"When we overtook you, son of Hur," he said, at the conclusion of the repast, "it seemed your face was also turned towards Jerusalem. May I ask, without offence,if you are going so far?"
"I am going to the Holy City."
"For the great need I have to spare myself prolonged toil, I will further ask you, Is there a shorter road than that by Rabbath-Ammon?"
"A rougher route, but shorter, lies by Gerasa and Rabbath-Gilead. It is the one I design taking."
"I am impatient," said Balthasar. "Latterly my sleep has been visited by dreams-or rather by the same dream in repetition. A voice-it is nothing more-comes and tells me, 'Haste-arise! He whom thou hast so long awaited is at hand.'"