It wuz a lovely morning when we left Jerusalem by the Jaffa gate and went down acrost the valley of Hinnom, up acrost the hill of Evil Council, and acrost the broad plain where David fought many a battle and Solomon went about in all his glory.
We stopped a few minutes at the convent of Mar Elias to see the fine view. From here you can see both places where the Saviour wuz born and where he died. It is a very sightly spot, and I hearn Josiah tell Tommy:
"This is a beautiful place, Tommy; it wuz named after Miss Elias; her children built it to honor their Mar; and it ort to make you think, Tommy, that you must always mind your Mar."
"Mar?" sez Tommy inquirin'ly, "Do you mean my mamma or my grandma?"
I wuz glad the rest of the party wuz some distance away and didn't hear him. Josiah always jest crowds his explanations, full and runnin' over with morals, but he gits things wrong. I hated to hurt his feelin's, but I had to tell Tommy this wuz named, I spozed, from the prophet Elijah, who wuz, they say, helped by angels on this very spot as he flowed away from Jezabel; they gin him water and food, such good food that after eating it he could travel forty days and forty nights without eating agin.
Jezabel wuzn't a likely woman at all; I wouldn't been willin' to neighbor with her.
Rachel's tomb is a little furder on. It is a long, rough-lookin' structure with a round ruff on the highest end on't. Christian, Jew and Moslem all agree that this is Rachel's tomb. It wuz right here that little Benoni wuz born and his ma named him while her soul wuz departing, for she died.
I heard Josiah talkin' with Tommy about "little Ben." I hated to have him call him so, but didn't know as it would do much hurt this late day. Right about here dwelt Ruth and Naomi. A sweet girl Ruth wuz; I always thought she wuz plenty good enough for Boaz, but then I d'no but he wuz good enough for her. 'Tennyrate, her actions wuz a perfect pattern to daughter-in-laws.
Here on these sands the giant, Goliath, strode out pompously to be slain by a stun from a sling sent by David when he wuz a shepherd boy. "How I wished I had some of them stuns to slay the evil giants of 1900," sez I. "If a stun could be aimed at Intemperance and another at the big monopolies and destroy'em as dead as Goliath, what a boon it would be."