Witness the bones which may be seen here and there, remains of dead beasts, and also legs and skulls of men who perished as hermits, or became the prey of lions.  Such skulls with their grinning teeth, warned the traveller to turn back as he valued his life.  Here is death!  Jesus laid his hands over his breast.  Here is life!  The greater the loneliness, the more keenly may the nearness of God be realised.

Jesus preferred the rocky heights to the plain.  He could see the wide expanse of the sky, and the clouds which wandered over its face and then disappeared like nations of nomads.

One day, in such a spot, he met an Arab chief.  He was of gigantic stature, dressed in the dark cloak of the Bedouins, with a wild, grey beard, and a snub nose in a bony face.  Beneath bushy eyebrows were a pair of unsteady eyes.  His belt was full of weapons, his head was adorned with an iron band which kept his wild hair in some sort of order.  The man looked at the young hermit not unkindly and called him a worm who should pray that he might be mercifully trodden under foot.  He must either swear allegiance to the desert chief, or be burned up by the hot stones.

Jesus scarcely heeded the impertinent speech.  He only saw in the stranger a man on whom he would like to bestow all the happiness that was triumphant in his soul.  So full of love was he that he could not bear it alone.  And he said:  “I am no worm to be trodden under foot.  I am that Son of Man who brings you the new kingdom.”

“Ah! the Messiah!  Jesus of Nazareth, are you not?  I have heard of you.  Where are your soldiers?”

“I shall not conquer with the sword, but with the spirit.”

The Arab shook his head mockingly.  “Who will conquer with the spirit!  Well, I won’t play the scoffer.  You are an orator, and that’s something.  Listen, son of man; I like you.  I, too, desire the new kingdom; let us go together.”

And Jesus replied:  “Whoever wishes can go with me.  I go with no one.”

“My friend, don’t you know me?” asked the stranger.  “I am Barabbas, king of the desert.  Three thousand Arabs obey my behests.  Look down into the valley.  There is the key to the kingdom of the Messiah.”

What the chief called the key to the kingdom of the Messiah was an army which, scattered over the plain, resembled a dark spot spreading out in the desert, as busy and animated as an ant-hill.  The chief pointed down to it and said:  “Look, there is my weapon.  But I shall not conquer with that weapon, nor will you conquer with your words.  For my weapons lack words, and your words lack weapons.  I need the prophet and you the army.  Warrior and orator allied, we shall take Jerusalem.  I have made a mistake.  For many years it has been my illusion that all strength lay in the body.  And so I have cared for their bodies, fed and nourished them that they might become strong.  But instead