to abu ben hesed, sitting, as was his wont at the sunset hour, in the door of his tent, came pagiel. it was the evening of the fourth day after he had seen the two children disappear from out his sight on the back of the white dromedary. he had not made haste to return; he needed time to think, for he was slow-witted, and the matter in hand was weighty.
"there is no place like the solitude of the wilderness for meditation," quoth pagiel. so he abode quietly in the place where he was for one full day. not so the son of kish the herdsman; he was impatient.
"let me return, i beseech thee," he said to pagiel, "i would fain look upon the face of my bride."
"what art thou saying, man?" cried pagiel hotly. "dost thou think that now i shall give to thee my daughter? our matter is ended."
but ben kish loved the daughter of pagiel; he was therefore bold and determined. moreover, he saw that the man was afraid to return. "my father is wroth," he said, "because the two egyptians have fled away with the beast. i will return to my lord and i will tell him what they have done. surely it was meet that such should be sold into slavery and that their value be given the daughter of pagiel for her dowry."
"nay, thou shalt not return!" cried pagiel. "if the thing be told ben hesed then should i be cut off from among my kinsfolk and brethren."
ben kish smiled. "is it better for thee to be thus cut off," he said, "or to have for thy son the son of kish? for of these two things, one shall assuredly come to pass."
"swear to me that thou wilt keep the thing secret," said pagiel, "and i will give thee my daughter, even as i have said."
"swear to me that thou wilt give me thy daughter," replied ben kish, "and i will keep the thing secret."
so they both sware a great oath; and they builded that day of the stones of the place a memorial, in token that as the stones which endure without change, even so must their compact remain. then they gat them up and made haste to return, and the son of kish laughed within himself because he had prevailed; but pagiel was so busy inventing a tale which should explain the loss of the white dromedary, that he thought no more of the matter.
"ben hesed is a hard man," he thought. "if i say thieves came and stole the beast while we were returning, he will say, 'why then didst thou not pursue and slay them? thou hast no wounds.' if i say the beast fled away from us into the desert, he will laugh me to scorn. nay, i will tell him the truth; it is after all best; moreover, god loveth a truthful man. i will say this; the egyptian brats rose up whilst we were asleep in the midst of the day, and they took the beast and fled. we pursued them also till the going down of the sun, but could not overtake them."
so he told ben hesed this, and when he had done speaking he waited to hear what his lord should say. for a long time he said nothing, because he was very angry, and it was his wont to refrain from speaking when he was thus disquieted.
"shall a man rage like a wild beast?" he would say. "nay, for in so doing he is no longer a man; let him rather remain silent, remembering that god made him in his own image. the heavens are voiceless even when the earth beneath runs red with blood. men blaspheme the name of jehovah, yet is there no answering bolt of wrath to slay them. let us then be patient as befits them that are but a little lower than the angels, created in the likeness of the eternal one."
on this occasion ben hesed was silent so long that pagiel was frightened; he had bowed himself to the earth, and he still remained in this humble posture that he might escape the lightnings which leapt up in his lord's eyes as he heard the tale.
after a time he became very uncomfortable, the sand on which his forehead rested was hot, his knees shook beneath him. "why do i abase myself before this man," he said within himself. at the thought he too grew angry, and because anger is stronger than fear, he leapt up and stood before ben hesed.
ben hesed also arose. "i will myself pursue these egyptians," he said, "and i will bring them again into the wilderness; the wilderness shall avenge me."
then he made haste and gat him gone within the hour, but pagiel remained behind; he had now the matter of the marriage in hand. remembering this as he went to his own tent, he again tore his beard and cried aloud to god to help him in his extremity. but for the life of him he could think of no other word save that which the psalmist david wrote,
"the wicked plotteth against the just
and gnasheth upon him with his teeth,
but the lord shall laugh at him,
for he seeth that his day is coming."
and in this there was so little comfort that he prayed no more.
ben hesed arrived at the borders of jud?a after a journey which consumed but half the usual time, for he tarried not to rest at noontide nor at night. once beyond the river he began to make inquiry among the people concerning the white dromedary, and because beasts of that sort and color not often passed that way he soon found them that had seen her. in this place had the runaways stayed for a night; in another had they bartered a coin from the girl's necklace for provender for the beast.
"at least they have not abused the animal," said ben hesed to himself, and insensibly his anger cooled day by day.
"i shall hear what the lad hath to say before i pass judgment upon him," he said to his son who accompanied him. "it is best to look at both sides of a matter--yea, and within it also. when a man hath done this to the best of his ability how far short doth he fall of the complete knowledge of god, who made the soul and to whom it lieth open like a parchment that is unrolled; therefore should man leave punishments to god. i will not lift my hand against the two as i at first purposed in my heart; and in this thou seest, my son, how wise it is to make haste slowly in matters that pertain to revenge. the hours that pass cool the angry heart even as drops of rain quench the glowing coals. this is good; a year from now i shall think little of the loss of the beast, and if i shew mercy it will endure in my heart for many years as a sweet savor. look always at a present calamity as if it had happened many moons since, then shalt thou be able to judge whether it be worth thy while to be angry and to avenge thyself."
beguiling the way with good words of the like, and at the same time keeping a wary eye out for the white dromedary, the worthy man journeyed on towards jerusalem, for it was there that he confidently expected to find the fugitives.
when at length they came within sight of the holy city, lying fair and white amid the green and gentle mountain slopes, the travelers were amazed to see the numbers of folk who were going into it by every road.
"what may this mean?" said ben hesed. "it is not feast time." presently they passed one of these companies, and they saw that in the midst was a sick man on his litter; he was groaning dismally as his bed shook beneath him with the unevenness of the way.
"why dost thou fetch this man into jerusalem?" asked ben hesed of the bearers.
"to be healed," they answered him. "happy shall we be if we get him there alive; already this is the third day since we started with him, and death pursueth after us faster than we can journey."
ben hesed marvelled at their answer, but he forbore to question them further, for he saw that they had no mind to talk. presently he came upon a woman sitting by the wayside and weeping bitterly.
"why dost thou weep, woman?" he asked of her, for he was not of those who reckoned it a defilement to speak to a woman.
"i weep," she answered him, "because, although i am in sight of the holy city, i can go no further and my child must, after all, perish."
she thrust out her feet from beneath her robe, and ben hesed saw that they were horribly bruised, cut and blistered, as if she had walked a long way. as for the child, it lay waxen-faced and silent in her arms, the purple eyelids half dropped over the dull eyes. ben hesed shook his head gravely as he looked at it; it seemed to him that it was beyond help.
"thou shalt ride upon my beast," he said, "and thus reach the city speedily. i will walk beside thee."
the woman smiled through her tears. "now may the god of abraham, isaac and jacob bless thee!" she cried; then she looked down at her babe, and her face whitened. "it may be too late," she murmured.
"from whence hast thou come?" asked ben hesed gently.
"from beyond jordan, in the hill country. i heard of what was being done in jerusalem, and so when my babe sickened i rose up with him and hastened to come hither, but the sickness hath increased by the way. i fear----"
"the man jesus is of great power," interrupted ben hesed hastily. "it hath been said of him that he hath even raised the dead."
the woman looked startled. "thou art, then, a stranger in these parts," she said, "and have not heard what hath come to pass of late in jerusalem?"
"i am from the wilderness; what is it that hath come to pass?"
"the man jesus hath been slain--crucified!" said the woman, her heavy eyes blazing with indignation.
ben hesed was silent for a moment, "why did they slay him?" he asked at length.
"nay, i know not," said the woman wearily, folding the child close to her bosom. "i saw him once in my own village. he did there many mighty works of healing, and of the things which he said, i remember much even to this day. he was a great prophet, and now is his power fallen on his disciples, even as the mantle of elijah fell upon elisha when he ascended in the chariot of fire and had, therefore, no further need of a mantle."
ben hesed looked once more at the city to which they were now drawing very near. "thus saith the lord god," he murmured, "this is jerusalem; i have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. the end is at hand, behold it watcheth for thee, o thou that dwellest in the land! the time is come, the day of trouble is near. now will i shortly pour out my fury upon thee and accomplish my anger upon thee. and i will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations, for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence."
and when they were now come to the gates, they had much ado to enter in, because of the great multitude of the sick, lame and blind which were coming from every quarter. the streets were filled with them, and with the noise of their groaning and wailing. ben hesed, his son and his two servants, together with the woman, who still held the quiet child close to her bosom, followed on with the others.
after a time it became impossible to proceed further, so they waited where they were. near them two men were holding a demoniac, who bellowed loudly from time to time, and tore at his clothes, which were already in ribbons, and at the hair and faces of his guardians. a little further on, the keen eye of ben hesed descried a palsied man lying on his bed, his emaciated face the color of death. beyond him were a group of blind men, waiting with the hopeless apathy of accustomed misery for something, they scarce knew what. save for the moans and cries of the sick ones there was scarcely a sound; the sun beat fiercely down from above, the yellow dust rose in stifling clouds from beneath, and still they waited.
at length from somewhere afar off there rose a cry--a wild, jubilant, inarticulate sound; a deep answering murmur arose from the ghastly throng of sufferers about them. this strange pean of joy rose and fell, now swelling loudly, now dying away, but always drawing nearer. ben hesed looked at the woman; she was fumbling wildly at the wrappings which swathed her babe; she bent her head as if to listen at his tiny chest.
"my god!" she cried, "it is too late; he is dead." then she dropped back breathless and waxen as the little form which she still held close in her arms.
ben hesed caught her as she fell; he looked about him for help.
"here is water," said a voice at his side, and looking up he saw, to his intense astonishment, seth, the egyptian lad. at the same moment the boy recognized him, and started back with a little cry.
"this is no time to speak of what concerneth thee and me," said ben hesed sternly. "give me the water!" and he fell to sprinkling the face of the woman with no sparing hand.
"they are coming!" shouted the lad. "stay! i will bring him hither," and he darted away into the throng.
ben hesed looked after him quietly. "the wicked flee when no man pursueth," he said under his breath, "yet shall sure wrath overtake him, neither shall a swift foot deliver him. come!" he added, turning to his son, "let us bear this woman hence; there is now no further need to wait for them that heal."
