,,the ,,very ,,god6 ,,think1 ,,abib2 ,,dost ,,thou ,,think8 ,,so1 ,,the ,,all-,,great1 ,,were ,,the ,,all-,,loving ,,too--,,so1 ,,through ,,the ,,thunder ,,comes ,a ,,human ,,voice ,,saying3 8,o ,,heart ,i ,,made1 ,a ,,heart ,,beats ,,here6 ,,face1 ,,my ,,hands ,,fashioned1 ,,see ,,it ,,in ,,myself6 ,,thou ,,hast ,,no ,,power ,,nor ,,mayst ,,conceive ,,of ,,mine3 ,,but ,,love ,i ,,gave ,,thee1 ,,with ,,myself ,,to ,,love1 ,,thou ,,must ,,love ,,me ,,who ,,have ,,died ,,for ,,thee60 8,,an ,,epistle0 ,,by ,,robert ,,browning ,,obil ,,keeper ,,of ,,camels ,,being ,,the ,,parable ,,of ,,the ,,man ,,whom ,,the ,,disciples ,,saw ,,casting ,,out ,,devils ,,and ,,john ,,answered ,,said1 ,,master1 ,,we ,,saw ,,one ,,casting ,,out ,,devils ,,in ,,thy ,,name2 ,,and ,,we ,,forbad ,,him1 ,,because ,,he ,,followeth ,,not ,,with ,,us4 ,,and ,,jesus ,,said ,,unto ,,him1 ,,forbid ,,him ,,not3 ,,for ,,he ,,that ,,is ,,not ,,against ,,us ,,is ,,for ,,us4--,,luke ,,ix3 #di-ej4 ,,by ,,lucia ,,chase ,,bell ,illustration ,,paul ,,elder ,,company ,,publishers ,,san ,,francisco ,how did it happen that this unknown man could work that tremendous miracle8 ,how1 when1 where1 did he get this amazing power8 ,was he some mere street necromancer1 amiably conjuring with the ,holy ,name8 ,was this story which the disciples brought to ,jesus only a bit of incidental roadside news to ,him8 ,was ,his reply simply a gentle beam of that tender love which shines upon all those who may be1 ever so dimly1 ever so stumblingly1 following ,his 8far flag08 ,often ,i have asked of this or that one1 what he thought of this wonder-worker4 ,every one has seemed to think of him vaguely1 indifferently1 as a figure carelessly thrown upon the canvas 8for what he is worth10 or--in most minds--only to reveal the sweet1 meek tolerance of ,jesus4 ,no wonder the disciples1 who were themselves but just stumbling through the first lessons of infinite ,love1 could not understand4 ,it came to me at last1 that the reply of ,jesus was really glowing with mighty inward joy1 with the rapture of possession1 of victory4 ,the man casting out devils belonged to ,him absolutely4 ,no stranger1 he1 to the ,christ4 ,on the contrary1 he had an intimate1 secret1 personal and blessed understanding with the ,master4 ,somewhere1 somehow1 the ,world-,brother had looked into his soul1 seized him1 owned him1 filled him with ,his own power1 pity and love4 ,he had entered into the divine joy1 the divine ,comradeship4 ,he was working miracles of love because he must1 not because he could4 ,copyright1 #aiaj by ,paul ,elder and ,company ,,obil ,,keeper ,,of ,,camels ,,and ,,john ,,answered ,,him1 ,,saying1 ,,master1 ,,we ,,saw ,,one ,,casting ,,out ,,devils ,,in ,,thy ,,name1 ,,and ,,he ,,followeth ,,not ,,us3 ,,and ,,we ,,forbad ,,him1 ,,because ,,he ,,followeth ,,not ,,us4 ,,but ,,jesus ,,said1 ,,forbid ,,him ,,not3 ,,for ,,there ,,is ,,no ,,man ,,which ,,shall ,,do ,a ,,miracle ,,in ,,my ,,name1 ,,that ,,can ,,lightly ,,speak ,,evil ,,of ,,me4 ,,for ,,he ,,that ,,is ,,not ,,against ,,us ,,is ,,on ,,our ,,part4--,,mark ,,ix3 #ch-dj4 ,women called their children to hide under mantles1 or skurried with them to the shelter of dark huts1 as ,obil came riding up into ,carmel on that day of the ,lord's ,great ,year in ,galilee2 ,obil1 and three others1 horses and accoutrements and their own bodies steaming yet from the long rush through salt surf down from ,akka to ,haifa and through the clean-smelling waters of the yellow ,kishon where it puts into the sea4 ,what would he care--to ride a child down--that ,obil8 ,he would laugh to see it wildly flying from before his horse's hoofs4 ,every one knew this1 from ,ptolemais to ,jerusalem and even beyond1 down into the wilderness1 and over across ,jordan4 ,some people said that ,obil served the evil priests--which was far from the truth2 others1 that he was a tool of ,herod1 more silent than lightnings out of summer heat1 and as sure to kill4 ,it was1 besides1 insisted with whisperings and shudderings that he served only himself1 and that somewhere deep among the awful crags by the ,salt ,sea a wondrous treasure sparkled1 hidden by the red hand of the robber1 ,obil4 ,yet there were some1 away out in the hill country beyond ,hebron1 as you go toward ,beersheba1 who could tell of years when ,obil had tilled a few fields there under the kindly sun and had kept cattle of his own on the gentle hills4 ,with his young wife ,miriam he had paid tithes and kept the pleasant feasts4 ,in not one humble home did the ,sabbath candles ever burn brighter4 ,no one's son had been brought up with more loving regard for the plain things of the law than the child of ,obil and ,miriam1 from the very first4 ,these things they knew in ,hebron4 ,but there was in ,obil--here the heads came closer together under the mantles--in ,obil there was a ,strain of wild desert blood1 strong in his race from the time of the first ,obil1 the ,ishmaelite1 ,keeper of ,king ,david's ,camels1 and master of the great caravans that went from great ,hebron down to far ,havilah4 ,since he was a child1 when his father took him on a chance journey far to the ,south1 the desert-lust had come upon him year by year1 driving him from his home till the lust was satisfied and he could return4 ,while he was gone1 ,miriam his wife1 the soft-eyed1 the meek one1 tended the doves1 the lambs1 the goats and cattle4 ,faithfully she taught their little son of the prophets1 and of all the heroes of his race2 of the great priest ,simon2 of ,judas the ,hammer1 and his army4 ,when ,obil came home1 as the boy grew on1 it came to be that he always took the boy on his knee1 first breath1 and asked for his tales of the heroes4 ,and the boy loved to tell them as he stumbled after his father in the furrow1 or lay with him in the cool evening under the vine at the door4 ,every one marveled at this child as he recited long strings of the sayings of the sages1 and prayers and psalms1 and at the star-eyed reverence with which he would touch the name of the ,most ,high on the little folded parchment that ,miriam had placed on the lowly door-post of their home4 ,not only to his father but to every one the boy loved to tell his burning tales of the heroes and the prophets1 until often it was whispered1 8,perhaps ,god will raise up even this child1 the son of ,obil1 to be liberator of ,israel1--who can tell80 ,perhaps1 all unguessed by themselves1 this hope was the reason that1 to those who knew the little family of three1 it seemed a strange and evil thing1 certainly unblessed of ,god1 that so suddenly and silently each year ,obil should go away out of sight4 ,as for ,obil1 he had cared nothing for these secret whisperings4 ,he never had struggled against the call of the desert in those old days1 but had yielded in absolute joy4 ,each year he knew that far to the ,south he would find old ,abdul in the same spot in the wilderness bordering the desert1 waiting at his tent door1 the same horizon before him silhouetted with the same three palms 7one lop-eared71 the same remote1 tawny line of low hills against the beryl sky1 like some vast lion's long1 lithe contour slipping through grass4 ,his horse's harness would click dustily as it slipped down4 ,abdul would utter no word1 ,obil no word4 ,there would be a fire of good coals and broiled meat ready--clean--such as was fit for a ,son of the ,law4 ,the big herd of camels would be there1 and when ,obil had eaten his meal the two would rise and walk with one accord out where the creatures lay1 their drivers among them sound asleep1 the beasts stirring with moans and complainings at sound of this half-familiar footfall4 ,then ,abdul would open his mouth and speak1 while ,obil listened thirstily1 of this camel and that2 one here that was new1 another old one there2 this ugly one that was seized with the desert-lust every year1 so evilly you could do nothing with her till the caravan started--and ,obil affectionately patted her rough hide2 of the various drivers1 and the promise of trade1 and bad shiftings in the route4 ,obil was head of the drivers in those days1 and loved to sleep with them in the open air among the camels4 ,it gave him deep content and oblivion for that time to all that lay beyond the horizon4 ,he satisfied his hunger for the limitless skies at night1 and soaked himself with unspeakable enjoyment in the passionate sun by day4 ,no huge elemental turmoil of that wide life ever disturbed ,obil4 ,sweeping fires of the wilderness1 thunderings1 earthquakes1 winds1 all gave him joy4 ,often he had wheeled his horse to chase the dry wild artichoke--the cursd ,wheel1 when caught in the wilderness flames it was turned into a ball of fire1 and1 lifted and tossed in the fierce wind1 eagerly kindled new fires in its wild flight4 ,other men feared this fiery thing which maddened horses and camels and set vast tracts of wilderness on fire1 but not ,obil4 ,it was true that he had listened with awe to the ,chazzan reading from the ,psalmist1 in the little synagogue at home3 8,o my ,god1 make them like a wheel1 as the stubble before the wind4 99 99 99 ,so persecute them with thy tempest1 and make them afraid with thy storm4 ,fill their faces with shame1 that they may seek thy face1 ,o ,lord40 ,for he remembered how he had seen that fierce ,wheel suddenly snuffed out before the rushing winds1 and he knew by this what must be the angry breath of ,jehovah upon the wicked2 still ,obil feared nothing in those old days1 neither the tempests of the desert nor the fires of the wilderness nor the avenging hand of ,god1 for his heart was good then1 his hands pure4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in the year when ,barzillai1 his son1 was ten1 ,obil said to his wife ,miriam1 8,next year the boy shall go with me to the desert1 that his shoulders may grow broad and his heart strong40 ,and ,miriam bowed her head and answered1 8,as you will1 ,obil--next year40 ,but the child never went with him to the desert4 ,for that year1 while ,obil was gone deep into the ,south silence1 the long drouth swept out of the wilderness with such terrible heat as no one living had ever known4 ,the fierce beasts came down from the mountains into the tilled fields and upon the herds4 ,and the fiery ,wheel came one day and lit ,obil's field of grain and killed the cattle and the sheep that were left1 and devoured his little vine-covered home4 ,miriam and the child escaped the fire1 but she died soon1 of a fever1 or of the fright and shock--he never quite knew--and the ,rabbi ,elkanah1 granduncle of ,miriam1 member of the ,sanhedrin and a very great man1 took the boy into his stately ,palace of ,palms standing in glowing gardens down near to ,jericho4 8,come1 ,obil1 be a man60 the rabbi said1 standing like some great radiant iris in his full-bordered robes of pearl and blue1 and laid a jeweled hand upon ,obil's bowed shoulder4 8,i will keep the boy4 ,the blood of his mother's race is plain in him4 ,it will be worth while4 ,as for you1 doubtless this is a curse1 yea1 and a curse also upon ,miriam1 your wife4 #8,as the bird by wandering1 the swallow by flying1 causeless the curse cannot come4' 8,you have not put difference between the clean and the unclean4 ,you have not washed the wrist nor cleansed the cup before and after4 ,on the ,sabbath day you have lifted many times the weight of the fig4 ,you have eaten things not cooked with intention for the ,sabbath1 and you have on the ,sabbath dried your coat beside the fire4 ,for these things the wrath of ,jehovah is kindled against you40 8,doubtless it is a curse10 said ,obil humbly then4 8,but who of us common people can know the law8 ,it may be that my son shall learn1 if he attends with his whole heart40 8,i will see that he attends10 answered the rabbi with bitter haste4 99 99 99 99 99 ,obil went to ,tyre1 for it seemed good to him to be in a new land among new men1 beside the tumult of the busy sea1 far from that lone blackened field in old ,hebron1 far from the paths of the desert4 ,years went by and then he came riding home--just as he was coming up from the sea on this day of the ,lord's ,great ,year in ,galilee--only then his heart was good and his hands pure4 ,and his heart sang to itself that first day as he rode alone through the surf1 as he climbed the uplands and clattered along stony ways1 8,how tall my son must be grown1 and how wise6 ,no doubt he is marked even now in the streets--the splendid young nephew of the great rabbi4 ,he will hardly be noted as ,barzillai1 the son of ,obil4 ,but no matter4 ,some day doubtless he will be a rabbi4 ,it may be that he has even learned by this time what is the ,greatest ,commandment4 ,this is something the common people seldom can know40 ,he was sure that his son would welcome him with great joy4 ,they would go out to the hill country together4 ,he would have great things to tell his son1 while his son would instruct him in the things of the law1 the things one must know to be saved4 ,the world shone wondrously that day4 ,secretly in the stormy rains the leaves had been glossing themselves1 the long boughs of the plane trees had clothed themselves with mottled velvet in the blue darkness1 the hillsides had gathered acres upon acres of rich purple iris bloom and glowing woof of tulips and anemones4 ,all forms and colors stood out sharply in this clear sunlight2 the backs of the red cattle in the sun1 an old spear point glittering in the grass by the winding brook1 and ,hermon gleaming in his snows4 ,myriads of butterflies flecked the blossoming fields amid the wide humming of bees1 and everywhere--everywhere--the larks sang1 in silver unison with the joy of ,obil4 ,that day faded into dusk before ,obil came to the home of the ,rabbi ,elkanah in its wilderness of grove and garden4 ,in darkness came ,obil to that well-remembered gateway4 ,but what meant this8 ,no lantern gleamed here from rose-wreathed pillar4 ,no sound of any lute floated out from perfumed bowers4 ,only a lone beggar started up from dank shadows4 ,obil's hand shivered as he dropped a gift into the beseeching palm and inquired of the rabbi and his house4 8,dost thou know80 came the quick1 answering question1 whispered with hot breath close in the ear of ,obil4 8,gone--gone6 ,some say dwelling in ,jerusalem1 some that he is gone to ,capernaum4 ,for he hates this house4 ,here died the lady ,sarah1 his wife4 ,here lived and died his son1 the leper1 hidden from the world4 8,and0--here the beggar's face again touched hotly the face of ,obil--8didst thou know ,obil1 the ,desert-lover1 and ,keeper of ,camels for ,abdul's ,caravan8 ,his wife ,miriam was niece to the great rabbi4 ,it was the son of ,obil and ,miriam they took with deceit and hid away deep1 deep in the inner courts of the palace here1 to be companion of their son1 the leper4 8,art thou ,obil8 ,go1 go6 ,let them tell thee these things in ,hebron6 ,let them tell thee how thy son1 the slave1 caught the poison at last1 how they thrust him forth into the highways1 blind1 to beg with the leper herd6 ,there they will tell thee how one black night he wandered over yonder broken aqueduct wall and fell to the stones below1 to lie dead and forgotten1--a ,thing not to be touched or known6 ,go60 ,in ,hebron they told him all1 in much trembling and fear4 ,this it was that changed the heart of ,obil4 ,serve a ,god who only lived to ,curse1 and whose honored servants were like this8 ,never ,obil4 ,he would curse ,jehovah1 kill1 and die4 ,but a strange spirit arose and grappled his soul within him4 ,it said1 8,wait6 ,kill now8 ,keep that for a joy to come4 ,nurse it1 prize it1 plan for it6 ,wait till he has reached the pinnacle of power and life is glorious and very precious to him6 ,strike now and lose the long joy of anticipation8 ,strike now and die8 ,do not be such a fool4 ,take your fill of life first4 ,have your will4 ,defy this ,jehovah4 ,then kill1 and die40 ,and again ,obil went his way4 ,on stormy galleys of the great sea1 into mines of ,spain1 far north to strange icy coasts1 into the whirling wickedness of ,antioch1 carousing from city to city in ,egypt1 but never more to the desert6 ,his hand came to have no mercy4 ,a heap of dead faces might stare at him beside their own charred threshold1 and ,obil could stand1 jocund1 eating grapes from the piteous vine4 ,often he had come back to look in secret upon the face he hated with supreme hate1 wondering if he should strike now1 and yet the strange hand of that mocking inner spirit held him back as at first4 ,those who in those swift visits had glimpses of the face of ,obil did not forget4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and now it was ,april once more2 the same sky1 the same scents in the air2 ,hermon gleaming in his snows just as he did that first day when ,obil came riding up from the sea alone with the song in his heart4 ,away in ,damascus he had felt in his soul that the time was come4 ,he had bought two wonderful blades of steel4 ,one had power that would crush bones1 the other was swift and sure and silent4 ,by crooked ways1 that day of the ,lord's ,great ,year in ,galilee the four riders1 after they left the sea1 began trailing after one another among the sweet wild thickets of ,carmel1 brushing the dew from great flushing bowers of honeysuckle among the oaks1 or skirting some little mossy dell where doves filled all the air with the mellow thunder of their blended calls4 ,the others laughed and sang1 but not ,obil4 ,at other times in that strong swim through the wild waste of waters he had thought1 8,thus will ,i come when ,i have had my fill and am to take the last and best of the feast4 ,more glad will ,i come than the waters of this full stream rushing to the sea6 ,with deeper content than yonder doves in the sun60 ,but today--how strange it was6 ,the waters seemed dumb4 ,they had no message for him4 ,yet he was to take the last and best4 ,he was to strike1 and say1 8,this for my son1 whose life you took60 ,but the old huge joy did not rush upon him now4 ,there was only a weight of dull will instead4 ,one of the three riding with ,obil that day had secret letters from ,spain to a nobleman in upper ,csarea4 ,obil carried under his cuirass gold and gems sent from ,rome by a slave to his master in ,capernaum4 ,another had a debt of his own to pay1 which he was coming home to settle hideously4 ,he talked of it constantly1 with boastings and glee4 ,it was a woman4 ,thus and thus would he do--and then--would he never make an end of his story8 ,obil rode in silence4 ,had he 8turned rabbi08 one asked4 8,here1 ,fulvius60 laughed another1 twisting himself on his horse to turn the youngest rider's face toward ,obil4 8,obil has taken up the doctrine of the new rabbi in ,galilee4 ,if ,i smite you on one cheek you shall turn to me the other4 ,try him60 ,fulvius tried1 and was promptly knocked to the ground1 his head cut on the stones1 his wrist sprained4 ,laughing and swearing by their gods1 and ,fulvius raging1 they set him on his horse and clattered on4 ,obil stopped to pick up a little hurt jerboa4 ,the strange creature1 half bird1 half mouse1 had been nearly crushed1 but it was alive4 ,it seemed to look at him appealingly4 ,strangely1 it made him think of a child he had picked up once and thrown into some dark pool to end its misery4 7,they had wiped out a whole clan that day1 over in cruel ,thracian forests47 8,thou must die10 said ,obil1 and gently laid the thing down1 its eyes turned away from the blaring light4 ,then he drew his hand across his own eyes1 mounted and rode on1 thinking1 8,those ,steaming scents all around go to a man's head on a day like this40 ,and over and over ,obil said grimly in his own thoughts1 8,the hour has come60 ,all of the four had business in ,capernaum1 after which they were to go separate ways4 ,obil went out to ,cana and left his horse at a little vineyard that he knew1 for reasons of his own4 ,and walking on his way to ,jerusalem he came to ,magdala4 99 99 99 99 99 ,that day the ,lord was in ,magdala4 ,all the wretchedness of the world seemed gathered there1--a vast1 groaning1 pleading1 hideous1 tumultuous sea of waiting1 with one ,face shining out of this darkness like a ,star4 ,a ,voice1 infinitely sweet1 told of the ,kingdom of ,god1 while the wondrous hands lifted and blessed and healed4 ,obil stood on the farther edge of this sea at first1 but the ,voice reached him as it poured forth glad news of peace and freedom and love1 and swept away the rags and tatters1 the 8old garments0 of cruel doctrines of ,scribe and ,pharisee4 8,why1 these things are not hard6 ,can a man please ,god with these things80 said the man ,obil1 and a great trembling fell upon him4 8,was it not a ,curse1 then80 he asked himself1 going back to that day of dumb agony when he stood1 bereaved1 before the uncle of his dead ,miriam4 ,something in the pure blue peace of the sky above that ,face made him think of her and see her once more1 as with holy joy she lit her ,sabbath candles and chanted from the sacred song that she loved3 8,the law of the ,lord is perfect1 converting the ,soul2 the testimony of the ,lord is sure1 making wise the simple4 ,the statutes of the ,lord are right1 rejoicing the heart2 the commandment of the ,lord is pure1 enlightening the eyes40 ,he had despised the words and the spirit of that sacred song in those wild years that lay so close behind him1 hated them1 trampled on them1 called them a lie4 ,but now--,miriam cursed for 8lifting the weight of the fig0 on the day that she loved8 ,for moving a bench in her home1 or drying his coat beside the fire8 ,he pressed nearer1 with a mighty hunger to hear of the real ,god1 who loved and did not hate ,his world4 ,the maimed and the halt and the devil-possessed weltering there snarled at ,obil1 8,here1 you lusty one6 ,get back6 ,nothing is the matter with you60 ,for indeed his clear eyes were velvet and full of fire2 his strong neck was like a column2 his shoulders were massive as a good piece of gunwale timber out of ,lebanon4 ,but ,obil did not heed4 ,a stern voice rose insistent in his soul3 8,go1 and delay not6 ,the hour has come6 ,wilt thou avenge not the life of thy son80 ,but with that horrible trembling upon him the man ,obil stood4 ,and the ,lord bent his gaze upon ,obil1--a gaze that was shorter than breath2 yet it lifted his minutest past out from its veiling haze and pushed it before ,obil's agonized consciousness2 all his failures1 mistakes1 misunderstandings1 selfishness1 blasphemies2 all his cruelties and crimes1 and the one long savage purpose to kill1--all arose1 black1 intolerable1 before the flaming purity of the gaze of the ,lord4 ,if the earth could only open to receive him in safe darkness and oblivion6 ,but the earth did not answer his agony4 ,then the eyes of the ,world-,brother looked into his1 deep1 tender1 glowing4 8,come1 follow ,me6 ,hate no more1 but love1 and share ,my joy60 said that burning ,look4 ,back the soul of ,obil answered1 in unspeakable longing1 out of that horrible trembling3 8,thou who forgivest sins1 canst thou forgive the black sins of ,obil--even of ,obil8 ,so will ,i follow thee forever1 blessed ,son of ,god60 ,then quicker than comes the breath1 the eyes of the ,lord beamed upon him in immeasurable welcome1 infinite forgiveness2 and the man ,obil knew that the compact was made1 and the covenant was sure4 ,strange pity and love for these hideous beings around him suddenly streamed into his soul4 ,were they not ,god's children8 ,the ,blessed ,one had said it1 and it must be true4 ,a little shriveled child lay half crushed among the groaning heaps at his feet1 waiting its turn4 ,he looked down in that wondrous moment and knew that he loved this little wretched thing with naked1 knotted1 palsied limbs1--he1 ,obil6 ,tenderly he lifted it into his arms1 and he laid it in the welcoming arms of the ,lord4 ,and again the eyes of ,obil met the deep eyes of the ,world-,brother looking into his1 as one should say1 in full gladness1 8,yea1 now we are ,comrades60 ,then turned away ,obil in pity1 to make room1 and the cripples muttered1 8,it is good that he goes6 ,what has the ,master to do with him60 ,he went forth1 not knowing whither1 but only that go where he would1 he was always to be1 every moment1 within the circumference of that mighty ,love4 ,as ,obil walked he came to a village where the ,lord had not yet come to heal1 nor his disciples4 ,it waited in tears and pain and seemed to be forgotten4 ,the people were crowded in the narrow streets4 ,would he never come1 the ,miracle-,worker8 ,the synagogue was deserted1 the market1 the fields4 ,here in an open space in the street1 an awed multitude in safe perspective1 heads clustered in upper windows or bending over balconies1 ,obil beheld one possessed of a devil4 ,wild white hair all torn and bleeding1 sinewy old arms with muscles and tendons torn and bared1 body naked and gashed1 tongue thick with hateful cursing1 throat hoarse with horribly echoing shrieks6 8,how they hate--those devils60 said a man just under ,obil's chin1 to his neighbor in the crowd4 8,it is hard to know which kind is most evil1 this one that shrieks1 or the dumb--but all hate1 mark you6 ,when a man begins to hate with all his soul1 then comes in the devil60 8,i have not a devil10 said this man's neighbor1 8yet ,i know for myself that what you say is true4 ,when ,i am only mad against my wife ,josepha ,i get dumb--,i do not speak6 ,so ,i know if ,i went far enough ,i would have a dumb devil1 which ,god forbid6 ,but know you this one80 8,why1 this0--came the answer--8this is the great ,rabbi ,elkanah1 he of the ,palace of ,palms1 by ,jericho4 ,by ,simon the ,just1 how he must have hated60 ,obil heard4 ,heard1 too1 the larks on the wide hills of ,hebron1 away back in the dim years2 heard the voice of his star-eyed son1 fresh as theirs1 talking of heroes6 ,a dread voice tolled in his soul and shut out all the world--the universe--with its vast resounding4 8,kill6 ,now6 ,now is the time--the time60 ,and out there in the hot1 white space where the devil threw a black1 writhing1 horrible shadow on the ground1 an answering shriek and wild1 taunting laughter responded to that tolling bell in the soul of ,obil4 8,obil6 ,thou hast come at last6 ,wouldst thou have thy son learn the ,law1 thou dog of ,ishmael8 ,shall my son die and thine live1 thou ,accursed8 ,hear thou1 hear1 ,obil1 ,son of the ,desert6 ,why hast thou waited so long8 ,kill1 kill1 and die60 ,then the stormy blood rushed hotly in ,obil from head to heel4 ,but he remembered the ,look1 the ,covenant4 ,his soul melted in an ocean of love4 ,he ran into that naked space4 ,his shadow braided itself with that horrible writhing one on the ground4 ,on the torn white hair he laid his hand4 ,around that old bleeding shoulder he threw his encircling arm4 8,thou devil60 called ,obil then4 8,in the name of the ,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 ,i command thee1 come forth60 ,then the man ,elkanah sank to the ground1 and he clasped the knees of ,obil1 murmuring low a prayer of thanksgiving and praise1 till those strong arms lifted him to ,obil's heart once more4 8,what is this80 broke in with sharp authority through the babbling murmur that arose4 8,who is this that dares heal in that ,name80 ,muttering together1 a group of the ,lord's disciples stood1 surprised1 displeased1 bewildered4 ,but joy ineffable made glorious the face of ,obil4 ,he looked far beyond them1 and he stretched out his arms toward ,magdala1 and loud he cried1 8,jesus1 thou blessed ,son of ,god1 the victory is thine--thine60 ,,here ,,ends ,,obil1 ,,keeper ,,of ,,camels ,,by ,,lucia ,,chase ,,bell4 ,,published ,,by ,,paul ,,elder ,,company1 ,,printed ,,for ,,them ,,by ,,the ,,tomoye ,,press ,,under ,,the ,,direction ,,of ,j4 ,h4 ,,nash ,,in ,,the ,,fair ,,city ,,of ,,san ,,francisco ,,during ,,the ,,month ,,of ,,february ,,year ,,nineteen ,,hundred ,,ten