Page:Traditions of Palestine (microform) (IA traditionsofpale00martrich).pdf/44

 “Hast thou no other hour for sport with the little one?” said Sadoc gravely. “I fear lest thou shouldst not have gathered up all the words of the Prophet which I have repeated to thee; for thine eyes have been fixed on the face of the child, and thy hand hath controlled his sports from the first moment of our greeting.”

“I have heard all, my brother, and I have listened with a deeper love because this little one hath been upon my knees. When I think of our Prophet, this child is as a sign of his presence unto me; and when thou goest in to plead with my father, thou shalt take the little one in thine arms, and he shall confirm thy words.”

Sadoc understood not, and gazed at his sister in doubt.

Michal held up the child’s face towards him and said,

“Salute his cheek, but bless him not. It is rather his part to bless thee. He is sanctified; he is not as one of us. He hath been called out of the world, and by the power of the Lord restored to it again. He hath come forth again from God, pure as on the day of his first birth; therefore do I feel that the