From this point of the journey Marduk insisted on riding ahead with
Manasseh, lest new dangers might await them. That sort of clairvoyance
which generous souls have in detecting congenial spirits quickly put
these two young men at ease with each other. Their horses were not
unmatched in strength and nerve, and caught from their riders a sense of
good-fellowship. Scarcely waiting their masters' will, they dashed
together up the steep ascents, raced across the open spaces, and waited
impatiently with tossing manes and pawing hoofs for the laggard train.
Their riders ran many a tilt of wit and braggadocio, rivalling each
other in their stories of adventure. The merchant related exploits in
many lands; enough to have made the reputation of a veteran soldier,
sailor, and merchant combined.
"It is a pity you are not a Jew," said Manasseh. "We have some quick
blood at Jerusalem that would mix well with yours. You see this dagger!"
tossing a bright blade into the air, and catching it deftly by the
handle. "Father Ezra there does not know that his good boy goes armed. I
keep this just as a memento of an escapade some of us youngsters made
from the walls of Jerusalem one night. We sacked a camp of Samaritans
who had come too near us and blocked the road to the north gate. Every
day these half-breed marauders sent some insult to our people; but never
after that night. Nehemiah, our governor, thought that he and Ezra had
prayed them away; and so these saints stole our credit."
"I am part Jew," replied Marduk, "for I belong to all nations. See, here
are my credentials!" producing a handful of coins. "The golden ring of
Egypt, the double-stater of Greece, the daric of Persia, and the shekel
of you Jews. One metal, many shapes; so man is one, nations and customs
many; and, for all that you and I know, one God, and many notions of
him. El, Bel, Baal, Jove, Jehovah, the same metal in thought, but
stamped with different dies. All gods are one."
"Say rather that One God is all," interposed Malachi, who had ridden up
just in time to catch the last sentence.
The party halted for rest and lunch at the upper end of the ravine of
Cherith. The travellers were awed into silence by the view here
presented. The ravine is a jagged cut in the earth, nearly five hundred
cubits deep, in places scarcely wider than the tiny brook that glides
like a shining serpent at its bottom, and winds down, with a thousand
turns, for miles, until it debouches between awful cliffs into the open
valley of the Jordan.
Refreshments were furnished from the well-stocked hampers of the
merchant. The mules and horses were unladen and tethered. The ungainly
camels crouched down for relief under their loads. After an hour's rest
the Jews proposed to take their leave of their kind patron of the road,
and hasten on to Jerusalem. The merchant's beasts should not be hurried,
but Manasseh avowed that Ezra would rather die of exhaustion on the road
than be left outside the gates of Jerusalem after sunset on this
particular night, which was that of the preparation for the great Feast
of Tabernacles.
The parting of Marduk and Manasseh was not until the latter had exacted
a promise from the Phoenician that he would become his guest while in
the city. The Jews joined with others of their nation, pilgrims to the
city, who had halted for midday rest, and who now made their way towards
Enshemesh joyous with their songs, such as:
"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the
Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem, whither the
tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to
give thanks unto the name of the Lord."
Scarcely had the pilgrims disappeared over the hill-tops when two men
were observed climbing up through the ravine. They rode upon mules. One
was old; the other a stalwart youth. Eliezar, the Damascene steward of
Marduk's camp, recognized the elder one as he drew near, and ran out to
meet him.
"Why, it is Ben Yusef of Giscala! And this is the fine lad whom I last
saw the height of a kid! The air of Galilee grows big men, as it grows
big hills."
"But what brings Eliezar here?" asked Ben Yusef. "Was not the northern
country of Syria large enough for the sale of your merchandise?"
In a few words Eliezar narrated how that, from being a private peddler
of such goods as a meagre purse could buy, he had come to be the
viceroy, satrap, tirshatha, prime-minister, or whatever term of speech
might suit the office, of no less notable a merchant than Marduk, famed
in many lands for his great enterprise--"Marduk of Tyre."
"Of Tyre!" exclaimed Ben Yusef. "Then Elnathan and I would speak with
him."
Marduk had eyed the new-comers with that keenness which a merchant
acquires in recognizing the sort of men it will pay to deal with, and
had turned away to give orders for the reloading of his beasts, but
approached the strangers on hearing Ben Yusef's remark.
"I am Marduk of Tyre, and your servant," said he, bowing with
indifferent courtesy.
"My lad has acquaintance there, of which he would inquire," replied the
old man.
Elnathan walked a little way with Marduk; and, as they turned, the
latter was heard to say:
"I can give no information, for my route has been from Egypt across the
desert of Arabia. Nor can I offer you encouragement, since it may be
some moons yet before I again visit the coast. But if your Galilean
flocks are well fleeced we may some day strike a bargain for their
wool."
Ben Yusef and his son, with suitable apologies for their intrusion upon
the great merchant's privacy, and with familiar parting from Eliezar,
went their way towards Jerusalem. Marduk's party followed.