  

Mn},

May, 1932

his heart; and therefore the face of the Lord was turned
away from him. Bad though he was, the prowess of him
wzm remembered and all Israel mourned; but just was his
punishment as meted out by the Lord."
Thﬂdilell-5 Doﬂdﬁfed 1011!; over the tragic fate of Saul
and pressed John with question upon question as they
lwrilked forward into the pleasant land of this plains.
,, Even the buoyant spirits of Peter quieted under the spell
of John's teachings and it was not until the limatone
cone of Mount Tabor bulked in view that the shadow of
Soul drew back into the antiquity from whence it came.
Of Mount Tabor John spoke lung and eloquently and
there were tears in his eyes. For here it was that a man
set apart from all men had gone up into the mountain
and was transﬁgured so that his face did shine as that of
the sun and his raiment became as white as light; and as
he stood thus a cloud formed over him and a voice from
out of it spoke, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am
well pleased." John's voice broke as he told of these
things and once he wept.
"And who was this man, Brother John?" Thaddeus
aeked the question with eyes shining as twin stars.
“Was he alone on the mountain?”
"The man you shall know about in due time," John
answered soberly. "And he was not alone for Peter and
I were with him."
"And John's brother, James," amended Peter, his
face softyand tender as ?‘i1IEllllVin%l a great allild iibilding
love. " es, my man c i , we t ree saw 3 0 t ose
things and we were fearful of what we saw."
,, “Of which, Thaddeus, you shall know all later, but

ll’ 5&9 beside lhe liiot now." John flashed Peter a glance of warning, and
farer, hand in hand, Modded, "We will speak of all this in proper season."
Md-~= he  o+I..3$l“?S§§”.l.‘2i"§‘*}1.l?E‘§‘3l”ZWZ“.f.?.§.‘f§i°.?£2i §‘;.‘.’.‘i‘i?
ambition" . Lion, swelled in his heart. He [felt something of the
intangible bond that held him with the sureness of
gyves to this courteous, reserved mzin of such spiritua
strength. His eyes wandered to the broad face of Peter;
but, he, usually slo clieerfu; of V}l;'0l'd zhnddlook, was silent,
moodily eyeing tie groun as e wzi e .

A turn in the road showed beneath them the white
walls of a village. John tapped the shoulder of Thaddeus
and pointed toward the house tops. "Look you well,
little one," he said. “There is where the greatest of men
once lived. As we pass through it mark the place im-
perishahly upon y’our nierii{or;y. It is Nazareth and of it

oo will hear muci in tie a ure."

y But ‘Thaddeus was not to be impressed despite the
ezirneetnms of John. To his youthful eyes, Nazareth was
but another collection of buildings, the like of which he
had seen many times during the journey along the road,
nor was it as pretentious as many another place he had
passed. Thebrethren did not stop but strode through its
winding streets, and Thaddeus quickly dismissed the
village from mind, for they were now in the fertile valley
of Jezreel and he was listening to stories of hard-fought
and siinguinary battles that marked its past, of those
grim wars between Deborah and Barak and the Syfilllfl
commander Siserii, and of the victory of Gideon over t ie
Midianite hosts; and thelglood of him run the faster as he
heard these tiiles of an e er age.

    

ILLUSTRATIONS
A. c. VALEN,”

'i‘ WAS during the second hour of their eighth day on
the road that Peter gave a mighty shout. Beneath
them, from the height of land on which they stood, luy
Bethsaida, nestling by. the writers of the Jordan, and
Iicyond was the sen liizily lapping the srind of its shores.
“lInmel" he cried lustily, "llome nglllfll" 1" H19 9X‘
ulrernnce of his joy, Pi-ter seized Thaddeus and lifted
him up to the reach of his arms. “Nowb my man child,
we will show you the life of'n fisherman. . I
John stood in meditative silence. gaz_ing with rif-
fcclirmntc eyes at the wooded hills, ranging gently in
r-ndenced assent, and the sea, ciilm_and as blue nslthe sky
mirrored on its surface, and the birds skimming its edge
for fish. A refreshing breeze miidc ripples in the waves of
his hair and his dark beard. He smiled: 5 Ella 5_mll9 It "V"-9
yet not without a touch of hnPl71“'~’55 m "'5 del>’Ul3~
"It could not be otherwise,i’ he spoke to the,flow of the
ivind," and it is right that it should be so. Tis ll place
that ii poetic soul would choose to meet those whorri he
loves. Indeed, here is to be found pl.‘l1COIIl’ICi'lnSpll'Lll2l()n,
and heaven reflected in all its glory of God. A
l-lo looked at Peter and the wrinklm; of the smile
' deepened on his face: eyes twinkled their amusement.
’l‘ho burly one was striding downward at ii terriﬁc pace
and behind him were strung out the brethren» EH01‘
following at top speed his lead toward the village. John
reached for the hand of Thaddeus. “Come. my l|_l-ﬁle 0'19.
ynu shall go home with me. An humble place it is but
none shall he the more welcome; an I HOW YOU? 3'-“Y WIN‘
,. . u shall be in happy one.
‘hen came Dothan 1”“ WI ‘ S
l
-a Syrian troops nttemlmldk, 7 IS words wereto pr0Ve17T0Pl|l:lilb'3]«h'§ltl°gl’}51’l5:l“iil“::"‘°If’I";
a three sons made til’-‘“' ln‘Betl1aalda was of una1l0Y° , ° “ ° ."
. 1 , was made instantly at home by J°l"‘ 5 mﬂthﬁfp II litllllldlelgn
l‘ l i I‘
.'f,‘;;‘;‘3,°,{‘,",',',,,‘§‘.‘,’,‘,,"‘.§i‘f‘.‘L..»j l I l'.i‘.'i"..‘.’.'2i'3?‘..‘I.'2‘i'é‘i‘il.i.’l‘l3}l3i'§i’L“.‘i.‘i“3i3'L.E.?3in§an

Saul, the might)’: mu r:’](:nl‘li‘il.\ll
l power and put PMY “

 

CANADIAN Home JOURNAL

as you were, John,” she commented, fondly, "with hair
that is black and curly, an’ eyes full of fire; an’ mark you
his legs and body, sturdy and strong of build." The
hat fare that the cottage afforded, creamy goat's milk,
bread, fish and honey, was set before him.

Then there were the fishing boats on the river bank,
with their sails furled and onrs stowed within, an alluring
craft he found them to be, so new and strange were they
in his eyes. Peter was already engaged in overhauling his
nets but he found time to gabhle with Thaddeus and
thrilling were the iidventurm of the sea that he told.
John and some of the brethren found much quiet amuse-
ment in listening to Peter's talk and it was just after
sundown when he looked up at them and said, "I go
a-fishing. An’ Thaddeus, here, gain with me." His
mouth set in determined lines as he eyed the others.

"The lad has come far,” John replied, hesitatingly.
“He should sleep this night upon a couch."

“Sleepl What is sleep to a healthy childl" Peter
scoﬁed. “He can sleep as well curled up zi-board ship as
he would at Tiberius on the softest couch in Agrippa’s
palace. Baides, the boy wants to go with mc-—I can
see it in the eye of him—an’ something tells me that he
should not he denied."

John parsed his lips. "Once you get an idea into that
big head of yours, Peter, nothing can dislodge it. But
if he goes, then I go with him."

“And we go with you, also," said the others.

"Fine!" cried Peter, “an’ I warrant me that our nets
will be ﬁlled are the morning sun glints upon the sea."

ITH a happy laugh Thaddeus scrambled on board

and with Peter sat at the stern, and heard much of
the lore of skill in the steering. Slowly the boat moved
out into the Jordan and, with sail spread, ran before the
wind to the broad expanse of Tiberius. Thaddeus knew
little of that night spent at sea beneath the dark dome of
the sky brightened by a glowing scimitar that was the
new moon and jewel clusters that were the stars. The
fresh, salt air had brought to him an overpowering
drowsiness and the surge of the waves against the ship
sung a lullaby that would not be denied. When he awoke
the sun was already above the hills to the east and Peter
was sitting glumly in the stern, nude save for his loin
cloth.

“I fear me, Thaddeus, that we are not the ﬁslierrnen
that you would believe," he grumbled. "See, man child,
not ii ﬁn has come into our nets. We are as empty of ﬁsh
as that man standing there on the shore." He slapped
a thick thigh with a resounding thump.

  
 
 
 
  

~-.

’I3

‘ The boat had travelled some distance during the
night, for there was no sign of the river's mouth, nothing
eircept the unbroken shore line, thickly [r1,»r:d and Qnverred
with thyme, fringed by sanrl sparkling in thr-sun, and the
sfranger, standing beside a fire of coals. Thaddeus lookrai
again and gasp:-rl his delight. "See, Brother John, ‘tie the
Wayfarer! Once more shall I see him."

John's brows wrinkled. "Think you 'l|s he, limp
one?" he questioned. “From here ’twr;ulrl seem that I
know him not.”

I "I know, Brother John," Thaddeus said confidently.
' I could make no niistake of him."

The man on the shore hailed them, "Have you any
meat?"

“No." shouted Peter, “we caught not a fish all the
long night."

“Then cast the net on the right side of the ship and
see wli:-it you will find."

"Uaelins,” grunted Peter. “There's no fish for fisher-
men in Tiberius this day."

"Not so, Peter," said John persuasively. "I would
cast as he says."

Peter glanced once into John's shining eyes and once
to where the white-robed figure stood on the sands; and
shouted, "Out with the not!"

There was a turmoil in the sea and so great was the
catch that the net could not be drawn for the weight of it.
John looked intently at the man of the white-robe again
and turned to Peter. “Indeed, the little one never fails
to know. It is he whom we crime to meet,”

“Ahl" Peter waited to hear no more but reached
down, grasped his coat and, wrapping it about him,
plunged into the sea to swim rapidly to land. John’:
mouth twitched understandingly. "Ever 1 man of
impulse and action. iiur Peter," and, raising his voice to
the others, added, "It were a pity to break the net with
this great load, aswe be but two hundred cuhlls from the
sands."

The craft crept shorcward, John watching the net
anxiously the while. “Almost twenty score of ﬁshes," he
said. “I fear me the great weight will break the mesh.
Never him such ii catch been made in Tiberius,"

Thaddeus clung to the must of the ship, feet shuffling
in high glee. He had seen Peter cut through the water
with the swiftness and surety of LI great fish; on the sands,
now talking with the impeturius giant. stood the Way-
farer; and at the stern of the little vessel was John and
the trailing nct bulging with the catch. Although the
distance to the beach was but a scant thirty feet, it
seemed of interminable length to (Fonlinurd on pour 56')

"Jerunleiiil "lie crlld," ’s perfection of
beauty and icy lo the wliulc earth’. Bahl
a cily oi slsughler ll II. The Temple
reeks of sacriﬁcial blood and uni Ihe
very rocks cry out 'Cru:lly Hloi'.". . .