Page:Ben-Hur a tale of the Christ.djvu/501

Rh the water which you will find in the tomb in a jar, and set the food for us. We will eat and be gone.&quot;

The breakfast, partaken under excitement, was soon despatched, and the three women set out on their extraordinary journey. As Tirzah had caught the confident spirit of the others, there was but one fear that troubled the party. Bethany, Amrah said, was the town the man was coming from; now from that to Jerusalem there were three roads, or rather paths—one over the first summit of Olivet, a second at its base, a third between the second summit and the Mount of Offence. The three were not far apart; far enough, however, to make it possible for the unfortunates to miss the Nazarene if they failed the one he chose to come by.

A little questioning satisfied the mother that Amrah knew nothing of the country beyond the Cedron, and even less of the intentions of the man they were going to see, if they could. She discerned, also, that both Amrah and Tirzah—the one from confirmed habits of servitude, the other from natural dependency—looked to her for guidance; and she accepted the charge.

&quot;We will go first to Bethphage,&quot; she said to them.

&quot;There, if the Lord favor us, we may learn what else to do.&quot;

They descended the hill to Tophet and the King's Garden, and paused in the deep trail furrowed through them by centuries of wayfaring.

&quot;I am afraid of the road,&quot; the matron said. &quot;Better that we keep to the country among the rocks and trees.

This is feast-day, and on the hill-sides yonder I see signs of a great multitude in attendance. By going across the Mount of Offence here we may avoid them.&quot;

Tirzah had been walking with great difficulty; upon hearing this her heart began to fail her.

&quot;The mount is steep, mother; I cannot climb it.&quot;

&quot;Remember, we are going to find health and life. See, my child, how the day brightens around us! And yonder are women coming this way to the well. They will stone us if we stay here. Come, be strong this once.&quot;

Thus the mother, not less tortured herself, sought to