"Daisy!" said papa suddenly in one of these talks, - "Daisy!
you are not interested in this."
"Papa, it is so uncertain."
Mr. Dinwiddie laughed.
"But the question, child; don't you care about the question?
how is it ever to be made certain? I thought this question
would engage all your attention."
"How can it ever be made certain, papa? After those hundred
and fifty years when there were no Jews allowed here, who was
to remember the spot of the Sepulchre? Few but Christians knew
it, in the first place."
"Oh, you have thought about it!" said papa. "But are you not
interested in a probable site, Daisy?"
"No, papa."
"All these old churches and relics then do not concern you?"
"Papa, I only go to see them for your sake."
"Well," said papa, "now I will go to the Mount of Olives for
your sake."
That was my plan; following the advice of the English party,
who said they had enjoyed it. We hired for a time a little
stone dwelling on the Mount of Olives, from which we had a
fine view of the city; and to this new home papa and I moved,
and took up our quarters in it. Of all my days in the Holy
Land, excepting perhaps the time spent at Jericho and Engedi,
these days were the best. They are like a jewel of treasure in
my memory.
The little dwelling to which we had come was rougher in
accommodation than our tents; but the season was still early,
and it gave better shelter to papa. It was a rude stone house,
with a few small rooms at our service; which I soon made
comfortable with carpets and cushions. The flat roof above
gave us a delightful view of the country and abundant chance
to examine and watch all its points and aspects. I spent the
hours up here or at the window of our little sitting-room;
using my eyes all the time, to take in and feast upon what was
before them. Only when papa would go out with me, I left my
post; to take up the survey from some new point of view. I had
a great deal to think of, those days; a certain crisis in my
life had come, or was coming; I was facing it and getting
ready for it; and thinking and looking seemed to help and
stimulate each other. It was wonderful to watch the lights
change on Jerusalem; from the first sunbeam that came over the
hills of Moab and touched the city, to the full glare of the
midday, and then the sunset colours on land and rock and
building, transforming the dull greys and whites with a flush
of rosy beauty and purple splendour. The tints that hovered
then upon the red hills of Moab were never to be forgotten. I
watched it, this change of light and shade and colour, from
day to day. I learned to know Jerusalem and her surrounding
hills and her enclosing valleys; and the barrier wall of Moab
became a familiar line to me. All this while, as I said, I had
a great deal to think of, and was thinking. Past, present and
future chased each other in and out of my head; or rather, it
seems to me, dwelt there together.