100 The Seven Years of Seeking

Lord to bear His cross on the Way Dolo-
rous; or, if that were an issue beyond his
skill, at least some precious memorial of that
saint.

Many things worthy of remembrance he
told of what he had seen and heard; and no
small marvel did it seem to speak with one
who had stood on Mount Sinai in the wil-
derness. From the top of that mountain,
he said, one looked down on a region stretch-
ing to the Red Sea, and in the midst of the
plain there is a monastery of saintly recluses,
but no man can discover any track that leads
to it. Faint and far away the bells are heard
tolling for prime, it may be, or vespers, and
it is believed that now and again some weary
traveller has reached it, but no one has ever
returned. The Ishmaelites, who dwell in
the wilderness, have ridden long in search of
it, guided by the sound of the bells, but
never have they succeeded in catching a
gleam of its white walls among the palm-
trees, nor yet of the green palms. The
Abbot of that house, it is said, is none other
than the little child whom our Lord set in
the midst of His Disciples, saying, “ Except
ye become as little children,” and he will