Page:Traditions of Palestine (microform) (IA traditionsofpale00martrich).pdf/96

, and with such did Philip and his wife find an abode. With such did they commune till the midnight watch, and exchange a greeting as soon as the cock crew. They knew not fatigue; and to love as brethren those who believed was a refreshment to their souls.

There was a desert place in the way, where there was no shelter of groves, or springing of water. The pilgrims passed at early dawn, purposing to rest during the heat of the day, among a company of the Essenes who had settled on a fruitful spot in the midst of the desert. As they proceeded, they sang to beguile the way, and the caves of the rocks resounded to the song. If the path was toilsome, or the heats oppressive to the weak and timid, they who were stronger comforted them, saying, “Jehovah is thy guardian, thy shade upon the right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. Jehovah preserveth thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth and for evermore.”

At the fourth hour they arrived in sight of the dwellings of the Essenes. They were cottages placed beneath the spreading date-trees, and surrounded by fertile fields. The