specially liable to be attacked by Demons, as Wednesday and Sabbath eves, in a shadow cast by the moon, or after walking over water that had been poured out unless it had been covered with earth or spat upon.

66

As to remedies and defenses against Demons, there appeared here, as among modern doctors, a great diversity of opinion. It was agreed that amulets and charms were very efficacious against Demons generally, but Gamaliel called attention to the fact that he had often observed that even probate " amulets,— amulets that had performed three unquestionable cures,- might afterwards be found useless where the person using it was at the time under an adverse star or constellation. He had known other failures from amulets, he said, where the names and numbers of the Demons sought to be exorcised was wrongly written on the amulet.

Then Gamaliel went on to tell of a plant called Baaras, which was known to certain of the learned in Judea and which, once laid hold of, enabled its possessor to cast out any Demon. "This plant," he asserted, "is of the color of flame and at evening sends out a ray like lightning. But it is death to any who touch it unless it first have the urine of a woman or her menstrual blood poured upon it. Then it may be dug and taken away, but only in one way. The root must hang down from the hand or otherwise it kills the man or animal that touches it. But the plant is very rare, and I know not any one who has ever seen it." *

On the whole, Gamaliel was inclined to think that the power of exorcism, such as was possessed by Solomon and Hezekiah, had been lost, "That is to say," he explained, "though there are, no doubt, many instances where exorcism has proved wonderfully efficacious, and astonishing things are now done by these means, our power over Demons seems to be accidental and uncertain; the spells to * Jos. War, vii, 6–3.

be used, the names of the Angels and also of the Demons are constantly changing, and we can no longer proceed by those fixed and immutable laws which seem to have governed in the olden time. Of course," he continued, bowing deferentially to Raf and Alkim, "I speak only of Palestine, the Holy Land. Perhaps it is true, as I have often heard, that among the Captivity the true knowledge has not been lost, and the secrets known to Moses and to Solomon have been preserved."

To which Alkim replied: "The Brother is right: it is the will of God that no great truth revealed by Him to His People shall be lost. As with the ark which Jeremiah buried on Mount Nebo, and the Shechinah and the Urim and Thummim and Aaron's rod, and also like the promises of Jehovah, they only wait. When Shiloh comes all will be revealed. That the secrets concerning all these things are preserved among the Dispersed is not to be doubted. Ezekiel, as we know, and also Daniel must have been instructed in all knowledge. I will say no more, as it is unlawful to communicate such knowledge: it must be gained direct, as Moses and the prophets gained it, by fasting and prayer and study."

Here Addi broke in with well known quotations from the Holy Books. "In those days,' says Daniel, 'I mourned three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh or wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three full weeks were fulfilled; then I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and behold a certain man, clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz,' and in Esdras it is written how the Angel said to him, 'Go to the flowery open, where there is no house, and eat only the herbs of the field; taste no flesh, drink no wine; but eat herbs only, and pray unto the Highest continually; then will I come and talk with thee!""

Conversation on these lines was continued for some time, and it was admitted by all that by solitude, fasting,

and prayer, the secret knowledge and prophetic visions as of old might be gained, with power over evil spirits and to work miracles. Then Raf reverted to what Gamaliel had said about adverse stars and constellations. "Our Jerusalem Brother," he said, "has spoken of the effect that stars have to destroy the good that is in amulets and charms. In the East this power that is in the stars has long been known, and it is believed by many of our most learned Rabbis that not only have the stars a most potent influence over men and events, but that through them God speaks to His People as He did formerly through the Shechinah and by the Urim and Thummim. One thing at least in this connection is certainly known,- that new and flaming stars and other extraordinary appearances in the heavens are sent as the forerunners of great prophets or great events. We all no doubt remember of hearing our fathers tell of the strange things seen in the heavens when Pompey polluted the Holy Place in the Temple, and again before the death of Cæsar.

"That wonderful star that we all must remember to have seen about twenty years ago was universally believed at the time to be the forerunner of the Messiah, and our Eastern Rabbis confidently predicted that he would shortly appear, and many of them even yet affirm that that star was the one referred to by Baalam when he prophesied of Israel. That the days of the Messiah are now close at hand, they all believe and they still look and pray daily for his coming." At this point, the time having arrived, Addi arose and began abruptly repeating a set prayer of the Jewish ritual. In this he was joined at once by Jesus and John, and later by Raf and Alkim and Gamaliel; and even Shilath, without opening his eyes and too weak to utter the words aloud, moved his lips in unison.

XV

THE PASSING OF SHILATH

"He dreaded not the greatest of all defilements,- that of contact with the dead, which Rabbinism had surrounded with endless terrors."--EDERSHEIM.

When the time came for breaking up, Raf and Alkim and Gamaliel went away to their tents, and Addi into his cave, leaving Jesus and John alone with Shilath. The old man opened his eyes and looked around, and made an effort to rise; but he seemed dizzy with weakness and fell back, bruising his head against the rock. Jesus looked at him pityingly, and said to John, " It can hardly be that God will look upon it as sin to put forth a hand to help this dying man."

"It does seem so," said John, "but you have heard him say that he is expelled from his own Brotherhood for sin, and his whole appearance is as of one unclean: he has not washed even his hands."

"Neither has he eaten," answered Jesus. "He is starving to death because our touch and our food are pollution to him, and we are consenting to his death before our eyes because his touch is pollution to us. O my Brother! There is something wrong in all this. Surely it cannot be the true way. If God is the Father of us all, this man is our brother, and the poor wretched woman who is hiding with the wild beasts in the thicket is our sister. painful grasping after dark and hidden knowledge, I fear we are blind to the greatest and the plainest truths."

In our

John made no answer but turned away to his washings and private devotions, leaving Jesus alone with Shilath. The shadows of evening were already falling and the air was chill. Jesus offered to take Shilath up in his arms

and carry him away to the tents of the servants of Raf and Alkim; but Shilath motioned him away. Then Jesus brought ripe figs and other fruits, with caper buds, for Shilath to eat; but he refused them all, and reaching out his hand plucked the green leaves and pods from a wild lentil bush that ran up along the rock and filled his mouth with them. But he was too weak either to masticate or swallow such unwholesome food. Jesus was deeply troubled to know what to do. The servants of the Rabbis he knew would gladly do anything they could: but to the mind and heart of Shilath any assistance they could give was doing him violence.

Jesus sat down on a stone and leaned his face upon his hands. Then the fox, which had hidden away while the others were near, came and sat down before Jesus and looked up in his face. After a time, John, returning from his solitary devotions, passed by and entered the cave. Addi and he came out and bathed themselves and repeated the Shema, with other long prayers. At the same time could be heard from the tents of Gamaliel and Raf and Alkim the sound of voices loudly repeating the same prayers. Jesus sat alone, motionless, with vacant eyes. An hour later, and the full moon arose and poured its flood of mellow light over all, as it did on that night when the two lost children, with arms about each other's necks, wandered here ten years ago.

At last the tents were all silent, and Addi and John were asleep. A swarm of bats that lived in the cave flitted visible in the moonlight, making a noise with their wings, while from time to time a nightingale from the orange tree poured forth its mournful song.

And now, creeping out from the thicket into the moonlight, the figure of a man or a woman, in a long robe, with uncovered head and long, unbound hair, comes forward furtively, while the fox growls and takes refuge behind its master. At last the figure comes closer and looks at