemoney and education and influence. It seems to me that for His sakealone, you ought to consent to such an arrangement."
That was the argument that Phineas used when he came out; and the boywas sadly bewildered between the desire to be constantly with hisbeloved Master, and his wish to serve Him as they suggested.
It was in this perplexed state of mind that he started up to Jerusalemwith Jesse and his grandfather.
The streets were rapidly filling with people, coming up to the Feast ofthe Passover, and Joel recognized many old friends from Galilee.
"There is Rabbi Amos!" he exclaimed, as he caught sight of an old man inthe door of a house across the street. "May I run and speak to him?"
"Certainly!" answered Reuben. "You know your way so well about thestreets that it makes no difference if we do get separated. Jesse and Iwill walk on down to the shop. You can meet us there."
Rabbi Amos gave Joel a cordial greeting. "I am about to go back to theDamascus gate," he said. "I have just been told that the Nazarene willsoon make His entrance into the city, and a procession of pilgrims aregoing out to meet Him. I have heard much of the man since He leftCapernaum, and I have a desire to see Him again. Will you come?"
The old man hobbled along so painfully, leaning on his staff, that theywere a long time in reaching the gate. The outgoing procession hadalready met the coming pilgrims, and were starting to return. The waywas strewn with palm branches and the clothes they had taken off to layalong the road in front of the man they wished to honor. Every handcarried a palm branch, and every voice cried a Hosannah.
At first Joel saw only a confused waving of the green branches, andheard an indistinct murmur of voices; but as they came nearer, he caughtthe words, "Hosannah to the Son of David!"
"Look!" cried Rabbi Amos, laying his wrinkled, shaking hand heavily onJoel's shoulder. "Look ye, boy, the voice of prophecy! No Romanwar-horse bears the coming victor! It is as Zechariah foretold! That theking should come riding upon the colt of an ass,--the symbol of peace.So David rode, and so the Judges of Israel came and went!"
Joel's eyes followed the gesture of the tremulous, pointing finger.There came the Master, right in the face of His enemies, boldly ridingin to take possession of His kingdom.
At last! No wandering now in lonely wildernesses! No fear of the jealousscribe or Pharisee! The time had fully come. With garments strewn in theway, with palms of victory waving before Him, with psalm and song andthe shouting of the multitude, He rode triumphantly into the city.
Joel was roused to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, to see His bestbeloved friend so honored. People understood Him now; they appreciatedHim. The demonstrations of the multitude proved it. He was so happy andexcited, he scarcely knew what he was doing. He had no palm branch towave, but as the head of the procession came abreast with him, and hesaw the face of the rider, he was almost beside himself.
He waved his empty hands wildly up and down, cheering at the top of hisvoice; but his shrillest Hosannahs were heard only by himself. They wereonly a drop in that mighty surf-beat of sound.
Scarcely knowing what to expect, yet prepared for almost anything, theyfollowed the procession into the city. When they reached the porch ofthe Temple, the Master had disappeared.
"I wonder where He has gone," said Joel, in a disappointed tone. "Ithought they would surely crown Him."
"He evidently did not wish it to be," answered Rabbi Amos. "It would bemore fitting that the coronation take place at the great feast. Waituntil the day of the Passover."
As they sat in the Court of the Gentiles, resting, Joel told Rabbi Amosof the offer made him by the wealthy oil-dealer Simon.
"Accept it, by all means!" was the old man's advice. "We have seenenough just now to know that a new day is about to dawn for Israel. InBethany, you will be much nearer the Master than in Capernaum; forsurely, after to-day's demonstration, He will take up His residence inthe capital. In time you may rise to great influence in the newgovernment soon to be established."
The old rabbi's opinion weighed heavily with Joel, and he determined toaccept Simon's offer. Then for awhile he was so full of his new plansand ambitions, he could think of nothing else.
All that busy week he was separated from the Master and His disciples;for it was the first Passover he had ever taken part in. After it wasover, he was to break the ties that bound him to the carpenter's familyand the simple life in Galilee, and go to live in Simon's luxurious homein Bethany.
So he stayed closely with Phineas and Abigail, taking a great interestin all the great preparations for the feast.
* * * * *
Reuben chose, from the countless pens, a male lamb a year old, withoutblemish. About two o'clock the blast of two horns announced that thepriests and Levites in the Temple were ready, and the gates of the innercourts were opened, that all might bring the lambs for examination.
The priests, in two long rows, caught the blood in great gold and silvervessels, as the animals were killed, and passed it to others behind,till it reached the altar, at the foot of which it was poured out.
Then the lamb was taken up and roasted in an earthen oven, and the feastcommenced at sunset on Thursday. The skin of the lamb, and the earthendishes used, were generally given to the host, when different familieslodged together.
As many as twenty were allowed to gather at one table. Reuben hadinvited Nathan ben Obed, and those who came with him, to partake of hishospitality. Much to Joel's delight, a familiar shock of sunburned hairwas poked in at the door, and he recognized Buz's
freckled face,round-eyed and open mouthed at this first glimpse of the great city.
During the first hour they were together, Buz kept his squinting eyescontinually on Joel. He found it hard to believe that this straight,sinewy boy could be the same pitiful little cripple who had gone withhim to the sheepfolds of Nathan ben Obed.
"Say," he drawled, after awhile, "I know where that fellow is who madeyou lame. I was so upset at seeing you this way that I forgot to tellyou. He had a dreadful accident, and you have already had your wish, forhe is as blind as that stone."
"Oh, how? Who told you?" cried Joel, eagerly.
"I saw him myself, as we came through Jericho. He had been nearly beatento death by robbers a few weeks before. It gave him a fever, and botheyes were so inflamed and bruised that he lost his sight."
"Poor Rehum!" exclaimed Joel.
"Poor Rehum!" echoed Buz, in astonishment. "What do you mean by poorRehum? Aren't you glad? Isn't that just exactly what you planned; or didyou want the pleasure of punching them out yourself?"
"No," answered Joel, simply; "I forgave him a year ago, the night beforeI was healed."
"You forgave him!" gasped Buz,--"you forgave him! A dog of a Samaritan!Why, how could you?"
Buz looked at him with such a wondering, puzzled gaze that Joel did notattempt to explain. Buz might be ignorant of a great many things, but heknew enough to hate the Samaritans, and look down on them with theutmost contempt.
"I don't really believe you could understand it," said Joel, "so it isof no use to try to tell you how or why. But I did forgive him, fullyand freely. And if you will tell me just where to find him, I will goafter him early in the morning and bring him back with me. The Handthat straightened my back can open his eyes; for I have seen it donemany times."
All during the feast, Buz kept stealing searching glances at Joel. Hecould hardly tell which surprised him most, the straightened body or theforgiving spirit. It was so wonderful to him that he sat speechless.
At the same time, in an upper chamber in another street, the Master andHis disciples were keeping the feast together. It was their last supperwith Him, although they knew it not. Afterwards they recalled every wordand every incident, with loving memory that lingered over each detail;but at the time they could not understand its full import.
The gates were left open on Passover night. While the Master and Hisfollowers walked out to the Garden of Gethsemane, where they had oftengone together, Joel was questioning Buz as to the exact place where hewas to find his old enemy.
"I'll go out very early in the morning," said Joel, as his head touchedthe pillow. "Very early in the morning, for I want Rehum's eyes to beopen just as soon as possible, so that he can see the Master's face.Lord help me to find him to-morrow," he whispered, and with a blessingon his lips for the one he had so long ago forgiven, his eyes closedsoftly.
Sleep came quickly to him after the fatigue and excitement of the day.In his dreams he saw again the Master's face as He made His triumphalentrance into the city; he heard again the acclamations of the crowd.Then he saw Rabbi Amos and Simon and little Ruth. There was a confusedblending of kindly faces; there was a shadow-like shifting of indistinctbut pleasant scenes. In the fair dreamland where he wandered, fortunesmiled on him, and all his paths were peace.
Sleep on, little disciple, happy in thy dreaming; out in Gethsemane'sdark garden steals one to betray thy Lord! By the light of glimmeringlanterns and fitful torches they take Him now. Armed with swords andstaves, they lead Him out from the leafy darkness into the moon-floodedhighroad.
Now He stands before the High Priest,--alone, unfriended. Sleep, andwake not at the cock's shrill crowing, for there is none to make answerfor Him, and one who loved Him hath thrice denied!
Dream on! In the hall of Pilate now, thorn-crowned and purple-clad, Himwhom thou lovest; scourged now, and spat upon. This day, indeed, shallHe come into His kingdom, but well for thee, that thou seest not thecoronation.
Sleep on, little disciple, be happy whilst thou can!