Joel: A Boy of Galilee Read online

  CHAPTER XIV.

  SIMON the leper sat at the door of his cave. He held a roll of vellum inhis unsightly fingers; it was a copy of the Psalms that Lazarus had oncemade for him in happier days.

  Many a time he had found comfort in these hope-inspiring songs of David;but to-day he was reading a wail that seemed to come from the depths ofhis own soul:

  "Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and Thou hast afflicted me with all Thywaves. Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me. Thou hast made me anabomination unto them. I am shut up and I cannot come forth. Lord, Ihave called daily upon Thee. I have stretched out my hands unto Thee.Wilt Thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise again andpraise Thee? Lord, why casteth Thou off my soul? Why hidest Thou Thyface from me?"

  The roll dropped to the ground, and he hid his face in his hands,crying, "How long must I endure this? Oh, why was I not taken instead ofLazarus?"

  The sound of some one scrambling over the rocks made him look upquickly.

  Seth never made his visits at this time of the day, and strangers hadnever before found the path to this out-of-the-way place.

  Joel came on, and stopped by the rock where the water-jar stood.

  Simon stood up, covering himself with his mantle, and crying out,warningly, "Beware! Unclean! Come no further!"

  "I bring you news from the village," said Joel. The man threw out hishand with a gesture of alarm.

  "Oh, not of my wife Esther," he cried, imploringly, "or of my littleJoseph! I could not bear to hear aught of ill from them. My heart isstill sore for the death of my friend Lazarus. I went as near thevillage as I dared, and heard the dirge of the flutes and the wailing ofthe women, when they laid him in the tomb. I have sat here ever since insackcloth and ashes."

  "But Lazarus lives again!" exclaimed Joel, simply. He had seen so manymiracles lately, that he forgot the startling effect such anannouncement would have on one not accustomed to them.

  "'YOU BUT MOCK ME, BOY'"]

  The man stood petrified with astonishment. At last he said bitterly,"You but mock me, boy; at least leave me to my sorrow in peace."

  "No!" cried Joel. "As the Lord liveth, I swear it is the truth. Have younot heard that Messiah has come? I have followed Him up and down thecountry, and know whereof I speak. At a word from Him the dumb sing, theblind see, and the lame walk. I was lame myself, and He made me as yousee me now."

  Joel drew himself up to his fullest height. Simon looked at him,completely puzzled.

  "Why did you take the trouble to come and tell me that,--a poor despisedleper?" he finally asked.

  "Because I want everybody else to be as happy as I am. He cured me. Hegave me back my strength. Then why should not my feet be always swift tobring others to Him for the same happy healing? He Himself goes aboutall the time doing good. I know there is hope for you, for I have seenHim cleanse lepers."

  Simon trembled, as the full meaning of the hope held out to him began tomake itself clear to his confused mind: health, home, Esther,child,--all restored to him. It was joy too great to be possible.

  "Oh, if I could only believe it!" he cried.

  "Lazarus was raised when he had been four days dead. All Bethany canbear witness to that," persisted Joel. The words poured out with suchforce and earnestness, as he described the scene, that Simon feltimpelled to believe him.

  "Where can I find this man?" he asked.

  Joel pointed down the rocky slope. "Take that road that leads intoBethany. Come early in the morning, and as we all pass that way, call toHim. He never refuses any who have faith to believe that He can grantwhat they ask."

  When Joel was half-way down the hill, he turned back. "If He should notpass on the morrow," he said, "do not fail to be there on the secondday. We will surely leave here soon."

  Simon stood in bewilderment till the boy had passed down the hill; hebegan to fear that this messenger had been only the creation of a dream.He climbed upon the cliff and peered down into the valley. No, he hadnot been deceived; the boy was no mirage of his thirsty soul, for there,he came out into full sight again, and now, he was climbing the oppositehillside.

  "How beautiful upon the mountain are the feet of him who bringeth goodtidings!" he murmured. "Oh, what a heaven opens out before me, if thislad's words are only true!"

  Next morning, after they left Bethany, Joel looked anxiously behindevery rock and tree that they passed; but Simon was not to be seen.

  Presently Joel saw him waiting farther down the road; he was kneeling inthe dust. The white mantle, that in his sensitiveness was always used tohide himself from view, was cast aside, that the Great Healer might seehis great need.

  He scanned the approaching figures with imploring eyes. He was lookingfor the Messiah,--some one in kingly garments, whose jewelled sceptre'slightest touch would lay upon him the royal accolade of health.

  These were evidently not the ones he was waiting for. These were onlysimple wayfarers; most of them looked like Galileans.

  He was about to rise up with his old warning cry of unclean, when hecaught sight of Joel. But where was the princely Redeemer of prophecy?

  Nearer and nearer they came, till he could look full in their faces. Noneed now to ask on which one he should call for help; indeed, he seemedto see but one face, it was so full of loving pity.

  "O Thou Messiah of Israel!" he prayed. "Thou didst call my friendLazarus from the dead, O pass me not by! Call me from this living death!Make me clean!"

  The eyes that looked down into his seemed to search his soul. "Believestthou that I can do this?"

  The pleading faith in Simon's eyes could not be refused. "Yea, Lord," hecried, "Thou hast but to speak the word!"

  He waited, trembling, for the answer that meant life or death to him.

  "I will. Be thou clean!" He put out His hand to raise the kneeling manto his feet. "Go and show thyself to the priests," He added.

  The party passed on, and Simon stood looking after them. _Was_ it theChrist who had passed by? Where were His dyed garments from Bozrah? Theprophet foretold Him as glorious in apparel, travelling in the greatnessof His strength. No sceptre of divine power had touched him; it was onlythe clasp of a warm human hand he had felt. He looked down at himself.Still a leper! His faith wavered; but he remembered he had not obeyedthe command to show himself to the priests. Immediately he startedacross the fields on a run, towards the road leading into Jerusalem.

  Far down the highway Joel heard a mighty shout; he turned and lookedback. There on the brow of a hill, sharply outlined against the sky,stood Simon. His arms were lifted high up towards heaven; for as he ran,in obedience to the command, the leprosy had gone from him. He waspouring out a flood of praise and thanksgiving, in the first ecstasy ofhis recovery, at the top of his voice.

  Joel thought of the tiresome ceremonies to be observed before the mancould go home, and wished that the eight days of purification were over,that the little family might be immediately reunited.

  Meanwhile, Seth, with his basket and water-bottle, was climbing the hilltoward the cave. For the first time in seven years since he hadcommenced these daily visits, no expectant voice greeted him. He wentquite close up to the little room under the cliff; he could see throughthe half-open door that it was empty. Then he cautiously approached themouth of the cave, and called his master. A hundred echoes answered him,but no human voice responded. Call after call was sent ringing into thehollow darkness. The deep stillness weighed heavily upon him; he beganto be afraid that somewhere in its mysterious depths lay a dead body.

  The fear mastered him. Only stopping to put down the food and pour outthe water, he started home at the top of his speed.

  As he reached the road, a traveller going to Bethany hailed him. "Whatthink you that I saw just now?" asked the stranger. "A man running withall his might towards Jerusalem. Tears of joy were streaming down hischeeks, and he was shouting as he ran, 'Cleansed! Cleansed! Cleansed!'He stopped me, and bade me say, if I met a man carrying a basket andwater-skin, that Simon the
leper has just been healed of the leprosy. Hewill be home as soon as the days of purification are over."

  Seth gazed at him stupidly, feeling that he must be in a dream. Esther,too, heard the message unbelievingly. Yet she walked the floor in afever of excitement, at the bare possibility of such a thing being true.

  The next morning, she sent Seth, as usual, with the provisions. But hebrought them back, saying the place was still deserted.

  Then she began to dare to hope; although she tried to steel herselfagainst disappointment, by whispering over and over that she could neversee him again, she waited impatiently for the days to pass. At last theyhad all dragged by.

  The new day would begin at sunset, the very earliest time that she mightexpect him. The house was swept and garnished as if a king were coming.The table was set with the choicest delicacies Seth could find in theJerusalem markets.

  The earliest roses, his favorite red ones, were put in every room. Inher restless excitement nothing in her wardrobe seemed rich enough towear. She tried on one ornament after another before she was suited.Then, all in white, with jewels blazing in her ears, on her throat, onher little white hands, and her eyes shining like two glad stars, shesat down to wait for him.

  But she could not keep still. This rug was turned up at the corner; thatrose had dropped its petals on the floor. She would have another kind ofwine on the table.

  At last she stepped out of the door in her little silken-bound sandals,and climbed the outside stairs to the roof, to watch for him.

  The sun was entirely out of sight, but the west was glorious with thered gold of its afterglow. Looking up the Mount of Olives, she could seethe smoke of the evening sacrifice rising as the clouds of incensefilled the Temple. Surely he must be far on the way by this time.

  Her heart almost stopped beating as she saw a figure coming up the road,between the rows of palm-trees. She strained her eyes for a nearer view,then drew a long tremulous breath. It was Lazarus; there went the twochildren and the lamb to meet him. All along the street, people werestanding in the doors to see him go past; he was still a wonder to them.

  She shaded her eyes with her hand, and looked again. But while her gazesearched the distant road, some one was passing just below, under theavenue of leafy trees, with quick impatient tread; some one paused atthe vine-covered door; some one was leaping up the stairs three steps ata time; some one was coming towards her with out-stretched arms, crying,"Esther, little Esther, O my wife! My God-given one!"

  For the first time in seven years, she turned to find herself in herhusband's arms. Strong and well, with the old light in his eyes, the oldthrill in his voice, the glow of perfect health tingling through all hisveins, he could only whisper tremulously, as he held her close, "PraiseGod! Praise God!"

  No wonder he seemed like a stranger to Joseph. But the clasp of thestrong arms, and the deep voice saying "my son," so tenderly, wereinexpressibly dear to the little fellow kept so long from his birthrightof a father's love.

  He was the first to break the happy silence that fell upon them. "What agood man Rabbi Jesus must be, to go about making people glad like thisall the time!"

  "It is He who shall redeem Israel!" exclaimed Simon. "To God be theglory, who hath sent Him into this sin-cursed world! Henceforth all thatI have, and all that I am, shall be dedicated to His service!"

  Kneeling there in the dying daylight, with his arms around the wife andchild so unexpectedly given back to him, such a heart-felt prayer ofgratitude went upward to the good Father that even the happiest angelsmust have paused to listen, more glad because of this greatearth-gladness below.