His mule, scenting food and rest, began to trot, though very tired, and half-an-hour afterwards Joseph rode into a collection of huts, grouped—­but without design—­round a central building which he judged to be an assembly hall whither the curators, of whom he had heard, met for the transaction of the business of the community.  And no doubt, he said, it serves for a refectory, for the midday meal which gathers all the brethren for the breaking of bread.  As he was thinking of these things, one of the brethren laid hands on the bridle and asked him whom he might be wishing to see; to which question Joseph answered:  the Head.  The brother replied:  so be it; and tethered the mule to a post at the corner of the central hut, begging Joseph to enter and seat himself on one of the benches, of which there were many, and a table long enough to seat some fifty or sixty.

He recognised the place he was in as the refectory, where the rite of the breaking of bread was accomplished.  To-morrow I shall witness it, he said, and felt like dancing and singing in his childish eagerness.  But the severity of the hall soon quieted his mood, and he remembered he must collect his thoughts and prepare his story for recital, for he would be asked to give an account of himself.  As he was preparing his story, the president entered:  a tall man of bulk, with the pallor of age in his face and in the hand that lifted the black taffeta cap from his head.  The courteousness of the greeting did more than to put Joseph at his ease, as the saying is.  In a few moments he was confiding himself to this man of kindly dignity, whose voice was low, who seemed to speak always from the heart, and it was wholly delightful to tell the great Essene that he was come from Galilee to attend the Feast of the Passover in his father’s place, and that after having allied himself in turn to the Sadducees and the Pharisees he came to hear of the Essenes:  I have come thither, hoping to find the truth here.  You have truthful eyes, said the president; and, thus encouraged, Joseph told that there were some in the Temple, the poor who worship God daily with a whole heart.  It was from them, he said, that I heard of your doctrines.  Of which you can have obtained only the merest outline, the president answered; and perhaps when you know us better our rule may seem too hard for you to follow, or it may be that you will feel that you are called to worship God differently from us.  But it matters naught how we worship, if our worship come from the heart.

The word “heart” startled Joseph out of himself, and his eyes falling at that moment on the Essene he was moved to these words:  Father, I could never disobey thee.  Let me stay, put me to the tests.  But the tests are long, the president answered; we would not suffer you to return to Jericho to-night, even if you wished it.  Your mule is tired and would be swept away by the descending flood.  You will remain with us for to-night and for as long