THE SUN \ 
 STOOD I 
 STILL 
 
 
 
 TO^VNSEND
 
 
 
 ^vo *y .
 
 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL
 
 By 
 Cyrus Townsend Brady 
 
 Web of Steel. Illustrated by The Kinneys. 
 I2mo, cloth net $1.3 5 
 
 A story of how a miscalculation ruined 
 a great bridge and the reputation of a great 
 engineer; of how one man went down into 
 the depth of oblivion carrying the shame of 
 another, but who came up and out exon- 
 erated and crowned with the glory of 
 achievement. 
 
 A Baby of the Frontier. Illustrated, 
 I2mo, cloth net 1.25 
 
 A captivating story of pioneer days and Indian 
 adventures, which carries the reader in a sort of 
 breathless gallop across the Western prairies. 
 Mr. Brady is at his best throughout and relates 
 the thrilling episodes surrounding the capture by 
 a tribe of Cheyenne Indians of the little daugh- 
 ter of the commanding officer of Fort Sullivan 
 with vividness and power. 
 
 The Little Angel of Canyon Creek. 
 Illustrated, i zmo, cloth . . . net 1.25 
 
 "A capital and captivating story of the old 
 days of the Western Colorado Mining Camps 
 days when a man's chances of returning to his 
 cabin at night depended largely on his ability 
 to ' draw a bead.' A tale brimful of vim and 
 color incident to days and places where life was 
 cheap and virtue rare." Christian Intelligencer.
 
 The musical twang still vibrated in the air, when, with a roar that shook 
 the hills, the great tawny lion, leaped into the air.
 
 WHEN THE SUN STOOD 
 STILL 
 
 BY 
 
 CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY 
 
 Author of "Web of Steel," "The Baby of the Frontier," 
 "The Little Angel of Canyon Creek," etc., etc. 
 
 YORK CHICAGO TORONTO 
 
 Fleming H. Revell Company 
 
 LONDON AND EDINBURGH
 
 Copyright, 1917, by 
 FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 
 
 New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
 Chicago: 17 N. Wabash Ave. 
 Toronto: 25 Richmond St., W. 
 London : 21 Paternoster Square 
 Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street
 
 THIS STORY IS DEDICATED 
 TO 
 
 MY MANY FRIENDS AMONG THAT GREAT RACE 
 
 WHOSE VIRILITY AND ABILITY 
 HAVE NOT BEEN EXHAUSTED OR EVEN IMPAIRED 
 
 BY CENTURIES OF 
 DISPOSSESSION, DISPERSION, AND PERSECUTION 
 
 222S421
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 A (THOUGH my vocation is that of a preacher 
 and author I was bred to the profession 
 of arms and I have never lost my love for 
 things naval and military. I have long projected 
 an essay upon the soldiers of Scripture from 
 Joshua to the Maccabees, but instead I chose to 
 write this novel. Let me hasten to give the reader 
 assurance that it is only a story, that it is not a 
 polemic. 
 
 The whole period was so intensely fascinating, 
 so wonderfully dramatic, that the story was al- 
 most written to hand. The fictional touches neces- 
 sitated were so simple, and in a certain sense so 
 inevitable, that the novel wrote itself. Now that I 
 have finished it I survey it with more satisfaction 
 than I usually allow myself to indulge in over 
 my own literary bantlings. 
 
 It likes me well. I hope it will find you in the 
 same way. It is far enough back in history to 
 escape the cloak and sword banality of so-called 
 historical romance, and it revolves about an inci- 
 dent in which even the indifferent express a great 
 amount of interest. It deals with the beginnings 
 of what is perhaps, with due deference both to 
 Anglo-Saxon and the Latin, the greatest race 
 
 7
 
 8 FOREWORD 
 
 of all history and shows that race under a 
 guise with which the present is not familiar. 
 When that Hebrew people shall have come back 
 to their own again in other fields than those 
 in which they are now supreme, I dare to say that 
 the world will again sit up and take notice. It 
 may be, indeed, that the world will come to heel ! 
 Is there not a proverb somewhere that runs 
 "Clierchez le juif"? Well, I let the story go 
 now, hoping that both Jew and Gentile will find it 
 interesting and worth while. C. T. B. 
 
 THE HEMLOCKS, 
 
 Tonkera, N. 7. April, 1917.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 I. THE STRANGERS FROM MOAB . . 11 
 
 II. THE HOUSE OP THE HARLOT . . 20 
 
 III. THE SCARLET SIGN .... 29 
 
 IV. THE ARROWS OF DODAI ... 38 
 V. THE QUICK-PASSIONED LOVERS . 52 
 
 VI. THE FALL OF JERICHO ... 62 
 
 VII. THE COUNCIL AT GIBEON ... 77 
 
 VIII. THE UNLUCKY WOOING . , . . 92 
 
 IX. THE CAMP AT GILGAL . . . 105 
 
 X. THE LYING AMBASSADORS . . 117 
 
 XI. THE OUTCAST FROM THE LORD . 129 
 
 XII. HEWERS OF WOOD AND DRAWERS OF 
 
 WATER 143 
 
 XIII. ONCE AGAIN TO BETH- ARAM . . 151 
 
 XIV. THE SOLACE OF EXILE . . ... 162 
 XV. THE DEFIANCE TO THE FIVE KINGS 171 
 
 XVI. THE MESSENGERS OF APPEAL . . 186 
 
 XVII. THE CONTEST ON THE UPLAND .. 198 
 
 9
 
 10 CONTENTS 
 
 XVIII. ARINNA COMES TO THE RESCUE . 206 
 
 XIX. THE JOURNEY OF ARINNA . . 214 
 
 XX. THE AEMY OF THE LORD . . . 224 
 
 XXI. THE RACE UP THE MOUNTAIN WALL 239 
 
 XXH. THE LEFT HAND OF DODAI . . 247 
 
 XXIII. THE LAST DEFENDER . . .262 
 
 XXIV. THE COMMAND TO THE SUN . . 272 
 XXV. THE BATTLE OF BETH-HORON . . 284 
 
 XXVI. LOVE AND THE RESTORATION 295
 
 IN the beginning God made man and woman 
 "male and female created He them" 
 thereby establishing a dramatic situation in 
 the Garden of Eden ! Be it remembered that the 
 essence of the dramatic is found in contrast ! In 
 all the years that have passed since then every 
 situation, sooner or later, has been resolved into 
 these same simple, primal, contrasting elements. 
 Sometimes it happens that at first there may be 
 two men and a woman, or a dozen men and a 
 woman, or vice versa, but ultimately the affair 
 is narrowed down to a duet ; one man, one woman, 
 to whom the rest of the world counts for nothing. 
 And every life story, like every romance, revolves 
 about those two principals. 
 
 Nothing could have been less like the Garden of 
 Eden than the ghastly ravine up which the toilers 
 climbed. The noun is plural, the men were two. 
 Their aim was one. They were fleeing for their 
 lives; their safety depended upon their finding 
 a hiding-place before the already graying dawn 
 gave place to the brighter day. It had been late 
 in the evening before they had dared to attempt 
 
 to escape from the town, and the first dim indica- 
 
 11
 
 12 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 tions of sunrise which heralded the coming morn- 
 ing found them still climbing the range that 
 bounded the valley. One man was leaving a 
 woman behind ; the other, albeit unknowingly, was 
 approaching a woman before. Consequently the 
 thoughts of one were backward, of the other 
 forward, thrown! 
 
 The twain were desert born and desert bred. 
 The influence of vast silences had been often upon 
 them. They spoke little saving their breath, 
 indeed, for the sharp ascent. Mountains, except 
 as boundaries of the distant horizon, were unfa- 
 miliar to them. More experienced men would 
 have found easier ways of ascent. These two 
 plunged straight forward and straight upward. 
 They had locked in their breasts secrets of their 
 espionage which would be of immense value to 
 the gray-haired captain and his hosts beyond the 
 river flowing through the valley, deep and wide, 
 which intervened between them and the safety of 
 their camp. It was not so much personal fear 
 that made them flee thus desperately for this 
 couple were as bold and as intrepid as any who 
 dwelt in the land but if they were taken and 
 killed their tidings would be lost, the hosts would 
 suffer, the Lord's cause would be delayed; so they 
 climbed resolutely and steadily upward. 
 
 By and by, with a sudden outburst of light, the 
 sun leaped over the mountains that shut in the 
 valley to the east and smote upon them with all 
 his radiance. By this instant illumination they
 
 THE STRANGERS FROM MOAB 13 
 
 saw clearly the pass, if such it could be called, up 
 which they climbed. It was bare, arid, and deso- 
 late beyond description. Perhaps when the rain 
 descended the great naked scar on the mountain 
 face would fill with temporary torrents, but now 
 no drop of water was to be seen, no secluded hole 
 in the rocks sheltered a pool from the waste of 
 evaporation. No shrub, not the faintest indica- 
 tion of life of any kind, appeared. The rough, 
 broken, white limestone rock, diversified by 
 curious streaks of red sandstone, flung back the 
 blinding blaze of the tropic sun with fierce inten- 
 sity. Well was it that they had been schooled in 
 cloudless, treeless desert, else they could scarce 
 have sustained the direct and indirect radiation. 
 They were dripping with perspiration, their 
 throats were parched dry, not only on account of 
 the withering heat but because of their tremen- 
 dous exertions. They were covered with dust. 
 Presently they stopped upon a little shelf of the 
 mountain and stood panting. They were lightly 
 clad in tunics of soft, well-tanned leather covered 
 with bright if roughly hammered steel rings 
 across the breast and around the shortened 
 sleeves which left most of their arms bare. The 
 head of the elder was covered by a round helmet 
 of polished iron, Babylonian in its shape. This 
 was a stout, sturdy man approaching middle age 
 but still handsome. He was broad-shouldered 
 and strong and carried himself nobly, like one 
 assured of rank and station. The other was
 
 14 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL' 
 
 younger, slighter, taller. His black, short, curly 
 hair was covered with a tall pointed steel cap of 
 odd fashion and unusual shape. It was painted a 
 bright blue and a silver serpent was twined 
 around the lower end, the head of the reptile 
 projecting forward as if in the act of striking. 
 The whole headgear spelt Egypt. There was 
 rich color in his smooth cheeks and a fine sparkle 
 in his bright eyes. His bearing was free and 
 gallant. 
 
 Loose belts, through which hung a short sword 
 on one side and a dagger on the other, gathered 
 each tunic into folds about the waist. Each man 
 carried a long spear and shield. Over the left 
 shoulder of the younger man, and across his back, 
 hung a quiver full of arrows, and with his shield 
 arm he carried a short but immensely stout bow. 
 The weapon was strung and ready for action. 
 Both men wore heavy, thick-soled sandals of raw- 
 hide, laced nearly up to the knee and well suited 
 for hard wear. They had perforce left their heavy 
 cloaks behind in the house of the woman who had 
 helped them. 
 
 The day before these two travelers had ap- 
 proached the city of Jericho from the north. 
 They had made a long circuit from the ford of 
 the river, which they had crossed in the night, 
 and following the course of the stream up the 
 Jordan valley they had cut across the country, 
 gained the Michmash road unobserved, and finally 
 reached the gate in the wall late in the afternoon.
 
 THE STRANGERS FROM MOAB 15 
 
 Having sustained easily enough the rather 
 careless scrutiny of the guard at the gate, who 
 received unhesitatingly their assurances that 
 they were Moabites on their way to their homes 
 from Bethel, where they had gone for trading 
 purposes, the two strangers mingled with the eve- 
 ning crowds upon the narrow streets of the popu- 
 lous town. With their long cloaks drawn closely 
 about them they were not dissimilar in appear- 
 ance to those among whom they passed freely, 
 neither were their apparently careless questions 
 of the passersby, or of the idlers at the wine 
 shops, such as to arouse any suspicions ; nor did 
 their half-concealed arms give rise to curiosity. 
 Travelers to and from Moab through the desert 
 and the valley always went armed. It was a 
 necessity for the preservation of life and 
 property. 
 
 But there was one particular equipment of one 
 of the strangers that aroused interest. The 
 younger of the two would wear, and this in spite 
 of the remonstrances of the elder, that tall Egyp- 
 tian helmet of unusual shape, painted bright 
 blue, with the little serpent of silver twining about 
 its base, its head plunged forward in the act 
 of striking. The obstinacy of the young man had 
 attracted attention and eventually, as such ob- 
 stinacies often do, got the pair into trouble. As 
 has been noted, the young man was good to look 
 upon, as many women and not a few men in 
 Jericho observed.
 
 16 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL' 
 
 So soon as it was learned that the strangers had 
 recently come from Moab, the thought which was 
 uppermost in the mind of every dweller in the 
 city at once found voice. 
 
 "Have ye seen the Hebrews?" asked one of 
 the more important citizens. 
 
 "We have," answered the elder of the 
 strangers, who constituted himself the spokesman 
 for the two. 
 
 "Is it true what we have heard of their dealings 
 with Moab?" 
 
 "We kept our flocks near Heshbon. They took 
 it 'twixt dawn and morning, battering down its 
 gates, swarming over its walls, putting men, 
 women, and children to the sword and all else to 
 the flames." 
 
 "Woe! Woe! Woe!" wailed an old blind man 
 on the outskirts of the crowd who evidently en- 
 joyed some local reputation as a seer or prophet. 
 "So shall it be to Jericho, to its towers and bul- 
 warks, to its walls and houses, to its men and 
 women and children," he continued in heart- 
 rending voice. 
 
 A shudder swept over the crowd, which was 
 steadily growing greater in the little open square 
 at which the strangers had arrived. 
 
 "Silence, dotard!" cried a fierce-looking sol- 
 dier, halting a detachment of troops, and forcing 
 his way roughly through the crowd. * * Have we no 
 swords in Jericho? By Baal, they shall not over- 
 run us as they did those Moabites!"
 
 THE STRANGERS FROM MOAB 17 
 
 is so great a god as the God of the 
 Hebrews?" suddenly cried out the young man 
 wearing the Egyptian helmet painted blue. 
 
 " And what know ye about the Hebrew God?" 
 asked the imperious soldier, looking suspiciously 
 at the stranger as the crowd gave way before 
 him crying: 
 
 "Way for noble Segub, the captain of the 
 king's guard." 
 
 " What we have seen with our eyes and heard 
 with our ears that declare we unto thee, O 
 soldier!" quickly interposed the elder, laying a 
 restraining hand upon the arm of his impetuous 
 young companion. " Moab bloomed like a rose, 
 now it lies wasted like a desert. They have eaten 
 us up. Our fenced cities are broken down, our 
 people killed, enslaved, or dispersed. Some, as 
 we, seek safety in a strange land. ' ' 
 
 "Ye shall not seek it here in vain," said Segub 
 haughtily, and his brave assurance seemed to put 
 a little spirit in the terrified mob. "We shall 
 see whether Baal and Ishtar shall bow the knee 
 before this God of the Hebrews, whatever His 
 name. As for our city, it is in no danger. They 
 are on the other side of the great river, which is 
 now in full flood. The fords at this season are 
 almost impassable. Found ye not that true, O 
 strangers? " 
 
 "With difficulty and at peril of our lives did 
 we pass." 
 
 "They shall be held back by our soldiers in
 
 18 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 force. These Hebrews shall not come over. I 
 speak the word of Habal, the king. Go ye about 
 your business, people of Jericho. Ye shall be 
 safe within these walls. And who is that God 
 that shall pluck you from the king's hand? But 
 the day is far spent, " continued Segub. "Where 
 do ye lodge for the night?" he asked, turning 
 again to the newcomers. 
 
 "We are strangers and seek a place of rest." 
 
 "Go ye to the house of Rahab, the harlot, 
 priestess of Ishtar. Say to her that Segub hath 
 sent ye. We shall have speech with ye at a more 
 convenient season. Habal the king, whom Baal 
 preserve, may wish to question ye about this pre- 
 sumptuous desert rabble of escaped Egyptian 
 slaves. ' ' 
 
 He turned away, rejoined the detachment of 
 soldiers which he had left at the entrance to the 
 street, and disappeared down one of the narrow 
 ways that led to the palace of Habal, the king. 
 
 "It grows late, sirs," said the elder of the two 
 strangers. "Will someone direct us to the house 
 of that Rahab of whom the brave captain spoke? " 
 
 "It lieth at the end of yonder street," answered 
 one of the bystanders, as the crowd began to 
 separate after the departure of Segub. "Ye can- 
 not miss it. Look ye for a large house built upon 
 the city wall." 
 
 The two strangers turned and, declining the 
 proffer of further guidance, made their way 
 rapidly toward the house indicated.
 
 THE STRANGERS FROM MOAB 19 
 
 "Is it not a strange thing," whispered the 
 younger to the elder as they passed along, "that 
 two of God's chosen people should seek shelter 
 in the house of a harlot and a priestess of abomi- 
 nations! " 
 
 "I would have thee remember earnestly that 
 thou art a Hebrew, and we seek naught of this 
 Eahab and her women but a safe harborage for 
 the night," was the severe rejoinder. 
 
 "I need no such warning!" cried the younger, 
 drawing himself up. "The position of spy is dis- 
 tasteful enough. I shall not willingly add to it 
 the shame of which thou speakest." 
 
 "It is well," said the other, unmoved.
 
 II 
 
 THE HOUSE OF THE HARLOT 
 
 IN a short time they had reached the end of 
 the narrow street. It was closed by a house 
 larger than the ordinary dwelling of the place 
 and day. The house proper was raised above 
 the street upon a platform built against the 
 wall of the city. The upper story of the house 
 rose above the top of the wall, and as they found 
 out afterward projected beyond it on the out- 
 ward side. A woman stood by the open door. 
 She was tall, dark-haired, beautiful, even if no 
 longer young. Her immodest clothing of rich 
 material, which she wore with a sort of regal 
 magnificence, was bright with barbaric color and 
 her person was further adorned with necklets of 
 gold and silver and jewels ; bracelets clasped her 
 arms and ankles, pearls were twisted about her 
 neck. In her dark hair precious ornaments 
 gleamed. 
 
 With great interest she surveyed the two who 
 mounted the steps to the platform upon which 
 she stood before the door of the house. A little 
 real color came into her painted cheeks. She took 
 a step in their direction. It w T as the elder of the 
 two men in the very prime of life and strength 
 
 20
 
 THE HOUSE OF THE HARLOT 21 
 
 whose noble features and bearing indicated as- 
 sured rank and power who spoke first. 
 
 "Is this the house of Bahab, the " he hesi- 
 tated "the priestess of Ishtar?" 
 
 "It is the house of Bahab, the harlot and 
 priestess of Ishtar," answered the woman, with a 
 bitterness which did not pass unnoticed. " What 
 seek ye, strangers?" 
 
 "Lodging for the night," was the answer. 
 
 The woman hesitated. The color deepened in 
 her dusky cheek. 
 
 "I would not leave ye in ignorance," she began 
 
 at last. "I am not minded to " she hesitated 
 
 again "I have dismissed my women, and as for 
 myself this office has become hateful to me. Go 
 elsewhere for what ye seek," she said harshly. 
 "Ye are not welcome here." 
 
 "Woman," answered the stranger mildly, 
 "thou dost misjudge us. We are not lustful 
 revelers. We seek only for what we ask, lodging 
 for the night." 
 
 The woman stared at the two with deepening 
 interest. 
 
 "By that Ishtar whom I have served," she 
 began, "who is doubtless your goddess as 
 mine " 
 
 "Nay," said the younger, interrupting again 
 with the impetuosity of youth, "we be no fol- 
 lowers of Baal and Ishtar." 
 
 "Silence," said the other sharply, but too late, 
 for the secret waa out.
 
 22 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 The information seemed to affect Rahab 
 strangely. Her face brightened, the frown dis- 
 appeared. The elder keenly watching her noted 
 this with relief. He would not declare himself 
 a follower of Baal and Ishtar, not even to save 
 his life, but on the other hand in their present 
 position of peril he would by no means have 
 volunteered the information the younger had so 
 incautiously let slip. 
 
 "If ye seek but honorable hospitality that I 
 can give ye gladly, " said the woman. " What- 
 ever god or gods ye follow I will not betray ye. 
 Enter." 
 
 She led the way within a long room at the end 
 of which a low dais, or platform, ran along the 
 wall. It was covered with cushions and heavy 
 draperies. 
 
 "Sit ye there," she said, "and let us have 
 further speech after I bring refreshment to ye." 
 
 "Those incautious words of thine may cost 
 us dear," said the elder reprovingly to the 
 younger as they disposed their weary limbs com- 
 fortably upon the dais. 
 
 "Jehovah will have us in His keeping. What 
 makest thou of this Rahab ?" 
 
 1 ' She is a woman passing fair and noble in her 
 bearing." 
 
 "Yes, of course, but what of her strange posi- 
 tion?" 
 
 "Something hath touched her heart and brought 
 her to see the evil of her ways."
 
 THE HOUSE OF THE HARLOT 23 
 
 "Could the knowledge of the True God by 
 any chance have penetrated hither? " 
 
 " It is possible, but we shall soon see." 
 
 Further conversation was interrupted by the 
 return of Eahab with slaves bearing wine, bread, 
 and other things suitable for the refreshment of 
 the travelers, together with lavers of water and 
 napkins for their ablutions. All this she set be- 
 fore them. Dismissing the slaves and drawing a 
 stool in front of them she questioned them while 
 they partook gladly of her hospitality after wash- 
 ing their faces and hands. With unusual direct- 
 ness she began: 
 
 "Did I hear the young man aright when he said 
 he worshiped another god than Baal and Ishtar?" 
 
 There was a long silence. 
 
 "I marvel not," she went on, "that ye hesitate 
 to trust one who hath followed my trade, but it 
 hath become hateful to me, hateful," she con- 
 tinued. "I have dismissed the other women. So 
 far as I dared I have abjured my office. When 
 any come to me seeking seeking privileges of 
 the priestess of Ishtar I am ill, ill." She clapped 
 her hands to her heart, stood up suddenly, and 
 paced up and down the long room raging against 
 her fortune. "I loathe myself, yet I am help- 
 less here. The king, the priests of Baal, 
 Segub " 
 
 "Is there no escape?" asked the elder stranger. 
 
 "Do ye by any chance worship a God called 
 Jehovah?" she asked in turn.
 
 24 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "Blessed be His name," said both men instantly. 
 
 ' ' I have heard of Him from one who sometimes 
 hath stopped here for the night, as in an inn, and 
 holding me in unwonted honor." 
 
 "Woman," began the elder, having come to a 
 decision, "we will trust thee. We will help thee. 
 We are Hebrews. Jehovah is our God. We are 
 of His people." 
 
 "I thought as much. Why come ye hither!" 
 
 "To examine into this land, to see for ourselves 
 its condition, especially to visit Jericho. God 
 hath looked upon this people. He hath seen the 
 cup of their iniquity full and running over. They 
 shall die in their land. We shall possess it." 
 
 "I hate, I loathe this place and these people," 
 said Rahab. "Life holds little for me nay, it 
 holds nothing. I shall welcome the sword. If it 
 were at my throat now I would not raise a hand 
 nor turn away. That Jehovah before whom ye 
 bow knoweth that I speak the truth. Tell me 
 somewhat of thy God. But indeed I have heard 
 of Him before." 
 
 "And whence had you knowledge of Him?" 
 asked the younger curiously. 
 
 "But lately there hath come to my house one 
 Ephron," answered Eahab, resolved to trust these 
 two men as they had trusted her, "a Hittite who 
 is lord of Beth- Aram upon the top of the moun- 
 tains yonder. Oh, he came in honor respecting 
 the rags of my womanhood. Seeing my discontent 
 he spoke to me of another God whom he and his
 
 THE HOUSE OF THE HARLOT 25 
 
 have worshiped since the days of thy great an- 
 cestor Abraham, who, he declareth, was the friend 
 of his fathers." 
 
 "Even so," said the elder stranger. "Would 
 you hear more of our God, woman?" 
 
 "My lord," answered the other, "I crave it." 
 
 She drew the stool to the feet of the man and 
 sat down once more before him while he told her 
 with all the fervor and power of a devotee of the 
 mighty God of the Hebrews. To all that he said 
 she listened with bated breath and flushed cheek 
 and beating heart. 
 
 "Would," she said as the marvelous tale was 
 unfolded, "that I had known this God of thine in 
 my youth before " 
 
 "It is not too late now. Thou art yet young. 
 There is time for repentance and when thou hast 
 shown that thou hast indeed turned from thy evil 
 ways to serve the Lord there will be positions of 
 usefulness, even of honor and dignity, open to 
 thee." 
 
 "And who," asked the woman, going swiftly to 
 the root of the matter with primitive simplicity 
 and directness, "would look with favor upon one 
 
 who hath been a priestess of Ishtar and " her 
 
 voice sank to a whisper "a harlot?" 
 
 "By the power of Jehovah all that may be 
 blotted out," answered the man with deep earnest- 
 ness. "Thou art still young and not uncomely." 
 He paused. "I am alone in the world. I will 
 charge myself with thy future."
 
 26 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "My lord, my lord," said the woman, throwing 
 herself on her knees before him and clasping his 
 feet with her hands. "I am not fit to touch thee," 
 she added, bursting into a passion of tears as the 
 elder man gently drew away from her. 
 
 " It is not that," he answered kindly, "but thou 
 must kneel to God alone." 
 
 ' ' Teach me more of that God, ' ' she said. ' * Oh, 
 how I long to know Him!" 
 
 "In good time thou shalt know Him," answered 
 the other, smiling pleasantly at her. 
 
 "I wait," she replied. "Now tell me how came 
 ye to me." 
 
 "We were directed hither by a soldier, a cap- 
 tain whom the crowd called Segub." 
 
 "Of the king's guard!" exclaimed Eahab in 
 terror. "Since I have feigned illness he sus- 
 pecteth me." 
 
 "He said that he would seek us out for further 
 speech again." 
 
 "Whither went he?" 
 
 "Toward the king's palace," answered the 
 younger. "He seemed a strong soldier. I should 
 like to meet him on the field. ' ' 
 
 "The royal Habal is no witling. He is a wise 
 king. He will suspect more than the somewhat 
 dull-minded soldier Segub. He will have ye be- 
 fore him. If he should discover and indeed one 
 of ye will find it hard to keep the secret" she 
 smiled at him as she spoke, and the young man 
 hung his head shamefacedly "that ye are
 
 THE HOUSE OF THE HARLOT 27 
 
 Hebrews he will have ye put to death, it may be 
 with torture." 
 
 "Mistress," cried a slave, bursting into the 
 room, "soldiers are coming up the street!" 
 
 "Who leadeth them?" 
 
 "The Captain Segub." 
 
 The two strangers started to their feet. The 
 younger drew his sword. 
 
 "Force is impossible," cried Eahab, "and 
 flight equally so. Wait, I have a way. Come." 
 
 She turned, mounted the stone steps rapidly, 
 and led them to the top of the house. It was a flat 
 terrace surrounded by a low wall and shaded by 
 an awning. Instead of luxurious couches which 
 such a house should have afforded, it was covered 
 with heaped-up piles of flax. Eahab stretched 
 out her beautiful hands to them. They marked 
 how scarred and torn her slender fingers 
 were. 
 
 * "I have begun to earn an honest living for my- 
 self and my people with the flax," she said. 
 
 "It doeth honor to thee," said the older 
 stranger. "But for us?" 
 
 "Lie down here," she said, pointing to the wall, 
 "one after the other." She tore the flax away 
 from the corner with her hands, disclosing an open 
 conduit along the wall. 
 
 "I would rather stand and fight," protested 
 the younger. 
 
 "It would be madness," answered Rahab. 
 
 "Thou dost belong to Jehovah," said the elder.
 
 28 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "I take no shame in the concealment. We are 
 in God's hands." 
 
 He laid himself down in the conduit without 
 hesitation, and after a moment the young man 
 did the same. Eahab rolled the flax over them 
 and heaped it above them. A vessel of water 
 stood near by. She washed the paint from her 
 cheeks, wishing that the excitement would leave 
 them more haggard than they were. From a 
 box she brought forth some chalk-like substance 
 and rubbed it on her face. In the twilight she 
 looked ghastly. Then she crossed the roof and 
 sat down on the parapet overlooking the doorway 
 and the street below.
 
 in 
 
 THE SCARLET SIGN 
 
 THE soldiers stopped below in the street. 
 Segub, attended by three young officers with 
 drawn swords and spears, mounted to the 
 platform and approached the door. Rahab leaned 
 over and hailed them. 
 
 "What seekest thou, brave Segub?" she cried. 
 
 "Thou art there, Rahab!" exclaimed the cap- 
 tain, staring upward in the dim light. 
 
 '"I am. Thine errand?" 
 
 "I will join thee on the roof and there disclose 
 it," he answered, entering the door with his fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 He evidently knew the house, for in a few 
 moments he presented himself before her with 
 his attendants. Bidding them wait at the head 
 of the stairs he crossed the roof and stopped by 
 her side. 
 
 "What seekest thou of Rahab, the harlot?" 
 she asked. 
 
 "What a question!" laughed Segub. "What 
 would men seek of thee?" 
 
 "That which to-night thou canst not have," 
 said the woman firmly. "I am ill, broken," she 
 added desperately.
 
 30 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "Thy women?" 
 
 "Save a few ill-favored slaves they have 
 abandoned me in mine illness." 
 
 "Go to, thou jade. Dost think thy white face 
 hath attraction for me?" jeered the soldier 
 brutally. 
 
 "Why then thy presence?" 
 
 "I sent hither two men Moabites they claim 
 to be. They said they had knowledge of the 
 Hebrews. Our lord the king doubteth their story. 
 He is of the opinion that they are Hebrew spies. 
 He hath sent me to fetch them that he may judge 
 them himself and deal with them accordingly. 
 Where are they?" 
 
 "Those whom thou seekest," answered Rahab 
 indifferently, "came hither at thy suggestion an 
 hour hence, and finding I could give them naught 
 but something to eat and drink, they broke their 
 fast and went their way without the city ere the 
 gates were closed for the night. I had but little 
 speech with them." 
 
 "Woman," said Segub, suddenly seizing her 
 by the shoulders and turning her face toward the 
 light, "art thou deceiving me?" 
 
 "Take off thy hand," cried Rahab fiercely, "I 
 
 am still She stopped, but Segub supplied 
 
 the word. 
 
 "Thou art the priestess of Ishtar," he said a 
 little more respectfully. 
 
 Although men held her person lightly as a thing 
 to be possessed there was still a religious aspect
 
 THE SCARLET SIGN 31 
 
 to her profession and to her quality which made 
 him pause. Ishtar might protect her priestess. 
 And the people, among whom she was personally 
 popular from her lavish gifts, might resent any 
 indignities to her. He gave back a little. 
 
 "Search the house," said the woman imperi- 
 ously, "and when thou hast satisfied thyself that 
 those thou seekest are not here, begone and tell 
 the king." 
 
 "If I find them," cried Segub, "not even thy 
 sacred office would protect thee from the wrath 
 of Habal." 
 
 "I fear him not," said the woman boldly. 
 
 Segub meanwhile stepped to the parapet over 
 which he leaned. 
 
 "Follow here," he called to those below. 
 "Search the house. Let no part of it go un- 
 visited, but take nothing on pain of death and 
 disturb as little as possible," he added for the 
 edification of the crowd which had collected in rear 
 of the soldiers. Then he turned to the officers 
 standing at the head of the stairs. "Run your 
 spears through these piles of flax," he ordered. 
 "Some of them might conceal a man." 
 
 He looked narrowly at Eahab as he spoke, ex- 
 pecting some evidence of fear or emotion if she 
 were, as he half suspected, playing him false; 
 but with wonderful self-control she never moved 
 a muscle. 
 
 It so happened that the place she had chosen 
 for the concealment of the two Hebrews was a
 
 32 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 deep depression or conduit in the roof made to 
 carry off water. They could, of course, hear 
 everything that had been said. They knew that 
 if they were discovered in hiding their lives would 
 not be worth a moment's purchase and that they 
 would probably be killed with hideous torture. 
 If a spear touched them they would have to abide 
 it without sound or motion, not only for their 
 own safety, but for hers. In that she concealed 
 them she had made herself a party to their errand. 
 
 The officers ran hither and thither, thrusting 
 their spears into the piles of flax. The work was 
 done carelessly, almost perfunctorily, for Segub 
 was too much interested in Eahab to oversee it. 
 Indeed, the clever woman engaged him in con- 
 versation on purpose. One spear passed between 
 the legs of the younger Hebrew. The other 
 grazed the side of the elder, but neither was dis- 
 covered. Presently the chief soldier appeared 
 at the head of the stairs. 
 
 " There's not a portion of the house which we 
 have not visited, lord," he said, saluting Segub. 
 "The strangers are not here." 
 
 "It is well," said Segub. "Thou hast escaped 
 this time, Eahab," he added threateningly as he 
 turned away. He stopped as he reached the 
 stairs and looked back at her. "For the sake of 
 other days, woman, I give thee warning that thou 
 art under suspicion. As priestess of Ishtar thou 
 hast of late refused thy body for the duties of 
 thine office. Thine illness seemeth overlong.
 
 THE SCARLET SIGN S3 
 
 Take the advice of a blunt soldier. Get well and 
 that soon, and once more perform thine office 
 toward all men." 
 
 Rahab's teeth clenched, her hands intertwined. 
 She started after him in rage, and then stopped. 
 She waited until the last soldier disappeared, 
 then she turned to the pile of flax in the corner. 
 She tore it away. 
 
 "Art safe, art unhurt?" she cried as she un- 
 covered them. 
 
 "Jehovah hath preserved us. Save for a slight 
 scratch on my side I am untouched." 
 
 "And I. The spear ran harmlessly between my 
 knees," said the young man. "I would have 
 given years of my life if I could have arisen and 
 stricken down that insolent soldier." 
 
 "I am older than thou art, boy. Dost thou 
 think it was a pleasure to me to lie hidden!" 
 observed the other with unexpected heat. "I 
 could have throttled the man that laid his hand 
 upon thee, Rahab. Thou wert a brave woman to 
 defy him, and for strangers. We shall not be 
 unmindful nor shall Joshua, our great captain, 
 nor our people, of what thou hast so bravely done 
 for us." 
 
 "What mean ye?" 
 
 "Should we escape from this present peril, when 
 the city is destroyed thy life shalt be spared." 
 
 "I would gladly give it in expiation." 
 
 "Ye shall live to expiate, not die," said the 
 elder man firmly and with meaning.
 
 34 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "My father, mother, my sisters and brothers?" 
 
 "All," answered the stranger authoritatively. 
 "All of thine shall be spared if like thee they shall 
 worship Jehovah. When Jericho falls before the 
 army of the Lord, gather them into thine house 
 and wait." 
 
 "Will ye come soon?" 
 
 "At once." 
 
 "Ye heard the threat of Segub?" 
 
 "We heard all." 
 
 "I will die before I will again be what I was, 
 but I cannot resist long." 
 
 "They but wait our return and report to move 
 forward. ' ' 
 
 "The city is filled with fear of ye. The people 
 quake at the sound of the name of the Hebrew. 
 We have heard what ye have done to those that 
 have opposed ye. The king, the soldiers, and 
 Segub profess confidence in the strength of the 
 walls, in their own swords and in their own cour- 
 age, but the fear of thy God and thy people is 
 upon them. Strike quickly." 
 
 "We shall not fail to do so." 
 
 "Meanwhile ye must get away at once." 
 
 "Most certainly, but how and where?" 
 
 "The gates of the city will be guarded, but 
 this house overhangs the wall. The night is dark. 
 The stars give but little light. I will let ye down 
 from the house. Come." 
 
 Followed by the Hebrews she crossed the roof, 
 descended the stairs to the next floor, and from a
 
 THE SCARLET SIGN 35 
 
 recess in the wall she brought coils of light but 
 strong rope stained bright scarlet. The windows 
 looking toward the country beyond the walls 
 were, of course, securely and heavily barred. 
 
 "Ye must break open a way," the woman 
 began. 
 
 "I can remedy that if I have a piece of iron," 
 said the young man. 
 
 Presently she fetched him a rude farming tool 
 from the floor below. Using it as a lever he 
 forced two of the bars out of their sockets. 
 
 "They must be replaced in the morning to give 
 no sign, ' ' he said, examining the opening and find- 
 ing it large enough to pass not only his own 
 slender body but that of his more bulky com- 
 panion. 
 
 "I shall see to that. Work quickly," was the 
 answer. 
 
 He made the red rope fast to the remaining bar. 
 
 "All is ready," he said. "Woman, I, Dodai, 
 a Prince of the Tribe of Benjamin, give thee my 
 gratitude and my respect." 
 
 He bent low before her. 
 
 "Go first," said the elder. 
 
 Without hesitation the younger threw his leg 
 over the sill and seized the rope. As he did so 
 a noise came to him. He leaned far out and 
 heard the trampling of horses, the jingle of bits, 
 the rattle of armor, words of command. 
 
 "What will that be!" he asked as Eahab and 
 the other joined him in the window.
 
 36 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "Soldiers," answered the woman. "They are 
 seeking ye." 
 
 "Let us see which way they will come, this or 
 the other." 
 
 Fortunately they turned away and disappeared 
 beyond the gate. As the noises died away in the 
 silence Rahab broke it. 
 
 "They seek ye at the fords of the Jordan. Ye 
 cannot go that way." 
 
 "Whither, then?" 
 
 "There is concealment in the mountains. Be- 
 fore daybreak ye can be safely hid on the upland." 
 
 "WTiere dwells that Hittite of whom thou 
 hast told us?" 
 
 "Yonder," said the woman, pointing beyond 
 the great headland known as Quarantania. "He 
 will give ye shelter. I should lie close there and 
 wait until they give over the pursuit." 
 
 "It is well. We shall do so. Descend," com- 
 manded the elder. 
 
 The head of the younger disappeared in the 
 night beneath the sill as he lowered himself hand 
 over hand down the rope. The elder Hebrew 
 turned to the woman. 
 
 "Thy services shall not be forgotten. The day 
 that the Host of the Lord encamps before Jericho 
 twine this red cord of thine in the bars of this 
 window. It shall be a sign and a protection for 
 thee. Keep close at home when the city is taken. 
 Put a red cord also before thy door, and none 
 shall harm thee."
 
 THE SCARLET SIGN 37 
 
 "My lord," said the woman humbly, "thine 
 handmaid heareth." 
 
 "And it shall be that I shall not forget thee," 
 said the Hebrew gravely. He laid his hand on 
 the woman's bowed head. "There is happiness 
 in store for thee and honor. I, Salmon, a Prince 
 of the Tribe of Judah, shall see to it if thou wilt 
 intrust thyself to me." 
 
 "My lord," said the woman again, "thy bond- 
 woman heareth." She caught his hand from her 
 head and pressed it to her heart. "If thou dost 
 not disdain the prayer of a harlot that was but 
 is no longer, may thy God have thee, Salmon, and 
 the youth Dodai in His keeping."
 
 """ THINK," said the elder man as the two 
 came to a pause shortly after sunrise, "that 
 we are safe now." 
 
 He stepped to the edge of the shelf, from which 
 he had a far view of the earth beneath and stared 
 down into the valley. In contrast to the arid and 
 desolate gorge in the mountains up which they 
 had come the valley was clothed with verdure. 
 The city from which they had escaped crowned 
 the top of a little hillock midway between the 
 mountains and the river. All about it were thick 
 groves of palms, pomegranates, and other 
 forestry of the tropic land. The bright, rapidly 
 flowing river, which shone like silver in the morn- 
 ing light, ran through fringes of acacias. Far 
 off to the southward, gleaming like a polished 
 shield, embosomed in dark, rugged treeless cliffs, 
 the placid waters of a great lake extended indefi- 
 nitely, hiding their bitterness in peaceful stillness. 
 
 The whole gorgeous, luxuriant panorama was 
 spread out before them. With the white walls 
 of its houses the city embowered in trees looked 
 like a handful of pearls in a goblet of emerald. 
 Cattle stood here and there in the lush meadows ;
 
 THE ARROWS OF DODAI 39 
 
 sheep were pastured upon every hill. Bands of 
 men could be seen on the farther side of the city 
 making toward the river. Fully armed, flashes of 
 light proclaimed the reflection of the sun upon 
 their helms or shields or spear points. 
 
 "We are surely safe now," repeated the elder 
 man, relief and satisfaction in his voice; "there 
 hath been no pursuit. And if there were we could 
 hold this rift in the mountains against any enemy. 
 The soldiers yonder are those we heard." He 
 pointed across the valley with his sinewy, brown, 
 naked, muscular arm. "They are seeking us at 
 the fords." 
 
 "There is no escape that way," said the 
 younger. 
 
 "We shall wait until the night fall and then 
 try," resumed his companion. "Oh, for a drop of 
 water and a place to couch ourselves for rest!" 
 
 "But how shall we cross even when night doth 
 come?" 
 
 "Perhaps they will have wearied of their watch 
 and will withdraw from the fords. Thou canst 
 not swim?" 
 
 "And where should I have learnt that art in 
 the desert where I was born?" 
 
 "True, and I am not in much better case," 
 answered the elder, "for I have not essayed it 
 since I was a boy by the Eed Sea, but we shall 
 manage somehow. For the present there is still 
 the range to be surmounted. Once on the crest 
 we may find water and shelter and food,"
 
 40 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 " Perhaps the lord of Beth- Aram of whom the 
 woman spoke." 
 
 "It may be we shall be guided to the house of 
 that believing Hittite." 
 
 ' * On the other hand, we are like to fall into the 
 hands of an enemy." 
 
 "It is more than likely, but we must chance 
 it. Jehovah hath us in His keeping." 
 
 "Thou dost comfort me with that thought." 
 
 "Then come." 
 
 "It must be so, let us go on." 
 
 "Yes, but before thou goest look once more at 
 the house on the wall of the town, whence we 
 escaped last night." 
 
 "I see it yonder." 
 
 "Forget it not. That woman impressed me 
 strangely. She seemeth repentant of her evil 
 trade and anxious to believe in our God, ' ' said the 
 elder man. 
 
 "Jehovah give her peace," said the younger 
 man gravely. 
 
 "Amen. She was a woman well-favored, and 
 our promise must be kept." 
 
 "That indeed," assented the youth. "Joshua 
 and the elders will confirm it. But let us go." 
 
 Refreshed somewhat by their brief pause, the 
 two turned to the hill, here more precipitous than 
 in any other portion of their ascent. Their 
 natural sturdiness, activity, and strength served 
 them well here. They made their way upward 
 over paths which had they stopped to consider
 
 THE ARROWS OF DODAI 41 
 
 would have been impassable, and so at last they 
 reached the crest. 
 
 They found themselves suddenly transported, 
 as if by magic, into the realm of the unexpected, 
 for here was grass, green and fresh, a little cup- 
 shaped valley, hidden until they came upon it 
 suddenly. It was surrounded by lowering cliffs. 
 Sheep browsed on the hillside. Within a stone- 
 walled inclosure cattle were pastured. At the 
 opposite end of the oasis a group of olive trees 
 spread their rich green leaves in the bright sun- 
 light. The air which had come to them with 
 deadly heat as they climbed, touched them now 
 with a sudden and grateful coolness. Down 
 through the center of the valley a little stream 
 ran to lose itself in the grassy slopes of the 
 brink after it had filled a deep, well-paved pool. 
 Far back within the trees could be discerned the 
 white walls of a spacious habitation, apparently 
 builded out of the native limestone of the hills. 
 
 Climbing over the brink of the chasm and sur- 
 mounting the low wall which formed the outmost 
 barrier of this pleasant valley, the newcomers 
 stood petrified with surprise and astonishment. 
 A low exclamation of delight burst from the lips 
 of the younger, who was less controlled than the 
 elder. They stood and gazed a few moments, 
 their eyes sweeping the landscape. Suddenly, 
 the younger touched the elder on the shoulder 
 and pointed off to the right. The grassy sward 
 terminated in thick bushes out of which trees
 
 42 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 grew and above which the crags sprang skyward. 
 Upon a rock, just at the edge of the coppice, 
 beneath the shadow of the dark green leaves of 
 a far-spread and ancient terebinth a woman sat. 
 Her back was turned toward them. Her elbow 
 rested upon her knee, her head in her hand. She 
 was day-dreaming even thus early in the morning. 
 Day-dreaming, quite unconscious of the presence 
 in the valley of certain and possible enemies. No 
 bark of dog or bleat of sheep had heralded the 
 approach of the strangers. They had come noise- 
 lessly. Equally without proclamation, a great 
 tawny beast driven by hunger from his moun- 
 tain lair, was slinking through the undergrowth 
 back of the woman, getting into position for a 
 spring which would land him upon his prey. He 
 went noiselessly, scarcely shaking a leaf in his 
 progress. 
 
 The two men, keen-eyed, watchful, observant of 
 everything, saw the faint slow movement through 
 the undergrowth, marked the outline of the mov- 
 ing animal and divined instantly what it was. 
 To act at once was as natural as to breathe. The 
 young man tore from the quiver a heavy war 
 arrow, meant for mastery, designed to pierce 
 through the mail or armor of the day. Quick as 
 a thought he fitted it to the bow, lifted it, and with 
 all his force drew back the string until the head 
 of the arrow rested upon his clenched hand. 
 
 "Now may Jehovah guide thine arm," whis- 
 pered the elder, who had raised his spear arid
 
 THE ARROWS OF DODAI 43 
 
 loosened his sword in its sheath, "thou hast not 
 a moment ' 
 
 But as he spoke the younger released the string 
 in the nick of time. The musical twang still vi- 
 brated in the air, when, with a roar that shook 
 the hills, the great tawny lion, every nerve already 
 set for the spring, leaped into the air, and fell 
 crashing down, biting fiercely at the deadly arrow 
 buried to the feathers around which the blood 
 spurted from his side. 
 
 The woman sprang to her feet with a scream 
 and stared backward. As she did so her eyes 
 fell on the writhing figure of the huge beast, 
 rolling in agony, roaring in pain and rage at 
 this deadly weapon piercing his vitals. Utterly 
 uncomprehending and yet paralyzed with the 
 sense of her danger, she stood rooted to the spot. 
 It was evidence of her nerve and courage, her 
 self-control, that she did not faint, though it 
 seemed her heart stood still. Presently she heard 
 a voice that seemed to come from afar, so low was 
 it to her consciousness, although in reality the 
 words were shouted with the full power of a 
 strong man's lungs. 
 
 "Bide thou still, woman," was the message. 
 "I will save thee." 
 
 She heard a whir through the air, was dimly 
 conscious of something like a flash of light and 
 another arrow buried itself in the prostrate 
 animal. The second arrow acted as a strange 
 stimulus. The lion got to his feet, and stood
 
 44 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 wavering, yet determined. The next instant a 
 figure interposed between the woman and the 
 beast, a sword flashed. Deftly avoiding a blow 
 from the mighty paw as the lion desperately rose 
 to strike, the sword darted into the throat of 
 the great beast and came back wet with blood. 
 It was the coup de grace, indeed, for all that had 
 been ferocity and power and life a few seconds 
 before rolled over dead. 
 
 "Well shot and well struck," said the elder 
 man, coming toward the other. "Thy brethren 
 will be proud of thee when I have told this tale. 
 This young man's arm, woman, hath saved thy 
 life." 
 
 "Thou shalt not find me ungrateful," answered 
 the woman, slowly battling for self-control success- 
 fully at last, and speaking the same language as 
 the newcomers; with a difference of accent, 
 however. 
 
 "Good," said the elder man. "We have toiled 
 all night and are weary. Give us, we pray thee, 
 food and drink and bestow us somewhere that 
 we may rest." 
 
 "Gladly," said the woman, "but first," she 
 turned to the younger, who had stood staring 
 at her, "tell me, I pray, your names." 
 
 "I am Dodai," directly replied the younger 
 man, "son of Ahoah, of the Tribe of Benjamin 
 of the children of Abraham." 
 
 "Thou art a Hebrew?" 
 
 "lam."
 
 THE ARROWS OF DODAI 45 
 
 "And thy companion?" 
 
 "I am Salmon, son of Nahshon, of the Tribe 
 of Judah," said the elder, answering for himself. 
 
 "What do ye here?" 
 
 "Question for question, maiden," said the elder 
 man shrewdly. "Who art thou? Nay, we ask 
 not from idle curiosity, but perhaps the slight 
 service rendered thee shall make thee kind to 
 our request." 
 
 "I am called Arinna, only daughter of Ephron, 
 of the Tribe of Zohar." 
 
 "It was from one Ephron the Hittite " be- 
 gan Salmon, his eyes shining with pleasure. 
 
 "And I am of that race." 
 
 "That our father Abraham bought a field that 
 contained the Cave of Machpelah, where he lieth 
 buried with his wife under the old oaks of Mamre 
 over against Hebron," said Salmon. 
 
 "Although none of thy race have been near 
 the place for three hundred years, it still re- 
 maineth in thy possession. Thou wilt find the 
 grave inviolate when thou comest there," the 
 woman returned. "As that great Abraham was 
 thine ancestor, so that Ephron his friend was 
 mine." 
 
 "Thou art not of Jericho, then?" 
 
 "Nay, I am of this place." 
 
 "And how is this place called?" 
 
 "Beth- Aram." 
 
 "The house of the hills," said the elder man, 
 translating the word. "It is well named," he
 
 46 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 added, looking about him. "We are fortunate. 
 This is the place of which the woman spoke," he 
 added to his youthful companion, who had eyes 
 and ears for nothing but the lovely girl to whom 
 he had just rendered such great service. 
 
 "My father keeps his flocks yonder, and tills 
 the fields hereabouts. There is a spring here 
 that hath been in possession of my family for 
 hundreds of years." 
 
 "But in the winter!" asked the younger man. 
 
 "My mother," said the woman, "was a 
 Hittite of the town of Gibeon, by the pool upon 
 the upland. We dwell there then." 
 
 "Let there be friendship between me and thee, 
 maiden," said Dodai suddenly, extending his 
 hand. 
 
 He had been devouring her with his glance as 
 she stood before him while Salmon's tongue had 
 run on. 
 
 "My life is thine, lord," said the young woman, 
 fearlessly meeting his hand with her own, "but 
 thou art weary and tired with thy long hard 
 journey." 
 
 "Hungry and thirsty, too," interposed Salmon, 
 determining that the main point should not be 
 lost sight of. 
 
 "Come with me to the house. I would present 
 thee to my father, who will thank thee for this." 
 She looked back at the great lion. "Slaves will 
 prepare his skin for thee as a trophy of thy 
 prowess. Come."
 
 THE ARROWS OF DODAI 47 
 
 She turned and led the way across the sward 
 toward the white walls of the house. The two 
 men followed, one as if in a dream. Arinna, the 
 daughter of Ephron the Hittite, of the Tribe of 
 Zohar, was passing fair. Salmon had looked on 
 women of other peoples than those from which 
 he sprang, and his mind was now filled with 
 Bahab's gorgeous picture, but the life of Dodai 
 had been passed altogether with the tribes of 
 Israel. He had never seen a woman like this. 
 Through long years of intermarriage with other 
 people, the original Mongol features of the Hit- 
 tites had been ameliorated. The young girl, for 
 in years it was obvious that she had scarcely yet 
 reached woman's estate, was as blond as an 
 Amorite, her eyes were blue, her complexion fair, 
 her hair a rich light brown. The skin of her neck 
 and arms, save where browned by the sun, was 
 as white as milk when the movement of her loose 
 dress in the gentle wind revealed it. 
 
 She wore a short-sleeved tunic of blue that fell 
 to her knees and was girdled beneath her breasts 
 by a cincture of byssus, woven of fibers stolen 
 from the sea and dyed yellow. Over the tunic 
 was a short, sleeveless Tyrian vest embroidered 
 with gold. A cloak of wool, striped blue and 
 white, was thrown across her shoulders and kept 
 from falling to the ground by a silver chain and 
 in place of a veil a cap of silver net covered her 
 head. On her little feet were sandals laced half- 
 way to the knees. She was a woman of medium
 
 48 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 stature and as slightly and gracefully built and 
 formed as a young fawn. Dodai was quite con- 
 tented to follow at her heels, although he envied 
 the cloak that she drew about her as she ran and 
 which half hid, half revealed the graces of her 
 charming figure. 
 
 In no short time they drew near the walled 
 inclosure surrounding the house. Slaves ap- 
 peared and, being bidden by their mistress, sum- 
 moned others, who straightway betook them- 
 selves to the coppice where the body of the lion 
 lay. Passing through a gate in the wall, the 
 maiden led the way to the house and entered 
 through a doorway in the wall. 
 
 She beckoned to the strangers to follow. When 
 their eyes became accustomed to the darkness of 
 the room in which they found themselves, they 
 saw a man of noble aspect, seated cross-legged 
 upon a dais with a little table before him upon 
 which lay certain parchments he was apparently 
 discussing with the upper servants who were 
 giving account of their charge. 
 
 ' 'My father," began the maiden, and Dodai, 
 at least, thought he had never heard the words 
 so sweetly pronounced, "here are strangers crav- 
 ing thy hospitality." 
 
 "Come they in peace or war, they cannot ask 
 hospitality of Ephron in vain. Sirs, ye are 
 welcome." 
 
 "They have a double claim to thy considera- 
 tion, my father," continued Arinna.
 
 THE ARROWS OF DODAI 49 
 
 "And what is that, my child?" 
 
 "As I sat musing under the great terebinth 
 near the top of the hill, a lion crept upon me 
 unawares and but for the quick action of this 
 bowman I had not lived to tell thee this tale." 
 
 "My son," said Ephron, turning to the young 
 man and speaking with all the courtesy of his day 
 and race, "more than life itself to me is this 
 daughter of mine old age. All that I have is 
 thine and thy companion's. Ask what thou wilt." 
 
 "We seek nothing but food, drink, and a place 
 to sleep, noble Ephron," interposed Salmon. 
 
 "And that thou shalt have at thy pleasure," 
 answered the other. He clapped his hands and 
 slaves came running from some inner apartment. 
 "Set forth food and drink, the best that we have 
 in the house, for these noble strangers," he said. 
 
 As the slaves ran to obey this behest, Ephron 
 rose and approached the newcomers. 
 
 "Ye speak our language," he began, "but with 
 a difference. Whence come ye and what is your 
 errand! But stay," he added, as Salmon opened 
 his lips to answer, "tell me nothing unless it be 
 thy pleasure. As guests and as preservers of 
 my daughter, the house is thine and we are thine 
 without question." 
 
 "We are Hebrews," answered Salmon, giving 
 his name and family, "and this is Dodai, a Prince 
 of the Tribe of Benjamin. We were in Jericho 
 yesterday and through the connivance of Rahab, 
 the harlot, we were let down from the main wall
 
 50 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 last night and made our escape to these moun- 
 tains. 
 
 "I know that Bahab," interrupted Ephron as 
 Salmon purposely paused in his account. "She 
 is a most unhappy woman. " 
 
 "So we observed. She told us of thee, and 
 promised us a welcome if we chanced upon Beth- 
 Aram." 
 
 "She spoke truly. Ye have it. But what, if I 
 may ask, sought ye in Jericho and in the house 
 of Kahab the harlot and the priestess of Ishtar?" 
 
 "We were sent by our great Captain Joshua, 
 the leader of the Lord's host, to spy on the land 
 and especially that city, Jericho," answered 
 Salmon, now resolved that it was safe to confide 
 in this grave and noble Hittite. 
 
 "An evil city and full of wickedness and 
 idolatry and blood," answered Ephron. 
 
 "It is devoted to destruction," said Dodai 
 fiercely. "In its abominations shall it perish." 
 
 "Having escaped from it with our lives we 
 await our chances to recross the fords of the 
 Jordan and carry our report to Joshua and the 
 great council of the tribes," continued Salmon. 
 
 "As Hebrews ye are, of course, worshipers of 
 Jehovah?" said Ephron. 
 
 "We are, blessed be His name," answered both 
 the newcomers in unison. 
 
 "I, too, worship the great God of the Hebrews." 
 
 "And where didst thou learn of Him?" asked 
 Salmon.
 
 THE ARROWS OF DODAI 51 
 
 "From that Ephron who was the friend of 
 Abraham, who was the friend of God." 
 
 "Let there be peace between the house of 
 Ephron and the house of Israel,'* said Salmon, 
 extending his hand. 
 
 "Amen to that/' answered Ephron, not ob- 
 serving that actuated by a common impulse 
 Arinna, his daughter, and Dodai, the son of 
 Ahoah, had also ratified the agreement in the 
 same way.
 
 THE QUICK-PASSIONED LOVERS 
 
 IT would have been much more to the taste 
 of Dodai to have spent the day, so auspi- 
 ciously begun, in delightful conversation with 
 the maiden who had at once made so deep an 
 impression upon his virgin heart ; but, as Salmon 
 pointed out, their need of sleep and rest was 
 imperative. It was highly important that what 
 they had learned should be imparted to Joshua 
 and the elders as soon as possible. The next 
 night, or the day after at the latest, must find 
 them on their way; and as they would have to 
 cross the Jordan River in full flood, the banks 
 of which were now apparently well patrolled, and 
 at the same time run the gantlet of the Canaan- 
 itish guard at whatever ford they elected to try, 
 they would need to be in the best possible trim for 
 the perilous undertaking, so he overbore his 
 young companion's objections and carried him 
 off to the cool and quiet inner chambers of the 
 house which were tendered them by the generous 
 Hittite. 
 
 Dodai had vainly insisted that it would be no 
 use, that he was not sleepy, and that he was not 
 tired. He had expected, even when his objec- 
 
 58
 
 THE QUICK-PASSIONED LOVERS 53 
 
 tions had been overborne, to spend the hours in 
 thinking of Arinna; but he had underestimated 
 his fatigue, and after all it was old Salmon who 
 awoke first and aroused the youthful Benjamite. 
 
 "It is late in the afternoon," began Salmon, 
 drawing the curtain from the window and show- 
 ing the low-declining sun. "Thou hast slept the 
 day through. Art rested?" 
 
 "I feel strong enough for any demand, re- 
 freshed and ready," answered Dodai, rather 
 shamefacedly it must be admitted as he caught the 
 twinkle in Salmon's eyes. 
 
 The elder Hebrew had not been unmindful of 
 the sudden admiration in which the younger held 
 the daughter of the house. Being in love him- 
 self he was glad to recognize the symptoms in 
 others. 
 
 "That being the case we will start for the camp 
 after sunset." 
 
 "Would it not be well to wait another day?" 
 Dodai questioned rather appealingly. 
 
 "Why? Art unequal to the journey?" 
 
 Now this was in the nature of a poser since 
 Dodai had already committed himself on that 
 point. He stared at Salmon, his color deepening, 
 unable to think of a satisfactory reply. 
 
 "I have marked thee," continued the elder, 
 lifting a warning hand. "Let not thine heart 
 go out to a strange woman of Canaan. Thou 
 knowest well how these mixed marriages are re- 
 garded by the elders of Israel."
 
 54 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 ' ' Saving the respect due to thine age and rank, 
 my worthy counselor," Dodai returned quickly, 
 "the warning might with propriety be made to 
 thee as well." 
 
 For a moment Salmon frowned and then, the 
 hit being so palpable, he laughed. 
 
 "We be passengers in the same ship, thou and 
 I, son of Ahoah. Although Rahab hath rendered 
 the cause great service, while this maiden " 
 
 "Is already a worshiper of Jehovah." 
 
 "Is it so?" 
 
 "Her father, Ephron " 
 
 "Aye! But I have known women to follow the 
 religion of their mothers, and she who bore this 
 one was a Canaanite." 
 
 "I will even ask her," was the prompt reply 
 of Dodai. 
 
 "Thou wilt do well not to engage thyself with 
 her and " 
 
 "But what of Rahab and thee?" 
 
 "Enough," answered Salmon, this time ob- 
 viously annoyed, "the cases differ." 
 
 The sound of their voices had penetrated to the 
 outer chamber which Ephron and Arinna had 
 just entered. 
 
 "Ye are awake, I perceive," said the Hittite, 
 at that moment drawing the curtain before the 
 outer door and standing in the entrance. "I hesi- 
 tated to disturb ye, knowing your need of rest, 
 but it is late. The evening meal is spread, and 
 we wait your presence."
 
 THE QUICK-PASSIONED LOVERS 55 
 
 Now, that meal was simple, but because Ephron 
 was a great chief it was served with some cere- 
 mony and it seemed to Dodai, who as junior took 
 but a modest part in the weighty conversation 
 carried on between Salmon and their host, that 
 it would be protracted forever. It was over at 
 last, however, and the four people went out upon 
 the terrace shaded by trees where Salmon, com- 
 miserating the impatience of the youth, engaged 
 Ephron in further conversation upon the military 
 resources and the possibilities of any formidable 
 resistance of the Canaanites. 
 
 Dodai and Arinna, thus left to themselves, were 
 quick to take advantage of the opening; the 
 maiden, quick-passioned as the youth with the 
 fire of the Orient, was as much impressed by him 
 as he by her. By a common impulse they left the 
 courtyard and walked to and fro side by side upon 
 the grass hard by the house under the trees. The 
 low sun was just setting. It was now deliciously 
 cool upon the upland. The wind, fragrant with 
 the perfume of blossoms, for it was the spring- 
 time of the year, blew gently across them. With 
 soldier-like directness the love-smitten Dodai, 
 eagerly embracing the first moment he enjoyed 
 alone with the young woman, broached the sub- 
 ject of her religion. 
 
 ' * Thy father, the noble Ephron, is a worshiper 
 of Jehovah, our God." 
 
 He laid a deep emphasis on the pronoun quite 
 in consonance with prevailing ideas of the
 
 56 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 Hebrews of that day and long after. There might 
 be other gods, that was scarcely to be doubted, 
 but Jehovah was their God and He was the 
 greatest of all gods. 
 
 "It is even so." 
 
 "And thou?" 
 
 He put the question with an eagerness that at 
 once betrayed the trend of his thoughts to the 
 maiden. It was with some hesitation that she 
 answered falteringly, because she realized that 
 so much depended upon her reply. She could not 
 be indifferent to this handsome and already pas- 
 sionately devoted young man. 
 
 "I do not know. My mother was a Hivite of 
 Gibeon. She worshiped Baal and Ishtar. She 
 died, my father said, in giving birth to me. If 
 she had lived he might have brought her to his 
 way of thinking." 
 
 "And thou, hath he not taught thee!" 
 
 "Because he loved her he hath left me largely 
 free. Sometimes I think I believe in that Jehovah 
 of his and thine. But sometimes I worship Baal 
 and Ishtar." 
 
 "It cannot be," said Dodai passionately, using 
 the Hebrew name for the Babylonian idol, "that 
 one so sweet, so pure, so lovely, hath given herself 
 to the vile and unspeakable abominations of 
 Ashtoreth?" 
 
 "As to that," answered Arinna, looking her 
 questioner full in the face with the courage of 
 innocence and thrilling to the praise that preceded
 
 THE QUICK-PASSIONED LOVERS 57 
 
 his appeal, "I know nothing. Here have I lived 
 alone save in the brief months of winter at Gibeon 
 and there my father hath kept me away from the 
 temple and its priestesses." 
 
 "Now, may Jehovah be praised for that," said 
 the young man. "I marvel that thou hast not 
 learned of the greatness of our God. Who is like 
 Him among the gods?" 
 
 "I am willing to learn of thee," said Arinna 
 softly. 
 
 "I shall teach thee," answered Dodai exult- 
 antly, "and I know thou wilt believe in Him 
 gladly when thou dost know." 
 
 "I owe thee much," said the girl, "my life " 
 
 "It is not because of that that I would teach 
 thee, that I would have thee a follower of 
 Jehovah. ' ' 
 
 "Why, then?" 
 
 "Joshua, my father and mother, the elders of 
 our tribes, would never permit me or any one of 
 Jehovah's chosen people to marry with a wor- 
 shiper of a false god." 
 
 "I have been sought in marriage," answered 
 Arinna proudly, while the color flamed in her 
 face as she drew the unavoidable inference from 
 his declaration, "by men who cared little of what 
 religion I was. There is a prince of Jerusalem 
 in particular, high in the favor of the king Adoni- 
 Zedec, who hath of late been a persistent suitor 
 for my hand. I cared not for his religion nor he 
 for mine."
 
 58 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "Dost thou love this presumptuous heathen ?" 
 questioned Dodai fiercely. 
 
 "I have scarcely seen him," laughed the maiden 
 evasively. "He hath wooed me through my 
 father." 
 
 "I shall do that presently. Meanwhile I make 
 suit to thine own heart." 
 
 "But thou wouldst have me of thy religion, 
 while these others " 
 
 ' ' They cared but for thy body, and indeed it is 
 passing fair." 
 
 "While thou?" 
 
 "I care for thy soul as well. See, Arinna, 
 daughter of Ephron, I love thee. When thou 
 stoodst affrighted over the body of the lion it 
 came to me that no maiden in all the tribes of 
 Israel, and they are many and some of them are 
 beautiful, could compare with thee." 
 
 "And is it because thou hast found me so 
 fair " 
 
 "Nay," went on the infatuated young man. 
 "If thou hadst been less fair, since I have spoken 
 with thee, since I have heard thee talking to thy 
 father, I would have loved thee. I could not 
 help it." 
 
 "I shall be glad to know more of that Jehovah 
 of thine." 
 
 "Doth that mean " exclaimed Dodai, 
 
 whereat Arinna hung her head. 
 
 "My life is thine," she whispered, flashing a 
 passionate glance at him that set his quick pulses
 
 THE QUICK-PASSIONED LOVERS 59 
 
 bounding faster at what he saw ere she withdrew 
 her eyes again. 
 
 "But I must have more." 
 
 "What more?" 
 
 "Thine heart." 
 
 There was a little pause. The maiden suddenly 
 looked up at him. She put out her hand. 
 
 "Thou hast it," she whispered. 
 
 But Dodai disdained that little hand. Where 
 they stood in the dusk 'neath the trees they were 
 hidden from all. Dodai shot a quick glance back- 
 ward at the terrace. Ephron's back was toward 
 him. He and Salmon were in earnest discussion. 
 He swept the maiden to his heart. 
 
 "My lord," she whispered as he kissed her. 
 
 The deep voice of Salmon calling him presently 
 brought him to his senses. 
 
 "I come," he answered, and then to the maiden : 
 "Thou wilt wait for me 1 ?" he asked quickly. 
 
 "Here in Beth- Aram." 
 
 "I shall come to claim thee." 
 
 "Speed the day," said the girl. 
 
 "Let thy father teach thee of Jehovah." 
 
 ' * Nay, I am fain to learn of Him from thy lips 
 alone," answered Arinna. 
 
 "Be it so." 
 
 "I am pledged to thee. Thy God my God, 
 thy people my people," repeated the girl, using 
 one of the formulas of the betrothal bond. 
 
 Dodai, seeing none was looking, kissed her 
 again.
 
 60 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "Shall I speak to Ephron?" he asked as they 
 walked across the grass. 
 
 "Say naught to him until thou hast performed 
 thy task and come to claim me." 
 
 "It is well. Before we part tell me the name of 
 that prince of Jerusalem." 
 "His name is Arami. Why dost thou ask?" 
 "That I may kill him in the field." 
 "Why, what hath he done to thee?" 
 "He is a Canaanite, but if that were not enough 
 he hath presumed to sue for what is from this 
 hour mine." 
 
 Salmon was of the opinion that they would bet- 
 ter start on their return journey at once, that they 
 should take advantage of the twilight to descend 
 the mountain with which they were somewhat 
 familiar and he hoped under cover of the dark- 
 ness to get safely across the river. Dodai, having 
 settled matters so far to his own satisfaction, was 
 quite willing. Indeed, as he was under the com- 
 mand of the elder man his willingness or unwill- 
 ingness was not of especial moment. 
 
 They bade adieu to their kind host and his 
 lovely daughter and after some difficulties and 
 dangers reached the camp of the Hebrews early 
 on the following morning. Their report decided 
 Joshua to move at once. Scouts had discovered 
 far to the northward of Jericho a place where the 
 Jordan, then at full flood, ran between high banks 
 of loose earth which nearly approached each 
 other. It was easy to start a landslide at that
 
 THE QUICK-PASSIONED LOVERS 61 
 
 point and a detachment of Hebrews working 
 energetically and unobserved by the Canaanites 
 at the place where the river narrowed which was 
 uninhabited and unguarded, no one dreaming of 
 such an undertaking, they tumbled a vast mass 
 of earth into the river, effectively damming it up 
 temporarily. 
 
 As the flood died away the Israelites crossed 
 the river, the Ark of the Covenant being borne in 
 the midst of them. The Canaanitish soldiers, 
 amazed and terrified at the sudden subsidence of 
 the raging torrent which none could explain, with- 
 drew in panic and let their enemies pass over 
 unopposed. It seemed to the Hebrews and the 
 Canaanites alike that their God had mysteriously 
 made that passage possible. This was indeed the 
 truth, albeit He had worked in this instance, as 
 He generally did and does, through human brains 
 and human hands. The investment of Jericho 
 followed shortly thereafter.
 
 VI 
 THE FALL OF JERICHO 
 
 A? first fearfully, then curiously and finally 
 derisively, the people of Jericho had 
 watched the strange and unaccountable 
 actions of the Hebrews. At the beginning of the 
 week, after they had been decisively beaten by 
 the invaders in several heavy skirmishes during 
 which they had endeavored to rush the Hebrew 
 camp at Gilgal, they had withdrawn their forces 
 into the city and trusting to the strength of the 
 walls of the town and its well-equipped garrison 
 of mercenary soldiers, had bidden defiance to 
 those desert nomads who evidently possessed no 
 machinery whatever for the taking of places so 
 strongly fortified as Jericho. 
 
 They had beheld, not unmoved indeed but with 
 no effort to prevent it, the seizure of the famous 
 springs and fountains, the lovely gardens and 
 the luxuriant groves of palm in which the city 
 was set. The country houses outside the walls 
 in this verdant oasis had been gutted and every- 
 thing of value had been burned up by these strange 
 people who spared only the trees nearest the 
 open fields where their camp was pitched. It 
 was as if they had determined that nothing should 
 
 62
 
 THE FALL OF JERICHO 63 
 
 be left of Jericho, its people and their property. 
 Their aim was not conquest but destruction, not 
 to say annihilation. 
 
 On the first day of the investment of the city 
 the Hebrews had undertaken an extraordinary 
 maneuver. Its unusualness had filled the minds 
 of the king, his soldiers and people, and the refu- 
 gees who were crowded within the walls, with a 
 certain awe, not to say fear. It was inexplicable. 
 In its apparently foolish inutility they naturally 
 suspected some deep and fearful purpose. 
 
 Leaving the vast throng of their old men, 
 women, and children in the adjacent camp, the 
 Hebrew army had been drawn up in long lines. 
 At a given signal these lines had formed into a 
 column and had started a seemingly purposeless 
 march around the city, out of bowshot, indeed 
 beyond any missile range. 
 
 The advance guard of the Hebrew host and the 
 main body came first, tribe after tribe, family 
 after family, in close ranks under their several 
 rude primitive standards, and all full-armed. 
 Following these marched seven men without 
 arms clad in priestly vestments. Each one 
 bore a crooked trumpet made of a ram's horn. 
 Following the priests four other unarmed men, 
 evidently also of priestly rank by their dress, 
 by means of poles thrust through golden rings 
 on the corners carried a small oblong box about 
 four feet long by two feet in its other dimensions. 
 
 This casket was made of smooth, well-joined
 
 64 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 shittim or acacia wood, overlaid with gold plates, 
 with a rim or molding around the upper edge. 
 The top of the box was covered by a broad golden 
 plate, called the mercy seat, polished to a mirror- 
 like luster. At each end of this plate were two 
 golden angels, or cherubim, facing inward. The 
 bright sunlight was reflected from the gold plate 
 of this mysterious coffer in vivid flashes as its 
 position was constantly shifted by the men mov- 
 ing over the uneven ground. This brilliant object, 
 which the people of Jericho rightly connected 
 with the awful God of the Hebrews, was the object 
 of their most breathless interest and aroused the 
 greatest terror. They had never seen anything 
 like it. They expected from it some mighty out- 
 burst of consuming force. 
 
 The cavalcade was brought up by the rear 
 guard, the Tribe of Dan. The army was headed 
 by Joshua, whose venerable and imposing person 
 was instantly marked. Following him marched a 
 little group of the principal fighting men, chiefs 
 of the twelve tribes, all completely armed, mostly 
 with the spoils of Egypt and of the various cam- 
 paigns in the land of Moab. This huge assem- 
 blage of soldiers marched slowly and deliberately 
 around the beleaguered city. 
 
 From time to time the priests sounded their 
 trumpets in groups of seven blasts. Aside from 
 that the Hebrew host proceeded in perfect silence. 
 Not a word, not a whisper was breathed from the 
 ranks. No commands of any sort were given by
 
 THE FALL OF JERICHO 65 
 
 the officers. With his uplifted spear Joshua had 
 signaled for the advance, and he himself in full 
 armor, his long white beard flowing over his 
 breast, led them on their way. The harsh, 
 raucous, unpleasing blasts of the ram's horn 
 trumpets echoed across the open space between 
 the palm groves and the city walls, without other 
 accompaniment of sound save the trampling of 
 many feet and the clatter of arms and armor. 
 
 At first the braying of the trumpets as well as 
 the deliberate and solemn approach of the 
 Hebrews had been greeted with yells and shouts 
 from the walls, breathing mockery and defiance, 
 but as the march proceeded steadily and as the 
 sound of the trumpets reverberated over the walls 
 and through the town again and again, the clamor 
 of the people died away and they stared in awed 
 silence. 
 
 As a matter of fact, aside from the unusual- 
 ness of the inscrutable maneuver, the sight of the 
 armed force of the Hebrews was enough to give 
 any enemy pause, and when to the healthy fear 
 inspired by the numbers and quality of the army 
 were added the natural anxiety and apprehension 
 which the story of their ruthless ravaging of 
 Moab haci brought about, there was abundant 
 cause for alarm. Jericho was a large and very 
 important city, but cities were crowded together 
 then in spaces unbelievably small to the expansive 
 ideas and practices of the present, and the fight- 
 ing men of the twelve tribes, although in many
 
 66 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 ranks, were sufficient completely to encompass 
 the town. 
 
 As the slow march proceeded trumpets were 
 sounded within the city and all the soldiery, 
 together with the armed inhabitants, were brought 
 to the walls and arrayed to repel the assault 
 which it was confidently expected would follow 
 this strange parade. It is hard to say whether 
 surprise or relief predominated in the hearts of 
 the people when, after the long circuit of the city 
 had been once made, the columns broke up and 
 after placing strong detachments to cover all 
 ways of going in or out of the town so that it 
 was completely invested, the main body, with the 
 mysterious box which the people of Jericho were 
 more convinced than ever had something to do 
 with the great God of the Hebrews, went back 
 to the great camp on the outskirts of the palm 
 groves. 
 
 The Hebrews themselves were almost as much 
 mystified as the Canaanites. They could not know 
 the reason for the march about the walls. Indeed, 
 only the elders of the tribes, the priests, and the 
 chiefs of the Levites were aware that after the 
 defeat of the sallies of the Jericho garrison 
 Joshua had gone out alone to the top of the little 
 hillock whence he could get a fair view of the city 
 unobscured by the palm trees and make his plans. 
 And there in the dusk of evening One had met 
 him in robes of light with sword of flame with a 
 mysterious message that while hereafter they;
 
 THE FALL OF JERICHO 67 
 
 would have to depend upon their own wit and 
 courage, the capture of Jericho would be the 
 Lord's business and the Captain of the Lord's 
 host would take command. 
 
 It was in obedience to His directions that 
 Joshua had executed this strange maneuver and 
 it was in obedience to these extraordinary direc- 
 tions that upon the next day and for a total of six 
 days the same parade was carried out in the same 
 way. The surprise and awe of the besieged were 
 less on the second day and still less on the third. 
 On the fourth day they smiled. On the fifth day 
 they laughed. On the sixth day they jeered 
 openly, and in the beginning of the seventh day 
 they mocked greatly. It was a huge jest, this 
 purposeless military promenade. But their mer- 
 riment ceased abruptly later in that seventh day. 
 They stopped mocking and jeering at the end of 
 the first round, because the usual withdrawal to 
 the camp did not take place. 
 
 On the contrary the silent Hebrews continued 
 their march, beginning without a halt a second 
 round. The Canaanites had become so used to the 
 procedure that they could scarcely believe their 
 eyes. Any change was significant, and when they 
 noted the march of circumvallation begin the 
 third time and then the fourth and then the fifth 
 amazement gave place to an alarm, deeper if 
 possible than the emotion which had greeted the 
 maneuver on the first day. 
 
 Again br^ss trumpets sounded throughout the
 
 68 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 city. The soldiers, who throughout the week had 
 grown careless and indifferent, were again sum- 
 moned to their places on the walls. The priests 
 began once more their savage propitiatory rites 
 in the temples of their horrible gods, offering 
 upon their hideous altars the ultimate sacrifice of 
 human lives! Consultations earnest and serious 
 took place between Habal, the king, Segub, the 
 captain, and the principal officers. This confer- 
 ence came to nothing. There was indeed nothing 
 to do except to make a sally, which in view of the 
 numbers and quality of the Hebrews was not to 
 be thought of. They could only wait and so they 
 waited with growing fear in their hearts, their 
 very helplessness adding to their paralyzing 
 terror. 
 
 It was not only the soldiers, the nobles, and 
 the principal men of the city who watched the 
 enemy from the walls, but from a certain house 
 which, like many others projected over the walls, 
 a woman had stared for seven days at the encom- 
 passing foe. Eyes were keener, vision sharper, 
 in those days. The range of missile weapons was 
 shorter. Armies got nearer to one another with 
 impunity. The distance of the marching Hebrews 
 from the walls was not great. Rahab thought she 
 detected among the chiefs of the men ranged 
 under the tribal banner of the Lion of Judah that 
 Salmon who had promised her his protection and 
 whose princely generosity and magnanimity had 
 so won her heart.
 
 THE FALL OF JERICHO 69 
 
 The brilliant curtains with which the Canaan- 
 ites shaded their windows had been replaced by 
 hangings of somber hue at the principal outer 
 openings of Rahab's house and around the mul- 
 lion of the largest window a bright scarlet-colored 
 rope had been securely twisted. In that red 
 cord lay her salvation. Anxiety, detennination, 
 shame, repentance for her past life, as well as 
 love and hope for the future, had torn Rahab's 
 bosom with a diversity of emotions. The few 
 who came to her whom she drove away protesting 
 she was ill almost to death found confirmation of 
 her story in her appearance. 
 
 She had promised herself that she would die 
 rather than submit to the indignities about which 
 men of that day thought little and which indeed 
 had been a part of her debased religion, yet she 
 did not wish to die. The noble and splendid 
 Hebrew had awakened emotions in her heart 
 which she had thought had vanished with her ex- 
 treme youth and which she could never entertain 
 again. So she craved life. 
 
 She had assembled her family, her father and 
 mother, her brothers and sisters and their chil- 
 dren in her own house and had endeavored to 
 tell them of that Jehovah of whom she had learned 
 and in whom she now earnestly believed with all 
 her soul. Such were the confusion and anxieties 
 produced by the siege that none had marked her 
 actions. She kept her people close, avoiding the 
 necessity of explanations to the curious by re-
 
 70 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 straining them from going into the streets. There 
 was also a red cord fastened to the doorpost and 
 draped across the lintel of the house on the dais 
 above the street, as an added precaution, should 
 the Hebrews, as she at least never doubted, affect 
 an entrance to the city and approach her house 
 from that direction. 
 
 The siege was too short, Jericho had been too 
 well provisioned for anyone to have felt the pri- 
 vations of hunger or thirst. So those within the 
 walls were comfortable enough and familiarity 
 with danger without any overt results had restored 
 their spirits until this day. The slow and silent 
 march of the Hebrews continued. Those who 
 kept count noticed that as the day declined toward 
 the late afternoon the seventh circuit of the walls 
 was beginning. To the Canaanites, as to the 
 Hebrews, seven was always a mystic number. 
 Those who counted told those who had not that 
 this last was the beginning of the ominous seventh 
 march. 
 
 The thought sprang up in first one and then 
 another until finally it pervaded the soldiers on 
 the wall, the inhabitants of the city, even the 
 women and children. It was recalled that this 
 was the seventh day of the marching. Surely if 
 anything were to happen it would happen now. 
 The boldest looked to their weapons. The less 
 hardy strove to conceal the beating of their hearts 
 and to give no outward evidence of their terror. 
 The weakest spirited among them gave way to
 
 THE FALL OF JERICHO 71 
 
 transports of fear. Panic was in the air, yet not 
 a thing had happened. 
 
 Above the harsh roar of the ram's horn trum- 
 pets without, shouts and cries, wails and sobs, 
 arose within. The commands to the soldiers 
 ceased. There was nothing further to be said. 
 They were all in their places. There was no need 
 to enjoin silence among them. They listened to 
 the sobbing of the women behind them, the out- 
 cries of the priests and devotees coming faintly 
 from the temples, with the shrieks of the human 
 sacrifices over the blood-stained altars, their eyes 
 fixed on the silent ranks of the Hebrews. If 
 those marching warriors would only speak, would 
 only cry out, would only give some sound ! There 
 was something terribly ominous in the grim, still 
 way with which they marched. Habal, standing 
 by Segub watching, turned to the latter. 
 
 "The old man," he said, pointing to the head 
 of the line coming again into his view around the 
 wall to the southward. 
 
 "Joshua, they call him, lord," answered Segub. 
 
 "The seventh circuit is about completed," ob- 
 served the king, handling his sword in nervous 
 indecision. 
 
 Segub lifted his bow and then lowered it. 
 
 "They are too far off," he said ill-humoredly. 
 
 "What is to be will be," observed Habal appre- 
 hensively. "Now may Baal and Ishtar aid " 
 
 He never finished the prayer, for with a sudden 
 shiver of the earth the massive wall on which he
 
 72 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 stood vibrated as if it had been smitten by a 
 mighty hand. The moving lines of the Hebrews 
 stopped. The host found its voice at last. A 
 great outburst from a multitude of iron throats, 
 that was the more terrible because of the previous 
 silence, swept across the plain. So great was the 
 volume of sound that it drowned the answering 
 yell of the soldiers of Jericho, which was partly 
 shriek, partly prayer, partly defiance, for they all 
 had felt that strange trembling of the wall. 
 
 The movement increased. The earth seemed 
 to have gone mad. The huge foundations upon 
 which they had built their hopes were quivering 
 beneath them. The erstwhile solid earth waved 
 like a sea. A parapet gave way. A soldier lean- 
 ing upon it screamed, shot into the air, fell sick- 
 eningly, and lay silent and still. 
 
 The encircling line of Hebrews was suddenly 
 alive with steel. The low sunlight was reflected 
 from bared swords, lance points shaken in the 
 air; louder than ever came the blasts of the 
 trumpets and the threatening outcries of the host. 
 The Hebrews were moving forward. Here and 
 there a hardier spirit than the rest on the shak- 
 ing walls sped an arrow, launched a spear, or 
 shook a blade. Above the shrieks of terror rose 
 shrieks, screams, oaths, orders, prayers, vain 
 appeals to Baal and Ishtar. Then in thundering 
 crash the massive walls went down. 
 
 Within the town houses were shaken together. 
 Lights appeared here and there. Wood and furni-
 
 THE FALL OF JERICHO 73 
 
 ture caught fire. Above all rose a mighty voice of 
 terror. The next instant, clambering over the 
 rubbish heaps, entering the town on every hand, 
 came the fierce-faced soldiers of the Lord. Not 
 wolves to the slaughter leaped more fiercely than 
 they. Here and there some yet undaunted 
 Canaanite like Segub, or the king himself, made a 
 swift stand only to be cut down by overwhelming 
 enemies. Over the ruined walls, through the 
 encumbered streets, searching the broken houses, 
 raged and ravaged the desert fighters. The word 
 was slay, kill. And no hot-blooded youth sur- 
 passed the grim, terrific fighter, Joshua, who 
 allowed no one to pass him in the advance in 
 spite of his years. 
 
 But one portion of the wall survived the great 
 shaking of the Lord's hand which had cast down 
 the rest. A certain house still stood, its front 
 and back marked by a red cord. Foremost among 
 the assailants of the town were Salmon and Dodai. 
 Leaving the work of slaughter to others they ran 
 to the house of Rahab. Clambering over the sun- 
 dered wall on either side they dashed around to 
 the platform which still stood and stopped before 
 the door of the house. 
 
 "Abide thou here," cried Salmon to Dodai, 
 "lest anyone filled with zeal forget the promise 
 and attempt to put those within to the sword." 
 
 Judah and Benjamin had marched side by side. 
 Salmon loved Dodai almost as if he had been his 
 father and Dodai was devoted to the Prince of
 
 74 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 Judah. The young man, who was also grateful to 
 Rahab, saluted with his sword and took post at 
 the door. It was well that he did so, for the 
 swarming soldiers, overlooking the red cord in 
 the diminishing light of the later afternoon, might 
 have made short work of Rahab, her house attract- 
 ing the more attention because of all upon the 
 wall, as well as the wall itself, it alone remained 
 intact amid the shock and the disaster. 
 
 Within the great room where they had been 
 entertained before Salmon found Rahab and her 
 family. He made a splendid figure in his bright 
 armor, his shield and spear in hand, his sword 
 hanging by his side, his steel cap covering his 
 dark hair. At the further end of the room the 
 people of the house were clustered together in 
 terror despite the assurance they had received 
 from the mistress of the house. As he entered, 
 Rahab, her hands crossed upon her bosom, 
 stepped forward. No longer did her dress gleam 
 with purple and scarlet. She wore no broidered 
 vesture of gold. Neither pearls nor jewels were 
 wrapped about ker neck and arms. No crown of 
 precious stones adorned her head. Clothed in 
 somber vesture with her hair unbound she ap- 
 proached him slowly. Her face unpainted was 
 white in the dusk. Yet Salmon thought he had 
 never seen countenance more lovely. Rahab knelt 
 before him. Uncrossing her hands she extended 
 them upward. 
 
 "My lord," she whispered, endeavoring to con-
 
 THE FALL OF JERICHO 75 
 
 trol her joy at the sight of him, "thou art come 
 at last." 
 
 "Rise, woman," said Salmon gently. "Who 
 are these?" 
 
 "My father and my mother, my brothers and 
 my sisters and their little children, lord," she 
 replied. 
 
 "None else are here?" 
 
 "None, lord. Many would fain have sought 
 shelter with me, but thy bond-woman hath obeyed 
 thy command." 
 
 "It is well," said Salmon. "The Prince of 
 the Lord's host, the mighty Joshua, hath con- 
 firmed my promise. Thy life and the lives of 
 those thou lovest shall be spared." 
 
 "My lord," said Rahab, "I have thought deeply 
 since thy departure. None has come near me, 
 though many were eager to do so. I have put 
 away Baal and Ishtar." She rose and drew a 
 curtain which concealed a niche in the wall. 
 "Thou canst see their place is empty. They lie 
 there." She pointed to a heap of fragments at 
 the foot of the wall. She even went over to them 
 and stamped upon them fiercely with her bare 
 feet, cutting the tender soles on the sharp pieces 
 of broken clay. "See, lord," she added, showing 
 the blood of renunciation upon her white feet, and 
 then she knelt humbly before him; "let thy peo- 
 ple be my people," she whispered, "thy God, my 
 God." 
 
 Salmon bent over her. He raised her up. He
 
 76 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILTJ 
 
 put his arm about her. He pressed her to his 
 heart. 
 
 "Thou shalt be my wife," he said, "Jehovah 
 permitting." 
 
 * ' I am not worthy, ' ' whispered Rahab. * * Think 
 what I have been." 
 
 "Thou hast put thy past darkness behind thee," 
 answered Salmon. "I think only of what thou 
 shalt become in the light that shall shine before." 
 
 "Make me thy servant, thy slave," persisted 
 the woman. "It is enough." 
 
 "Nay," said Salmon, "my wife."
 
 VII 
 THE COUNCIL AT GIBEON 
 
 "X TE have been called together, venerable 
 \ brethren and fathers of the city, to decide 
 what is to be done in the emergency that 
 confronteth us. Ye are doubtless familiar, as I 
 am, with the situation. Without in the ante- 
 chamber, Prince Arami, the messenger of the 
 royal Jebusite, awaiteth our answer to his 
 master's demand. I had speech with him this 
 morning and put him off until I could take counsel 
 with you." 
 
 "And what demand made the messenger upon 
 thee, most excellent Malik 1 7 interposed one of 
 the venerable auditory. 
 
 "He set forth that Adoni-Zedec, the king of 
 Jerusalem; Hoham, the king of Hebron; Piram, 
 the king of Jarmuth ; Japhia, the king of Lachish ; 
 and Debir, the king of Eglon, have made alliance 
 together, having determined to try issue of battle 
 with these fearful Israelites, of whose prowess 
 we have heard and seen so much." 
 
 "And how doth that concern us?" interposed 
 one of the chief councilors present. 
 
 "Intimately, by his demand." 
 
 "And what is that demand?" asked another. 
 
 "Alliance on equal terms with the five kings."
 
 78 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "And doth he include the other cities in the 
 Hivite Confederation?" questioned a third. 
 
 "He said naught of that, but I assume so." 
 
 "And if we enter not upon such an alliance?" 
 observed a third. 
 
 "War," said the Malik, or presiding officer of 
 the council of the elders of the city, a man corre- 
 sponding fairly enough to a king in rank and 
 importance, the government of Gibeon and the 
 allied cities being of the nature of an autocracy. 
 
 "I have but recently returned from a voyage 
 to Tharsish, in a ship of Tyre," outspoke one 
 Dayan, the youngest of the score or more of the 
 councilors assembled in the great hall of the 
 palace, "and although the city is filled with rumors 
 of these Hebrews, I have been so busy with mine 
 own concerns that I have paid little heed to idle 
 talk. I would fain be enlightened that I may give 
 my vote intelligently." 
 
 "The issue, as I understand it, is either for 
 our confederation to unite with the five kings and 
 fall upon Israel or to seek the aid of the Israel- 
 ites against the kings," promptly answered Abd- 
 milki, the aged Malik. 
 
 "And then have the confederated kings fall 
 upon us," observed the most venerable of all those 
 present, one Sheni-Hadad, generally reputed the 
 wisest of the council. 
 
 "Exactly so, therefore my question as to who 
 are these Hebrews between whom and the five 
 kings we must choose." said Dayan.
 
 THE COUNCIL AT GIBEON 79 
 
 "Some time ago," said the Malik, "a vast mul- 
 titude of Hebrew slaves escaped from Egypt." 
 
 "Recently!" 
 
 4 'About forty years since." 
 
 "Where have they bided since?" 
 
 "In the deserts to the south." 
 
 "Under Sinai?" 
 
 "Even so. Well, they have conquered every- 
 one who hath opposed them, Sihon, king of the 
 Amorites; Og, the king of Bashan; Balak, the 
 king of Moab, to say nothing of the Amalekites 
 of the desert." 
 
 "If that be all," said the newcomer contemp- 
 tuously, "there is little to be feared by a city 
 so strong as Gibeon, to say nothing of its con- 
 federacies, much less of the five kings who invite 
 us to join them. I give my vote for " 
 
 "Wait, impetuous Dayan," said the Malik 
 quickly, "thou hast not heard all." 
 
 "What more?" 
 
 "In numberless thousands they crossed the 
 Jordan four months since." 
 
 "With the river in full flood?" asked Dayan 
 incredulously. 
 
 "The waters were dried up by their God and 
 they came over without difficulty." 
 
 "And Jericho?" 
 
 "Fell before them after but seven days of 
 siege." 
 
 "And when did Jericho ever stand a siege?" 
 asked Shem-Hadad caustically.
 
 80 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "Never! The great heat of the lowland hath 
 ever taken the life and energy out of the hearts 
 of its people. They are cowards all," explained 
 the secretary of the Malik. 
 
 "True," assented Abd-Milki. 
 
 "But this time," put in Itti-Bel, another coun- 
 cilor, "the earth shook, the walls of the city fell, 
 and every living man, woman, and child, every 
 brute beast even, was put to the sword. The gold, 
 silver, and treasure, the furniture and provision, 
 the Babylonish garments, the arms and armor, 
 were all burned and destroyed, sacrificed by His 
 own command to the terrible God of these He- 
 brews." 
 
 "Did they keep nothing?" 
 
 "Nothing. There is a strange story that hath 
 come to us of one Achan who hid a treasure for 
 himself." 
 
 "What befell him?" 
 
 "He and his whole family were stoned by the 
 command of their God. A spy heard and saw and 
 told." 
 
 "And what is the name of that God?" asked 
 Dayan. 
 
 "I know not." 
 
 "I can tell thee," said one from the back- 
 ground who had not spoken heretofore. 
 
 1 ' Thou art not a worshiper of Baal and Ishtar, 
 Ephron the Hittite," said the Malik, looking 
 toward the new speaker. "That we know. Hast 
 thou knowledge of this Hebrew God?"
 
 THE COUNCIL AT GIBEON 81 
 
 "I have. He is called Jehovah, a Name above 
 every name." 
 
 " Blasphemer!" hissed out a man arrayed in 
 the rich robes of a priest of Baal. 
 
 "Let him die the death!" cried another angrily. 
 
 "A sacrifice! To the Temple of Baal with 
 him!" screamed a third. 
 
 In an instant the room was filled with tumult. 
 
 "That God, Jehovah, whom I serve will protect 
 me from your wrath," answered Ephron, calmly 
 rising and folding his arms and meeting the fierce 
 glances of the councilors with unmoved counte- 
 nance, "as He hath protected His people. But 
 if not, so be it." 
 
 "Peace, all of ye, peace," interposed the Malik, 
 "this is not the time for unseemly brawling 
 among ourselves. At my request the lord of 
 Beth- Aram is here to give us counsel. We have 
 graver matters to decide, brethren." 
 
 "This is the gravest matter," asserted the 
 priest imperiously. "I demand this false Hittite 
 as a sacrifice upon the altars of Moloch." 
 
 "Remember Jericho and Ai, and at thy peril 
 lay hand upon me," answered Ephron, turning to 
 confront the priest, entirely unabashed and un- 
 afraid. 
 
 "And what happened to Ai?" asked Dayan 
 curiously. 
 
 "The same fate that met Jericho. The smoke 
 hung like a pall above it. We saw it. And neither 
 men, nor women, nor children were left to tell the
 
 82 
 
 tale. The ruined walls alone related to our spies 
 the story." 
 
 "Baal is angered with us for our sins!" cried 
 the priest. "Ishtar hideth her face." 
 
 "Baal humbleth himself before Jehovah, and 
 Ishtar concealeth herself behind the cloud for 
 the same reason," answered Ephron stoutly. 
 "My God hath spoken. This land is doomed for 
 its sins. The cup of its wickedness is filled and 
 runneth over. Jehovah hath raised up this people 
 against it." His voice rose in spite of the mur- 
 murs of the others, which soon broke into derisive 
 shouts and angry cries. "Silence, ye Hivites and 
 Amorites," he cried, in turn at last, "I am a 
 Hittite. My native people have fought on equal 
 terms with Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria and 
 have never given way. For four hundred years 
 mine own people have lived among ye, nor is 
 there aught against me in the mind of any here 
 save that I do not bow the knee to Baal. Hear ye 
 my advice." 
 
 "Silence," thundered the Malik, "Ephron the 
 Hittite is the friend of the Governor and of the 
 Council of Gibeon. What hast thou to say? Speak 
 freely." 
 
 "If ye would save your lives and the lives of 
 your wives and children, your flocks and herds, 
 your household goods, make alliance with these 
 Hebrews, cast in your lot with them and do it 
 quickly. ' ' 
 
 "But Adoni-Zedec?"
 
 THE COUNCIL AT GIBEON 83 
 
 "The Jebusite king of Jerusalem and his 
 confederates go to their doom. They will perish 
 before the army of the Lord. They will fall, and 
 great will be the fall thereof. But I am as a 
 stranger among ye, only a temporary sojourner 
 from time to time in your city. I should not be 
 here at all had not the most excellent Malik sum- 
 moned me because he fancied that I knew these 
 people. Four centuries ago my forefathers were 
 the friends of Abraham, the wise and the magnifi- 
 cent, the friend of Jehovah; and from him they 
 learned of this God whom they have worshiped 
 ever since. Chance brought me in contact with 
 two of the Hebrews four months since. I know 
 none of them save these two. I have spoken. 
 Nor will I stay here longer. If any seek me I 
 shall be found at Beth- Aram. The God whom I 
 serve can protect me there as well as in the city. 
 Ye have heard my advice. Farewell." 
 
 "Go in peace, most excellent Ephron," answered 
 the Malik. "We thank thee for what thou hast 
 said and will consider it well." 
 
 The priest of Baal would fain have stopped 
 Ephron, but in the face of the statement of the 
 all-powerful Malik, and in view of the obvious 
 fact that many of the councilors were yet unde- 
 cided as to the course to be pursued, he had to 
 content himself with black looks at the Hittite 
 sheik. Ephron stood a moment, then, wrapping 
 his coat about him and casting a long look around 
 him, he turned and left the hall.
 
 84 
 
 " Where are these Hebrews now?" asked the 
 far voyager, who had propounded most of the 
 questions. 
 
 " After the capture of Ai they went northward 
 to Shechem to sacrifice to their God on Ebal and 
 Gerizim, the high places. They returned but yes- 
 terday. All day long they have been filing down 
 the way that leadeth past Michmash into the valley 
 of the Jordan, and according to our spies they 
 have encamped at Gilgal, whence they may be 
 seen from the brink of the hills. Their black 
 goats * hair tents stretch across the green sward 
 in thousands." 
 
 "And what mean they next?" 
 
 "Nay, we know not surely, but it hath come to 
 us that this whole land is devoted to destruction 
 by their God and that they intend to sweep over 
 it, carrying fire and sword and showing no 
 mercy. ' ' 
 
 "As Ephron declared!" 
 
 "Even so." 
 
 "Can we stand against them 1 ?" 
 
 "Did Ai stand, did Jericho stand?" 
 
 "But these are not Gibeon." 
 
 "No," answered the Malik, "but I confess that 
 we have as little chance as they. The town lieth 
 open to attack. If they should break the pool and 
 drain away the spring, the rain water in our 
 cellars would scarce give us drink for a week." 
 
 "But Adoni-Zedec and the four kings can do 
 that, too."
 
 THE COUNCIL AT GIBEON 85 
 
 " Undoubtedly. We are not strong enough to 
 withstand either Israel or the Jebusite and his 
 friends." 
 
 "Are we to be ground to pieces between upper 
 and nether millstones, then?" asked Itti-Bel 
 pertinently. 
 
 "By no means. We must make alliance with 
 one or the other." 
 
 "There is still a third way," observed the 
 priest of Baal. 
 
 "What is that?" 
 
 "We can die in defense of our altars, of our 
 fires, our hearthstones, our people." 
 
 "That, of course," answered the Malik, after a 
 long pause, "if we must, but is it not wise to 
 seek to live and serve our gods in peace in alli- 
 ance with one or the other of these peoples?" 
 
 "Ye will doubtless so choose," said the priest 
 contemptuously. 
 
 "We will do well to make alliance," said one 
 man. 
 
 "Well, then the only question to be decided," 
 said the Malik, "is with whom we shall make 
 an alliance." 
 
 "Is it known?" asked Dayan, "whether we can 
 enter into an alliance with these Hebrews I Adoni- 
 Zedec proffereth us his friendship and succor, but 
 ye say that these strange people have devoted the 
 whole of the land to destruction. What hope have 
 we to change their decision with regard to our- 
 selves?"
 
 86 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 As this was in the nature of a puzzle, the mem- 
 bers of the council looked at each other with 
 increasing dismay. It was quite evident that 
 they had little faith in the ability of the Jebusite 
 king and his confederates to make head against 
 these fearful invaders; yet unless they could in 
 some way make agreement with these Hebrews, 
 they would be forced into the arms of the con- 
 federation and would suffer the fate which 
 Ephron so prophetically had said should be meted 
 out to them. Neutrality was clearly impossible. 
 The silence was broken by the oldest and wisest 
 of the councilors again. 
 
 "Hear my words, brethren," began Shem- 
 Hadad. "As between Adoni-Zedec and this 
 people of Jehovah, my preference is for the 
 strangers. The difficulty foreseen by my brother 
 is a real one, yet I have thought of a way to over- 
 come it." 
 
 He spoke very slowly and with long pauses 
 between the sentences because of his age, and 
 here the assembly broke into impatient interrup- 
 tions. 
 
 "Peace, brethren, and hear me, I pray," he 
 resumed when he could be heard. 
 
 "Eespect the age of Shem-Hadad," said Abd- 
 milki, the Malik, severely, "and let him tell his 
 tale in his own way." 
 
 "I thank thee, chief councilor," returned the 
 other, "and my advice, then, is this: If we can 
 persuade these Israelites that our city lieth far
 
 THE COUNCIL AT GIBEON 87 
 
 in the hills yonder beyond the limits of the terri- 
 tory which they propose tp overrun, and if in that 
 deception we can get them to enter into an alli- 
 ance which they will swear to keep by their God, 
 we will have won our purpose.'* 
 
 "But when they discover," said the Malik, 
 "that we lie in the very center of the country 
 they intend to occupy, what will happen then?" 
 
 ' * They will keep their word, ' ' said the old man. 
 "I have known them of old in Egypt, where I 
 spent part of my youth. When they take an oath 
 before their God they will abide by it even to their 
 own hurt." 
 
 "But how shall we convince them of the truth 
 of that assertion, that our city lieth many days' 
 journey from their camp?" 
 
 "In this way," said the old man, lowering his 
 voice and setting forth the details of a strata- 
 gem as simple as it was likely to prove efficacious. 
 
 The councilors listened to him with a deep in- 
 terest which merged into wonder and surprise 
 until finally as he completed his speech, they broke 
 into uproarious laughter. 
 
 "By Baal!" cried the high priest, "that is well 
 thought on. We shall see if the God of the 
 Hebrews cannot be outwitted by the children of 
 Baal and Ishtar. I give my vote for the plan." 
 
 "And I mine!" cried Itti-Bel instantly, and the 
 room was filled with shouts of approval and con- 
 firmation. 
 
 "It is so decided, then," said the Malik. "Now
 
 88 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 we shall have to see the messenger of Adoni- 
 Zedec. Shall I reject the alliance and dismiss 
 him?" 
 
 "Nay," said old Shem-Hadad, whose advice 
 had been so acceptable, "it may be possible, and 
 I mean no disrespect to our gods, that Jehovah 
 may be awake and then they will refuse our 
 alliance. In that case, it would be well to have 
 another string to our bow. Let us not dismiss the 
 proffer of Adoni-Zedec, Hoham, Piram, and the 
 others, but hold it in reserve." 
 
 "Again the advice is good." 
 
 "But how shall we persuade them of our in- 
 tentions?" asked Dayan, who always wished to 
 know. 
 
 ' ' Leave that to me, ' ' said the Malik. He clapped 
 his hands. Instantly two uniformed soldiers of 
 the city appeared in the doorway. "Bring hither 
 Arami, the messenger of Adoni-Zedec," said the 
 chief councilor. "Worthy councilors, dispose 
 yourselves with dignity to receive the ambassador 
 of the Jebusite." 
 
 The Malik sat down on a high chair placed on 
 a dais, and the rest of the councilors resumed 
 their seats and fell into their wonted order, when 
 the messenger of Adoni-Zedec entered the room. 
 He was clad in bright steel armor embossed with 
 silver. His sword hung at his side, his round 
 shield was on his left arm, and his Babylonian 
 steel cap covered his head. 
 
 "We have sent for thee, noble Arami," said
 
 THE COUNCIL AT GIBEON 89 
 
 the Malik, as the company arose and bowed low 
 before resuming their seats in acknowledgment 
 of the messenger's presence, "to deliver our 
 answer to the demands of thy royal master." 
 
 "And what is that answer?" asked the mes- 
 senger. 
 
 "We have taken the matter of the alliance 
 proposed to us by the royal Adoni-Zedec under 
 advisement. As thou knowest, the city of Gibeon 
 is only one member of a confederation. We deem 
 it not wise to commit ourselves until we have 
 taken the votes of the other communities within 
 our alliance. Thou wilt say to thy master and 
 his associates that we are overwhelmed with the 
 honor he proposes for us, that without doubt we 
 would be glad to enter into that alliance which 
 hath been suggested, but that he must give us 
 time to communicate with our allies and we will 
 then deliver our answer." 
 
 "My master, the royal and noble king of 
 Jerusalem, is not apt to be pleased with this 
 reply, sirs," said the messenger haughtily. "In 
 war time is everything. Our best chance is to fall 
 upon this rabble of low-born people and escaped 
 slaves without delay and drive them from the 
 valley beyond the river back into the desert 
 whence they came. If I know my royal master, 
 he would have thine answer now." 
 
 "I cannot now give that answer," said the 
 Malik firmly. ' * Stands the matter as I have pro- 
 pounded it to thee. That is all."
 
 90 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "Perhaps I do exceed my power, " said Arami, 
 "but I will give ye five days and no more. If 
 upon the fifth day, the five kings do not have 
 your pledge, ye will be declared enemies." 
 
 "The time is but short," said the Malik with 
 great dignity, "nor are we free cities accustomed 
 to such imperious speech; and but that there is 
 wisdom in what thou sayest as to the need of 
 haste, I would dismiss thee with a word. But, 
 as thou hast pointed out, in war time is every- 
 thing, and on the fifth day thy master shall have 
 his answer. Nay," continued the Malik, rising 
 as Arami made to speak again, "thy quality as 
 messenger hath protected thee in thine insolence. 
 We have decided and thou hast heard. Say no 
 more. On the fifth day thou shalt have our de- 
 cision. Say I not well, brethren?" 
 
 "Well." 
 
 "Farewell, insolent Hivites," said the ambas- 
 sador. "Beware, lest when I come again it be 
 with the army which my master and his royal 
 friends are assembling to enforce their will upon 
 the timid of the land as well as to drive from it 
 these Hebrews." 
 
 He turned haughtily on his heel and with his 
 head held high made his way from the room. 
 
 "Five days," said one of the old councilors, 
 "that meaneth the fifth day hence." 
 
 "It is enough," said Shem-Hadad. Our mes- 
 sengers can start at once. They will reach the 
 Hebrew camp at Gilgal to-morrow. One day will
 
 THE COUNCIL AT GIBEON 91 
 
 conclude their business, they can start back the 
 next day and be here on the fourth day." 
 
 "Who shall compose the embassy?" asked the 
 Malik. 
 
 "At thine appointment," said Dayan, "any of 
 us will go." 
 
 "Wilt thou head it?" asked the chief councilor 
 of old Shem-Hadad. 
 
 "I am old and feeble, but ' 
 
 "Yet the plan was thine, thou must remember," 
 cried Itti-Bel. 
 
 "I will go." 
 
 "And thou, and thou," said the Malik, pointing 
 to two other venerable men of importance and 
 distinction in the Council. 
 
 "At thy request," they answered. 
 
 "And may Baal and Ishtar protect ye and give 
 ye a safe journey and a happy issue to the plan 
 so cunningly devised," said the chief councilor, 
 rising and declaring the momentous discussion 
 over. 
 
 "And may Jehovah sleep soundly and His fol- 
 lowers disturb Him not when we have speech 
 with them," muttered old Shem-Hadad, rising 
 and summoning those appointed to go with him, 
 that they might talk over the details of the under- 
 taking.
 
 VIII 
 THE UNLUCKY WOOING 
 
 THEEE was no real reason why Arami should 
 remain in Gibeon during the five days ' grace 
 which the Hivites had insisted should be 
 allowed them. As a matter of fact, Jerusalem 
 was so near Gibeon that he decided to make his 
 report to his king in person, and having done 
 that, the day after his momentous interview with 
 the Hivite councilors, finding time hanging heavily 
 upon his hands, he decided to take advantage of 
 his enforced idleness to visit Beth-Aram and 
 prosecute his wooing. 
 
 He had exchanged salutations with Ephron as 
 the Hittite left the council chamber and he had 
 ascertained that the lord of Beth- Aram had gone 
 to his home. Therefore the next day, arrayed in 
 his most brilliant garments and attended by a 
 number of men of less rank, also in their brightest 
 and most festive array, and accompanied by a 
 guard of soldiers, for display only since there was 
 peace between Ephron and Adoni-Zedec, he 
 presented himself at the gate of the wall that 
 closed the valley of the domain of Beth- Aram. 
 
 With characteristic hospitality, proverbial even 
 then in the East, he was received by Ephron with 
 
 92
 
 THE UNLUCKY WOOING 93 
 
 generous prodigality and magnificence. The oasis 
 was large. The number of Ephron's following 
 was great. He ruled over it with patriarchal 
 authority, and as Arami had taken occasion to 
 send word of his coming all things had been made 
 ready. Even Arinna had decked herself for the 
 occasion. She would not have been a woman had 
 she not done that, albeit she looked forward to 
 the interview with a certain amount of appre- 
 hension. 
 
 Ephron had allowed his daughter more inde- 
 pendence by far than was usually granted young 
 girls or even women in that day, and her in- 
 fluence over him was very great. In his fondness 
 he denied her nothing. He loved her exceedingly, 
 as she knew, but she was by no means sure that 
 she could get her way in so important a matter 
 as the disposal of her hand. Prince Arami was 
 wealthy, distinguished, a famous soldier, high in 
 the councils of the king of Jerusalem, who was 
 the most considerable of the city kinglets of that 
 section of Canaan. 
 
 Ephron was already allied by marriage to the 
 formidable Hivite Confederation, which was quite 
 strong enough to stand against any single city 
 or its king, although it would be hopelessly over- 
 matched by the confederation Adoni-Zedec was 
 then forming. He had little to fear from them. 
 It would be distinctly to his advantage to have an 
 advocate at court in Jerusalem, his other warlike 
 neighbor to the southward. At least that is the
 
 94 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 way the matter had presented itself to him when 
 Arami had first asked for Arinna 's hand. His 
 position was a little precarious on account of his 
 religion, which was not that of the people of the 
 land in which he dwelt. 
 
 The arrival of the Hebrews, however, had 
 materially altered the situation. If their coming 
 had been delayed to the following year the alli- 
 ance would have been made and Arinna, not hav- 
 ing seen Dodai, might not have been unwilling to 
 have become the wife of the rich, powerful, and 
 famous Canaanitish captain. After Ephron had 
 met Salmon and Dodai he had instantly realized 
 that that which told against him on the upland 
 would be in his favor with the Hebrews ; namely, 
 that he would be bound to them by ancestral ties 
 and because he was a worshiper of Jehovah. 
 
 If the Hebrews won in the approaching war, 
 which he did not doubt would be the case, there 
 would be no advantage to him in an alliance with 
 the Canaanites. Indeed, such an association 
 would be to his danger. As an individual he was 
 probably as wealthy and powerful as any Canaan- 
 ite noble, but he could not make head against any 
 of the contending forces involved in this curious 
 interplay of war. He must be under the pro- 
 tection of one or the other. If, now, he could 
 marry Arinna to that young Hebrew prince that 
 matrimonial alliance would certainly turn greatly 
 to his advantage provided the Hebrews won. If 
 they lost it would be his undoing.
 
 THE UNLUCKY WOOING 95 
 
 As he had stated, Ephron did not think they 
 would lose. It was part of his religion to believe 
 that they would win, but, an alien in the land in 
 spite of the long tenure of his family at Beth- 
 Aram, he was not filled with that burning zeal for 
 Jehovah that the Hebrews felt. His God was not 
 so near to him as He was to those who in the 
 tabernacle worshiped Him, who had seen Him in 
 pillar of fire by night and in pillar of cloud by 
 day. His faith, while it was strong enough to 
 preserve him and his from the idolatries and 
 absurdities and indecencies of the worship of 
 Baal and Ishtar, was relatively weak. 
 
 He was a profoundly politic and an exceedingly 
 able man. He balanced all these things in his 
 mind and weighed them carefully. He decided 
 at last to put off Arami and to bring about a 
 marriage between Arinna and Dodai or some 
 other of the Hebrews. His observation of their 
 conduct that day Salmon and Dodai came to 
 Beth-Aram and some questions of his daughter 
 afterward, careless in seeming but with deep 
 purport, had enlightened him as to the state of 
 affairs between the young people. 
 
 There was but one thing that made him doubt 
 the feasibility of his plans. Arinna was not a 
 follower of Jehovah, although she held the re- 
 ligion of Baal and Ishtar lightly. He had care- 
 fully kept her from playing the part expected of 
 women, horrible, sensual, and degrading, in the 
 initiation into the worship of those beastly idols.
 
 96 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 He reproached himself now for not having made 
 greater efforts during the impressionable years 
 of her youth to bring his daughter to his own way 
 of thinking. It shows how lightly he held his 
 religion that he had not hitherto deemed it to be 
 of vital importance what she believed. He had 
 attempted of late to discuss the matter with her, 
 but she had declined to be convinced by his argu- 
 ments, or had evaded them with laughter, or with 
 a promise that some day she would consider them, 
 but utterly refusing to be converted. 
 
 The importance of the matter lay in this, that 
 Ephron had heard, as had all Canaan, of the 
 fierce and implacable spirit of the Hebrews. It 
 was not a war of conquest they were waging, but 
 of annihilation. He shrewdly divined that they 
 would never permit one of their race, especially a 
 man so highly placed as the young Benjamite, to 
 marry a Canaanitish woman who did not believe 
 in their God. 
 
 Although Ephron preserved his usual calm and 
 equable demeanor when he welcomed Arami at 
 the oasis, his mind was filled with these delicate 
 problems which gave rise to great anxieties. He 
 had the impassivity of the Oriental to the full, 
 however, and none of his perplexities showed in his 
 greeting. It was not until the long and elaborate 
 ceremonies incident to such a meeting had been 
 completed and the repast set before his visitor 
 had been consumed that the real business of the 
 meeting was broached by the Canaanite.
 
 THE UNLUCKY WOOING 97 
 
 "Doubtless thou dost realize the errand which 
 hath brought me hither and enabled me to enjoy 
 this noble hospitality," began Arami, with his 
 usual directness. 
 
 "The pleasure I have taken in thy society," 
 answered Ephron diplomatically, "hath left me 
 no room for other thought." 
 
 "I thank thee. I am come to renew my suit for 
 thy daughter," answered the Canaanite, dismiss- 
 ing the compliment and going straight to the 
 mark, like the soldier he was. 
 
 ' ' She is over-young to wed. ' ' 
 
 "That, I recall, was thine answer when I first 
 sought her as wife a year ago." 
 
 "It was." 
 
 "I recognized its truth then. I have been very 
 patient. She is well past the usual age at which 
 our women wed. There are scores who have 
 borne children already to their husbands although 
 younger than she." 
 
 "That is true." 
 
 "Therefore unless thou hast other objections I 
 press for an answer." 
 
 Arami spoke with great haughtiness and with 
 no idea of a refusal. From his point of view it 
 was a great condescension for him even to think 
 of marrying the daughter of this oasis owner and 
 foreigner, but he had seen Arinna and was genu- 
 inely in love with her. He had caused inquiries to 
 be made about her. The fact that she had escaped 
 the profanations and pollutions of the worship
 
 98 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 of Baal and Ishtar, and would come to him with a 
 purity he could not hope to find in other Canaan- 
 itish women, was most attractive to him. He took 
 a haughty tone toward Ephron, which the other 
 would have instantly resented were it not for the 
 complexity of the issues involved. The Hittite 
 could think of nothing to urge. He sat a long 
 time in silence. 
 
 "Well," said the impatient Arami at last, 
 "hast thou reflected enough? Thou knowest my 
 power and influence with the king. It shall be 
 exerted in thy favor. We are on the verge of 
 troublous times. The peace of the land is broken. 
 Thou wert at Gibeon. The things that are toward 
 are not hid from thee." 
 
 "True, noble Arami. The air is filled with 
 wars and rumors of wars. It is not time for 
 marrying and giving in marriage, for feasting 
 and merrymaking." 
 
 "In that I take issue with thee. I go to the 
 wars with my king. Before I go I would estab- 
 lish Arinna in my house. Ishtar might bless me 
 with a son to carry on my family should I by 
 chance be killed." 
 
 "But " 
 
 "No more. Wilt thou give her to me?" 
 
 Ephron was not willing to say yes, and he 
 feared to say no. As a counsel of desperation he 
 answered : 
 
 "Let the maiden speak for herself." 
 
 ' ' How ! ' ' exclaimed Arami in amazement. ' ' Do
 
 THE UNLUCKY WOOING 99 
 
 ye Hittites allow a woman a voice in the dis- 
 posal of her person?" 
 
 Such a thing had never crossed his mind ; it was 
 foreign to all his experience and directly op- 
 posed to the customs of the country, therefore 
 he spoke his great surprise. 
 
 "She is only a child, my one ewe-lamb, the 
 daughter of mine old age," urged Ephron in 
 justification. 
 
 "Be it so," said Arami, falling in with the 
 situation and confident that no woman on earth 
 could reject him by any possibility for any reason. 
 
 Indeed, he was a splendid-looking, handsome 
 soldier. Ephron clapped his hands and bade the 
 slave who answered the signal summon the lady 
 Arinna, who had withdrawn from the meal and 
 room earlier in the afternoon. 
 
 Now, Arinna knew perfectly well the cause of 
 Arami 's visit. She had been advised of his 
 previous offer and she realized that now at last 
 he had come to receive a definite answer. Had 
 it not been for the visit of Dodai there would have 
 been but one answer to the question. Her good 
 sense would have fallen in with her father's policy 
 which he had taken occasion to set before her long 
 since. Now, however, things were different. She 
 was determined she would not marry Arami, and 
 she came in nerved for the struggle. She had 
 put off the rich robes she had worn for the 
 feast and was now attired with almost the sim- 
 plicity of a serving-woman in white garments
 
 100 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 without decoration or ornament of any kind; yet 
 the gorgeously bedizened Arami in all his bar- 
 baric finery found something not unpleasing in 
 this sweet simplicity. And the opposition with 
 which he was met had aroused his determination 
 as the sight of her had completed his infatuation. 
 He stood up and bowed low before her, which was 
 an unusual condescension to a woman from such 
 a one as he. 
 
 "Thou hast sent for me, father," began Arinna. 
 
 "I have, my daughter. Matters of great mo- 
 ment are pending between the noble Arami and 
 myself. ' ' 
 
 "And do they concern me?" 
 
 "Intimately." 
 
 "Maiden," interposed Arami, who had no mind 
 to be left out of the conversation, "I find thee 
 fair. I will make thee my wife, the mistress of 
 my house and possessions, the mother of my 
 children, thou shalt carry on my line." He said 
 this with a condescension almost royal! 
 
 "It is a great honor thou dost propose to me." 
 
 There was not the faintest shade of irony in 
 her voice or bearing, yet the words caused Arami 
 to look at her narrowly. 
 
 "Thou speakest truth," he said haughtily. 
 
 "And what doth my father say to thy suit?" 
 
 "To my great surprise, for it is not the custom 
 of the land to consult a woman on such matters, 
 he hath placed the decision in thine own mouth," 
 he answered.
 
 THE UNLUCKY WOOING 101 
 
 "I have loved thee," said Ephron, his anxiety 
 apparent in his words. "I have no object in life 
 but thy welfare. Couldst thou be happy with 
 Prince Arami?" 
 
 "I am young to enter upon the duties of a 
 wife." 
 
 ' ' I am the judge of that, ' ' said Arami haughtily. 
 "Thou art old enough for me." 
 
 "Give me time," pleaded the girl. 
 
 " It is a year since I first approached thy father. 
 I must have thine answer now." 
 
 "What must be must be," answered Arinna. 
 "If thou wilt have my decision to-day, to-day it 
 is " 
 
 She hesitated. Arami made an impetuous step 
 forward, his face flaming. He thought that he 
 had won. Ere he reached her the word came that 
 stopped him. 
 
 "No," said the girl firmly. 
 
 The soldier stamped his foot. 
 
 "What!" he cried. "Thou wilt decline!" 
 
 "I will." 
 
 "And why?" 
 
 "I cannot allow thee to take this tone with one 
 of my house," interposed Ephron with great 
 dignity. 
 
 "Thine answer?" insisted the soldier, his face 
 black with passion, taking no account whatever 
 of Ephron 's protest. 
 
 But Arinna had all the courage of her house 
 and race. She faced him with perfect composure,
 
 102 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 entirely undaunted. His loud voice and threaten- 
 ing gesture moved her not a whit. 
 
 "Art thou the only man in the world, Prince 
 Arami?" she cried. 
 
 "There is someone else, then!" thundered the 
 discomfited wooer, turning to Ephron. "Hast 
 thou played me false f Lives not a man in Canaan 
 who shall wed her upon whom I have deigned to 
 look." 
 
 1 1 1 have done naught, ' ' said Ephron quickly, his 
 own choler rising. "If God brought others to my 
 door I am not responsible." 
 
 ' ' Who is he ? What is his name ? ' ' cried Ar ami, 
 in full tide of his angry passion. 
 
 It was well that he had laid aside his sword, else 
 he might have used it then and there. 
 
 "His name " began Arinna. 
 
 "Tell it not!" cried her father, but the girl 
 'would not be stopped ; she was proud of her lover, 
 and had no fear for him. 
 
 " is Dodai, a Hebrew." 
 
 "A slave and a son of a slave!" sneered the 
 Canaanite. 
 
 "A prince and the son of a prince." 
 
 "I shall kill him. I shall tear his heart from 
 his breast. I shall sacrifice him still alive to 
 Baal. By him I swear, and when I have done so 
 I shall take thee whether thou wilt or not, to be 
 my wife or not, as I please." 
 
 "We have broken bread together. Thou hast 
 eaten of my salt!" cried Ephron, now as angry
 
 THE UNLUCKY WOOING 103 
 
 as the other. "I cannot resent thine insults, but 
 begone." 
 
 "And how if I should take the woman nowf" 
 said Arami. 
 
 "Try it," answered Ephron stoutly. "Thy 
 soldiers are without the walls. The gate is shut. 
 My men hold it. There are but a few of ye here. 
 Violate my hospitality, lift but a hand, and thou 
 diest." 
 
 "For the last time thou wilt not give me the 
 woman ? ' ' 
 
 "I give thee nothing but life. Go while I am 
 in my present mood." 
 
 "When I come again, after we have dispersed 
 this mob of slaves, I will come with force enough 
 to turn this oasis into a desert. Thou and thine 
 shall die, saving only this woman." 
 
 "Dost thou think," cried Arinna, "that I would 
 live to be thy wife?" 
 
 "Brave words," sneered Arami, wincing under 
 the biting scorn of her speech. "When I have 
 killed thy lover, Dodai I shall not forget the 
 name we shall see." 
 
 He turned away, summoned his followers, and 
 stalked out of the room, followed by Ephron with 
 the great body of his retainers fully armed lest 
 some treachery should be attempted. He passed 
 through the gates, which were opened to him, and 
 summoning his soldiers marched away toward 
 Jerusalem ; murder and death and wounded pride 
 and baffled love consuming his heart.
 
 104 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "Have we done well?" asked Ephron, rejoin- 
 ing his daughter after taking precautions against 
 a surprise of the wall. 
 
 "Well indeed." 
 
 "Hast thou heard aught from that Hebrew of 
 thine since his departure four months ago?" 
 
 "Not a word." 
 
 "Dost thou believe in his love?" 
 
 "I am sure of it." 
 
 "And that he will be true?" 
 
 "He will be." 
 
 "If he doth not save us we shall be ground 
 between the upper and the nether millstone of 
 these warring kings and peoples." 
 
 "By Baal and Ishtar," cried the girl, "hast 
 thou no faith in that Jehovah of thine?" 
 
 "But thou dost not believe in Him." 
 
 "I shall," she answered quickly, "when I have 
 learned more from Dodai's lips of Dodai's God."
 
 IX 
 THE CAMP AT GILGAL 
 
 THE great camp of the Hebrews had been 
 pitched at Gilgal, between the blackened 
 walls on the ruined hill, whereon Jericho 
 had once stood, and the Jordan Eiver. With a 
 natural love of nomadic, desert people for the 
 sun, the Hebrews had avoided the groves of 
 stately palm trees and their black or many-colored 
 tents had been erected around a little hillock in the 
 open fields whence they extended for long dis- 
 tances in irregular lines in every direction. 
 
 Upon that hillock, in the very center of the 
 encampment, the gorgeously colored Tabernacle, 
 with its curtains of vivid blue and deep purple 
 and bright scarlet and its shining ornaments of 
 brass, was erected. A large open space was left 
 in front of the Tabernacle extending around it 
 on either hand. On one side of this open space 
 a group of larger tents indicated the abiding- 
 place of Joshua and his staff. On the other side 
 opposed to Joshua's headquarters a similar group 
 of tents was occupied by Eleazar, the High Priest, 
 his son the fiery Phinehas, and his brethren with 
 the chief priests and Levites of the people. 
 
 In general the families belonging to each tribe 
 
 105
 
 106 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 were grouped together and there were open 
 streets between each tribal encampment. The 
 tents were pitched without much order in the 
 tribal groups in accordance with the convenience 
 and the desires of their owners. Many of the 
 lodges were large ones, and frequently a number 
 of people could be sheltered in each one. Little 
 fires blazed before the tents in every direction. 
 In pots of brass, iron, and copper hanging over 
 the fires the simple evening meal of the people 
 was being prepared by the women while the men 
 watched the children, seemingly numberless, at 
 play. On the outskirts of the camp on every side 
 sheep, goats, and cattle spoil of their recent 
 conquests, which had extended as far as She- 
 chem were pastured and tended by shepherds 
 and herdsmen. 
 
 Armed guards were posted about the outskirts 
 of the camp. A large body of men watched the 
 fords of the Jordan. Other considerable bodies 
 were stationed to the north and south, covering 
 the two great highways running from the valleys 
 over the ranges to the great plateau which formed, 
 as it were, the backbone of the Palestine. The 
 one to the northward led by Michmash to deso- 
 lated Ai and thence across the range through the 
 passes of upper and lower Beth-Horon to the 
 fertile Shephelah or maritime lowlands, so densely 
 populated and well cultivated. The other ran 
 south past the grim valley of Achor by way of the 
 Dead Sea and Engedi to Jerusalem and from
 
 THE CAMP AT GILGAL 107 
 
 there along the top of the range into the desert 
 southward. 
 
 Joshua, the son of Nun, the great man of 
 Ephraim, and indeed of all Israel, having worthily 
 succeeded Moses, had already shown himself a 
 bold, able, and far-seeing leader and soldier. 
 Joshua had no mind to be surprised by a sudden 
 rush of Canaanites down either mountain pass 
 upon the scattered camp with its thousands of 
 women and children, from the great range of hills 
 that towered some thirty-five hundred feet above 
 the valley which lay far below the level of the 
 sea. Therefore Caleb, the Kenizzite, the son of 
 Jephunneh, his old comrade in arms and most 
 trusted lieutenant, had command of the detach- 
 ment on the Achor road. Salmon, son of Nahshon 
 of the Tribe of Judah, had charge of the men at 
 the Michmash pass; while to young Dodai, the 
 son of Ahoah, of the Tribe of Benjamin, who had 
 showed himself a brilliant and dashing soldier in 
 the campaigns already completed, was given 
 charge of the camp guard, composed of picked 
 young men from all the tribes who were especially 
 devoted to their great captain. To complete their 
 watch Paltiel, the son of Azzan of the Tribe of 
 Issachar, held the fords of the river with suffi- 
 cient force to prevent any danger from wandering 
 Moabite survivors of the war. 
 
 On that day the withering heat of the Jordan 
 valley, sunk so far below the level of the sea, 
 was somewhat tempered by the evening breeze
 
 108 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 which blew with refreshing coolness over the 
 waters of the river and the broad salt sea into 
 which it poured its flood. The Israelites had but 
 lately returned from their long march to and 
 from the holy place in the north country for the 
 re-reading of the law at Shechem on the slopes of 
 Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. They had come back 
 to their camp at Gilgal because of the pasture 
 afforded by the fertile valley and because it was 
 a convenient point from which to prosecute the 
 campaigns which, now that the solemn ceremony 
 of the re-reading of the law had ended, was the 
 design of Jehovah for His people. And Joshua 
 was giving his men of war a short rest before 
 undertaking active operations. He intended to 
 continue to occupy and hold both passes with a 
 force which would enable him to leave the women 
 and children and old men, too feeble for hard 
 campaigning, safe in camp at Gilgal, while he 
 prosecuted his campaign to the westward. 
 
 He was seated in front of his tent, surrounded 
 by some of the princes of the tribes, quietly dis- 
 cussing the situation as he partook of his evening 
 meal. The peace of the evening was disturbed 
 by a sudden tumult, heard above the various 
 babble and noises of the great camp. Shouts and 
 hails were cried, trumpets were blown. The noise 
 came from the nearest of the posts on the x Mich- 
 mash road. Although Joshua was an old man, 
 his natural faculties appeared to be no whit 
 abated, and he caught the unusual sounds as
 
 THE CAMP AT GILGAL 109 
 
 quickly as the youngest councilor present. He 
 rose slowly to his feet and turned in the direction 
 whence it came, a striking and magnificent figure, 
 seen in the twilight, its gathering dimness dis- 
 pelled by the bright blaze of the fire before him. 
 
 Tall, upright, broad-shouldered, powerful, gray- 
 headed, with his gray beard cut short like that of 
 a soldier rather than flowing like that of a priest, 
 he was the beau-ideal of a prince and leader. He 
 had laid aside his armor and was clad in girded 
 tunic and sandals. Upon his head he wore a coni- 
 cal cloth cap wrapped with a species of turban. 
 Over his shoulders fell a voluminous mantle of 
 black, his tribal color, striped with red and white, 
 which he gathered about him with his left hand. 
 Jericho had been devoted to Jehovah with all it 
 contained, but the goods and belongings of the 
 other cities, such as Ai, which had fallen to the 
 Hebrews, had been taken as spoil. The mantle 
 was of the choicest Babylonian weave, beautifully 
 embroidered in gold and set off the splendid figure 
 of the man admirably. 
 
 " There is a noise of challenge and welcome," 
 he said slowly in his deep voice, with no sign of 
 age but its richness. "Someone cometh. I would 
 that " 
 
 The next moment, through the circle of tents, a 
 young man in full armor appeared hurriedly. He 
 stopped before Joshua, spread out his hands 
 widely, bowed low before him, and waited. 
 
 "Thou hast a message?"
 
 110 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "I have." 
 
 "Deliver it." 
 
 "Strangers, declaring themselves an embassy 
 from a far country, have approached the guards 
 on the Michmash road and have been stopped at 
 the boundaries of the camp. They seek an inter- 
 view with thee and the princes of Israel." 
 
 "Conduct them hither at once. Say to them 
 that they shall come and go in safety." 
 
 The messenger bowed again, turned on his heel, 
 and fled away as rapidly as he had come. Joshua 
 turned to a group of young men, armed, who stood 
 back of his tent, waiting to do him service. 
 
 "Go, some of ye," he said, "and summon the 
 princes and elders of Israel to meet me here at 
 once. And Eleazar, the High Priest, and Phine- 
 has and such of the chief priests and principal 
 Levites as can conveniently attend, bid them here 
 also." 
 
 In an instant, for Joshua was served with un- 
 questioned obedience and military promptitude, 
 the members of the little group who acted as his 
 aides were running through the camp. Presently 
 by twos and threes, the warrior chiefs and elders 
 of the tribes approached the tent of Joshua. 
 
 The men of war were clad in such armor as they 
 fancied. The Hebrews had no facilities for mak- 
 ing armor as yet, and what they possessed had 
 been taken from the enemy or brought from 
 Egypt. There was little uniformity in their 
 weapons, offensive or defensive, and what they
 
 THE CAMP AT GILGAL 111 
 
 wore for protection varied from the skins of 
 animals to the most costly mail if such their 
 iron-reinforced skin tunics could be called or 
 plates, of the time, made in countries as far apart 
 as the land of the Hittites, the Mesopotamian 
 territory, or the banks of the Nile itself. And 
 there were Canaanitish weapons and dress also, 
 spoil of more recent campaigns. Most of them 
 wore some kind of helmet or casque, and all 
 of them carried shield and sword and spear and 
 there were many bows among them. The princes 
 were followed by the standard bearers of the 
 tribes. Conspicuous among them was the staff 1 
 bearing the crude representation of the lion, 
 the cognizance of the great Tribe of Judah; 
 but the mandrake of Eeuben, the ship of Zebu- 
 Ion, the hind of Naphtali, the snake of Dan, and 
 all the others were there also. 
 
 The councilors and the aged fathers of the 
 tribes, being men of peace, were habited in white 
 garments with white pointed caps rising above 
 their turbans. They wore long cloaks, some of 
 them of many colors, over their white tunics. 
 
 The High Priest was dressed in his long white 
 ephod of fine linen over the me'il, the undergar- 
 ment of blue, elaborately embroidered where it 
 showed beneath the tunic. To the bottom of this 
 blue robe or cassock little bells were attached 
 which tinkled softly yet musically as he walked. 
 The ephod was belted at the waist by a variegated 
 linen girdle of blue, white, purple, and scarlet.
 
 112 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 As the coming council did not appear of grave 
 importance Eleazar did not wear the jeweled 
 breastplate containing the packet in which he kept 
 the Urim and Thummim, or sacred lots, which 
 usually depended from his shoulders. His head 
 was covered by a lofty turban of white and blue 
 on the front of which a gold plate was fastened 
 bearing this inscription, HOLINESS TO JEHOVAH. 
 
 The attendant priests and the heads of the 
 Levites were clad in turbans and girdled linen 
 ephods of similar shape but simpler and less 
 splendid in their fittings and adornments. The 
 warrior princes ranged themselves on one side in 
 a group. The venerable wise men and tribal 
 councilors placed themselves together in another 
 group. The High Priest stationed himself near 
 Joshua with the other priests and Levites. They 
 made a brilliant group back of their hierarchical 
 chief in spite of their grave and serious air and 
 bearing. 
 
 These all, being welcomed by Joshua in turn 
 and on their approach, each one in accordance 
 with his degree and importance, seated them- 
 selves in great circles upon the ground about the 
 fire, which had been replenished so that it blazed 
 brightly. Bronze lamps hanging by chains from 
 the lofty poles of the tent, which was open to 
 the fire, and blazing torches in the hands of at- 
 tendants quickly summoned also added to the 
 illumination. It was now quite dark, the moon 
 would not rise for some hours, and the only
 
 THE CAMP AT GILGAL 113 
 
 natural light was that cast by the stars, shining 
 brightly in the cloudless sky. Eleazar and the 
 priests did not sit down with the rest, but stood 
 with Joshua, who also remained upon his feet. 
 Close to Joshua the soldier messengers who had 
 called all to the Council ranged themselves in 
 ordered ranks. The firelight was reflected from 
 the golden turban plate of the High Priest and 
 from the armor of these young warriors. As it 
 was yet early in the evening the outskirts of the 
 Council were surrounded by constantly increas- 
 ing rows upon rows of anxious and interested 
 people, including not a few women and some of 
 the older children. 
 
 A way had been left open in the direction of 
 Michmash, whence the first messenger from the 
 camp guard had come, and presently, winding 
 through one of the passageways between the 
 groups of tents, a number of men presented them- 
 selves before the great assembly of the Hebrews. 
 In the lead were the armed Israelites of the guard. 
 Following them came several venerable men of 
 dignified and imposing presence. After these 
 men, who were preceded by a veritable patriarch 
 white-bearded and old, a few of the asses of the 
 country were led by servants. The rear was 
 brought up by more of the armed guards. 
 
 The captain of the guard halted at the edge 
 of the circle of councilors and saluted by raising 
 his spear, spreading out his hands, and bowing 
 low.
 
 114 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "Speak," began Joshua, breaking the respectful 
 pause. 
 
 "The strangers who sought speech with thee 
 and whom thou hast commanded to be brought, 
 are here," he said. 
 
 "It is well," answered Joshua. "Open the 
 ranks and bid them advance. Bide ye all where 
 ye stand for further order after I have had speech 
 with them." 
 
 The captain turned, a sharp command fell from 
 his lips, the soldiers divided, and the old men 
 who followed them stepped slowly forward. As 
 they came into the firelight and the illumination 
 of the lamps and the torches, it was at once seen 
 that their dress ill comported with their age and 
 apparent station. Although the light was not 
 bright it was sufficient to reveal that the garments 
 worn by these strangers, apparently once rich and 
 highly ornamented, were now old, dust-covered, 
 and tattered. Their clothes presented such an 
 appearance as would naturally be the result of 
 steady wear on a very long, hard journey. And 
 this was somewhat surprising, as people of that 
 day, and especially ambassadors, invariably con- 
 sidered it a part of dignity and propriety to 
 present themselves before foreign powers in their 
 best and most expensive and beautiful habili- 
 ments. It was a way of showing the importance 
 of the people and the monarch they represented. 
 
 "Strangers," said Joshua courteously, "around 
 ye are captains and councilors of Israel and
 
 THE CAMP AT GILGAL 115 
 
 here standeth the High Priest of Jehovah, our 
 God. Come ye in peace or in war, for this night 
 I bid ye welcome." 
 
 "Art thou that Joshua, the son of Ephraim, of 
 whom we have heard!" asked the oldest stranger. 
 
 "I am." 
 
 "And thou hast command of this so great 
 people?" 
 
 "By the grace of God, I have." 
 
 "Sir," said the ancient ambassador, bowing low 
 before him, "we are thy servants ever." 
 
 "And who are ye?" asked the Hebrew, "and 
 whence come ye?" 
 
 "We come to beg thy protection, to offer thee 
 our submission, and if we be found worthy to 
 enter into an alliance with thee." 
 
 "We enter into no alliance with the Canaanite," 
 said Joshua sternly. 
 
 "Thou hast well said," broke out the clear voice 
 of impetuous Phinehas, "the Canaanite is an 
 abomination to Jehovah and He hath devoted him 
 to destruction." 
 
 "Thou hearest the son of the High Priest?" 
 
 "My lord," answered the old man gravely, "we 
 come from a far country; we be no Canaanites. 
 But the day is far spent and night is upon us. 
 As thou seest, thy servants are old men and 
 weary. We have traveled the long day, and it 
 is but one of many days. Of thy kindness, permit 
 us to make camp, to eat and drink, to rest and 
 sleep. If thou wilt see us in the morning "
 
 116 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "Have thine own way," said the Hebrew. 
 "Yonder is an open space. Thou mayst pitch thy 
 tents there. If thou needest anything ask and 
 thou shalt receive it." 
 
 "We thank thee for thy courtesy and considera- 
 tion, and we ask nothing from thee for the night 
 save the permission to erect our tents and to 
 rest therein." 
 
 "Thou hast it. After the morning sacrifice we 
 will hear thee again upon this matter. Thou hast 
 leave to withdraw."
 
 X 
 
 THE LYING AMBASSADORS 
 
 THE next day after the morning sacrifice the 
 elders of Israel assembled once more as be- 
 fore. On the outskirts of the camp a grove 
 of palm trees reared their stately heads and af- 
 forded shade from the fierce glare of the sun. 
 There Joshua led the princes of the tribes, and 
 there beneath the shade of the broad leaves he 
 received the embassy. The guard at the camp 
 had been changed, and nearest to Joshua stood 
 his most beloved and trusted young officer, Dodai, 
 son of Ahoah. His tour of duty with the camp 
 guard having terminated, he was now in com- 
 mand of the group of personal aides to the great 
 captain. In addition to his armor he had draped 
 over his shoulders and belted about his waist a 
 lion's skin, the pelt of the beast he had slain at 
 Beth-Aram. It made him the envy of all the 
 young men and the admiration of all the young 
 women of the camp. Salmon had told the tale, 
 and it had lost nothing from his lips. 
 
 Salmon himself, unfortunately as it turned out, 
 was not present. He had not yet been relieved 
 of his guard. In the foremost ranks of the people 
 surrounding the group under the trees, who drew 
 
 117
 
 118 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 as near about the circles of the princes as the 
 guards would allow, stood Bahab, whom Salmon 
 had recently taken to wife; Joshua, Eleazar, and 
 the elders consenting thereto, since she had be- 
 come a devout worshiper of Jehovah and had 
 repudiated her false gods and mended her evil 
 ways. 
 
 In the midst of this great and imposing assem- 
 blage the embassy confronted Joshua. The 
 brightness of the morning light showed even more 
 plainly the dilapidated condition of their attire. 
 The borders of their long, dusty garments were 
 tattered and hung in strips about their feet, their 
 leather sandals were almost worn through. Their 
 patched cloaks were weather-stained, as if they 
 had slept many nights covered only by these 
 mantles. They were faded, too, as if from long 
 exposure. Their equipment was in even worse 
 condition. The packs on the backs of the asses 
 were in a state of extreme dilapidation. There 
 were patches on the water-skins and the leather 
 wine-bottles. The aspect of the strangers was 
 truly as forlorn as it was remarkable. 
 
 Naturally, it was Joshua who began the inter- 
 view. Indeed, the deputation waited humbly for 
 him to speak. 
 
 "Ye came to us last night seeking our favor, 
 and we postponed, at your request, a discussion 
 of the matter until this morning. Speak now. 
 What would ye of us?" 
 
 "Mighty Lord and great Prince," slowly began
 
 THE LYING AMBASSADORS 119 
 
 old Shem-Hadad, after a low obeisance, "from a 
 far country that lieth beyond the mountains and 
 to the northward of the great sea have thy serv- 
 ants come. We be Hivites. The Canaanites, the 
 Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and all 
 the people of this land are an abomination unto 
 us as unto thee." 
 
 "Are ye worshipers of Jehovah?" 
 
 "Nay, in our darkness and ignorance we have 
 worshiped Baal and Ishtar, the gods of our 
 fathers. ' ' 
 
 "Death to the idolaters!" cried Phinehas sud- 
 denly, and his voice carried far over the Council 
 and his words were taken up here and there for 
 low murmurs echoed through the Council and 
 came in louder acclaim from the spectators. 
 
 "Peace," exclaimed old Eleazar in rebuke to 
 his fiery son. 
 
 "Be still, young man," said Joshua reprov- 
 ingly. "Strangers, speak on." 
 
 "Hear us yet farther, Prince of the Hebrews, 
 and ye, noble councilors. We have heard of 
 your mighty God, Him whose name thou hast 
 pronounced in our ears, Joshua! We know 
 how great a God He is, of the wonders that He 
 did for ye in Egypt, and because of His name 
 and the fame of Him are we come hither." 
 
 "Hear, strangers, the Lord our God is one 
 Lord!" cried Joshua, lifting his hand. 
 
 "Blessed and Holy be His name," added 
 Eleazar solemnly.
 
 120 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "Amen," said the leader of the embassy. 
 
 His manner was perfect. Long years of prac- 
 tice had made him past master in duplicity. In- 
 deed, in the ethics of the day, such efforts as he 
 was making would be counted highly praiseworthy 
 and success a thing to be congratulated upon. 
 And his voice, manner, and bearing deeply im- 
 pressed the Hebrews. 
 
 "We have heard also what He hath done for 
 ye in the desert, how ye put the Amalekites to the 
 sword " 
 
 "In the valley of Rephidim," interposed 
 Joshua, smiling grimly as the memory of that 
 fierce battle in which he had led the Lord's hosts 
 came back to him. 
 
 "Even so," added the wily spokesman, bowing 
 humbly. 
 
 "What more?" asked the Hebrew. 
 
 "We have heard also what He did to the two 
 kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan," said 
 the old man, pointing out over the valley and 
 across the river to the distant hills of Moab in 
 the east, "to Sihon, king of Heshbon, and to Og, 
 king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth." 
 
 "Well," exclaimed Joshua proudly, amid a 
 spirited acclaim from the princes and elders, in 
 the martial recollections awakened by the roll- 
 call of their glorious triumphs. 
 
 The simple-minded, desert-born Hebrews were 
 intensely pleased and gratified that the story of 
 their conquests and the signal favor of God which
 
 THE LYING AMBASSADORS 121 
 
 He had bestowed upon them had penetrated to the 
 far-off land of these venerable strangers, evi- 
 dently, in spite of their dilapidation, persons of 
 great importance in their own country. Shrewd 
 old Shem-Hadad was not unobservant of the ef- 
 fect of his delicate flattery. 
 
 "Wherefore," resumed the old man, more 
 deferentially than ever, "our elders and all the 
 inhabitants of our country spake together " 
 
 "And what said they?" 
 
 "This was their counsel, lords. 'Take victuals 
 with you for the long journey and go to meet 
 these people traveling in the greatness of their 
 strength, and say unto them, "We are your serv- 
 ants, therefore now make ye a league with us. 
 Ye shall protect us from the Canaanites and we 
 shall serve ye faithfully. We will fight by your 
 side and do whatever ye command us. We will 
 acknowledge your God as greater than the god 
 of the Hivites." ' " 
 
 "Who is the king of your land? How is he 
 named?" 
 
 "We have no king, lord. We be free people 
 and are ruled by the elders of the city, of whom I 
 am the least worthy," answered Shem-Hadad with 
 excessive humility. 
 
 "What is the name of thy city and country, 
 then?" continued Joshua. 
 
 "It is a fair city, indeed." 
 
 "But how is it called?" 
 
 "Gibeon," answered the old man, shrewdly^
 
 122 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 surmising that no man there had heard the name 
 of the town. 
 
 And indeed no man had except one. All eyes 
 were fixed upon the speaker, and none marked 
 the violent start given by Dodai as he heard the 
 name. The young man half stepped forward to 
 speak, recollected himself, stopped suddenly and 
 fell back into his place, his face paling be- 
 neath his helmet as he realized the deception to 
 which he made himself a party by remaining 
 silent. 
 
 "And where lieth that city of thine 1" asked 
 Joshua unsuspiciously. 
 
 "My lord, as I have told thee, far hence; so 
 many days ' journey indeed that thy servants have 
 lost count.'* The old man now beckoned to his at- 
 tendants. One of them led two of the asses into 
 the inclosure. "Thou mayst judge for thyself," 
 he said, and the father of lies himself could not 
 have done it more speciously and effectively, "I 
 am Shem-Hadad, of an ancient house and noble 
 lineage. I have enough and to spare of this 
 world's goods. I know that I appear before thee 
 in garments not befitting my station and people. 
 These that are with me are men of importance 
 among us. Our clothes were new and our sandals 
 when we started. They have been worn out in the 
 journey." 
 
 "These bottles of wine," said the second am- 
 bassador, pointing toward the skins hanging half 
 empty and flaccid from the backs of the asses,
 
 THE LYING AMBASSADORS 123 
 
 "were new and full; and behold they be rent and 
 torn and patched. Indeed, we have come a great 
 distance and for many days from a land beyond 
 the setting of the sun." 
 
 "This our bread," said a third, "we took hot 
 for our provision from our ovens. It was fresh 
 from out of our houses the day we came forth 
 to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry and it 
 is moldy." 
 
 "This sack of salt, from the waters of the Great 
 Sea, was full," said the first speaker. "We have 
 used it up." 
 
 "Look at the poor beasts of burden, how weary 
 they are," added the third; "it is the length and 
 hardship of the journey that hath broken them 
 down. ' ' 
 
 "It is well," said Joshua, amid expressions of 
 approval from the councilors, who were all con- 
 vinced by this ocular demonstration. "Had ye 
 been Canaanites and dwelt in their land, there 
 could have been no peace between us, because we 
 have made an oath to blot them out, to dispossess 
 them of their land, to take possession of their 
 flocks and herds and to ruin their cities and all 
 that they have, and to put them to the sword. 
 Even as we did unto Jericho so will we do unto 
 them." 
 
 "Jehovah hath commanded it," said Eleazar. 
 
 "But because ye have heard of our God," con- 
 tinued Joshua, nodding in confirmation of the 
 High Priest's words, "and because ye speak us
 
 124. WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 fair, we will enter into an alliance with ye. We 
 will spare your city, ye shall fight with us against 
 our enemies, and we will protect ye against yours. 
 Say I well, brethren?" 
 
 "Well, indeed," said Phinehas, the zealot, and 
 with the approval of so uncompromising a pa- 
 triot and so true a worshiper of God to encourage 
 them the whole assemblage broke into shouts of 
 hearty approbation. 
 
 "Methinks," whispered one man to his neigh- 
 bor, "that we would do well to inquire of God 
 whether it be right for us to enter into this alli- 
 ance or not," but his voice was lost in the shouts 
 and acclamations, and no one else, not even Elea- 
 zar, thought to put the question to Jehovah. 
 
 The pride of the Israelites was greatly flattered 
 by the fact that their fame had extended into 
 distant countries, even to that far-off Gibeon, 
 wherever it lay. 
 
 "Come hither, elders of the tribes," said Joshua 
 as the tumult finally stilled. 
 
 The leaders of the twelve great tribes of Israel 
 rose and presented themselves before Joshua. 
 
 "Thou, too, Eleazar," said the leader. "Now, 
 Shem-Hadad," he continued, "we are ready to 
 enter into .an alliance with thee and with thy 
 brethren." 
 
 "Lord," said Dodai suddenly, starting forward. 
 
 Joshua turned upon him a stern look of sur- 
 prise. 
 
 "Art thou one of the princes of Israel, boy,"
 
 THE LYING AMBASSADORS 125 
 
 he said in great surprise, "that thou shouldst 
 interrupt our counselings I " 
 
 "But, my lord," muttered the young man. 
 
 "Thou wilt be silent," said Joshua sternly. 
 
 Dodai hung in the wind a moment, doubtful 
 whether to continue or not while his captain 
 surveyed him with growing amazement and not 
 a little indignation. Then he bowed low and 
 stepped back into his appointed place, his face 
 paling again. 
 
 "Kahab, the woman of Jericho, would fain 
 speak to thee," said one from the outskirts. 
 
 "Is the great assembly of the Israelites to be 
 interrupted by youths and women?" asked Joshua 
 in great displeasure. 
 
 "Bid her be silent," said Phinehas, who was 
 nearest to her. 
 
 These interruptions had caused some confusion, 
 but it soon quieted down. Joshua, the High 
 Priest, the Elders of Israel, and the Gibeonites 
 stood in the center of a great circle. 
 
 "Give me of that bread of thine," said Joshua, 
 "and of the remainder of the sack of salt." 
 
 They were handed to him at once. Joshua 
 broke the bread into little pieces and sprinkled 
 salt upon them. The pieces were passed around 
 among the Gibeonites and the chiefs of the 
 Israelites, who participated in the ceremony. 
 The High Priest blessed the bread, and they all 
 partook of it. 
 
 "As we have broken bread and eaten it with salt
 
 126 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 together, ye are our friends forever. Peace be 
 between us and ye," said the old Hebrew. "We 
 accept thine offer, we make league with ye. In 
 war or in peace our aims, our desires, and our 
 efforts are one." 
 
 "Hear, Jehovah," said the High Priest, lift- 
 ing his hands, "the words we have spoken!" 
 
 Joshua, thereupon, lifted his hand as did the 
 other princes of Israel and repeated the solemn 
 words. 
 
 "Hear, Jehovah, the oath we have sworn!" 
 
 "For our part," said Shem-Hadad, lifting his 
 hands also, "we are your servants ever. Ye 
 shall command and we will obey. We have broken 
 bread and eaten salt together. We shall bow our 
 gods to thine. We have taken the oath as ye have. 
 Now ye will permit us to return on our way to 
 our own land, to tell to our people what we have 
 received of your favor." 
 
 "Presently," said Joshua hospitably. "Nay, ye 
 must be our guests. We will provide ye with new 
 garments and outfit ye for your journey on the 
 morrow. ' ' 
 
 "Thy princely generosity overwhelmeth us," 
 said Shem-Hadad. "Wilt thou permit me to 
 question thee further? We have heard, as I have 
 said, what your God permitted ye to do in Egypt 
 and to the Amalekites and the Amorites, there- 
 after; but on our way hither we passed by the 
 ruins of Ai. It was a populous town when we 
 heard from it last. And yonder, ' ' he pointed back*
 
 THE LYING AMBASSADORS 127 
 
 wards, " stood Jericho. What hath thrown them 
 in the dust?" 
 
 ''Thou hast not heard!" asked Joshua. 
 
 "We have not." 
 
 ' * The Lord smote them by our arms. At Jericho 
 we left not one stone upon another save the house 
 that thou seest yonder on the broken pieces of the 
 wall. That was the house of one Eahab, who had 
 entertained our spies and whom with her people 
 we had promised to let live." 
 
 "And this Eahab?" 
 
 "She is here in the camp and hath married 
 Salmon, a prince of the house of Judah, having 
 professed her belief in the one God, Jehovah." 
 
 "My lord," said Shem-Hadad, instantly alive 
 to the peril in the presence of the Canaanitish 
 convert, who knew exactly where Gibeon lay and 
 who would instantly and infallibly expose the 
 deception if given the opportunity, "despite thy 
 proffered hospitality, I and my brethren must 
 leave at once. If thou wilt give order that food 
 and drink be bestowed upon us sufficient for our 
 journey we will take our departure. Our way is 
 long. Our people will grow sick at heart waiting 
 for tidings. It would be happiness to rest here 
 with ye but we must go. Should ye come into 
 the far country where Gibeon lieth, ye will find 
 our gates open, our houses and our goods yours, 
 our men ready to go with ye." 
 
 "I would that ye could tarry here a little, but 
 have thy way," answered Joshua. "As we in-
 
 128 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 tend to overcome the whole land from the north 
 to the south and as your country bordereth upon 
 the north, we shall find ye. Farewell. The as- 
 sembly is broken up. To your tents, Israel!"
 
 XI 
 THE OUTCAST FROM THE LORD 
 
 THERE was something portentous about the 
 haste with which Shem-Hadad and his com- 
 panions took their departure. By Joshua's 
 command, changes of raiment, new wine-skins, 
 fresh provisions, and other things they needed for 
 their journey were offered to them freely. They 
 took little or nothing. In fact, their departure 
 was so hurried that it verged on the point of dis- 
 courtesy and their unseemly haste left the chiefs 
 of the houses of Israel in a state of singular as- 
 tonishment, not to say perturbation ! They were 
 utterly at a loss to understand the cause of their 
 unaccountable speed, and some faint suspicion 
 that perhaps everything was not as it should be 
 had already begun to enter their minds. There 
 was nothing tangible, however, upon which to 
 base their growing uncertainty, and with the de- 
 parture of the strangers the subject was presently 
 dismissed. 
 
 It was the custom of Joshua to devote certain 
 hours in the morning, as Moses had done, to 
 hearing the complaints of the people and adjust- 
 ing their differences. So he judged the people. 
 At these hours anyone in the camp from the high- 
 
 129
 
 130 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 est to the lowest had access and recourse to the 
 great captain. He usually sat on a pile of cushions 
 in the shade of his tent at such times, and the 
 young men who were so proud to serve him 
 personally marshaled the petitioners and griev- 
 ance bearers so that they presented themselves 
 one by one and without confusion. 
 
 Among those who were the first in the long 
 line of applicants for an interview was the 
 Canaanitish woman who had married Salmon, 
 whose life with that of Dodai she had saved by 
 her wit and courage when they were spying upon 
 Jericho. In no short time her turn came, and 
 she was at once ushered into the presence of the 
 great Ephraimite judge and captain. 
 
 Joshua knew her very well. In the first place, 
 Salmon, her new husband, was one of the chief 
 men of the important tribe of Judah. And in the 
 third place, before the marriage had been sol- 
 emnized, the matter had been laid before the 
 Council of Princes and the High Priest, and their 
 consent obtained. The Israelites looked with little 
 favor upon matrimonial alliances with alien 
 peoples. Joshua also remembered that in the 
 conference with the embassy from Gibeon, earlier 
 in the morning, Eahab had endeavored, most im- 
 properly for a woman and especially an alien 
 woman, to interrupt the deliberations of the elders 
 with speech of her own. Therefore, he greeted 
 her with unwonted sternness and severity of 
 manner and voice.
 
 THE OUTCAST FROM THE LORD 131 
 
 "Thou art that Kahab," he said, "the Canaan- 
 itish woman whom Salmon of the house of Judah 
 hath espoused. Thou didst seek to speak to me 
 this morning while I was engaged in grave busi- 
 ness of the people. It was most unseemly for a 
 woman." 
 
 Kahab was beautiful, she was proud, she was 
 accustomed to deference and to having her own 
 way, yet there was something in the stern majesty 
 of the great Hebrew that awed her in spite of 
 herself. 
 
 "My lord, I had knowledge of these people and 
 of their city, and perhaps since Salmon, my hus- 
 band, is absent with the guard, I alone of all 
 here knew that they were deceiving thee." 
 
 "Deceiving us. What meanest thou!" cried 
 Joshua, his suspicions suddenly aflame. 
 
 At that instant, Phinehas and one or two of the 
 elders came across the intervening space and by 
 chance overheard his words. They hurried to 
 the side of their leader. 
 
 "Explain thyself, woman," said Joshua, wait- 
 ing until the others were in place. 
 
 "Gladly, my lord. These people declared unto 
 thee that they came from a far country beyond the 
 setting of the sun and to the northward of the 
 Great Sea." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "They lied to thee." 
 
 "Impossible, they showed us evidence of their 
 long journey!"
 
 132 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 " Prepared for the purpose evidently. They 
 had heard of thy victories at Moab." 
 
 "They knew not of the fall of Jericho and Ai." 
 
 "My lord, they saw the smoke of Ai rising into 
 the heavens." 
 
 "And whence?" 
 
 "From their own city." 
 
 "From Gibeon?" 
 
 "Even so." 
 
 "Whereliethit?" 
 
 "Yonder," said the woman, pointing straight 
 up to the range of mountains towering above 
 them and to the northward a little, "on the up- 
 land but a few miles from Ai at the beginning of 
 the road that leadeth down through the passes of 
 Beth-Horon to the lowland and to the Great Sea." 
 
 "It is impossible." 
 
 "Forgive thine handmaiden, lord, but I speak 
 that I do know and testify that I have seen. The 
 old one is chief among the councilors of Gibeon. 
 He hath been entertained at my my inn in 
 Jericho in the days past. I remembered him at 
 last. They are Canaanitish people like the rest 
 of us, Hivites though they be called, and wor- 
 shipers of false gods abominations to the Lord," 
 she went on with all the earnestness of a new 
 convert. ' ' Thou hast been deceived, outwitted by 
 the wily old man. Gibeon is a fair city and 
 standeth by the great pool upon a high place at 
 the very summit of the upland." 
 
 The dark face of Joshua flushed red. He smote
 
 THE OUTCAST FROM THE LORD 133 
 
 his hands together fiercely, and then he bowed 
 his head. 
 
 "We have done ill," he said in great humilia- 
 tion, casting dust upon his head as he spoke. 
 "Eleazar," he continued to the slowly approach- 
 ing High Priest, who had heard the tidings, for 
 Eahab's voice had been raised unconsciously so 
 that her dreadful words were audible far and 
 wide, "we should have inquired of the Lord by 
 Urim and Thummim before we made this alli- 
 ance." 
 
 "It is not too late to revoke our foolish and evil 
 oath," ventured one old man of the tribe of 
 Simeon who stood by. 
 
 "An oath is an oath," answered the High Priest 
 gloomily. "The fault is mine. I am Jehovah's 
 priest. I should have advised thee." 
 
 "What is to be done now!" asked a third. 
 
 Joshua sat with bent head, thinking deeply. 
 
 "They have been gone scarcely two hours," he 
 said at last, "they are old men and can at best 
 travel but slowly. Dodai " 
 
 "My lord," answered the Benjamite, stepping 
 forward from his place in the ranks of the young 
 men in attendance. 
 
 "Why, this man knew!' cried Rahab, unthink- 
 ingly. "I was a woman and was denied speech 
 with thee. I saw him by thy side. Why did he 
 not tell thee the truth?" 
 
 "It is impossible that he could have known," 
 said Joshua. "Where got he the knowledge?"
 
 134 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "He was with Salmon," answered Eahab, 
 "Salmon, my lord and husband, when I let them 
 down from the house on the city wall and gave 
 them arms and bade them seek shelter in the 
 mountains until they could cross the Jordan." 
 
 "Well," said Joshua, fighting against a grow- 
 ing conviction. 
 
 "My lord," interposed Dodai, his face paler 
 than ever, his voice tremulous, his heart in his 
 mouth. 
 
 "Silence," said the captain, "let the woman 
 finish her story." 
 
 "My lord," began Eahab, hesitating as she 
 saw the anxiety and shame, not to say apprehen- 
 sion, in Dodai 's face. "I perhaps I was wrong 
 
 "Woman, thou art concealing something from 
 me," interposed Joshua severely. "Go on with 
 thy story and keep nothing back." 
 
 "Speak on, I beg thee," added Dodai to the 
 great astonishment of Joshua and the elders that 
 he should so presume. 
 
 Now Rahab was in a fearful dilemma. Next 
 to her husband she was most beholden to this 
 young man, and he stood high in her affections. 
 It was obvious that he was in trouble and through 
 her speech. She would fain have saved him, but 
 in the present state of affairs she could see no 
 way. However much her reluctance she had no 
 recourse but to speak on, but it was with a very 
 miserable and subdued air that she proceeded.
 
 THE OUTCAST FROM THE LORD 135 
 
 " Salmon hath told me how he and that Dodai 
 yonder climbed the mountain and fell in with a 
 man and woman who dwelt in a place hard to come 
 at, an oasis known as Beth- Aram. They told him 
 they lived in a town hard by called Gibeon, in 
 the winter. But the youth may not have known, ' ' 
 she faltered in vain effort at excusing him. 
 
 "Thou hast undone me," said Dodai under his 
 breath. 
 
 "I would sooner have cut out my tongue," 
 whispered the woman in reply. 
 
 "It was thy duty to speak and mine. I forgive 
 thee." 
 
 Rahab wished too late that she had said nothing 
 about it, though being a new convert she could 
 scarcely yet realize what the situation imported 
 for the young soldier. 
 
 "What hast thou to say to this!" said Joshua. 
 "Speak now." 
 
 "My lord," began the young man, realizing the 
 impossibility of denial, for which indeed he had 
 no wish, "it is even as the woman hath said." 
 
 "And thou didst allow us to be deceived and 
 fooled by these people?" 
 
 The young Benjamite bowed his head and stood 
 the very picture of despair and humiliation before 
 them all. 
 
 "Woe, woe!" broke from the lips of one of the 
 elders. 
 
 "Shame on thee, thou traitor!" cried a soldier. 
 
 "Now by the God above us " began Joshua
 
 136 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 in a loud voice, rising to his feet and staring at 
 the circle of excited people rapidly growing about 
 him. 
 
 "Wait," hurriedly interposed Elidad, the son 
 of Chislon, the Prince and head of the Tribe of 
 Benjamin, coming forward with the venerable 
 Ahoah, the father of Dodai, "I do recall that the 
 young man attempted to speak to thee, but thou 
 didst silence him." 
 
 "Mercy, Joshua! He would have spoken," 
 pleaded the grief-stricken father. 
 
 "It may be so," admitted Joshua, who was 
 above all things a just man. "Was it thine in- 
 tention to tell me the truth, thou Dodai, son of 
 Ahoah?" 
 
 "That was my purpose, but in the face of thy 
 prohibition 
 
 "Thou shouldst nevertheless have shouted it 
 aloud with all thy voice," said Joshua sternly. 
 "Didst thou not know of the arrival of these 
 strangers and whence they came the night 
 before?" 
 
 "Yes, lord," admitted the young soldier, re- 
 solved to make a clean breast of it when it was 
 perhaps too late. "When I was relieved of my 
 guard last night those who were present when 
 they came told me and I overheard the word 
 Gibeon from one of their servants as I passed 
 their tents." 
 
 "And didst thou not suspect that they were 
 from Gibeon?"
 
 "I knew it." 
 
 "Why didst thou not seek me out, then? Thou 
 hadst access to me. Why didst thou not tell me?" 
 thundered the old man, and giving the younger no 
 time to answer he went on inexorably: "Thou 
 hast humiliated us, thou hast shamed us, thou 
 hast been false to thy people and to thy God. The 
 punishment of Achan should be meted out to 
 thee." 
 
 "As my lord willeth," said Dodai quietly, but 
 holding himself the more erect and facing Joshua 
 with an undaunted look which awakened the 
 respect of every one of the auditors of the strange 
 scene as old Ahoah broke into low but bitter 
 lamentations, while from the crowd came the 
 piteous outcries and weeping of Dodai 's mother 
 and sisters, who had hurried thither. 
 
 "My lord," faltered Rahab, summoning her 
 courage, "I do repent me that my thoughtless 
 tongue hath plunged this young man " 
 
 "Silence, woman," said Joshua sternly. "Wilt 
 thou tell me, young man that I have loved, 
 before I pass sentence upon thee, why thou hast 
 acted so madly?" 
 
 "My lord," said the younger man, honestly 
 resolved to make a clean breast of it all, "there 
 is a maiden of Canaan who welcomed and shel- 
 tered Salmon and myself in our extremity after 
 our escape from Jericho. Her father is Ephron 
 the Hittite. Her mother was a Hivite of that city 
 of Gibeon, and she herself hath not yet seen the
 
 138 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 light of Jehovah, our God. I I " He fal- 
 tered, his pale face flushing. "I would not have 
 her put to the sword, I " 
 
 "And for the love of a woman, a Canaanitish 
 outcast," exclaimed Joshua bitterly, "thou hast 
 played the traitor to thy God." 
 
 Now there were things that Dodai could have 
 urged in his defense. In the first place, before 
 it was too late he actually had endeavored to 
 speak out and Joshua had silenced him. Of course 
 he should not have allowed himself to be silenced. 
 In the second place Arinna, the daughter of 
 Ephron, who was an undoubted follower of the 
 true God, had been much impressed with Dodai 's 
 words and her conversion might already have 
 been accomplished by her father. She was 
 scarcely "a Canaanitish outcast" under the cir- 
 cumstances as Joshua, not possessed of all the 
 facts, had said so cuttingly. But matters had 
 gone too far for argument now, the time for such 
 statements and appeals appeared to have passed, 
 so with the stubborn pride and haughty resolution 
 of youth the young man said nothing. Indeed, 
 he knew that no plea would avail now, and he 
 recognized that his reticence merited whatever 
 punishment would be imposed upon him. 
 
 Joshua looked at him for a long time and 
 mournfully, for he loved the young man. He had 
 shown prowess and courage, ability and leader- 
 ship, which had endeared him to the famous cap- 
 tain. He hesitated to pass sentence upon him,
 
 THE OUTCAST FROM THE LORD 139 
 
 and yet there was but one thing that he could say, 
 but one punishment meet for the crime. The heap 
 of stones that covered the remains of miserable 
 Achan in the Valley of Achor not far away bore 
 mute testimony to what that was. He could not 
 condone the offense which was, in the stern, relent- 
 less view of that time, not only treason to the 
 state but blasphemy against Jehovah! Yet he 
 hesitated. Thrice he opened his mouth to speak, 
 and thrice no words came. 
 
 "Let my voice," began Elidad, who had spoken 
 before, "be lifted up in a plea for mercy before 
 thou dost pronounce a sentence, Joshua, thou 
 son of Nun!" 
 
 "And mine also," pleaded Ahoah; "let my gray 
 hairs and my long service move thee." 
 
 "If thou hast aught to say," said Joshua 
 eagerly, "in behalf of this young man, speak on." 
 
 "Despite his youth he hath done our people 
 much service," said Elidad softly; "I am old, 
 but once I too was young. I have not forgot the 
 passions of youth or the love of woman." 
 
 "This is no excuse, it is only an explanation." 
 
 "But there be two facts that we have all over- 
 looked." 
 
 "And what are they?" 
 
 "One is that he tried to tell thee." 
 
 "And the other?" 
 
 "We are all of us at fault, son of Nun. We did 
 not consult the Lord God Himself before we 
 entered into this vain and foolish undertaking.
 
 140 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 If we had inquired of Jehovah what to do and 
 this youth had then witheld the information he 
 would have been worthy of death, but now I think 
 some lighter punishment might be meted out to 
 him." 
 
 "Let him die," said Phinehas harshly. 
 
 "Have pity!" cried Ahoah, in answer to the 
 fiery priest's bitter words. 
 
 "0 Phinehas, thou son of Eleazar, son of 
 Aaron, speakest thou so? Thou wert a priest 
 of Jehovah. If we others forgot it should have 
 been thine to recall us to our duty," answered 
 Elidad sharply. 
 
 "From the lips of the son of Chislon, the Prince 
 of Benjamin, fall words of wisdom," said Eleazar, 
 the gentler High Priest, with reproof to his pas- 
 sionate son. "I pray thee give good heed to 
 them, Joshua!" 
 
 "Enough," said Joshua, glad of the way of 
 the difficulty proposed to him by old Elidad, 
 "thou speakest wisely and well, High Priest of 
 Jehovah! We are all at fault and need God's 
 forgiveness in this matter. Worthy Prince of 
 Benjamin, thou hast prevailed. And to thy plea 
 for mercy, Ahoah, venerable councilor and friend, 
 I gladly respond. This, then, is my sentence." 
 He turned to Dodai, "To Canaan thou hast gone, 
 to Canaan thou shalt go." 
 
 ' * My lord, ' ' exclaimed the young man piteously 
 as he realized that this was a sentence of banish- 
 ment, of exile, "make me not a stranger in my
 
 THE OUTCAST FROM THE LORD 141 
 
 father's house, an outcast from mine own people." 
 
 ''Thou hast chosen," said Joshua inflexibly, 
 "and I have spoken. Thy way lieth yonder." 
 
 He pointed toward the hills. 
 
 "And shall I never come back?" 
 
 "As God willeth," answered Joshua. 
 
 "And yet," interposed old Eleazar again, "is 
 not Jehovah a God of mercy, long-suffering, full 
 of lovingkindness, who spareth when we deserve 
 punishment? If by chance the youth shouldst 
 serve thee, captain of the armies of Israel, and 
 the chosen people of our God 
 
 "Perhaps," said Joshua briefly, but with mean- 
 ing emphasis. "And now thou hast heard. Go." 
 
 A low wail again broke from the outskirts of 
 the crowd, the heart-broken cry of a woman fell 
 from the lips of Meriam, the wife of Ahoah, as she 
 heard the dread sentence passed upon her first- 
 born, the pride and joy of her old age. Tears 
 glistened in the eyes of old Prince Ahoah him- 
 self as he left the Council and gathered his wife 
 to his breast and strove to still her weeping, yet 
 he was thankful for the mercy that had been 
 shown Dodai, and he was not without hope that 
 the youth might win back his place in Israel. He 
 gazed long after the proud, erect figure of the 
 young man as he passed through the crowd, which 
 parted to give him way, and walked down one of 
 the open streets between the groups of tents until 
 he came to the confines of the camp, none saying 
 to him a word even of farewell.
 
 144 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 the camp, across the fields, and then up the Mich- 
 mash road. 
 
 The lying ambassadors had a long start, and 
 although they were old men they progressed 
 rapidly and had got far, but the speedy mes- 
 senger and the detachment of young men sent 
 with him by Salmon in obedience to his orders 
 finally overtook them and forced them to return. 
 Outwardly they were indignant, protesting, un- 
 ruly, but inwardly they were quaking with fear, 
 for they knew, of course, the deception had been 
 discovered. Old Shem-Hadad cursed Rahab, from 
 whom he was certain the information had come, 
 by all his gods, but he had to return with the 
 others. 
 
 It was late in the afternoon before the embassy 
 of Gibeon were hurried into the presence of 
 Joshua. They had heard nothing at all of the 
 reason of their detention from the messengers 
 or the soldiers, but from the moment he had seen 
 and recognized Rahab old Shem-Hadad had 
 realized that discovery was certain, and he knew 
 now that it had come. He resolved nevertheless 
 to put a bold face upon it, and he therefore spoke 
 out with the well-simulated indignation of a vio- 
 lated embassy, so soon as his eye fell upon the 
 stern visage of the Hebrew surrounded as before 
 by the great Council of Israel. He decided to avail 
 himself of the advantage of the first blow if he 
 could. 
 
 "What meaneth this outrage?" he cried in th
 
 HEWERS OF WOOD 145 
 
 ominous silence in which they received him. 
 "Having completed our embassy, having deliv- 
 ered our message and having entered into brother- 
 hood and friendship with thee and thine, having 
 eaten bread and salt together and taken oaths by 
 our gods, we are pursued on our way, we are 
 surrounded by thy soldiers, and rudely ordered 
 to come back to thee. When we protested and 
 refused to obey, they drove us back at the sword's 
 point and all without a word of explanation of 
 their actions." 
 
 "Art thou well advised to enter thy protest!" 
 asked Joshua sternly. 
 
 "I am, by Baal, I swear it," answered the 
 hoary-headed liar boldly. 
 
 "Blasphemer," said the Hebrew, "it was by 
 mine order and at my will that thou wert so 
 entreated." 
 
 "I demand of thee an explanation," persisted 
 the Gibeonite. 
 
 "Know ye these men?" asked Joshua, point- 
 ing to the great group of Hebrews who stood with 
 him. 
 
 "We know them," answered Shem-Hadad, 
 "they are the princes of the tribes of Israel who 
 vowed friendship and made alliance with us this 
 morning. What hath changed ye?" he began, 
 apparently for the first time observing the fierce 
 indignation in the stares with which he was 
 greeted. "Do your oaths have no potency? Last 
 they but for a day?"
 
 142 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILt 
 
 Many glances beside those of his father and 
 mother and brethren and sisters were cast upon 
 him. Many maidens looked approvingly at the 
 handsome young man, who held his head so high, 
 glancing neither to the right nor the left as he 
 went away from his home, his family, and his 
 people, with the almost contemptuous words of 
 Joshua ringing in his ear. A long time that 
 father and mother watched the rapidly moving 
 figure until he had crossed the plain and was lost 
 in the defiles of the mountain.
 
 xn 
 
 HEWERS OF WOOD AND DRAWEES OF 
 WATER 
 
 "T 1C THAT is to be done now!" asked the im- 
 
 \ \ petuous Phinehas, breaking the silence 
 
 that had fallen over the camp in the 
 
 face of the heartrending tragedy they had all 
 
 witnessed. "With regard to these strangers?" 
 
 "We have wasted time with this young man," 
 said Joshua gloomily, suddenly awakening to the 
 necessity of taking some action with regard to this 
 now hated alliance into which they had so hastily 
 and carelessly entered that morning. He turned 
 to his guard. "Go, one of you," he said, "he that 
 hath the fleetest foot, and stop these deceivers ere 
 they escape out of our present reach. Bid Salmon 
 dispatch a force to apprehend them and bring 
 them back to me. He is to offer them no violence, 
 do them no harm, but bring them back without 
 fail." 
 
 After a moment's whispered consultation be- 
 tween the group of young soldiers, one detached 
 himself from the others and laying aside his 
 shield, spear, and cloak, and in fact stripping him- 
 self to the tunic and sword to make the better 
 speed, ran with the fleetness of a deer through 
 
 143
 
 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "Thou hast deceived us?" cried Joshua, 
 
 "In what way?" 
 
 "Ye are Canaanites; that far country of which 
 ye spoke is but on the other side of yonder 
 mountain range." 
 
 It was out ! This confirmation of his suspicions 
 was, however, no surprise, and the ambassador 
 was able to sustain the direct attack with certain 
 firmness. He would indeed endeavor to brave it 
 out still. 
 
 "Who hath deceived my lord in this?" he 
 cried with well-simulated rage and with all the 
 duplicity in his power. 
 
 "The woman Rahab." 
 
 "Thou dost take the word of a har " 
 
 "Thou wilt do well," said Salmon fiercely, in- 
 terposing between the two men with uplifted 
 spear, "thou wilt do well to stop before that 
 word passeth thy lips. This woman is my hon- 
 ored wife." 
 
 Shem-Hadad grinned angrily, but in the face 
 of the threatening attitude of the Judean spoke 
 not. 
 
 "Peace, noble Salmon," said Joshua, laying his 
 hand upon the arm of the angry man. 
 
 "Give me leave, my lord. What is the name of 
 the far city of these people? I am but now from 
 the outer camp, and I have heard nothing of all 
 this." 
 
 "Gibeon," replied Joshua. 
 
 Salmon threw back his head and laughed.
 
 HEWERS OF WOOD 147 
 
 "Why, it is scarce a half -day's journey from 
 the ruins of Ai on the uplands yonder." 
 
 "Thou nearest!" thundered Joshua to Shem- 
 Hadad. 
 
 "My lord," faltered the old man, grown sud- 
 denly weak and feeble. 
 
 "Why hast thou done this?" asked the leader. 
 
 "We had heard of thee," said the ambassador, 
 and now he spoke with deprecating meekness, 
 "how thou didst travel in the greatness of the 
 strength of thy God. We saw how thou didst 
 take Ai and Jericho, how they fell before thee, how 
 the waters of the river parted as thou didst carry 
 across that that thou callest the Ark of the Cove- 
 nant. We feared for our lives. We would fain 
 save our women, our children, our flocks, our 
 herds, and so we dealt wilily with thee. We 
 acknowledge all and throw ourselves upon thy 
 mercy. ' ' 
 
 "Death!" cried someone with a great voice. 
 "Death to the deceivers!" 
 
 "Death to the children of Baal!" 
 
 "Death to the liars!" 
 
 "Death to the idolaters!" 
 
 "Death to the forsworn!" 
 
 "Put them to the sword!" 
 
 "Offer them as a living sacrifice to our God!" 
 burst in confused noises and shouts from the 
 assembly. 
 
 "Sirs," cried Shem-Hadad shrilly, his fright- 
 ened old voice rising above the noise and tumult,
 
 148 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "ye have sworn unto us by your God, ye have 
 taken an oath to us. Ye surely cannot do this 
 thing." 
 
 "No," said Eleazar gloomily, despite the furi- 
 ous protests of Phinehas and his zealous follow- 
 ing. "We have sworn it. May Jehovah avert 
 punishment from us for our weak folly, but we 
 cannot be forsworn. The league we have made 
 must be kept." 
 
 "The oath was entered into under false pre- 
 tense," cried one of the soldier chiefs. "It ought 
 not to be preserved." 
 
 It was Joshua who stilled the tumult. 
 
 "We have indeed sinned in the sight of the 
 Lord God of Israel," he cried. "But these people 
 are inviolate. We must keep our word. Silence, 
 silence all," he continued; "if God punish us for 
 our rashness, imprudence, and forgetfulness of 
 Him, it is well; but He would certainly visit us 
 with His wrath if we broke our oath. No, more, ' ' 
 he added, * * or those that lift their voices shall feel 
 the weight of my hand." As the noise died away 
 the Hebrew continued in a more moderate voice. 
 "Shem-Hadad, thou hast triumphed; I and the 
 people of Israel will observe the oath. We will 
 not be forsworn. Thy city and those of thy con- 
 federation shall be spared; nevertheless, thou 
 art cursed because thou hast deceived us. Thou 
 hast secured an oath from us with a lie. Because 
 of that, there shall none of ye be freed from being 
 bondmen. Ye shall be made hewers of wood and
 
 HEWERS OF WOOD 149 
 
 drawers of water for the house of our God and 
 for the altar of the Lord forever. Thus thou shalt 
 say unto thy people." 
 
 ''Because/' said Shem-Hadad, now thoroughly 
 abashed by the majesty of the great captain, and 
 desirous of exculpating himself in some degree at 
 least, "it was certainly told thy servants how that 
 the Lord thy God commanded His servant Moses 
 to give ye all the land, and to destroy all the 
 inhabitants of the land before ye, therefore we 
 were sore afraid of our lives because of ye and 
 therefore have we done this thing. And now, 
 behold we are in thine hand. As it seemeth good 
 and right unto thee to do unto us, so do," he con- 
 cluded resignedly. 
 
 "Thou speakest well at last," said Joshua. 
 "We will protect ye and when the time cometh 
 and we visit ye, we will disclose unto ye our plans 
 for ye. Now go. We like not to have ye in our 
 camp. ' ' 
 
 With bowed head the Gibeonite, followed by his 
 shamed companions, turned and went through 
 the people again. This time they cursed him and 
 execrated him, and none was so poor as to do him 
 honor. The hearts of the Hivites were hot within 
 them. They had indeed secured life for them- 
 selves and for their countrymen, but upon terms 
 which made them practically servants and slaves 
 to these strange people forever. Old Shem- 
 Hadad, the fierce worshiper of Baal and Ishtar, 
 especially raged at the thought that for the short
 
 150 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 remainder of his life he was doomed to be a hewer 
 of wood and a drawer of water for the altars of 
 that Jehovah whom he hated. And when he re- 
 flected upon his reception at Gibeon he quailed at 
 the thought.
 
 XTTT 
 ONCE AGAIN TO BETH-ARAM 
 
 THE emotions that filled the breast of Dodai 
 as he climbed again the great dry gorge in 
 the bleak and arid mountains for when he 
 had reached the foothills his steps had instinc- 
 tively turned to the rocky paths that he had trav- 
 ersed four months ago were entirely different 
 from those he had entertained on the night he 
 had fled from Jericho. The cutting words of 
 Joshua and the cold looks of the elders, the con- 
 temptuous bearing of the princes of the tribes, 
 the menacing severity of the son of the High 
 Priest who would fain have devoted him to death, 
 the overpowering silence of the people through 
 whom he passed, fairly overwhelmed him. Like 
 all the Hebrews of that time, intensely religious, 
 highly devout, possessed by a sense of the near- 
 ness of God which has scarcely been experienced 
 by any other race at any other time, he felt keenly 
 the sentence of alienation and exile that had been 
 pronounced against him. And his resentment at 
 his treatment oozed away with every passing 
 moment. It was as if he had been not merely 
 turned away from his home, his family, his 
 friends, his people, but as if he were an outcast 
 
 151
 
 152 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 from his God, as if he had been cut off from his 
 religion. 
 
 He could have better sustained the awful shock 
 of this situation were it not that he bore in his 
 breast a consciousness that it was in a large 
 measure deserved. Who was he that he should 
 interfere with the plans of Jehovah by which the 
 whole land was to be devoted to death for the 
 idolatry and awful immorality of the people and 
 for their many crimes! To be sure, Ephron the 
 Hittite and Arinna his daughter had nothing in 
 common with these people, yet they were fre- 
 quent dwellers in Gibeon, and he scarcely doubted 
 but that in the slaughter that would be meted out 
 to all the inhabitants of the city should it be 
 captured none would be spared. 
 
 The case of Rahab was an exception, truly, and 
 it instituted no rule. It had not occurred to him 
 until too late that in any event Jehovah could have 
 insured the protection of His own. And that 
 forgetfulness, too, seemed like a gross lack of 
 faith in God which of itself merited the severest 
 punishment. It certainly had not been necessary 
 for Dodai to betray his people by keeping silent. 
 
 And yet if he had been quick, he might have 
 affected his purpose without having appeared as 
 conniving with the practices of the Gibeonites, for 
 if he had frankly set forth to Joshua and the 
 elders that Ephron the Hittite was a follower 
 of Jehovah, an offer of alliance would have 
 probably been made him, and he, Dodai, might
 
 ONCE AGAIN TO BETH-ARAM 153 
 
 have been charged with the delivery of it. The 
 Gibeonites would have gone their way to destruc- 
 tion ; Arinna, converted to the faith of her father, 
 would have been saved. Ultimately he could have 
 won consent to marry her. He cursed himself 
 for a fool as he plodded upward. 
 
 Well, it was too late now. There were two 
 things that gave him a little comfort in his des- 
 peration. One was that hope that had been held 
 out, indefinitely to be sure, that if he could render 
 some conspicuous service to the Israelites he 
 might thereafter be restored to his tribal, na- 
 tional, and religious privileges ; and the other was 
 that, however it had been brought about, he was 
 going to meet this beautiful and adorable young 
 Hittite woman whom he he hesitated in his mind 
 for a moment only, as the thought came to him 
 in his misery and then he flung even self-deception 
 to the winds whom he loved beyond everything 
 on earth. He had thought of her constantly dur- 
 ing the period that had elapsed since their meet- 
 ing, and had longed for the day when he should 
 see her again; which day, however it had been 
 brought about, was now at hand. 
 
 True, he had seen her but once, he had spent 
 but one day in her society. As has been seen, 
 Dodai had not wasted his opportunity. And 
 although he could not know this, Ephron, a man 
 of high character and wide learning, had con- 
 ceived a great liking for the handsome and bril- 
 liant young man, and his gratitude for the great
 
 154 [WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 service that Dodai had rendered to his daughter 
 was boundless. 
 
 Other children had been denied Ephron, and 
 he had lavished upon Arinna a care and devotion 
 which had there been sons to his house she might 
 not have received. The Hittite family of Zohar 
 had gradually died out, and these two were all 
 that were left thereof. The wealth, the probity, 
 as well as the wisdom of Ephron secured for him 
 a certain amount of consideration during that 
 portion of his life which was spent in the city of 
 Gibeon, but as the sole believer in Jehovah among 
 the Hivites he was looked upon in many quarters 
 with hatred and suspicion, especially so by the 
 powerful priestly society. This had not pre- 
 vented many suitors among the youth of the city 
 from asking for the hand of Arinna, even as 
 Prince Arami had done so unsuccessfully; but 
 the maiden and her father alike had refused to 
 entertain any of these matrimonial propositions 
 whatsoever, for Ephron knew that Arinna had 
 not yet learned to love. At least, that statement 
 had been true four months ago, but since there 
 flashed before the blue eyes of the maiden the tall, 
 dark, splendid young man, the Prince of the Tribe 
 of Benjamin, her heart had gone out to him in 
 response to his quick and passionate wooing. 
 
 Arinna 's chief confidant in this love affair was 
 not her father, although he had divined the true 
 state of affairs, but old Hani, a Hittite woman 
 of great age, who in her youth had been captured
 
 ONCE AGAIN TO BETH-ARAM 155 
 
 and offered for sale as a slave. The father of 
 Ephron had purchased her and because of her 
 nationality had set her free and had given her 
 honorable position in his household. She had 
 been foster-mother to the present Ephron, and 
 she afterwards filled the same position and func- 
 tion toward the daughter who had come to grace 
 the old age of Ephron, and whose Hivite mother 
 had died in giving her birth. 
 
 Since the two strange visitors had gone as they 
 had come, no word had reached Arinna from the 
 man who had saved her life and won her heart. 
 But she rested confident in his honesty and in 
 his devotion. She felt that he was equally in- 
 capable of forgetting her or of playing her false. 
 In her lord's good time she would hear from him. 
 So she waited, but with an ever-growing longing 
 in her heart. 
 
 From the great peak, latterly called Quaran- 
 tania, thrust out like a bastion from the mountain 
 range, which was no great distance from the home 
 of Ephron, the Hebrew camp could easily be seen. 
 With old Hani to bear her company and with the 
 stoutest slaves and workmen for her guards, 
 Arinna often wandered there. Sometimes Ephron 
 had accompanied her. As it chanced, they had 
 both been there when Jericho fell. They had seen 
 the finale of that tremendous catastrophe. They 
 had followed the doings of the Israelites there- 
 after with great and growing, interest ; they had 
 heard of the repulse of the detachment before Ai.
 
 156 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 They had been distant witnesses of the stoning 
 of the disobedient Achan. They had seen far off 
 against the northern horizon the smoke cloud 
 hovering over the doomed city as it fell before the 
 second attempt upon it. And then the Israelites, 
 their Ark and their tabernacle, their tents and 
 their belongings, their flocks and their herds, 
 their wives and their children, had vanished over 
 the mountains to the northward. 
 
 Where had they gone, they asked, as the dust 
 of their movement settled away beneath the 
 horizon? No more tidings came southward to 
 them from the Hebrews for long, long weeks. 
 Arinna used to watch from Quarantania the now 
 deserted plain. One morning, to her great sur- 
 prise, she found it again covered with moving 
 figures. Whatever their purpose the Hebrews 
 had effected it, they were returning. She watched 
 them pitch camp at Gilgal. Was Dodai there? 
 Had he perished in some of their battles? WTiy 
 had he sent no word? The look in his eyes, the 
 pressure of his hand, his kisses upon her lips, 
 his words of promise, as he bade her farewell, 
 were not merely casual. She could feel them 
 after all these months of absence and silence, as 
 she could feel that he was there in the valley and 
 would soon come back to her. She rejoiced 
 greatly in the sight of the camp and in the sense 
 of his nearness. 
 
 Arinna looked with proud disdain upon the 
 light, vain, dissolute Canaanitish women who
 
 ONCE AGAIN TO BETH-ARAM 157 
 
 were her infrequent companions at Gibeon. She 
 held herself aloof from them. She was a thing 
 higher, a thing apart. She participated in none 
 of their immoral revelries. She despised the 
 pleasures they entered into under the sanction 
 of their false and impure gods. Arinna was not 
 yet a worshiper of a greater God than Baal and 
 Ishtar, but her father's care and influence had 
 not been exerted in vain. She was glad that Dodai 
 had learned to regard her in her true light, not 
 simply as one among the other women of the 
 wicked, cruel land which it was whispered every- 
 where was to be seized by the Hebrews after the 
 people had been rooted out and destroyed. 
 
 She would have given worlds for speech again 
 with the young conqueror of her heart, for a look 
 at him even. They were far-sighted and endowed 
 with keen vision, these men and women of the 
 past, but even Love itself could not identify a 
 single figure out of the myriads that filled the 
 camp at that distance from the hills. Arinna 
 had been taught not only to read but to write 
 the strange cumbersome characters of the country, 
 but the thought of writing a message to Dodai 
 never entered her head. She could only wait and 
 watch and pray, and without which all these 
 were as ashes hope. For one thing she wanted 
 to warn him about Arami and his boastings and 
 threatenings. 
 
 She was a busy maiden, too. Much of the 
 ordering of the household work fell to her. Al-
 
 158 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 though she was young the serving women and 
 slaves came to her for such direction as they had 
 formerly received from old Hani, and it was well 
 that she found some occupation for hands and 
 brains in these trying hours. The whole country 
 was in a most unsettled and apprehensive condi- 
 tion. The purpose of the Hebrews was divined. 
 There had been a bewildering, appalling thorough- 
 ness about their work at Jericho and Ali. Walled 
 cities usually impregnable against the armies of 
 the nomad had fallen so promptly and so easily 
 that the land was in a ferment of alarm. No 
 wonder that the Jebusite king of Jerusalem, the 
 most important of all the petty monarchs of the 
 country, had engineered his confederacy and was 
 making preparations to fling the whole force of 
 the southern section upon Joshua's armed men in 
 the hope that in one pitched battle he could drive 
 the invaders from the country and back into the 
 deserts whence they had come, before it would 
 be too late. 
 
 It was because of this threat and peril that 
 Ephron had been especially summoned to the 
 Council at Gibeon, where he had given his good 
 advice and had returned to his mountain aerie 
 and to his daughter, where Arami had prosecuted 
 his fruitless wooing. It was because of the deadly, 
 paralyzing fear which had come down over the 
 wicked land as a blight that the Gibeonites had 
 forfeited their honor to their safety and used 
 that stratagem which disgraced them forever
 
 ONCE AGAIN TO BETH-ARAM 159 
 
 among their countrymen and their conquerors 
 alike. 
 
 On the morning after the departure of the un- 
 successful Arami, which was some days after the 
 return of the Israelites to their camp at Gilgal, 
 the duties of the early day having been completed 
 and her maidens assigned to their various tasks, 
 Arinna had gone down into the stretch of pasture- 
 land that lay at the brink of the slope where she 
 had before met the strangers. Warned by the ex- 
 perience of the months before, Ephron had caused 
 the undergrowth to be thinned out considerably, 
 and his stoutest slaves every morning beat up the 
 coppices to make certain that no lurking lion or 
 wolf or bear or other savage beast was hidden 
 therein to prey upon man or flock or herd, so that 
 Arinna ranged the little oasis with perfect fear- 
 lessness. 
 
 As was her frequent custom, her feet naturally 
 bore her toward the mighty terebinth under which 
 she had met Dodai months before and where their 
 troth had been subsequently plighted. The ground 
 sloped gently from the foot of the great gnarled 
 old tree, whose twisted roots but partially covered 
 by the thin soil offered natural resting-places like 
 low thrones. When he had come upon her first 
 she had been looking toward the house, now she 
 chose a position where she could see over the 
 valley and over the sea and river to the distant 
 blue mountains of Moab. The spur of Quaran- 
 tania hid the camp from her view. Where she
 
 160 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 looked was another valley which she thought was 
 as empty as her heart. 
 
 A long time she sat musing in that fashion in 
 her favorite attitude, her little foot lifted against 
 a stone, her elbow on her knee, and her chin in her 
 hand. Although it was morning the day was hot. 
 There was no breeze, the sky was cloudless. She 
 had thrown aside the cloak she wore and sat bare- 
 armed, clad in the graceful tunic. As she con- 
 templated no mountain climbing, the shoes with 
 the upturned points, an inheritance from her 
 Hittite ancestors of centuries ago, had been dis- 
 carded and upon her feet she wore the laced 
 sandals of the country. The yellow strip of 
 byssus girdled the tunic beneath her breasts under 
 the Tyrian vest as before, the cap of silver had 
 been laid aside. Her light brown hair braided in 
 long plaits fell across her breast. 
 
 So she had been dressed when Dodai first saw 
 her. She had many changes of raiment, as 
 became the daughter of the rich sheik of Beth- 
 Aram, but because these were identified with 
 his visit, she loved them more than all the rest, 
 and wore them most frequently, replacing them 
 as they lost their dainty freshness with others as 
 near like them as she could make or procure. 
 
 A long time she sat thus until the hush and 
 quiet of midday fell over the landscape. The 
 noon meal was making ready and the well-con- 
 tented men and maidens engaged in various duties 
 in the little fields trooped slowly up the paths
 
 ONCE AGAIN TO BETH-ARAM 161 
 
 toward their quarters to break their long fast. 
 They noted their mistress under the terebinth, 
 and they cast devoted glances at her, for they 
 loved her, but none disturbed her reverie. 
 
 The pleasant noise of their laughter, their foot- 
 steps, and their light talk soon died away. The 
 sheep cropping the grass close about her made 
 no sound and the cattle farther away nodded 
 silently in the shelter of the olive trees overhang- 
 ing the pool. The shadow of the tree told her that 
 the sun at last had reached the midmost point in 
 the heavens. It was time for her to go, too. Her 
 father liked it not if she were absent when the 
 bread was blessed and broken as the household 
 gathered about its lord a custom uninterrupted 
 since the days of Abraham and that first Ephron 
 his friend, and for how many thousands of years 
 before none knew. 
 
 And yet some strange influence held her. Her 
 eyes, which had swept the far country beyond, 
 lowered, her glance fixed itself on the narrow 
 ravine which gave entrance to the oasis from 
 below and there, silently, suddenly, as if lifted up 
 by some power of heaven or air, appeared the 
 figure of a man. It was Dodai!
 
 XIV 
 THE SOLACE OF EXILE 
 
 AfclNNA recognized her lover instantly, of 
 course. Her heart leaped in her breast at 
 the sight of him. At last, after these 
 months of weary waiting, he had come back. She 
 rose to her feet and stretched out her hands to 
 him. Color flamed into her cheeks, love-light 
 brightened her eyes. He was there. 
 
 On his part, as if drawn by a magnet his glance 
 so soon as he rose above the brink of the cliff 
 sought the great terebinth where he had met her 
 and he saw her clad in the same vesture, standing 
 upon the same spot, waiting for him. For a 
 moment in the great rush of joyous emotion he 
 forgot everything but that she was there. But 
 only for a moment. Over the joy of that meeting 
 lowered the consciousness of his deep disgrace. 
 
 Without a word of greeting he turned, leaped 
 to the wall, and came toward her. All her heart 
 went out to him as he came. He had been weary 
 before, he was weary now. No one could make 
 that terrific ascent without taxing his energy and 
 his manhood to the utmost. But she had not 
 noticed his weariness before because the sight of 
 her and her peril had started his pulses beating 
 
 162
 
 THE SOLACE OF EXILE 163 
 
 and he had felt as refreshed in her presence as 
 a giant awakened from slumber; now he moved 
 slowly, with leaden feet and down-drooped head, 
 almost as if reluctant. 
 
 His appearance frightened her a little. The 
 heavy helmet of Egypt painted blue which he 
 wore seemed burdensome. 
 
 There was about him none of the confidence and 
 enthusiasm, none of the brilliance of his first 
 appearance. His face was pale, and yet the 
 pallor was not from exertion. Sweat bedewed his 
 furrowed brow. His lips were unsmiling. He 
 was without bow or shield; armed only with 
 sword and spear, his other weapons had been 
 laid aside while he waited on Joshua, and at his 
 expulsion he had stopped for nothing. 
 
 The maiden had looked up to him as to a young 
 god before. Now in her heart a wave of pity 
 succeeded to her alarm as she marked his misery, 
 nor was her love lessened by that emotion. She 
 had often dreamed of that coming as had he. 
 She knew by the passion that filled her heart that 
 he would seize her in his arms. She wondered 
 how much maidenly resistance she should offer, 
 or whether she would lie there helpless and con- 
 tent, giving back his kisses as before. But she 
 had never imagined this, nor had he. He had 
 dreamed of appearing before her at the head of 
 some conquering army, to extend to her a royal 
 clemency, to raise up a woman suppliant and 
 perhaps terrified in his arms and present her to
 
 164 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 the world as his wife and to hold her inviolate 
 against his heart. But things were not working 
 out in that way for either of them. He stepped 
 toward her. She bent forward and stared at 
 him. 
 
 "Arinna," he said at last in a low tone. 
 
 "Dodai," she answered almost in a whisper. 
 
 "I have come back to thee." 
 
 " Unwillingly !" 
 
 "Nay, to see thee again has been the dearest 
 wish of my heart. I love thee more than ever. I 
 had hoped to seek thy father, to gain his permis- 
 sion to make thee my wife, a princess of my tribe, 
 but now " 
 
 "But now " 
 
 "I am a broken man, an exile, driven from the 
 camp, cut off, cast away. Death itself would be 
 preferable." 
 
 "What hast thou done?" asked the maiden, ris- 
 ing and stepping closer to him. "But stay, before 
 thou dost answer me, let me put to thee another 
 question." She looked at him with a strange 
 fearlessness. "Thou saidest a moment since that 
 thou hadst not ceased to love me, that it had been 
 thy purpose to ask thy father to give me to be 
 thy wife. Art thou still in the same mind this 
 morning 1 ?" 
 
 "Can I offer thee the love of an outcast, a 
 disgraced and broken man?" asked Dodai bit- 
 terly, lifting his head. "Nay, I love thee too 
 much for that."
 
 THE SOLACE OF EXILE 165 
 
 "Thou hast answered me," said the maiden, 
 smiling. She laid her hand fearlessly upon the 
 shoulder of the young man, who stood a little 
 below her on the slope of the ground so that their 
 eyes were level. "Hear me; I asked thee what 
 thou hadst done. Before thou dost tell me I make 
 confession. I love thee. I have not changed, I 
 have loved thee ever since thou didst stand before 
 me here, beneath this very tree, thy sword red 
 with the blood of the lion thou hadst slain. I 
 love thee with every drop of blood of the life 
 that thou didst save. I do not take back my heart. 
 I know not what thou hast done or why this mis- 
 fortune hath come upon thee, but it mattereth 
 little to me. I trust thee as I love thee. If thou 
 art cast off by thy family, thy tribe, thy nation, 
 thou wilt find welcome here, for I am thine and my 
 father will be to thee as a father and thou wilt 
 be to him as a son, when thou hast made me thy 
 wife. Thou hast taken me in thine arms. Thy 
 lips have met mine. I am thine. Dost under- 
 stand?" 
 
 "Arinna," cried the young man, his face light- 
 ing, "with thy sweet self thou givest me life, hope, 
 God, again." 
 
 ' * These be great things to come with so slight a 
 maiden," said the woman, smiling at him, and the 
 next moment Dodai caught her slender figure in 
 his arms for the second time. 
 
 This, at least, was like the dreams in which they 
 had both indulged. They loved each other still,
 
 166 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 they confessed it again with the simplicity of 
 primitive peoples and the frankness of the far 
 East. Since they had avowed their love once 
 more her sweetly tremulous lips did not shrink 
 or turn away from his own firmer ones. She gave 
 him kiss for kiss there in the oasis amid those 
 great rocks with the greensward stretching away 
 at her feet shadowed by the foliage of the tere- 
 binth with the blue sky and the gold sun arching 
 over all. 
 
 By and by he released her a little, but reluc- 
 tantly, and she drew away a little, but with 
 regret. 
 
 "Thou hast asked me what I have done. It is 
 a sorry tale and my only justification is that in 
 a measure it concerneth thee." 
 
 "If my lord chooseth to tell me, well and good," 
 said the girl. "If not, I am satisfied to know 
 nothing more save that it hath brought thee to 
 mine arms again after all these weary months 
 of waiting." 
 
 "Thou must be told," said Dodai earnestly. 
 
 "It would perhaps, I think," said a deeper voice 
 behind the lovers, "be as well that some immedi- 
 ate explanation be made of this situation and of 
 thy presence, thou Dodai, son of Ahoah." 
 
 The two lovers separated instantly. 
 
 "Ephron!" exclaimed one. 
 
 "My father!" cried the other. 
 
 The old Hittite, coming himself to see why his 
 daughter had not returned for the midday meal,
 
 THE SOLACE OF EXILE 167 
 
 had chanced upon them; and, wrapped in their 
 own thoughts and in each other, they had not 
 noted his coming until he broke his silence. He 
 looked at them sternly enough, yet there was a 
 light in his eyes which would have shown to 
 persons less blind and confused than these two 
 that beneath his sternness there was a certain 
 satisfaction. Accustomed to estimate men, he had 
 seen the worth of Dodai, and from secret inquiries 
 he had learned something of his position in the 
 Tribe of Benjamin. There was no one to whom 
 he could more safely intrust his daughter, but that 
 was not to be revealed for the present. 
 
 It was Dodai who recovered himself first. 
 
 "Venerable Ephron," he said in deep humilia- 
 tion at being compelled to make the avowal, "I 
 am a broken man, yet one not without hope. Thy 
 daughter Arinna hath given me back my confi- 
 dence in myself. I am an outcast from my 
 father's house and from my people, but a chance 
 of restoration still remaineth. I love thy 
 daughter, I have loved her from the first moment 
 I saw her standing here under the shade of the 
 tree. I had hoped to offer her my hand at the 
 head of the soldiers of my tribe, but such as I 
 am, I am thine as I am hers." 
 
 "My father," said Arinna, "chide me not. Al- 
 though thou mayst think I have been unmaidenly, 
 I love Dodai, son of Ahoah, and with thy per- 
 mission I would fain be his wife." 
 
 "And what hath Dodai, son of Ahoah, done that
 
 168 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 he should be an outcast, landless, without goods, 
 more fit for servitude than to sue for the hand 
 of the only daughter of the Prince of Beth- 
 Aram?" 
 
 Rapidly, sparing himself nothing, and delicately 
 striving not to emphasize that it was the thought 
 of the possible danger to the lives of Ephron and 
 Arinna that had caused him to be silent, Dodai 
 told his story. 
 
 "Thy great leader and lawgiver could do no 
 less than to send thee away," said Ephron 
 gravely, as the young man's tale was finished. 
 "Indeed, he showed mercy upon thee, yet I blame 
 thee not save in this. Thou couldst have declared 
 unto Joshua and the elders that I, the Prince of 
 Beth-Aram, am a worshiper of the true God, 
 Jehovah; that my people were friends with thy 
 people in days long past; that I am not of the 
 city of Gibeon save in the winter and when roving 
 marauders render it necessary that I seek shelter 
 for myself, my daughter, my people. By so doing, 
 thou couldst have saved us and have left the 
 Gibeonites to the fate they deserved." 
 
 "Had I thy wisdom, O Ephron, I had done so, 
 and indeed it occurred to me afterward as I 
 climbed the mountain, instinctively turning hither, 
 since I knew not where else to go; but at the 
 moment," the young man burst out passionately, 
 "I thought only of thy daughter, who doth not 
 yet believe in Jehovah, and of thee. I thought of 
 the fierce onrush of the fighting men, their hearts
 
 THE SOLACE OF EXILE 169 
 
 inflamed with battle, with their orders to strike 
 to kill; I saw Arinna dead, and thou, and as I 
 loved her I kept silence." 
 
 "My lord, I do believe," cried Arinna swiftly. 
 "I have thought much, and though I affected not 
 to listen to my father he hath persuaded me. I 
 but awaited thy coming to tell thee I renounce 
 Baal and Ishtar. Thy God is my God, Dodai, 
 thou master of my heart!" 
 
 "I should be the last to blame thee, Prince of 
 Benjamin," said Ephron kindly, deeply affected 
 also by his daughter 's confession. ' ' Shem-Hadad 
 and his followers will be in Gibeon to-night and 
 on the fifth day, which will be the day after to- 
 morrow, Adoni-Zedec will send for his answer. 
 The Gibeonites will decline the proffered alliance. 
 I know the fierce Jebusite. He will strike and 
 strike hard and swiftly. Armies are even now 
 gathering about Jerusalem. Joshua and his 
 people will have a chance to meet foemen worthy 
 of their steel, and this time not sheltered by walls 
 of cities but in the open field. Surely opportunity 
 for service shall come to thee, and thou shalt earn 
 thy restoration." 
 
 "May Jehovah grant it!" 
 
 "Whether it be so or not, thou art welcome to 
 the house and lands of Ephron, the Hittite" 
 he stopped, smiled, looking at the young man; 
 then he turned to Arinna, his face tender with 
 emotion "and to the arms of his daughter," he 
 added softly.
 
 170 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 The two needed no further suggestion to meet 
 deed with word. 
 
 "Thou shalt take her to wife, but not to-day nor 
 to-morrow. When these troubles are over, when 
 the war is finished and the country is settled, we 
 shall see. Meantime, I myself will go to the 
 Hebrew camp ' 
 
 "To plead for me?" 
 
 "Nay, to establish friendship with Joshua. 
 Thou must let thy deeds plead for thee." 
 
 "And so they shall!" cried Dodai. 
 
 "My lord will win back his fame as he hath won 
 me, at the sword's point," said Arinna. 
 
 "I hope so," said the sheik encouragingly. 
 "Meanwhile the youths and maidens, the old men 
 and women, the boys and girls are gathered to- 
 gether for the noonday meal. They wait our 
 arrival. My son, give me thine arm." 
 
 It was at the noon meal that Dodai, much en- 
 couraged by his greeting and reception by Ephron, 
 learned of the unsuccessful wooing of Arami. 
 His dark face flushed at the sound of that name, 
 which he had not forgot. As for threat the 
 Canaanite had made against him, he laughed it 
 to scorn and declared his longing to meet him in 
 the high places of the field.
 
 XV 
 
 THE DEFIANCE TO THE FIVE KINGS 
 
 ETE that afternoon Ephron, accompanied 
 most unwillingly by Dodai, left the oasis of 
 Beth- Aram. It was Ephron 's purpose to 
 repair to the camp of Joshua, The shortest way 
 was, of course, straight down the mountains, but 
 there was no real road and scarcely any prac- 
 ticable path that way, and the gorge which led 
 to the oasis was practically impassable for a man 
 of his years. Therefore he decided to ascend to 
 the plateau to the northward and to descend to 
 the valley by the practicable way that led past the 
 ruins of Ai and Michmash. He decided to spend 
 the night at Gibeon first, because he was curious 
 to know how the citizens received the report of 
 their envoys and what answer they would make 
 to the messenger of Adoni-Zedec. 
 
 He did not care to leave Dodai with his 
 daughter. Although Nadab, his chief steward, and 
 old Hani were entirely to be trusted, it did not 
 comport with his ideas of propriety that the 
 young lovers should be left alone. Hence his 
 insistence that the young Benjamite accompany 
 him as far as Gibeon. 
 
 Also he had another purpose in view in taking 
 Dodai with him. He knew, of course, that the 
 
 171
 
 172 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 alliance between Gibeon and the other Hivite 
 cities and the Hebrews could not be kept a secret 
 for very long, and although he was not a soldier 
 himself he realized that a knowledge of the real 
 state of affairs in the city by a soldier like Dodai 
 might enable him to be of great service in the 
 campaign that was sure to follow. Naturally he 
 wanted Dodai to have the benefit of every advan- 
 tage that he could give him in his effort to restore 
 himself in the mind of Joshua and the elders, and 
 to regain his rightful place among the people. 
 Ephron was a proud man, and he would very much 
 prefer to have his daughter wedded to a Prince 
 of the house of Benjamin than to an outlaw and 
 an exile, however worthy he might be. Conse- 
 quently, he separated the two lovers, much against 
 their wills by the way, and only upon the promise 
 that the next day or the day after at most, 
 Dodai might return for another visit to the oasis 
 where he had found his happiness. 
 
 This was the first time that Dodai had pene- 
 trated further than the house into the little do- 
 main of Beth- Aram. The valley narrowed to the 
 westward, the mountains rose precipitously on 
 either side, and finally an entrance to the upland 
 or plateau was afforded by a narrow rift or gorge. 
 Across this opening Ephron had built a rude wall, 
 more to contain his cattle and sheep than for any 
 other purpose but which, nevertheless, afforded 
 a very good defense. One face of the cliff over- 
 hung the wall and protected defenders from at-
 
 DEFIANCE TO THE FIVE KINGS 173 
 
 tack above. With the eye of a natural soldier 
 Dodai marked the possibilities of the situation 
 and pointed them out to Ephron. 
 
 "Yes," said the latter. "We did not build the 
 wall for that at first, but it hath served me well 
 on occasion and my father also. When the Egyp- 
 tian or Assyrian hath harried the country, or 
 even when masterless and thieving Canaanites 
 have raided the mountains, this hath been a 
 barrier which hath never been surmounted. My 
 father hath told me how he also held it against 
 assault, but in my day, save for bands of robbers 
 who did not venture to attack so strong a place 
 as Beth- Aram with its many men, we have not 
 been molested." 
 
 "If thou wilt permit a young man to give advice 
 
 to one so wise as thou art " said Dodai 
 
 modestly. 
 
 "Speak on, my son." 
 
 " the gate is old and the wood decayed," he 
 thrust his thumb into it to show its softness; "this 
 is the weak spot in thy wall. Wars are certain to 
 come; my people mean to subdue this land. It 
 would be well to have the gate built anew of the 
 stoutest stuff.'-' 
 
 "Thou speakest wisely," said Ephron admir- 
 ingly. "When thou dost return to Beth- Aram the 
 day after to-morrow, give orders in my name that 
 it be done." 
 
 "Would it not be well to turn back now and 
 leave the order?" ventured the young man.
 
 "Thou art unduly apprehensive," said Ephron 
 easily. "When thou dost return will be time. 
 Come, we have delayed too long already." 
 
 The house was plainly visible from the rift in 
 the mountains through which they passed. There 
 upon the flat roof which was shaded by awnings 
 and made a pleasant resting-place for the family 
 stood a single figure. The gentle breeze of the 
 afternoon blew the draperies about the slender 
 form. Dodai recognized who it was. He stopped 
 at the entrance, lifted his hand carrying the spear 
 and shook it in greeting, and so passed out of 
 the sight of Arinna. He had left her in much the 
 same way by the mountain gorge months before, 
 but it was a happy, joyous Arinna who waved him 
 farewell this time, and not a sad one. 
 
 The gates of Gibeon were tightly closed when 
 the two reached the place, but Ephron was well 
 known within the town, and the guard made no 
 difficulty in admitting them. The Hittite had 
 cautioned Dodai to say nothing about his disgrace. 
 With Oriental cunning he was willing to let it 
 appear that he brought a prince of the Hebrews 
 in good standing to Gibeon, although he was care- 
 ful to declare that Dodai came in an unofficial 
 capacity, that he was simply a visitor at Beth- 
 Aram whom he had brought to Gibeon to show 
 him the strength and the worth and the position 
 of the city. 
 
 Gibeon stood on a hill raised above the plateau, 
 which was generally rocky, hilly, arid, and deso-
 
 DEFIANCE TO THE FIVE KINGS 175 
 
 late beyond description. The road was a mere 
 apology for a highway. It was not practicable 
 for war chariots or wheeled vehicles, and a horse 
 would have been more or less useless. Only the 
 hardy asses of the mountains could be employed 
 to carry burdens with any success. Dodai rather 
 rejoiced at this, for the Israelites were not horse- 
 men or charioteers. Even Joshua himself fought 
 afoot like the humblest soldier in the ranks. 
 
 Gibeon was surrounded by an oasis caused by a 
 perennial spring whose water, abundant in quan- 
 tity and sweet and cool, was famous throughout 
 the whole country. It was used freely by the 
 citizens to irrigate gardens and groves without 
 the walls and finally fell into a huge pool sixty- 
 five paces long and half as many broad. It had 
 never been known to fail, and the water supply 
 gave the city its importance. In the rainy season 
 a considerable lake formed in the valley. It was 
 now mostly dried up, it being midsummer, but 
 there were trees and ripened fields of grain there. 
 
 From the heights above Gibeon the observer 
 could look over the hills with which he was sur- 
 rounded, south about half a day's journey by the 
 road to Jerusalem, while a little to the eastward 
 of north and the same distance away, hard by the 
 ruins of Ai, lay Beeroth, the farthest town of 
 the Hivite Confederacy. Slightly to the north- 
 ward of west and about the same distance away, 
 the two passes of Beth-Horon, upper and lower, 
 ran through rifts in the mountains down to the
 
 176 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL' 
 
 Maritime plain below. Roads such as they were 
 led from Gibeon to Beeroth, Jerusalem and down 
 through the passes of Beth-Horon to the fertile 
 lowlands. Although at a distance of some six 
 miles, as the crow flies, from the pass, Gibeon 
 really commanded it. No invader could safely 
 make use of the pass unless he held the city. 
 
 For the rest, though it was small compared to 
 the great cities of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the 
 Hittite empire to the north, yet Gibeon was a 
 place of size and importance, larger and stronger 
 than Jericho. Its walls were built of the limestone 
 of the terrain and were thick and high, protected 
 by towers and crested with battlements. Like most 
 fortified Eastern cities it covered a very small ex- 
 panse of territory for its population, and it 
 abounded with narrow streets and alleys. Much 
 of its people lived outside of the walls in the oasis 
 on the hillside, some of them in stone houses, 
 others in temporary tents and shelters of the 
 flimsiest description. 
 
 Ephron and Dodai noticed, as they passed 
 through these suburbs, that they were mainly 
 deserted, and when they entered the city they 
 found that it was crowded with people in a state 
 of great excitement. Shem-Hadad had returned 
 a few hours before. He had made his report to 
 the Malik and his council. The news had in some 
 way leaked out from the council chamber, and 
 the people were filled with indignation. 
 
 It would have gone hard with the shrewd if
 
 DEFIANCE TO THE FIVE KINGS 177 
 
 unscrupulous old councilor had he shown himself 
 in the streets then, but he knew enough to keep 
 in the house and he was wise enough to realize 
 that he had done the very best thing possible for 
 his people. True, the Israelites had no machinery 
 for carrying on a siege, but they could reduce the 
 town by starvation and they could deprive it of 
 its water supply with most direful results. What 
 he had seen of Joshua and the Hebrews and he 
 had kept his old eyes, which were much keener 
 than they appeared, widely open while in the camp 
 at Gilgal convinced him that he had done the 
 only thing that would insure the safety of his 
 people. He felt that these Hebrews were destined 
 to conquer the land, and he had a superstitious 
 feeling that their God in the final issue would 
 prove Himself vastly superior to Baal, yes to 
 Baal and Ishtar and the whole Assyrian host of 
 heavenly deities. 
 
 Making their way through the crowded streets 
 with some difficulty, Ephron and Dodai, at whom 
 many curious glances were cast, arrived at last at 
 the house of the former. It did not seem wise to 
 Ephron to announce the nationality of his com- 
 panion during the heated and excited period. He 
 would wait until the morning before he brought 
 him to the Malik and the councilors, and with them 
 he would leave him while he went his way to the 
 camp at Gilgal. Dodai for one was intensely 
 weary, and he welcomed the undisturbed rest of 
 the night.
 
 178 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 The excitement had largely subsided in the 
 morning, and Ephron found it not difficult to 
 establish Dodai in the good graces of the ruler of 
 the confederacy and the chief men of the city 
 before he departed for the camp of Joshua. 
 Indeed, they greeted him with distinct considera- 
 tion. Anxious to let this first representative of 
 the Hebrews whom they had seen know that 
 Joshua and the princes had made no bad bargain, 
 they showed him everything. They mustered 
 their troops for his inspection, they pointed out 
 the strength of their position, and were not care- 
 ful even to conceal its weakness, which was the 
 water supply. The spring broke from the rocks 
 outside the wall, and no one had ever thought to 
 inclose and protect it by the same massive bul- 
 warks which covered the town. 
 
 Anxious also to please this representative of 
 their coming overlords, they pressed upon him 
 rich presents, offered him the choice of all they 
 possessed, and when Dodai would fain have re- 
 fused and did in fact refuse garments, articles 
 of gold and silver, they bade him choose for 
 himself. 
 
 Soldier-like, he selected a handsome tunic of 
 Babylonian armor. The tunic was of soft leather 
 of a variety with which he was not familiar and 
 was overlaid with many links of steel. As he had 
 come armed only with a sword and spear, he took 
 from the armory a Hittite bow, short but of great 
 strength, and from a vast number selected with
 
 DEFIANCE TO THE FIVE KINGS 179 
 
 the skill and precision of a tried archer enough 
 arrows to fill the quiver that went with the bow. 
 The old Malik pressed upon him a round target 
 or shield of bronze mounted with silver, to which 
 at his request they fixed a thin golden image of a 
 wolf, his tribal cognizance. They wanted to give 
 him also a round Babylonian helmet, but he pre- 
 ferred that helmet of Egypt, painted blue with 
 the silver serpent twined about it, which his 
 father had taken from the head of a dead chief 
 on the shore the day the Egyptians were over- 
 whelmed by the waters of the Bed Sea. He took 
 also a curious knife of copper, a Hittite weapon 
 they told him, which he thrust into his belt on the 
 side opposite to his sword. 
 
 He looked long and earnestly at an axe for 
 battle, but at last laid it aside. The weight of 
 what he had was considerable, and he did not 
 want to sacrifice his possible mobility by adding 
 any unnecessary burden to his equipment, so that 
 his weapons finally consisted of sword, dagger, 
 spear, and bow, and his defensive armor of leather 
 tunic reinforced with steel, target of bronze, and 
 that Egyptian helmet painted blue. Altogether 
 he made a splendid and imposing figure. There 
 were no mirrors, of course, but with pardonable 
 vanity Dodai felt rather pleased with himself 
 and his thoughts flew back to Beth-Aram and he 
 wished that Arinna could see him now. 
 
 These pleasant duties and privileges whiled 
 away the morning. After partaking of the noon-
 
 180 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 day meal and the invariable siesta that followed at 
 the house of Abd-milki himself, the chief councilor 
 was apprized of the return of the messenger of 
 Adoni-Zedec for his answer. In the council cham- 
 ber, Dodai in his armor stationed himself in the 
 rear of the chief councilor. He heard the 
 haughty, warlike demand of Arami, the splendid 
 ambassador of the Jebusite king. Confident of 
 the support of the Hebrews, and the presence of 
 Dodai himself made him the more certain of it, 
 the old Malik spiritedly flung back the haughti- 
 ness of the Canaanite soldier and disdainfully 
 refused the proffered alliance. 
 
 "Knowest thou," cried the prince, his dark face 
 flushing with surprise and indignation, "that this 
 meaneth war?" 
 
 "We know it." 
 
 "Look well to your bulwarks," said the Jebusite 
 captain, instantly and with terrifying emphasis, 
 "for on the morrow the forces of the five great 
 kings will be at your gates, and after we have left 
 not one stone upon another of Gibeon we shall 
 deal with these invaders in the same way. I 
 would, ' ' he added in thunder tones that filled the 
 hall, "that one of them were present to hear my 
 words." 
 
 "By thy leave, noble councilor," interposed 
 Dodai, stepping forward, "one is here. Thou art 
 that Arami I hate above all men." 
 
 "And wherefore I in particular, slave?" asked 
 the soldier contemptuously.
 
 DEFIANCE TO THE FIVE KINGS 181 
 
 "I am Dodai. I have sworn to kill thee," was 
 the enlightening answer. 
 
 With his hand upon his sword hilt he confronted 
 the insolent Canaanitish captain with a figure as 
 erect and as undaunted as that of the envoy. 
 
 "And I too have made a like oath!" exclaimed 
 the other passionately, as he heard that hated 
 name. "I see now," he went on, turning to the 
 Malik, "why ye have rejected this proffered 
 alliance. Ye have made agreement with the 
 invaders, ye traitors in the land." 
 
 "And if we have?" 
 
 "Ye shalt be ground like wheat between the 
 upper and the nether millstone. Either we will 
 blot you out, or they will make you their slaves. 
 Well, unless they move quickly and strike hard, 
 they will find nothing here but ruined walls and 
 dead men. By Baal, I swear! I go." 
 
 "Wouldst fight with me here and now," cried 
 Dodai, as the messenger turned on his heel, "and 
 let our gods decide between us?" 
 
 "Gladly," instantly returned Arami, who was 
 a man of great courage evidently, laying his 
 hand on his sword and stepping toward the 
 Hebrew. 
 
 "Nay," interposed the chief councilor harshly, 
 "as ambassador) he came and as such he must go. 
 His person is sacred by all the gods. Restrain 
 thyself, O brave Prince of the Hebrews, and 
 do thou, Arami, betake thyself hence unhin- 
 dered."
 
 182 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "We shall meet," said the Jebusite with threat- 
 ening gesture and mien, "on the field if thou art 
 here when we return and thy spirit doth not fail 
 thee." 
 
 "It shall not," answered Dodai with equal pride 
 and resolution. 
 
 "I hope not, and now as this is war, I gay no 
 word of farewell to the elders of Gibeon," re- 
 turned Arami. 
 
 He gathered his cloak about him and stalked 
 haughtily and disdainfully from the room, at- 
 tended by his escort and ushered out by the 
 servants of the Malik. Silence filled the assem- 
 blage on his departure. Men looked to their 
 fellows and drew their breath softly. Expres- 
 sions of alarm appeared on different faces. 
 
 "Now, by Baal, methinks we had done better 
 to have allied ourselves with our own blood," cried 
 the priest; "that false deity of Ephron hath 
 misled " 
 
 "Silence!" said the Malik, stopping priest and 
 Israelite, who were confronting each other with 
 hostile heart and angry looks. "Hebrew Dodai, 
 son of Ahoah, thou hast heard the words of Arami 
 of Jerusalem!" 
 
 "I have heard." 
 
 "Gibeon is but a single city. Five of the 
 strongest and most powerful cities of the south 
 are leagued against us under the great Adoni- 
 Zedec of Jerusalem, the ablest and most influ- 
 ential of them all. Dost understand?"
 
 DEFIANCE TO THE FIVE KINGS 183 
 
 "I understand." 
 
 "Any of these cities can put a force of fight- 
 ing men in the field far outnumbering our own, 
 and against the five of them we can by no means 
 stand, not even with the united forces of our 
 confederation." 
 
 "But thy walls and towers, which I have marked 
 well?" 
 
 "They have means to batter them down and to 
 undermine them. We must have help from thy 
 people, and that instantly or we are undone," 
 said the Malik earnestly. 
 
 "I see." 
 
 "Thinkest thou that they will keep their oath?" 
 
 "I know that they will." 
 
 "Art sure?" 
 
 "They have sworn by Jehovah, the Most High 
 God. That is an oath that they cannot break, lest 
 the vengeance of God consume them." 
 
 "To the statement of the noble youth I fully 
 agree," said Shem-Hadad softly. "Whatever 
 they mean to do to us, they will not see us spoiled 
 by our enemies." 
 
 "Well then," said the Malik, greatly relieved, 
 "messengers must be dispatched to the lord 
 Joshua bidding him come to our aid. It is night. 
 They can go now, and they should reach the camp 
 at Gilgal in the morning. Adoni-Zedec will not 
 move before dawn, and we can hold him off until 
 the Hebrews come to our succor." 
 
 "I will go," said Dodai promptly, forgetful for
 
 the moment that he was a proscribed man and 
 might not be welcome. 
 
 "Nay," said the Malik, "bide thou here. This 
 is the post of danger, and we need thee. Thy 
 presence putteth heart into the people. There are 
 other messengers." He turned to his secretary. 
 "Hast thou parchments?" 
 
 "Lord, I have." 
 
 1 1 Give them to me. ' ' 
 
 Amid a breathless silence the old man sat down 
 at a sort of a table which was placed before him, 
 spread out the parchments, and, using the pe- 
 culiarly formed writing of Babylon, slowly indited 
 a brief but weighty message upon a fair piece of 
 sheepskin. 
 
 "Can thy people read this writing, thinkest 
 thou?" 
 
 "I cannot," answered Dodai, after a glance at 
 the queer wedge-shaped marks upon the leather, 
 "but there are those in the camp who can. The 
 learned Joshua himself hath great skill in such 
 matters." 
 
 "It is well," answered the Malik. He handed 
 the parchments, which he first sealed with the seal 
 of the city to Irkanati, the chief captain, who stood 
 in attendance. "Dispatch trusty messengers to 
 Joshua with this writing at once. Let them go up 
 by the way of Ai and the Michmash road, and let 
 them proceed with all speed. Send other mes- 
 sengers to the other cities of our association at the 
 same time and bid them prepare for war. Arouse
 
 DEFIANCE TO THE FIVE KINGS 185 
 
 the soldiers, double the guard, summon the dwell- 
 ers without to come within the walls, and make 
 every preparation for defense. The council is 
 over. Shem-Hadad and thou, good youth, I 
 would have further speech with ye. Do ye attend 
 me."
 
 XVI 
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF APPEAL 
 
 THERE was little sleep in Gibeon that night. 
 The direful news that Adoni-Zedec had de- 
 clared war against them and would fall upon 
 them immediately was spread abroad instantly. 
 In the long period of comparative peace that the 
 land had enjoyed, which was now about to close, 
 with the improvidence of the fatalistic Orient, 
 neglect and indifference had taken the place of 
 watchfulness and care. Consequently, there was 
 work for everybody to strengthen the defense. 
 And as war was a lif e-and-death matter for every- 
 body in those days, even for non-combatants so 
 called, the people high and low, old and young, 
 labored with a will. 
 
 In the morning watchers on the walls heard 
 the sound of trumpets in the hills to the south- 
 ward, and presently the valley below the city was 
 filled with men. They halted some distance away 
 just out of bowshot, and one figure in magnificent 
 armor and vesture, but weaponless with arms 
 uplifted indicating that he desired speech, rode 
 forward and halted. Old Irkanati, the chief cap- 
 tain of Gibeon, mounted the wall over one of the 
 gates and beckoned him to come nearer. Back of 
 
 186
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF APPEAL 187 
 
 him a short distance followed a little group of 
 men, also unarmed, each bearing a small sack. 
 When the newcomer was in hailing distance, the 
 chief captain bade him stop and approach no 
 nearer. 
 
 "I would have speech with the chief captain of 
 the city," cried the officer. 
 
 He was none other than Japhia, the king of 
 Lachish, who had been appointed to lead the ad- 
 vance and invest Gibeon after Arami had reported 
 to Adoni-Zedec the night before. With wise and 
 soldier-like decision the confederated monarchs 
 decided to force the fighting and strike at Gibeon 
 at once. They would thus discourage any further 
 possible defections to, or alliance with, these 
 formidable Hebrews. 
 
 "I am he," answered Irkanati. 
 
 "My royal brethren offer Gibeon and its people 
 a last chance." 
 
 "What is that?" 
 
 1 ' Open ye your gates and submit youselves to us 
 without further delay and your lives shall be 
 spared." 
 
 There was a moment of hesitation. The chief 
 captain turned and spoke to Abd-milki, the Malik, 
 who had come thither with the other councilors, 
 but were hidden by the parapet walls. 
 
 "Thine answer," roared the king with regal 
 impatience. 
 
 "No!" cried Irkanati resolutely. 
 
 "Think ye that ye shall have aid from the
 
 188 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 Hebrew dogs?" he shouted in wrath; and then, 
 not waiting for an answer, he beckoned to the men 
 with the bags, out of which each man accordingly 
 lifted a severed human head ! 1 1 Know ye these ! ' ' 
 he asked in scorn and triumph. 
 
 A shout of rage broke from the lips of the old 
 chief captain of the city. The walls of Gibeon 
 were suddenly black with soldiers, shrieking and 
 yelling with anger and horror, for everyone had 
 recognized the heads. They were those of the 
 half-dozen soldiers who had been dispatched the 
 night before with messages to Joshua. Not one 
 of them had escaped! 
 
 "Thou seest that the city is here," cried the 
 chief captain defiantly. "If ye be able, seize the 
 gates and open them yourselves, and we will die 
 behind the walls." 
 
 Japhia, the Lachishite, was a wise soldier as 
 well as brave. He had taken advantage of the 
 night to station a detachment of his escort in 
 the ravine to the northward of the city through 
 which the road ran. He had anticipated that some 
 such effort would be made to send word to the 
 Hebrews, and the unsuspecting messengers had 
 blundered into the trap he had prepared for them 
 and had been slain to a man. He now withdrew 
 from the parley and began the rearrangement of 
 his troops, which had been reinforced that morn- 
 ing, so as completely to contain the city upon 
 which no assault was then launched. The main 
 body would be up before night and the rude siege
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF APPEAL 189 
 
 artillery and other machinery for the taking of 
 cities would then be available. 
 
 Behind the jagged points of the great range of 
 mountains to the eastward lay the only chance of 
 succor for Gibeon, the army of the Hebrews, and 
 no word had reached them! Things looked dark 
 indeed for the Hivites. Were they to be left alone 
 to bear the brunt of the attack which must soon 
 follow? What was to be done? How was word to 
 be sent to Joshua now? 
 
 That was the anxious question that agitated the 
 breasts of the councilors during the morning. It 
 was Dodai who solved it. 
 
 "Sirs," he said, "I will go myself." 
 
 "But how?" asked the Malik. "The soldiers 
 who killed our messengers of last night are still 
 there. The main body of the Canaanite army 
 will soon approach from the southward." They 
 had drawn no nearer since the repulsion of the 
 king and it was evident that the main force had 
 not yet come up. "There are but two ways to 
 thine Hebrew camp and they are both covered. 
 The city is completely invested." 
 
 "There is still another way," answered Dodai. 
 "I know it, for I have traversed it twice." 
 
 "What way is that?" 
 
 "Straight down the mountain range from the 
 oasis of Beth- Aram." 
 
 "The home of Ephron the Hittite?" 
 
 "Even so. Give me two of the swiftest and 
 strongest and bravest men of thine army, and we
 
 190 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 will bear the message to Joshua. But thou 
 shouldst make haste," he continued, "for the city 
 will be so surrounded before the night fall that 
 scarce even a bird could fly away from it." 
 
 "How wilt thou go!" asked the aged Malik 
 anxiously. 
 
 "There are ravines that cross this rugged up- 
 land of thine. In their cover we will gain the edge 
 of the hills and in their shelter proceed to the 
 southward until we come to the oasis. Thereafter 
 the journey is easy, comparatively speaking." 
 
 "But if thou shouldst be seen and pursued?" 
 
 "There will be three of us, and one may, nay 
 one must, escape. I am fleet of foot. See that 
 my companions be likewise." 
 
 "But if ye should be overtaken?" 
 
 "God," said the young man, "will protect His 
 own." 
 
 "Thou shalt go," answered the Malik, greatly 
 relieved. "Let me write again." 
 
 "If I reach the Hebrew camp there will be no 
 need of writing, but if I should fall and the carry- 
 ing of the message be devolved upon one of those 
 that accompany me, it would be well that he have 
 a parchment. Give to each of us a copy." 
 
 "That is well thought on," said the Malik 
 approvingly. 
 
 He turned again to his secretary and labori- 
 ously indited a brief message in the usual cunei- 
 form writing, which he copied twice with his own 
 hand, signed, and sealed ; and having thus finished
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF APPEAL 191 
 
 them he directed an attendant to inclose each of 
 them in a bag of leather, while he sent another to 
 summon Irkanati. When that veteran soldier 
 presented himself he asked him: 
 
 1 < What of the enemy?" 
 
 "They lie quiet behind the ridge a little dis- 
 tance to the south of us." 
 
 "They have not drawn nearer?" 
 
 "Not yet. A few watchers are on the summit 
 of the ridge, the rest have retired behind it." 
 
 "What thinkest thou?" 
 
 "It is the advance guard of the Canaanitish 
 army. They have come to watch us, to threaten 
 us, to contain us, until the main force be as- 
 sembled." 
 
 "Wilt thou send me hither two of the fleetest 
 and bravest men in thy command to accompany 
 this noble Hebrew to the camp with messages? 
 It is a dangerous service. Because of the likeli- 
 hood that they may lose their lives in the attempt, 
 let them offer willingly." 
 
 "We have a thousand young men who would 
 gladly make the attempt with this brave Hebrew. 
 I will send thee two of the best. ' ' 
 
 "Will my lord give me leave?" asked Dodai 
 suddenly. 
 
 "Speak, "said the Malik. 
 
 "It will be difficult enough for us to get away 
 unobserved. If the chief captain here would lead 
 some of that brave thousand of which he speaketh 
 out of the city gates and offer battle to the enemy
 
 192 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 and occupy them, we might the more easily and 
 surely escape." 
 
 "Give me leave, noble councilor," said Irkanati. 
 
 "Speak thou." 
 
 4 ' The youth hath spoken well and like a soldier. 
 Have I thy permission to do as he hath suggested? 
 It will teach these haughty Canaanites a lesson." 
 
 The old Malik reflected. 
 
 "Our forces are few. We cannot afford to 
 lose many. Let it be only a demonstration, a 
 feint rather than an attack pressed home. Re- 
 treat when they advance upon thee." 
 
 1 ' I understand. Have I thy permission, noble 
 Abd-milki?" 
 
 "Thou hast it. Pray commend me to thy noble 
 master," continued the Malik, turning to Dodai. 
 "I long to see so great a soldier." 
 
 "I shall do so." 
 
 "And success to thine adventure." 
 
 In a few moments Dodai, in complete armor, 
 met the two young Hivites who awaited him in 
 the courtyard. He looked at them approvingly. 
 They were tall, alert, sinewy young men, built not 
 only for speed but for strength as well. They 
 were armed as he, but with not quite such splendid 
 war gear and they wore round Babylonian caps of 
 steel rather than the Egyptian helmet painted 
 blue. 
 
 "I," said the first, "am called Giammu." 
 
 "And my name," said the second, "is Lalli. 
 We are to go with thee."
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF APPEAL 193 
 
 "Here is the message, one for each of you, 
 Lalli and Giammu," said the Malik, who had ac- 
 companied Dodai. The messages were inclosed in 
 bags, and each one was provided with a thong of 
 leather by which it could be hung about the neck 
 of the bearer under the armored tunic. "Thou 
 shalt give these into the hands of Joshua, Prince 
 of Israel, if either of ye have the fortune to sur- 
 vive. For the rest, thou, Giammu, and thou, Lalli, 
 are under the order of Dodai. We who are left 
 here will pray for your success. The fate of 
 Gibeon, of her old men and her women, of her 
 youths and maidens, her little children, her altars 
 and her gods is with ye." 
 
 1 'Jehovah guard us," said Dodai. 
 
 "Thou wilt offer sacrifices to Baal in our be- 
 half," said Giammu, the elder of the two young 
 men. 
 
 "I will. Go." 
 
 "There is a gate," said Dodai, as the three went 
 out into the streets, "which openeth to the east- 
 ward as I remember." 
 
 "There is, lord." 
 
 "Lead us there." 
 
 "At thy command." 
 
 As the three men made their way through the 
 crowded streets they heard the noise of trampling 
 of many feet, the jingle of armor and equipment. 
 
 * * What is that f ' ' asked Dodai, pausing and look- 
 ing up a cross street toward the main street of 
 the city.
 
 194 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "It is the band of the chief captain going out 
 to engage the Canaanites," answered Lalli. 
 
 "It is well. When the battle is joined we will 
 make our dash for the hills." 
 
 "Ah, that is thy plan," said the elder of the 
 two Gibeonites. "That is well devised, lord." 
 
 Presently the three messengers reached the 
 gate. The elder of the two Gibeonites gave the 
 word, the gates were opened, and they passed 
 through. The north and south way passed close 
 by this gate. Fortunately it made a sudden bend 
 eastward for a short distance and dropped down, 
 just where it turned north beneath walls of rock. 
 It ran through a little ravine, in fact, the walls of 
 which were high enough to conceal a stooping 
 man. The ravine deepened as it left the road and 
 plunged westward and finally lost itself in the 
 rocky hills. 
 
 The three men waited within the recess formed 
 in the walls by the gate. They heard the blare of 
 the trumpets as the thousand men, led by Irkanati 
 in person, marched through the south gate and 
 formed an irregular line upon the hill. 
 
 "If he would keep quiet those trumpets," said 
 Dodai severely, "he would have a better chance 
 to surprise them." 
 
 The trees about the hills as yet concealed the 
 movements of the sallying party from the 
 Canaanite sentries. Yet the noise of the trumpets 
 attracted their attention at once. The three 
 watchers could see them suddenly quicken into
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF APPEAL 195 
 
 attention and stare eagerly and intently toward 
 the city. The same idea that came to Dodai had 
 perhaps at last come to the chief captain, for there 
 was no more trumpeting. The men of his com- 
 mand dashed rapidly through the trees, passed 
 the country houses, and deployed in the open 
 valley. 
 
 The Canaanites were taken by surprise, but not 
 entirely so. Sentries shouted and blew their 
 trumpets. Instantly the ridge was black with 
 men, who at once began forming to meet the 
 sortie. But the sally was made with great spirit 
 and courage and with great skill as well. Before 
 the Canaanites had time to order their ranks and 
 advance, the Gibeonites were among them, thrust- 
 ing with their spears, cutting with their swords, 
 while parties of bowmen on either flank stopped 
 a little distance away and began to pour arrows 
 upon the Canaanites. 
 
 The ridge was the scene of a fierce and sharp 
 battle. At first the advantage was entirely with 
 the Gibeonites, but even the advance guard of the 
 Canaanites outnumbered the sallying party five 
 to one. There were proved and trained soldiers 
 in that command under King Japhia, a host him- 
 self, and they rushed up and down the lines raging 
 like lions. The first impulse of panic was checked. 
 The men were re-formed under fire. The bowmen 
 of the Canaanites were thrown out on the flanks 
 to counter the other archers. The king advanced 
 to the front, freely exposing himself to hearten
 
 196 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 his men, who quickly rallied and presently moved 
 forward. 
 
 The chief captain, however, had been given his 
 orders. Just as the Canaanite advance began, he 
 gave a prearranged signal and his men turned 
 and came back on the dead run. The bowmen on 
 either flank, pouring in a perfect hail of arrows, 
 checked the advance of the enemy for a moment 
 and then they too joined their fleeing comrades. 
 The Canaanites pursued the Gibeonites to the 
 edge of the oasis, but they dared go no further. 
 The chief captain had inflicted considerable loss, 
 having sacrificed but few of his command. 
 
 It was a gallant sortie and well delivered, and 
 it had served its purpose, for in the very height 
 of the engagement the three messengers had 
 dashed down the road and had gained the shelter 
 of the ravine unobserved. The distance between 
 Gibeon and Beth- Aram could have been traversed 
 in a few hours by an alert man, but in this 
 instance the three had to go very slowly. It was 
 necessary to take advantage of every hill and 
 valley, of every ravine, of every rocky cover ; they 
 had to reconnoiter every foot of their advance, 
 and it was not until late in the afternoon that they 
 saw before them, perhaps a mile away, the rift 
 in the mountains which gave entrance to the oasis. 
 
 So far they had come without molestation or 
 observation. Unfortunately the country between 
 their present stopping-place and the gate of the 
 oasis was singularly open and the road from
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF APPEAL 197 
 
 Jerusalem northward ran through it on the west- 
 ward side. Although their eyes searched the 
 ground carefully they could discover apparently 
 no cover at all. Far off to the westward the de- 
 clining sun threw into silhouette marching bodies 
 of troops. They were too far to distinguish in- 
 dividuals, but the sun was reflected from spear 
 point and helm. They could only hope that three 
 men would not be noticed by that army against 
 the gray rock of the mountain wall. There was 
 no help for it, they must go out into the open come 
 what might. It was Dodai who gave the order 
 and led the way.
 
 XVII 
 THE CONTEST ON THE UPLAND 
 
 THE hope that they had escaped observation 
 was instantly doomed to disappointment. 
 Probably the same declining sunlight which 
 was reflected from the arms of the Canaanites also 
 betrayed them as it fell on bossed shield or shin- 
 ing helm or polished spear point. No one but a 
 warrior would be wearing armor there, no one but 
 a messenger would be going south at that time in 
 that place. If the messenger were a friend and 
 had come from' the advance guard of the Canaan- 
 ites, he would not be found in that quarter, and if 
 he were an enemy he could only come from Gibeon. 
 In that event it was necessary to stop him and to 
 do it at once. So reasoned the kings and their 
 officers with their soldiers in that passing army. 
 
 Adoni-Zedec, borne on a litter on the flank of 
 the army, to whom the general direction of the 
 company had been yielded by the others, instantly 
 ordered a detachment of fifty men under Prince 
 Arami, his most trusted experienced young cap- 
 tain, to proceed across the plateau toward the 
 hills and kill or capture the newcomers. Then 
 he passed on his way and gave the matter no 
 further thought. It did not seem to him that the 
 
 198
 
 THE CONTEST ON THE UPLAND 199 
 
 task was difficult or that it might even be im- 
 possible. But one thing favored the pursued. 
 They knew about the haven that would be af- 
 forded by the oasis of Beth-Aram and the pur- 
 suers, who happened to be soldiers from far-off 
 Lachish, did not except of course Arami himself. 
 
 Dodai and his two Hivite companions had at 
 first proceeded slowly and warily, hoping to 
 escape the notice of the great army tramping 
 along the road a mile or so away. They watched 
 it closely, however, and they saw at once when the 
 detachment broke away and headed toward them. 
 It was quite evident that they had been observed 
 and were to be intercepted. 
 
 The distance of Dodai from the mouth of the 
 pass was something over a mile. The distance 
 of the detachment from the mouth of the pass 
 was something less than a mile. Certainly, it was 
 obvious that three picked men could run faster 
 than fifty indiscriminately chosen, yet among the 
 fifty might be one or two very speedy men and in 
 all probability every one of the fifty would be 
 armed with a bow, and the long arrows, sped by 
 strong-armed bowmen, would overtake and cut 
 down the fastest of men. 
 
 Nevertheless, there was nothing to do but try 
 it. They were yet far beyond bowshot range, 
 fortunately. Dodai drew his bow from his back, 
 strung it as he ran, and directed his companions 
 to do the same. Carrying it in his right hand 
 like the rest of the Benjamites he had been
 
 200 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 trained to use his left hand as well as his right 
 for the surprising advantage sometimes given in 
 battle with arrows ready for instant use, he gave 
 vent to a few encouraging words as the three men 
 continued to run toward the entrance of the pass, 
 which they could identify by the jutting peaks 
 that rose above it. 
 
 The detachment had been moving fairly rapidly 
 directly toward them, but so soon as they saw 
 their quarry break into a run, its men quickened 
 their pace also and changed their direction so as 
 to intercept them. The detachment was running 
 straight toward the mouth of the pass on one side 
 of a right-angle triangle and Dodai and his men 
 on the other. 
 
 The first compact coherency of the mass of pur- 
 suers was soon lost. As they ran they scattered, 
 and instead of an orderly body they soon disinte- 
 grated into widely separated individuals. Well 
 in front of his men ran Arami, the captain, who 
 of course divined the haven sought by his quarry, 
 and close after him were a score or more well up 
 in the race. Evidently, thought Dodai, this was a 
 body of scouts, picked for speed. He said nothing 
 further, however, but simply increased his pace 
 until he fairly bounded over the rocky upland. 
 The two young Gibeonites had been especially 
 chosen for their speed, but they found it difficult 
 to keep up with the Hebrew. Indeed, it would 
 have been impossible had he not slightly slackened 
 his pace in order that they might remain together.
 
 THE CONTEST ON THE UPLAND 201 
 
 The desert-trained muscles of the young Ben- 
 jamite made him more than a match for the men 
 of the hill country. 
 
 Arami, leading the pursuit, could at last see the 
 mouth of the pass and the gateway in the wall 
 across it toward which the messengers headed. 
 He realized instantly that the three would reach 
 it before his men and probably escape him. He 
 well knew the strength of the wall and the force 
 that could be assembled to defend it. He had not 
 with him enough soldiers to take it. If the runners 
 gained the wall they would escape him, for the 
 time being at any rate. With every swift-flying 
 moment, however, the distance between the two 
 parties was being lessened. Therefore without 
 stopping he called off the names of half a dozen 
 men of the fifteen who yet kept pace with him. 
 Those thus designated stopped suddenly, moved 
 rapidly to one side so as to have free range at 
 the pursued, drew their bows, and began to shoot 
 at the runners. The captain and the rest of the 
 men pressed on. It was a game which Dodai and 
 his companions could scarcely play because they 
 were so few. Yet the first flight of arrows came 
 dangerously near the three runners, and they had 
 to do something or be shot down as they fled. 
 
 "We will have to stop that," said the Hebrew 
 at last, "perhaps we can check them." 
 
 He came to a sudden halt as he spoke, lifted his 
 bow, knocked his arrow, drew it to the head, and 
 taking quick aim sped it into the pursuing troop
 
 202 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 with all the force of his arm. His two companions 
 followed his example. Dodai 's arrow pierced the 
 throat of the nearest soldier, the only man in 
 advance of the captain. The arrow of Giammu 
 shivered upon the shield quickly and skillfully 
 flung forward for protection by Arami himself, 
 while that of Lalli luckily pierced the left leg of 
 another pursuer. Two men were down from the 
 discharge, but the halt and the delay had been 
 attended by fatal consequences to one of the fugi- 
 tives. In the very act of releasing his own arrow 
 Lalli had been struck by two arrows. One he had 
 taken fairly on his shield, but the other, by evil 
 chance, had struck him under his uplifted left 
 arm and had gone to his heart. He fell dead 
 instantly. 
 
 The fact that Dodai and the others had stopped 
 running made it easy for the Canaanites to fire 
 upon them with good aim. In fact, but that Dodai 
 and the surviving Gibeonite had caught arrows 
 launched at them upon their shields, they would 
 have gone down like Lalli. Quick as a thought, 
 Dodai risked another shot. Another of the pur- 
 suers fell before his unerring aim and a second 
 man was wounded in the arm by Giammu, but that 
 game could be played no longer. The pursuers 
 were frightfully near and yelling madly. 
 
 Dodai, stooping over, tore the message from the 
 neck of the dead Lalli, called to Giammu and 
 broke into a furious run. He had never before 
 set such a pace in his career. Indeed, he realized,
 
 THE CONTEST ON THE UPLAND 203 
 
 as did the gallant Gibeonite, that he was running 
 for his life as well as for the message's sake. 
 
 The two men fairly flew along the ground. The 
 pursuers, seeing hope of success, redoubled their 
 efforts. And at that moment Arami recognized 
 the Egyptian helmet painted blue which he had 
 marked on his rival's head in the council hall at 
 Gibeon the night before. The sight of his hated 
 rival put more speed in his feet and, thanking his 
 gods, he raced madly on, a wild exultation in his 
 heart. In this recognition he had the advantage 
 of Dodai, who had no idea who it was that headed 
 the pursuit, Arami 's armor not being easily dis- 
 tinguished from that of any other captain of rank. 
 
 Fortunately the pursuers had now come between 
 their own bowmen and the pursued. The latter 
 were therefore safe from the arrows. If they 
 could make the pass before they came to close 
 quarters they would have won the race, but it 
 was evident to Dodai that they could not make 
 the pass, for now they had the greater distance to 
 go, having lost ground in the shooting. Neverthe- 
 less the two ran desperately on, their hearts 
 throbbing, their temples bursting, their breath 
 coming thick and fast, sweat dropping from them. 
 It was all they could do. 
 
 They were almost abreast of the entrance now. 
 The Hebrew and his companion could see the men 
 of Beth- Aram lining the wall, arms in hand, but 
 the gate was closed. Why could not those men 
 make a diversion in his behalf? Why was the
 
 204 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 gate not opened and an attack launched on the 
 pursuers, now scarcely a dozen in number? If 
 he had been there it would have been his natural 
 order. He cast one longing glance at the haven 
 and then shouted to Giammu. 
 
 It was useless to run longer. The enemy was 
 almost in striking distance. They must stop and 
 fight unless they were to be cut down as they ran. 
 He then turned about and, before his pursuers 
 knew what he would be at, he fitted an arrow in 
 his bow and sent it into the thick of them ; Giammu 
 did the same, and with like deadly effect. The 
 two had not time to release another arrow before 
 the Canaanites were upon them. Dodai did not 
 have time to draw his sword even. He had his 
 spear in his deadly left hand, and with his shield 
 in front of him in his right he thrust viciously out 
 at the first man who hurled himself at him. 
 
 Giammu, with courage no less high than that 
 of his leader, did the same thing. The first man 
 went down before Dodai like a stricken ox, the 
 second man was beaten back by a savage thrust 
 from the Hivite, but the next moment Arami, yell- 
 ing with savage joy with the rest of the band, 
 closed with the devoted pair. Dodai recognized 
 him at last, and for a moment, forgetting the 
 fearful odds against him, a thrill of joy shot 
 through him at the opportunity. The Canaanites, 
 carrying spears, swords, and axes, pressed about 
 him so closely that they wasted their opportuni- 
 ties in the fighting. The only thing that saved
 
 Dodai and his companion from instant death was 
 that the Canaanites pressed them so closely that 
 they did not give themselves room for a decisive 
 thrust or stroke, and for the same reason Arami 
 himself could do little more than the others. 
 
 Thus the unequal contest was maintained for 
 some little time. There could be but one end to 
 it, however ; especially as the number of assailants 
 was constantly increasing. Indeed, the end soon 
 came to Giammu, for shortening his sword Arami, 
 striving to clear away for a personal encounter 
 with his rival, drove it into the heart of the brave 
 Gibeonite and Dodai, covered with wounds, was 
 left fighting alone. Arami shouted in vain for 
 his men to draw back and leave the Hebrew to 
 him, but in their excitement they did not hear 
 him and they continued to press Dodai closer 
 than before.
 
 xvni 
 
 AKINNA COMES TO THE EESCUE 
 
 SHOUTING and yelling like mad, a number of 
 armed men poured out of the opened gate 
 in the wall and fell upon the backs of the 
 Canaanites. Over the gate, on the top of the 
 wall, stood a woman ; in her hand she held a bow, 
 not a great Assyrian war bow like that of her 
 lover, which he had used so effectively against 
 the lion, but one lighter and more suited to a 
 less muscular arm. It was Arinna. Her father 
 had taught her to use the bow. 
 
 She had known nothing of the desperate adven- 
 ture taking place without the walls until the three 
 men came in sight. She had previously ordered 
 Nadab, the steward, and the men of the oasis 
 who were capable of bearing arms to man the 
 walls because she had noted the passing of the 
 Canaanite army and she wanted to be prepared 
 to defend the place against raiding parties upon 
 the flank, if any such masterless men should ob- 
 serve and fall upon it. 
 
 When Dodai and his companions appeared in 
 view the whole situation changed. Arinna, who 
 presently recognized her lover and saw his dire 
 peril, acted with promptitude. She bade the men 
 
 206
 
 ARINNA COMES TO THE RESCUE 20T 
 
 with her seize their arms, and when they were 
 assembled she ordered the gates flung open and 
 directed them to fall upon the backs of the Canaan- 
 ites. There were at least a hundred and fifty re- 
 tainers of Ephron in the oasis capable of bearing 
 arms, and of these several score were already 
 on the wall. Animated by the spirit and courage 
 of their young mistress they made a gallant onset 
 upon the Canaanites. These last had lost heavily, 
 and before the attack of the fresh men they gave 
 way and fled. Not, however, until Arami, at last 
 forcing his way through the melee, and chancing 
 to come at the young Hebrew '& back, had brought 
 his heavy battle axe crashing down upon the 
 Egyptian helmet painted blue which Dodai wore. 
 Arinna had seen the blow about to fall. She had 
 refrained from loosing any arrows at first, because 
 she was a woman and could not bear to slay even 
 an enemy and because as the Canaanites turned 
 to flee it had not been necessary, but as she noticed 
 the uplifted war axe about to fall on her lover's 
 head she let fly at the upraised arms of the cap- 
 tain, in whom she at that moment recognized her 
 rejected suitor. The arrow hit Arami in the 
 fleshy part of the left arm, but not soon enough 
 to prevent the stroke. He had no time to repeat 
 the blow. It was not safe to stay longer. Swing- 
 ing his axe he burst through the ring of the men 
 of Beth-Aram and fled after his own men. He 
 knew he had not killed Dodai, although the honors 
 of this first meeting were decidedly his. He
 
 208 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 swore, as he ran smarting from the wound in his 
 arm and the consciousness that it was a woman, 
 Arinna, who had sped the arrow, that he would be 
 back on the morrow with sufficient force to seize 
 the oasis, kill Dodai, and take the woman. He 
 could accomplish that while Gibeon was being in- 
 vested and still be in time to rejoin the army for 
 the final battle. 
 
 The men of Ephron attempted no pursuit. They 
 were not trained warriors, their ardor had spent 
 itself in the fierce combat ; besides, the main por- 
 tion of the detachment was now coming up and 
 there was nothing to gain by further battle in the 
 open. Arinna had descended from the wall and 
 now came flying into the midst of them. White- 
 faced and anxious she bent over Dodai. The old 
 steward raised her up. 
 
 "The youth is not dead," he said, "and thou 
 must seek the shelter of the wall instantly." 
 
 The counsel seemed good to the maiden. Bid- 
 ding the men carry in the senseless Dodai and 
 the body of his brave companion, the dead Lalli 
 being too far away to be brought in also, the little 
 party retired precipitately within the wall. The 
 gates were shut and the wall at once manned. 
 
 "To thee, Nadab, I commit the defense," said 
 Arinna. 
 
 "I shall hold the wall with my life," answered 
 the steward, "but I think they will scarce attack 
 us now with that petty force." 
 
 "They have lost many men."
 
 ARINNA COMES TO THE RESCUE 209 
 
 ; 'Yes, and it will be necessary for them to 
 report their discomfiture to their king," continued 
 the steward shrewdly. "We shall have a respite 
 until the morning and perhaps altogether, there- 
 fore thou mayst go in peace and safety for the 
 present. We can hold this wall against all those 
 soldiers yonder." 
 
 "But should any danger arise thou wilt tell 
 me?" 
 
 "Immediately." 
 
 "And see to this dead Gibeonite. I think his 
 face is familiar." 
 
 "It is Giammu, grandson of old Shem-Hadad," 
 answered the steward, observing the dead man 
 carefully. "He hath sued thy father for thy 
 hand in times gone by, my lady." 
 
 "Yes, I remember. Poor man, see that his body 
 hath the proper care." 
 
 "It shall be looked to," said the man, turning 
 away and mounting the wall. 
 
 Meanwhile the senseless Dodai had been carried 
 into the house beyond. His armor had been taken 
 from him and his hurts had been examined. He 
 was a mass of bruises and covered with flesh 
 wounds, from which he had lost much blood. He 
 was in a sorry state of weakness, yet the temper 
 of the Egyptian helmet painted blue had stood 
 him in good stead. The blow of the war axe had 
 flattened it, and but for that noted steel cap his 
 head had been crushed and he had been a dead 
 man like the other two. It had served him well,
 
 210 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 and another chance at Arami would be given him. 
 Restoratives were applied by old Hani, and they 
 had already proved efficacious, for as Arinna 
 entered the room he opened his eyes. His first 
 thought expressed itself in his words. 
 
 "My comrades?" he whispered. 
 
 "Dead, but thou art alive, lord," answered 
 Arinna. 
 
 "The message to Joshua?" 
 
 "What message?" 
 
 He lifted his hand, although the movement 
 caused him exquisite, pain, and pointed to the bag. 
 Arinna drew it over his head and took out the 
 little parchment. 
 
 "Is this it?" she asked. 
 
 "It is." 
 
 "What hath chanced?" 
 
 "The Canaanites have invested Gibeon, the 
 siege will be pressed home, the city will be sacked. 
 They have appealed to Joshua and my people to 
 come to their aid in accordance with their oath. 
 I must carry the message. There were three of 
 us charged with the duty, and I alone am left." 
 He spoke feebly but firmly and made a desperate 
 but futile effort to get up, but sank back with a 
 groan. ' ' They depend upon me, and I cannot go ! " 
 he cried bitterly. "0 Jehovah, Thou Great Je- 
 hovah, raise me up by Thy power that I may 
 deliver the message, or show me a messenger !" 
 
 "I will take the message," said Arinna 
 promptly, as if in answer to the prayer.
 
 ARINNA COMES TO THE RESCUE 211 
 
 "Thou?" 
 
 T 
 
 "Are there then no men in Beth- Aram to re- 
 lieve thee of that duty?" 
 
 "None that I dare trust with a matter of such 
 importance. They are shepherds and herdsmen, 
 not warriors. Every man is needed to defend the 
 walls. We shall be attacked in the morning of a 
 certainty. Arami will come back. He hath a 
 double object here now, thou and I. I know the 
 way, I will go." 
 
 "But the gorge is a frightful one and it will 
 soon be night. Wild beasts " 
 
 "That mighty God of thine and mine will sus- 
 tain me," said Arinna simply. "I am strong 
 and sure-footed, keen-eyed, and quick of hearing. 
 I am armed, my father hath taught me to use 
 the bow." 
 
 "To my salvation didst thou loose thine arrow 
 at Arami," said Dodai gratefully, after having 
 heard all about the advance of Arinna 's men and 
 the shot that had saved his own life. 
 
 "It was naught. Would that it had pierced 
 the heart of Arami ere his axe fell on thee. So, 
 thou seest I must go." 
 
 "Thy father may be there. It was his purpose 
 when he left me at Gibeon yesterday." 
 
 So much the better. He will assure me a 
 quicker hearing. I alone must take the message." 
 
 "I cannot bear it," groaned Dodai, "to be so 
 helpless. If I could have a day's rest, my wounds
 
 212 [WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 bound up, food, drink but the message must go 
 now. It cannot wait." 
 
 "Nor need it. I will take it and Jehovah will 
 protect me." 
 
 "Mine own nation shall bless thee," said Dodai. 
 "Thou wilt be stopped at the outskirts of the 
 camp. Say unto them that thou hast a message 
 from Gibeon for Joshua. I know not what dis- 
 position he may make, but he will move swiftly 
 and will strike hard. For the rest if we are at- 
 tacked we will hold this place to the last man. 
 A night 's rest will enable me at least to direct the 
 defense. And, Arinna, if thou hast the oppor- 
 tunity when thou tellest thy tale to Joshua, fail 
 not to speak a word of me and if he hath men to 
 spare pray him to send us succor here, not indeed 
 for my sake but for the women and children, the 
 flocks and herds of Ephron, thy father, a wor- 
 shiper of the true God." 
 
 "I shall do all that thou sayest, beloved Dodai. 
 Fear not." 
 
 * ' God be with thee, beloved Arinna. Farewell. ' * 
 
 "Hani and the women will have thee at their 
 tenderest charge. I must go. The Lord watch 
 between thee and me while we are parted one from 
 the other." 
 
 She bent over him, kissed him, took the little 
 bag containing the message, slipped it around her 
 own white neck, looked at him a moment, mur- 
 mured a prayer, and turned and went out of the 
 chamber. Dodai covered his face with his hands.
 
 ARINNA COMES TO THE RESCUE 213 
 
 To lie there in that emergency, sick, bleeding, 
 faint, helpless, while a woman took up his task! 
 It was heart-breaking. 
 
 "My punishment is almost more than I can 
 bear," said the poor youth, groaning aloud. 
 
 "Thou wilt be much better in the morning, 
 lord," said old Hani, bending over him. "I will 
 wash thy wounds, anoint them, and bind them up. 
 We have rare medicine for them. Thou shalt 
 have food and drink in moderation. In the morn- 
 ing thou shalt do a man's part in the defense, if 
 need be." 
 
 "But why not now?" asked Dodai faintly. "I 
 cannot bear to think of the awful pass, the dark- 
 ness of the night, a tender woman alone amid all 
 those perils." 
 
 "I, too," reassuringly said old Hani, "worship 
 Jehovah. She goeth on His errand. He will 
 watch over her."
 
 THE first part of Arinna's journey was made 
 with comparative ease. The sun, low down 
 in the western horizon when she started, 
 though it presently declined behind them and was 
 soon hidden by the mountains of the range at her 
 back, yet gave sufficient light to enable the fleet- 
 footed, youthful maiden to choose her hard way 
 without too much difficulty. She wore her tunic 
 and vest as usual and the peculiar round-pointed 
 shoes instead of sandals. The tops of these shoes 
 were laced almost to her knees and were a great 
 protection to her as she stumbled and scrambled 
 down the rocky gorge. 
 
 Dodai had impressed upon her the necessity for 
 speed. She was quick-witted enough to have 
 taken in the emergency to the full. Therefore, 
 she wasted no time. She often slipped and fell in 
 her impetuosity and her hands and arms and 
 knees were soon scratched and bleeding, but she 
 pressed on indomitably. As it grew darker she 
 fell more frequently and went perforce more 
 slowly, being compelled to pick and choose her 
 way while it was still faintly light. Presently, 
 however, there was no light at all left, save that 
 
 214
 
 THE JOURNEY OF ARINNA 215 
 
 cast by the brilliant stars. The moon was not due 
 to rise until an hour before midnight. Now she 
 had to make her way by a sort of instinct, since 
 she could no longer see the trail. 
 
 The gorge through which she descended was in 
 deep black shadow. On either side she could see 
 the crests of the walls faintly outlined against 
 the star-strewn sky, but usually she moved in total 
 darkness. How she got down safely and even 
 alive was a mystery. Oftentimes the darkness 
 mercifully hid from her the frightful perils of the 
 way. Sometimes, when a single misstep would 
 have meant a fall of many feet and broken bones 
 and loss of life perhaps, she went on fearlessly, 
 because all unknowingly guided and protected in 
 some mysterious way. Loose pebbles and stones 
 slipped beneath her feet, but not once did her 
 ankle turn. A sprained ankle or a broken leg 
 would have absolutely ended her progress and 
 defeated her purpose. 
 
 The loneliness was appalling. Sometimes in all 
 that waste of desert rock she seemed the only 
 thing alive. At intervals noises came to her, 
 especially when from time to time she stopped to 
 listen and recover her breath, mysterious sounds, 
 whether of earth or air, of good or evil spirits, 
 or savage beast, she could not tell ; but they were 
 sufficiently terrifying to make her heart stand 
 still. Again and again her hand sought her short 
 sword, once or twice she even lifted her bow and 
 pointed the arrow out into the darkness, while
 
 216 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 such poor prayers to Jehovah as she knew rose 
 to her lips and hung there voiceless but meet for 
 God's hearing. After a while the sound would die 
 away, and stilling the beating of her heart she 
 would resume her progress. 
 
 Strange to say, she did not grow weary. A 
 mysterious power sustained her. Surely those ut- 
 tered petitions somehow reached that God beyond 
 the stars to whom they were sent upward through 
 the still night. Also the thought that she, a weak 
 woman, was doing something great, important, 
 decisive, not so much for Gibeon or for the 
 Hebrews as for her lover, kept her up. She de- 
 cided that the mad race and the fierce battle which 
 had brought the message to Beth-Aram should 
 lose nothing in the telling to old Joshua. Per- 
 haps she would be the means of giving back to 
 Dodai the place he valued in his tribe, his people. 
 So with many a prayer and many a heart throb, 
 and many a brave effort, she pressed on and on. 
 
 After a long time the way opened, the gorge 
 became broader, the going more easy, and at last, 
 dropping rapidly down the last slope, she found 
 herself well into the dark valley. She recognized 
 the spot. There was a spring hard by, she re- 
 membered. She was terribly thirsty. Although 
 the proceeding was fraught with danger, she ven- 
 tured there, scaring away by her approach some 
 of the smaller animals of the night and thankful 
 for the absence of the greater carnivora which 
 sometimes were to be encountered there like the
 
 THE JOURNEY OF ARINNA 217 
 
 lion Dodai shot. She knelt down at the brink of 
 the little pool in the rocks and drank deeply. She 
 bathed her hands and laved her limbs in the re- 
 freshing water, and then rising and taking her 
 bearing by the stars, she stumbled over the fields 
 until she found a beaten pathway down which she 
 ran as if her experiences of the night had been 
 as nothing. She covered the miles that inter- 
 vened between the mountain and the outskirts 
 of the Hebrew camp at a great pace, thanking God 
 that most of her life had been spent in the open 
 and that she was as sound of wind and limb as a 
 young animal. 
 
 Approaching the camp, whose limits were out- 
 lined by dying fires, she was stopped and the 
 officer of the guard was summoned. She panted 
 out the story that she came with a message from 
 Gibeon for Joshua on a matter of life and death. 
 Examining her by the torches they bore, the men 
 marveled at her youth and beauty and especially 
 at her womanhood. They could scarcely be per- 
 suaded to credit her story. The bewildered officer 
 of the outposts finally took her to Salmon, whose 
 turn it was to command the guard of the camp. 
 This was fortunate as it happened, for he recog- 
 nized her at once. 
 
 "Arinna!" he cried, as he came forward into 
 the torchlight, in answer to the sharp hail of the 
 officer. 
 
 "Salmon!" 
 
 "Hast thou news of Dodai!" asked the Prince
 
 218 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL' 
 
 of Judah, who loved the youth, proscribed and 
 banished though he was. 
 
 "I left him wounded and ill at my father's house 
 at Beth- Aram and I bring a message to thy great 
 captain." 
 
 "Thou!" exclaimed Salmon. 
 
 "Even I." 
 
 "How earnest thou here?" 
 
 "Down the mountain." 
 
 "Thou didst not descend that fearful gorge 
 alone and at night?" 
 
 "These hands can testify," said the woman, 
 turning her torn and bleeding hands and arms to 
 the gaze of the astonished Hebrew. 
 
 "And wherefor?" 
 
 "My lord Dodai, my husband that shall be " 
 
 "Stands the matter thus?" asked Salmon curi- 
 ously. 
 
 "Thus." 
 
 "Speak on." 
 
 "He was charged with a message from Gibeon. 
 He was beset by Canaanites. But the story is a 
 long one. They nearly killed him. He could not 
 carry the message, he was wounded and exhausted, 
 and I took it and have it here. I must see thy 
 great captain at once." 
 
 "So thou shalt, maiden," heartily answered 
 Salmon, convinced at last. "I myself will accom- 
 pany thee." 
 
 He turned and led the way througn the tents 
 covering the sleeping men and women and chil-
 
 THE JOURNEY OF ARINNA 219 
 
 dren. Dogs barked here and there, wakeful men 
 or boys came out into the night and stared curi- 
 ously as they passed on. The fire was yet blazing 
 brightly, although it was a warm August night, in 
 front of Joshua's tent, and around it the young 
 men of his guard kept watch. 
 
 "Who cometh here?" asked one of them, step- 
 ping forward with presented spear as Salmon 
 and his young companion drew near. 
 
 1 1 Salmon, son of Nahshon of the Tribe of Judah, 
 with a message for the Lord Joshua." 
 
 1 'The Prince sleepeth." 
 
 "He must be awakened. Here is a matter of 
 great importance." 
 
 "I do not like to take the risk," answered the 
 young man. 
 
 "On my head be the responsibility," said Sal- 
 mon, raising his voice. "Indeed, while we talk 
 we waste time, and every moment is precious. 
 We must see " 
 
 "Who doth thus disturb the quiet of the night?" 
 asked a deep voice from within the tent, and with- 
 out giving time for answer to the question the 
 figure of the great old Hebrew, his cloak wrapped 
 about him, stepped out of the tent into the fire- 
 light. 
 
 "I have done so, Prince," answered Salmon. 
 "There is a woman here." 
 
 "And dost thou disturb me for a woman?" 
 
 "A messenger from Gibeon." 
 
 "How knowest thou that?"
 
 220 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "I know the woman, lord," said Salmon. "It 
 is Arinna, daughter of Ephron." 
 
 "The Hittite who visited us yesterday?" 
 
 "Even so." 
 
 "Where is she?" 
 
 "Here, my lord," answered Arinna, stepping 
 forward. "I have a message for thee." 
 
 "Declare it." 
 
 "It is written," answered the girl, drawing the 
 bag from her neck and handing it to Joshua. 
 
 The latter took it, tore open the bag, com- 
 manded a torch to be brought, and slowly and 
 silently perused it. He made no difficulty about 
 reading the cuneiform writing. After he had 
 mastered it he read it aloud. So it ran: 
 
 "Ana JAHUSHUA khazdnu sJia ameluti KHABIRI 
 shulmu u ana bitika u ana Ummdnika shulmu 
 adannish kibi umma ABD-MELKI arduka sabe sha 
 mat KLNTAKHKHI eteku eli al GIBUNA ina kit libbika 
 alik ana resuti sha ummdni la tashami ana iashi 
 ikhallik gabbi umdmmi u gabbi mdti." 
 
 Which, being interpreted, is as follows: 
 
 "To JOSHUA, chief of the HEBREWS, peace! 'And 
 to thy house and to thine army, peace! Thy 
 servant ABD-MILKI speaketh as follows: 
 
 "The soldiers of the land of CANAAN have ad- 
 vanced against the City of GIBBON. In the fidelity 
 
 *I am indebted to Prof. Morris Jastrow for this striking ren- 
 dering of the original message in cuneiform writing. C. T. B.
 
 THE JOURNEY OF ARINNA 221 
 
 of thine heart come to the aid of my army. If 
 thou dost not hearken unto me the whole army and 
 the whole land is lost." 
 
 Joshua crushed the message in his hand while 
 he thought rapidly. 
 
 "How didst thou come here, maiden?" he asked 
 at last. 
 
 "Through the gorge down the mountain 
 yonder. ' ' 
 
 "It is impossible!" cried Joshua. 
 
 "I have done it," answered Arinna. 
 
 "Alone?" 
 
 "Alone, lord." 
 
 The old Hebrew drew nearer to her and looked 
 searchingly at her as if to read her face and 
 heart. Satisfied apparently with his scrutiny, he 
 spoke again. 
 
 "Thine hands and arms are cut and bleeding, 
 thy limbs also. Wert thou not afraid?" 
 
 "The God of our fathers watched over me." 
 
 "True, daughter of Ephron; thou, too, dost 
 worship Jehovah?" 
 
 "Yes, lord. Is my father yet here?" 
 
 "He returned yesterday afternoon to Gibeon. 
 We renewed the ancient friendship between our 
 houses. He told me something of this threat of 
 the Jebusite. What dost thou know of it?" 
 
 "This, lord; Adoni-Zedec of Jerusalem and four 
 others, the king of " 
 
 "I know their names."
 
 222 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL' 
 
 "Have moved out with their armies and have 
 attacked Gibeon. All day long the soldiers have 
 been passing Beth-Aram from Jerusalem to 
 Gibeon. The roads are filled with armed men." 
 
 "And Gibeon lieth " 
 
 "Midway between Jerusalem and Ai, my lord." 
 
 "And from Gibeon a pass leadeth to the low- 
 lands !" 
 
 "A pass called Beth-Horon." 
 
 "There are two, an upper and a lower, are there 
 not?" 
 
 "Yes, lord." 
 
 "Narrow passes and difficult, I am told?" 
 
 ' ' Even so, ' ' answered the maiden. ' ' They twist 
 and turn like a serpent." 
 
 " It is well, ' * said Joshua. * ' Arouse the camp, ' ' 
 he said to his aides. "Bid the princes and the 
 warriors come hither with the councilors. Make 
 haste ; we have no time to lose. Let all come fully 
 armed. God hath delivered the Canaanites into 
 our hands. Now, maiden, I will put on my armor, 
 my woman will attend to thee, and when thou art 
 ready I will hear more from thee. How earnest 
 thou to be trusted with so important a message? 
 Were there no men in Gibeon or Beth- Aram?" 
 
 "My lord," said Arinna hastily, as the old 
 Hebrew turned to his tent, "I am the betrothed 
 of Dodai. Nay, frown not," she continued; "he 
 and two others carried the message. Two of them 
 ran and fought until they were killed. The Prince 
 Dodai, senseless and wounded, was carried by my
 
 THE JOURNEY OF ARINNA 223 
 
 people within the walls that protect Beth- Aram. 
 Unable to come himself because of his weakness 
 and faintness and loss of blood and many wounds, 
 I took the message from him. His is the hand 
 that sped it, to him the honor is due. He will bq 
 attacked in the morning and asketh succor." 
 
 "And he shall receive the credit he meriteth, 
 maiden, and the assistance too. I will hear thee 
 again on this matter. My woman will wash thy 
 wounds and give thee food and drink, and bid 
 them make speed, because when the princes are 
 assembled I shall call upon thee again. "
 
 XX 
 
 THE ARMY OF THE LORD 
 
 JOSHUA was well served, and the women of 
 his household overwhelmed Arinna with 
 attention and compassed her with sweet 
 observances. Her legs had been frightfully torn 
 and cut when she had slipped and fallen. Her 
 hands and arms in fact, every part of her 
 body not protected by her clothing were 
 scratched and bleeding and she was sorely 
 bruised, but these hurts were all superficial. They 
 were washed, anointed, and skillfully bandaged. 
 While they were painful and perhaps would be 
 more painful on the morrow, they were greatly 
 relieved by the care which was bestowed upon 
 them. Her torn tunic and other garments were 
 replaced by fresh ones ; drink was given her and 
 food to her great refreshment. 
 
 She was so excited and aroused, so enthusiastic 
 over the prospect, and so delighted with the kindly 
 words about her lover that Joshua had just ut- 
 tered, that she made light of her hurts. There 
 would be time enough to-morrow when all was 
 over and the moment of relaxation came, to 
 realize how stiff and sore and bruised she was. 
 That night she had other things to do. Her ap- 
 pointed task was not yet complete. 
 
 234
 
 THE ARMY OF THE LORD 225 
 
 Indeed, as the warriors and chiefs of the 
 tribes, each in his brilliant armor, came rapidly 
 and took their places about the fire, beneath 
 the torches that were kindled; and as from 
 every side of the great encampment there 
 arose the babble of many voices, the clatter of 
 arms, sharp words of command, and as the whole 
 community about Joshua seemed to break into 
 light and life, the girl was filled with wonder and 
 joy. She thanked Jehovah that her lover belonged 
 to so great a people and that her father and now 
 at last she herself worshiped that God, who must 
 of necessity be a very great God or these people 
 whom He had chosen for His own would not be 
 so numerous, so brave, and so splendid. 
 
 It was a different council that assembled around 
 Joshua from that which had debated the alliance 
 with the Gibeonites. These men were younger, 
 their martial bearing and warlike eagerness indi- 
 cated their soldierly spirit. The old councilors 
 were there, but this time they were in the back- 
 ground. Presently Joshua, now fully armed, came 
 from his tent. There were gathered about him the 
 young men who formed his guard. The great 
 chieftain of the Hebrews was older than any man 
 present, even than Caleb, his famous contempo- 
 rary, yet he bore himself in his armor with ease 
 and lightness that bespoke an endurance which 
 had not diminished with the passing years in the 
 least degree. Blessed by God, his movements ex- 
 hibited a strength which a younger man might
 
 226 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 have envied ; and Caleb was also a man of the same 
 quality. Men a score of years younger than these 
 two were relegated to the Council as having passed 
 the age of warlike activity, but not Joshua and 
 his old friend. 
 
 As the great captain stepped out of the tent into 
 the full light of torch and fire, the crowd broke 
 into loud acclaim. Some of the men had been 
 sitting on the ground. They all arose to their 
 feet, lifted their spears, struck them upon their 
 shields, and shook them in the air. The venerable 
 councilors made respectful obeisance to the 
 chosen of the Lord. 
 
 "Princes of Israel, chieftains, soldiers," said 
 the deep voice of Joshua and in the silence that 
 supervened his words were distinctly audible far 
 beyond the circle and well into the camp "came 
 to me to-night a messenger from Gibeon. The 
 Canaanitish kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jar- 
 muth, Lachish, and Eglon have made a league and 
 covenant devoting us to destruction. As the 
 quickest way to make us feel their power, they 
 have marched against Gibeon to-day, that Gibeon 
 with which we have entered into a fellowship by 
 our oath in this very spot four days since. The 
 councilors of the city appeal to us for help, re- 
 minding us of these oaths. Ye know the will of 
 Jehovah toward these people, how we shall go 
 up into the land and possess it. We have offered 
 sacrifice on the slopes of Ebal and Gerizim. We 
 have read the law from the mountains. I have
 
 THE ARMY OF THE LORD 227 
 
 brought ye back hither and established a camp in 
 a sure place. We may leave our women and 
 children here under guard without fear. To-night 
 we begin that conquest which hath been ordained 
 for us. We march to the relief of Gibeon. 
 Jehovah is with us." 
 
 "Thou sayest well," said Eleazar; "we have 
 lingered long enough. Go up, go up, ye children 
 of Israel, take the land which the Lord thy God 
 giveth thee, vineyards that ye have not planted, 
 fields that ye have not plowed, wells that ye have 
 not digged, cities that ye have not builded. In the 
 eyes of Jehovah it is well that ye should have 
 them." 
 
 "We will go up, we will go up," said one as 
 the High Priest's voice gathered strength and 
 rang over the assemblage. 
 
 "Yet beware," he added in thunder tones, "lest 
 ye forget the Lord which brought ye forth out 
 of the land of Egypt and out of the house of 
 bondage." 
 
 "As the Lord Jehovah liveth," cried Joshua, 
 "we will not forget!" 
 
 "Let us march, let us march!" cried a warrior 
 chief of the Tribe of Ephraim, and the cry was 
 taken up at once on every side. 
 
 "Our young men are ready," said another. 
 "See," he pointed back in the darkness, "they 
 assemble in the streets between the tents. Lead us 
 on." 
 
 "The war of the Lord begins!" shouted an-
 
 228 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 other, and the whole assembly broke into tumul- 
 tuous and enthusiastic acclaim. 
 
 "Wait," said Joshua, "I have something to 
 say to ye. Unless the Lord delivereth the walled 
 towns into our hands or unless we can effect their 
 capture by subtilty, we have no means of enter- 
 ing into the cities. Whenever and wherever we 
 meet the Canaanites in the open, we must utterly 
 and entirely destroy them. If they flee away to 
 their cities they can laugh us to scorn. There 
 must be no escape for them. This army led by the 
 Jebusite king must perish from off the face of 
 the earth." 
 
 "Even so," said one of the councilors. 
 
 "Thou speakest wisely," said another. 
 
 "There are but two roads to the upland, one 
 through the Valley of Achor which leads by the 
 stronghold of Jerusalem. If we should take that 
 we should have to pass by their city, under its 
 very walls. As we advanced against the army to 
 the northward, the people there would fall upon 
 us and we should be caught between the two 
 armies." 
 
 "The Lord will protect His own," said 
 Phinehas. 
 
 "Yes," continued Joshua, "but we must not 
 tempt Him nor try Him by improvidence and 
 rashness. Eemember Ai! He hath given us wit 
 and wisdom and some skill in warfare for a pur- 
 pose. It is out of the question to make our way 
 through the Valley of Achor,"
 
 THE ARMY OF THE LORD 229 
 
 "The road that leadeth by Michmash," cried 
 another. 
 
 "In that case," said Joshua, "we will fall upon 
 the Canaanites and drive them back to their own 
 cities. Even though we should defeat them, 
 nothing would be gained or decided by the battle. 
 Now, I have a better plan." 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 "Thou, Caleb, old, and faithful friend, with 
 Salmon as thy second, shalt take the thousands of 
 Judah and Benjamin and the other tribes, save 
 Asher, Ephraim, and Manasseh, with thee. Thou 
 shalt march up the familiar road past Michmash 
 and take position upon the hills between Ai and 
 Beeroth. We marked the spot when four months 
 ago we moved to Shechem for the sacrifice. Thou 
 knowest the place?" 
 
 "I know it, lord." 
 
 "Dispose thy men there overlooking the valley. 
 Expose them freely to observation, send bands 
 down toward Gibeon, let them march carelessly, 
 but be wary. The enemy, thinking that we have 
 come to relieve the town from that direction, will 
 raise the siege, and leaving the men of Gibeon 
 to be held within the walls by a small force, 
 they will march northward to fight with thee. 
 See that thou dost withdraw thy young men 
 and in every way avoid a general battle. If 
 they attack, repulse them, but make no return 
 attack or pursuit until thou nearest from me. 
 Dost understand?"
 
 230 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "I understand and will obey." 
 
 "And where wilt thou be, Joshua?" asked 
 Shemuel, the valiant leader of the Tribe of 
 Simeon. 
 
 "Patience," said Joshua, "and thou shalt hear 
 further. The men of the Tribe of Asher will take 
 the post in the Valley of Achor. Prince," he 
 continued, addressing Ahihud, the leader of that 
 tribe, "thou wilt select a spot which thou canst 
 hold against thousands and there dispose thy 
 men. It may be that the Jebusite, thinking to 
 draw us from Gilgal, will send men to attack the 
 camp. They can only come down one of these 
 roads. Caleb and his thousands will prevent that 
 to the northward and thou to the southward. 
 And some of thy people must watch the fords of 
 the river. Dost understand?" 
 
 "I understand." 
 
 "Thou mayst have no fighting, but the post of 
 honor is thine. The Ark of the Covenant, the 
 priests and the Levites, the women and children, 
 they look to thee for safety." 
 
 "While there is a man left to stand before the 
 Lord, no one shall come down the pass," said 
 Ahihud proudly. 
 
 "Good, and now for mine own part." 
 
 "Dost thou remain in the camp?" asked Phine- 
 has. 
 
 "Didst thou ever know me to fail to be fore- 
 most in the field ? ' ' asked Joshua. ' ' I and the men 
 of the half -tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the
 
 THE ARMY OF THE LORD 231 
 
 sons of Joseph, will go straight up the mountain 
 side " 
 
 ''There is no way." 
 
 "Down it to-night came a maiden, and up it 
 Salmon and Dodai " 
 
 "The exile?" 
 
 "Nay," said Joshua, "exile no more. I have 
 restored him to his family, and to his tribe, for it 
 is from him that we have the tidings from Gibeon 
 this night." 
 
 "Blessed be God and Joshua his servant," said 
 old Ahoah. 
 
 "I thank thee, my lord," cried a clear voice 
 from the outskirts of the group. 
 
 "Who giveth thanks?" asked Joshua. 
 
 "The strange maiden Arinna," answered some 
 of the women, "the daughter of the Hittite 
 Ephron." 
 
 "Come hither," cried the great captain, turning 
 in her direction, and presently the slender form 
 of a young woman was seen in the firelight by the 
 side of the towering figure of Joshua. ' ' Thou art 
 weary, maiden, thou hast done wonders for us this 
 night, yet for the sake of Jehovah I must call upon 
 thee for further sacrifice," he said kindly. 
 
 "I will lay down my life for Jehovah and my 
 lord." 
 
 "Canst thou guide us to the pass down which 
 thou earnest?" 
 
 "There is no path, but I will show thee the 
 way. ' '
 
 232 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "Well then," explained Joshua, "I and the men 
 of Ephraim and Manasseh will climb the moun- 
 tain. Our way is shorter but harder. Our 
 progress will be slower. The moon riseth yon- 
 der." He pointed to the great disk of light just 
 climbing over the mountain range. "By her light 
 we can make our way upward. Where a woman 
 hath passed the warriors of Israel may go. Un- 
 less my plans fail " 
 
 "WTiich God forbid!" cried Phinehas. 
 
 "We shall with our three thousand men make 
 our way upward through that Beth- Aram of thine, 
 maiden, and fall upon the Canaanites besieging 
 Gibeon, defeat them, drive them before us, and 
 advance up the valley to take the kings of the 
 Canaanites in the rear. When thou seest us com- 
 ing do thou lead out thy men to battle, Caleb. 
 Between the upper and nether millstones they will 
 be crushed to pieces and the survivors will flee." 
 
 "And where will they flee?" asked one. 
 
 "I shall be between them and their cities," said 
 Joshua. "I shall have cut them off from their 
 kindred and friends. Maiden, tell me again of 
 these passes that lead from Gibeon down the 
 mountains to the lowlands on the side of the set- 
 ting sun." 
 
 "My Lord, that is the way to and from the sea 
 by which caravans and traders come and go, over 
 which the armies pass." 
 
 "Called?" 
 
 There are two of them, my lord, one above the
 
 233 
 
 other. They are named the passes of Beth-Boron, 
 Upper and Lower. ' ' 
 
 "Ye hear, men?" 
 
 "We hear, lord." 
 
 "Broad, noble highways, maiden?" he asked, 
 knowing the contrary and wishing to bring it out 
 before the assemblage. 
 
 "Nay, rocky and rough, twisting and turning, 
 and only slowly and with great care to be trav- 
 ersed safely." 
 
 "They must flee that way. Do thou have thy 
 young men, strong and fleet in a compact body, 
 Caleb. Let the older men lead the battle, and 
 when I fall upon the rear of the enemy and they 
 break and flee, let the young men pursue them 
 even to the shores of the Great Sea. And, 
 maiden," he added, turning to Arinna, "our ad- 
 vance will relieve Dodai, should attack be made 
 upon thy father's house." 
 
 Joshua's plan was one of great brilliance, and 
 its simplicity did not in the least dim its quality. 
 In modern terms, he was to dispatch a heavy force 
 to the north of Gibeon and by feigned attacks he 
 was to draw the besiegers away from the town. 
 This force was to hold the Canaanites in play 
 while he, with three thousand of the best troops, 
 made a forced march, ascended an almost unscal- 
 able mountain wall, dispersed the detachment 
 which would undoubtedly be left to contain the 
 Gibeonites, relieved that city, and gathered its 
 forces with his command. By this means, he
 
 234 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 1 
 
 would cut the communications of the Canaanites, 
 he would interpose between them and their base 
 of supplies, between their cities, that is, and 
 when all was ready he would move up and attack 
 them. The men under Caleb would swoop down 
 from their upland position and join battle in 
 earnest. If the Canaanites stood they would be 
 cut to pieces, and if they fled they could only flee 
 down the terrible passes of Beth-Horon. The 
 Israelites would pursue, and the retreat would 
 become a rout. 
 
 It was simplicity itself, but only the mind of a 
 great captain and a born soldier could have 
 thought it out, and it must be remembered that in 
 Joshua's day the experience of one hundred 
 generations of scientific war with its accumulated 
 lessons in strategy and its tactics was not at his 
 disposal. Battles in those days consisted mainly 
 of the push of masses, and were without tactics 
 as campaigns were without strategy. He who 
 could push the hardest and sustain the fight the 
 longest usually won. Later, too, in history that 
 has been known to occur. 
 
 It took some time for the plan to penetrate 
 into the minds of most of the simple and un- 
 tutored warriors of the desert, but by and by they 
 began to appreciate it. Phinehas, the quickest- 
 witted of them all, was the first to comprehend. 
 
 "It is marvel ously well devised," he said, a 
 great wonder in his voice. "Thou wilt cut them 
 off from their cities if they stand, thou wilt cut
 
 THE ARMY OF THE LORD 235 
 
 them to pieces if they flee, they will perish before 
 the pursuers in the narrow passes of which the 
 maid hath spoken. Root and branch," he cried, 
 in exultation, "for the glory of Jehovah. I would 
 that I might go with thee." 
 
 "Thou shalt go with me," said Joshua, "and 
 thy brother Abishua with Caleb. Thy father, the 
 High Priest, will remain here with the Ark and 
 the Tabernacle. The wit of man deviseth, but it 
 is God that executeth. Bide thou here, Eleazar, 
 and offer sacrifice and prayer in our behalf, thou 
 and thy fellow -priests and Levites, that we may 
 succeed and that it may chance as we have planned 
 to the glory of Jehovah. Now, Princes of the 
 Hebrews, assemble your men, march to spread 
 Jehovah's wonders over the earth which is His 
 footstool from His throne on High. He who hath 
 all in the hollow of His hand. Israelites, let this 
 be thy watchword. Forward!" 
 
 Instantly the assembly broke up. Captains, 
 attended by their subordinates, ran to the en- 
 campments of the several tribes. Trumpets were 
 blown. Sharp orders of command rang through 
 the night. The moon was now well above the 
 range, the place was flooded with mellow light. 
 Joshua stood while the men of Asher marched out 
 first to the Valley of Achor. Their standard 
 bearer was in the lead, with the tribal device, the 
 woman and the olive tree, on the top of the staff 
 he carried. 
 
 "Remember," cried the great captain to Ahi-
 
 236 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 hud, "the Ark of the Covenant, the priests and 
 the Levites, the women and the children." 
 
 "We shall not forget," answered the leader, 
 and the acclaim was taken up by the men. 
 
 The lion-bearing Tribe of Judah and the fierce 
 Benjamites of the left hand with their wolf 
 standard in the lead and the other tribes, save 
 the half-tribes, of Ephraim and Manasseh, were 
 now marshaled by Caleb and Salmon and moved 
 off to the north on the well-traveled road that 
 led past Michmash, Ai, and Beeroth. Back of 
 Joshua the men of Ephraim and Manasseh, the 
 first his own tribe and the second the tribe of his 
 blood brethren, fell in position awaiting his word ; 
 Kemuel leading Ephraim, and Hanniel Manasseh, 
 with their bullock or unicorn topped standards to 
 the fore. 
 
 "I would that Dodai of Benjamin could have 
 been here," said Joshua, the sight of Arinna 
 standing ready, attended by some of the women 
 of his household, suggesting the absent soldier 
 he loved. 
 
 "My lord, he hath done his part. He hath 
 poured out his life's blood in God's cause." 
 
 1 * I know it, ' ' answered the great leader. * ' Now, 
 maiden, canst thou lead us on? Stay !" He spoke 
 to one of the attendants, who presently came for- 
 ward with one of the asses of the country. Cloths 
 were thrown upon it and by Joshua's order the 
 tired maiden was seated thereon. l ( We will spare 
 thee as much as we can," said Joshua. "When
 
 THE ARMY OF THE LORD 237 
 
 thou hast pointed out to us the way, I shall send 
 thee back to the camp." 
 
 "I thank thee," said Arinna, grateful for the 
 kindness and in no way loath to ride where before 
 she had walked and run. 
 
 She said nothing as to her plans, however. 
 
 "Eleazar," continued the great captain, "to 
 thee the camp. Cease not day or night to offer 
 intercession for thy brethren and for me." 
 
 "It shall be done," said the High Priest. 
 
 Marching out of the camp, amid the crying of 
 the children and the wailing of the women, Joshua 
 and his men advanced rapidly across the valley. 
 They did not run exactly, but their advance was 
 swift. The little dog-trot that they broke into 
 they could have kept up for hours; indeed, the 
 poor ass, accustomed to more easy rate of prog- 
 ress, was hard put to it and had to be pricked on 
 frequently by the spears of the soldiers to keep 
 up with the rest. 
 
 In less than an hour the three thousand had ar- 
 rived at the foot of the gorge. The moon in the 
 eastward sky flooded it with light, but it twisted 
 and turned as it ran upward and parts of it were 
 sunk in deep black shadow. Joshua surveyed it 
 anxiously. 
 
 "Art sure that this is the place?" 
 
 "I am sure, lord." 
 
 "There is no other way?" 
 
 "None, lord." 
 
 "It is a fearful pass," said the old man.
 
 238 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "Never have I seen the like. There was naught 
 in Rephidim. It mindeth me of Sinai itself." 
 Those around him broke into murmurs. "Si- 
 lence," he cried, "what mountain shall stop the 
 army of the Lord, what pass is there that Je- 
 hovah's soldiers cannot surmount?" He turned 
 to Arinna again, "Canst thou describe the way?" 
 
 "Lord, I shall accompany thee and point it 
 out." 
 
 "Thou, woman!" 
 
 "Even I." 
 
 "It is impossible." 
 
 "My lord, the rest, the tender treatment I 
 have had, the food and drink have all refreshed 
 me. I have come down the pass, I can go up it. I 
 know the way. I can show thee the easiest paths. 
 Nay, deny me not, my life, my love is yonder at 
 the top of the hills." 
 
 "God hath chosen thee, maiden, for this 
 work!" said Joshua. "It is evident that thou 
 drawest strength from Him, otherwise thou 
 couldst not do this thing. And who am I that I 
 should restrain thee? Lead on."
 
 XXI 
 
 THE RACE UP THE MOUNTAIN WALL 
 
 THE moon had risen about an hour before 
 midnight. It had taken that hour for the 
 army to traverse the plain, to surmount the 
 foothills, and to arrive at the mouth of the gorge. 
 Some time had been taken up in preparations for 
 the ascent, and it was perhaps close upon one 
 in the morning when the toilsome climb began, 
 Joshua himself going in the lead. By his side, 
 when the trail permitted or immediately in the 
 rear and sometimes in front to show the way, 
 Arinna climbed. By Joshua's instructions two of 
 the mightiest men of Ephraim, steady-eyed, clear- 
 headed, strong-limbed soldiers, were detailed to 
 assist the Hittite maiden. 
 
 Arinna 's spirit was great and her strength by 
 no means to be disdained, but without the as- 
 sistance of these two she was fain to confess to 
 herself that she could never have made that ter- 
 rific climb that night. Many times they fairly 
 lifted her up steep acclivities, they supported her 
 on either side whenever practicable, and toward 
 the latter part of the ascent one or the other of 
 them fairly carried the slight figure of the un- 
 utterably weary girl in his arms. She owed every- 
 
 239
 
 240 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 thing to them. On the other hand, it was difficult 
 to see how the army could have made the ascent 
 had it not been for her. By her knowledge of the 
 paths and ways, she saved them many a weary 
 climb and many a long detour. 
 
 The path, or trail, if such indeed it could be 
 called, was more often than not so narrow that 
 they were forced to go in single file, or at best 
 by twos or threes abreast. Naturally those climb- 
 ing ahead often displaced loose stones and broken 
 rocks, which rolled down the mountain side gather- 
 ing force and starting others as they fell, and 
 which had to be avoided by those following after. 
 The three thousand which had approached the 
 mountain wall in a compact body were soon strung 
 out over the long ascent. It was most unfortu- 
 nate, but it was unavoidable. Joshua had fore- 
 seen this. He deplored the necessity that would 
 be imposed upon him of waiting when he got to 
 the top of the mountain range until the rearmost 
 joined him, but there was no help for it. From 
 one viewpoint it was not so much to be regretted, 
 however, for it would give the main force under 
 Caleb and Salmon an abundance of time to make 
 those offensive demonstrations which would draw 
 the main army of Adoni-Zedec to the northward, 
 a movement upon which the success of his plan 
 depended. 
 
 Of course, if the king of Jerusalem for any 
 reason refused to be drawn away and continued 
 to press the siege of Gibeon, which was more than
 
 RACE UP THE MOUNTAIN WALL 241 
 
 unlikely, Joshua would have to change his plans 
 accordingly. In that improbable event he would 
 send messengers to Caleb to move down the 
 plateau toward the city. Whereafter Adoni- 
 Zedec could scarcely decline the offer of battle 
 and in the heat of it, Joshua and his force waiting 
 in the oasis of Beth-Aram until the opportune 
 moment, would fall upon their flank and rear and 
 thus decide the issue of the contest, although in 
 that case it appeared probable to the thoughtful 
 captain that the victory would be less complete 
 than if the operations were worked out in accord- 
 ance with his original plan. Ephron the Hittite had 
 described Beth- Aram to him, and Joshua had that 
 topographical quality of mind which can re-create 
 scenes from description. 
 
 Naturally in a climb like that undertaken by 
 the Hebrews, the stoutest gradually pressed to 
 the front while those weaker and less able to 
 sustain the awful exertion fell to the rear; but 
 try as they might, and Joshua laughingly gave 
 them free course, none could pass that ancient 
 leader. He seemed to be sustained by some super- 
 human power and strength. 
 
 As it was midsummer, the day broke early and 
 to the discomforts and the hardships of the fear- 
 ful way an intense thirst was soon added. The 
 Israelites had experienced the heat of the desert 
 and Joshua at least could recall perfectly the high 
 temperatures of the humid Egyptian delta, and 
 they had all suffered in the camp at Gilgal so far
 
 242 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILE 
 
 below the sea level in the Jordan valley, but even 
 the leader admitted that he had never experienced 
 anything so dazzling and so hot as the reflection 
 of the sun upon the white limestone rocks, 
 streaked with red which only served to accentu- 
 ate the reflection and, if anything, made the air 
 seem hotter. 
 
 The day was still, there was no breeze. Not a 
 cloud of any sort hung over the valley or on the 
 horizon to the eastward so far as they could see 
 and none was to be looked for at that dry season. 
 Nevertheless, could they but see it, a little cloud 
 not yet bigger than a man's hand was beginning 
 to appear upon that western horizon over the 
 waters of the Great Sea; but it was still hid 
 from them by the great range of desolate and arid 
 rock up which they made their toilsome ascent. 
 
 Sometimes they had to climb upon one another's 
 shoulders. Sometimes the leaders had to catch 
 a ledge of rock and draw themselves upward by 
 main force, thereafter reaching down belts and 
 twisted cloaks to assist others. The glare of the 
 sun was blinding, the heat intense, and the dry- 
 ness was almost unendurable. There was not a 
 spring, not a drop of water of any sort. They 
 had no facilities for carrying water upon their 
 persons, and if they had used leather or skin 
 bottles they would have been torn to pieces in that 
 awful climb. 
 
 They climbed sometimes on their hands and 
 knees. Wherever there was a level space the
 
 RACE UP THE MOUNTAIN WALL 24,3 
 
 loose rock broke under their rough sandals and 
 clouds of dust rose which filled nose and mouth 
 and turned the thirst into a torment. They had 
 been armed and equipped brilliantly with the 
 spoils of many campaigns, but they made a sorry 
 appearance as they toiled upward. Sometimes a 
 man would give way under the terrific strain and 
 would fling himself aside and lie panting, his face 
 covered with his hands or shaded with his shield, 
 while his comrades pressed on. 
 
 They flung rude words of encouragement to 
 such, but did not stop to succor them, for Joshua, 
 knowing the importance of haste and the necessity 
 of bringing his available force to the top as soon 
 as possible, had bade every man press on, stop- 
 ping for nothing. Those who fell were directed 
 to come after when their strength returned ; and, 
 indeed, most of them, refreshed by their brief 
 rest, would fall into the column again as it pressed 
 upward. Their hands, of course, were cut and 
 bleeding, their legs scratched and bruised. One 
 man, indeed, slipped and fell from a ledge and 
 was crushed to death in a great gulf below. They 
 marked the spot, intending to come later and give 
 him burial, but there was no halt, not even for 
 that. 
 
 The sun was some hours high when the pant- 
 ing Hebrew captain, sweat bedewing his brow 
 under his helmet and streaking down his dust- 
 covered face and into his gray beard, reached a 
 level spot of considerable extent which Arinna,
 
 244 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 with faltering breath, told him was at the foot 
 of the mountain wall that terminated just above 
 in the oasis of her father's house. 
 
 Joshua looked with pity upon the girl. Her face, 
 under its coating of dust, was deathly white, there 
 were dark circles under her eyes. Her lips were 
 pale, her breath came short. She had suffered 
 more than any of them, for between sunset and 
 sunrise she had twice made the journey! The 
 ascent from the valley to the range was thirty-five 
 hundred feet; as the crow flies it was probably 
 eighteen miles from the camp to the crest. Nat- 
 urally, she was at the very end of her resources, 
 only superhuman excitement could have sustained 
 her. The great motive, love for Dodai, devotion 
 to his cause, alone kept her up. Arriving at the 
 last level place below the last cliff, she sank down 
 on the rock and buried her face in her hands. 
 Her little body rocked to and fro. Dry sobs burst 
 from her parched throat. Her two big guardians 
 bent over her solicitously, but Joshua himself 
 laid his hand protectingly, encouragingly upon her 
 trembling shoulder. 
 
 " Maiden," began the great soldier, pausing by 
 her side, he did not know what he might find 
 on the oasis. He had heard all that had chanced 
 the evening before, and he was soldier enough 
 to believe that the Canaanites would not leave 
 the place until they had captured and plundered 
 it. He had not much confidence in the ability of 
 herdsmen, shepherds, and household servants to
 
 RACE UP THE MOUNTAIN WALL 245 
 
 hold the walls, especially if Dodai were unable to 
 direct the defense. Joshua, therefore, resolved 
 not to scale that wall and present himself to 
 possible enemies alone. He would assemble a 
 few hundreds on this open, level spot, which was 
 fortunately large enough to contain them, and 
 then he and the men would go on together. 
 
 " Maiden," he said again, "thou hast done a 
 thing inconceivable. None would have believed 
 unless, like ourselves, they saw. I know not what 
 may have happened at Beth- Aram. I will abide 
 here until enough have assembled to make it pru- 
 dent to scale the wall. Do thou remain here ; we 
 will send for thee and fetch thee when it is safe to 
 come up." 
 
 The woman shook her head. 
 
 "My lord," she panted out between her 
 parched lips, looking up at him where he towered 
 above her, "thinkest thou that I have come this 
 far to wait? These my good friends," she looked 
 toward her two stalwart guards, "will help me. 
 I must go up with thee. He I love is there. He 
 was sore-wounded and ill. I cannot stay below; 
 I should die. As it is, I begrudge every moment 
 that we wait here." 
 
 1 ' I understand, ' ' said the great Hebrew. ' ' Have 
 thy way." 
 
 "Let us go on, then." 
 
 "Nay, be governed by me in this, my child; 
 we must wait until the men have assembled and 
 the rest will do thee good."
 
 246 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 While they were speaking a constant line of 
 soldiers had been arriving. The newcomers 
 saluted Joshua and flung themselves down on the 
 hard rock to get what rest they could. They 
 were in pitiable case. No man knew how he had 
 succeeded in scaling the mountain. As he looked 
 back at the long line of toilers, it seemed impos- 
 sible that it could have been done and done by 
 desert born and bred people in the night and in 
 so short a time. 
 
 Old Joshua, standing there, leaning upon his 
 spear, disdaining to lie down, had more to do with 
 it than he dreamed perhaps. The sight of that 
 man, eighty years old, marching with the stoutest 
 of the youths, amazed his men. It was visible 
 evidence that God protected him and sustained 
 him. Every time they flung their glances upward 
 they saw that splendid figure climbing with the 
 agility of a mountain goat, and they took new 
 courage and put themselves anew to their task. 
 After a short wait several hundred men were 
 assembled on the little shelf of the mountain.
 
 xxn 
 
 THE LEFT HAND OF DODAI 
 
 DODAI realized that the affair which he had 
 just come through by the skin of his teeth, 
 as it were, was not yet completed. Pride, 
 love, hate would all urge Arami to a prompt 
 return with a sufficient force to seize Beth- Aram 
 and its people, to capture him and after torturing 
 him offer him as a human sacrifice to Baal; cer- 
 tainly to kill him if the first design could not be 
 affected ; and, most desired of all, to seize Arinna. 
 
 Dodai did not believe that the oasis would be 
 subjected to a night attack. It would not be a 
 place easy to take in any event and it would re- 
 quire some time for Arami to rejoin the king at 
 Gibeon, to muster a suitable force and return, 
 especially as Arami, too, had been wounded by 
 Arinna 's arrow in the encounter. He counted 
 confidently that he would have an undisturbed 
 night, nevertheless he neglected no precautions. 
 
 In the absence of Ephron and Arinna no one at 
 Beth- Aram had the least hesitation in recogniz- 
 ing him as master. Indeed, the relation between 
 him and the daughter of the house had become 
 known, consequently they obeyed his orders with- 
 out question. Old Nadab, Ephron *s right-hand 
 
 247
 
 248 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 man, had seen some war service and a few of 
 the older men were veterans, but most of the 
 people, counting boys able to bear arms and older 
 men who could contribute something to the de- 
 fense amounting to about one hundred and fifty, 
 were shepherds, cattle tenders, gardeners, and 
 house servants. There were perhaps two hundred 
 and fifty women and children and old depend- 
 ents in addition to these. 
 
 The oasis of Beth-Aram lay in a cup in the 
 hills. There was but one narrow way into it from 
 the upland, and that was protected by the wall. 
 An enemy might gain the precipices on either 
 side, but save for the casting of stones which could 
 be easily avoided they could affect little from 
 there. The wall was a fairly good one, although 
 it had been allowed to fall into some neglect 
 which it was too late now to repair. The gates 
 were its most vulnerable part, and while they 
 could probably strengthen them, yet in their 
 dilapidated condition they were a continual source 
 of weakness. These gates were double, which 
 made them less easy to secure and defend. 
 
 After Arinna's departure Dodai summoned 
 Nadab to the couch on which he reclined and gave 
 him charge of the wall. He directed him to pile 
 wood smeared with pitch a bowshot beyond the 
 wall, to station there men on whom he could de- 
 pend to keep a close watch in every direction. 
 If the enemy appeared during the night fires were 
 to be kindled and the outposts were to withdraw to
 
 THE LEFT HAND OF DODAI 249 
 
 the wall, which was to be manned by the best men 
 available. 
 
 If an immediate attack followed the firelight 
 would disclose the attackers, while the defenders 
 would have the advantage of the shadow. The 
 men on the wall were to be allowed to sleep in 
 relays, but a sufficient number were to be awake 
 and alert all the time. Meanwhile the best car- 
 penters in the oasis were to work at strengthening 
 the gate. 
 
 In the north face of the cliff bounding the oasis 
 was a large natural cave which had been hollowed 
 out and extended by successive generations until 
 on one side of the original entrance, which had 
 been turned into a doorway by massive masonry, 
 a large storehouse with many chambers had been 
 excavated around the original recess. On the 
 other side of this door were the rock tombs of 
 many generations of Ephron's ancestors. The 
 women and children were removed to the store- 
 houses. 
 
 All the arms and armor in the oasis were 
 brought out and put in service. It was a motley 
 collection and unfortunately insufficient in quan- 
 tity. There were not enough bows and a painful 
 lack of arrows. They could have used twice as 
 many swords and spears and shields. Even by 
 supplementing the regular weapons with farm 
 tools and staves the defenders were scarcely half- 
 armed. There had been no real war in the land 
 for generations, at least not that had touched
 
 250 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 Ephron, and the arms at hand were only sufficient 
 for the repulse of some roving band of thieves, 
 not for a pitched battle. 
 
 Dodai gave all his directions without leaving 
 the couch. He was able to get up, but he realized 
 that much, indeed everything, depended upon him, 
 and he must get himself in as good a trim for 
 what the morrow might demand as was possible. 
 Old Hani's medicaments were wonderfully effi- 
 cacious and her treatment stimulated and re- 
 freshed him greatly. When he had given his 
 orders he partook sparingly of food and drink. 
 Then he had himself anointed with oil and well 
 rubbed by the slaves, after which he resolutely 
 composed himself to sleep. It was no easy task. 
 His head still rang from the smashing blow upon 
 the Egyptian helmet painted blue which the smith 
 of the oasis had hammered back into shape. He 
 had lost much blood. He had been badly bat- 
 tered and bruised and his wounds, though fortu- 
 nately superficial, still ached. He was still bruised 
 and sore, but he was as tough as a young tere- 
 binth and his clean life and healthy body made 
 him think little of these things. 
 
 It was Arinna, her desperate errand, her peril, 
 that tended to drive sleep from his eyes. It 
 shows the character of the man that, realizing 
 that he could best serve her and her interest by 
 putting himself in the best possible trim, he 
 actually dispossessed her image and finally did 
 fall asleep.
 
 THE LEFT HAND OF DODAI 251 
 
 The night passed uneventfully as he had con- 
 fidently expected, and he was not disturbed until 
 he awakened of his own accord. He got slowly to 
 his feet and found himself somewhat shaky and 
 sore, but in much better condition than he had 
 anticipated. After a bath and a further rubbing 
 he felt still better. In fact, he felt so well that 
 a wave of shame rushed over him that he had not 
 insisted on going down the mountain himself 
 the night before. Yet he drew some comfort as 
 he reflected that if an attack were to be made upon 
 the oasis it was much better that he should be 
 there and Arinna away. 
 
 An inspection which he made presently of the 
 camp at Gilgal from the brow of the hill con- 
 vinced him that Joshua had moved. He noted 
 the absence of men in armor. Of course the 
 several bodies of soldiers had long since reached 
 their appointed stations and were not visible from 
 the oasis, and the bend of the gorge up which 
 Joshua and his detachment were climbing con- 
 cealed them from any observer at Beth-Aram 
 until they were almost upon it. As he turned to 
 walk back to the house one sent by Nadab came 
 toward him on the run. 
 
 "The enemy are approaching!" he cried. The 
 steward would have thee at the gate." 
 
 Dodai stopped at the house only long enough to 
 don his armor. Rejoicing once more in the weight 
 of the Egyptian helmet painted blue which, save 
 that its color had been knocked off, there had
 
 252 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 been no time to repaint it, looked much as it had 
 before, with bow and shield, spear and sword and 
 dagger of copper he hurried to the wall. Al- 
 though there was no necessity for it the men 
 stationed at the huge piles of wood smeared with 
 pitch had set fire to them and the smoke blew in 
 the direction of the approaching soldiers. As it 
 happened it checked their advance somewhat and 
 caused them to divide in parties to pass through 
 gaps in the piles, and as it turned out diminished 
 the full force of their first assault. 
 
 Dodai, whose eye was experienced, estimated 
 them at perhaps five hundred fully armed and 
 well-equipped veteran soldiers. The odds against 
 him were terrible. He did not see any enginery 
 for battering down a wall, however, and he hoped 
 to make good his defense at least until the arrival 
 of that succor for which he had directed Arinna 
 to ask, and which he felt confident would reach 
 him from the Hebrews some time that day. 
 
 The Canaanites came on gallantly. Arami was 
 evidently a good soldier. Bodies of bowmen on 
 either flank sent a cross fire of arrows over the 
 heads of the assailants, who, under that cover, 
 dashed up to the very foot of the wall. These 
 arrows exacted fearful toll from the defenders, 
 ill-armored and unaccustomed to using the shield 
 to protect themselves. The few bowmen on the 
 wall sent shot after shot into the assaulting 
 columns. Dodai himself, finding his strength com- 
 ing back to him with increased vigor with every
 
 THE LEFT HAND OF DODAI 253 
 
 moment, did great execution with that heavy 
 Hivite bow. 
 
 The assailants were bewildered by the smoke 
 of the pitch fires and lost coherence in darting 
 through the interspaces and leaping over the 
 lower flames, so that the mass effect of the at- 
 tack was more or less lost, but some of the bravest 
 managed to reach the gate. They thundered upon 
 it with heavy axes they carried. It shook and 
 quivered beneath their blows. It could not stand 
 such battering long. It would not have stood it 
 at all had it not been reinforced during the night. 
 
 But the men of Ephron, exposing themselves 
 with the utmost recklessness, hurled huge stones 
 and rained boiling pitch which had been pre- 
 pared down upon the Canaanites until they finally 
 gave way. and fled, leaving a trail of dead and 
 wounded behind them. They were not beaten by 
 any means, for they stopped and re-formed out 
 of bowshot preparatory to another advance. Now, 
 the wall was thick at the base and the gate had 
 been badly placed. It was flush with the inner 
 side of the wall instead of paralleling the outer 
 face, and perhaps a dozen of the stoutest Canaan- 
 ites, sheltered by the thickness of the wall from 
 any attack above, were still hammering at the 
 quivering gate. 
 
 Dodai, selecting a score of the best-armed and 
 stoutest fighters, descended from the wall and 
 suddenly opened the gates. The men underneath 
 the entrance arch, taken by surprise, were cut
 
 254 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL' 
 
 down to a man. When the defenders sought to 
 close the gates again they discovered that they 
 had been so badly battered that they could 
 scarcely sustain another attack, and indeed 
 Arami, who had watched nearly everything that 
 happened and had seen the gates opened, now 
 ordered another assault. 
 
 Before Dodai and his chosen had all regained 
 the summit of the wall the Canaanites were upon 
 them. Indeed, the top of the wall was swept with 
 arrows. The Canaanitish bowmen had got the 
 range perfectly. No man could live upon it, and 
 Dodai summoned all to the open place back of 
 the gate. The wall was too high to be surmounted 
 unless the Canaanites had scaling ladders, and it 
 was certain death to expose his men behind the 
 wretched shelter of its broken and ruined para- 
 pets. He drew them up in ordered ranks, there- 
 fore, and waited. 
 
 Climbing over the dead bodies that encumbered 
 the gateway the soldiers flung themselves at it. 
 Such was the force with which they beat upon it 
 that it gave way on the instant. They burst into 
 the inclosure, only to meet leveled spears and 
 upraised axes. Not many could come in at a 
 time. The first rank was cut down to a man, but 
 such was the force of their drive and so great 
 were their numbers that they gradually filled the 
 space. Arrows shot into the air by the bowman 
 outside and heavy stones from the slingers fell 
 upon the rear ranks of the defenders, now en-
 
 THE LEFT HAND OF DODAI 255 
 
 gaged in a fierce melee in the narrow pass back 
 of the wall. 
 
 Dodai, who had forgot apparently that he had 
 ever been wounded, raged back and forth like 
 the young lion that he was, here, there, and 
 everywhere, interposing his shield to protect one 
 man, beating down the assailant of another, 
 thrusting his sword into the breast of a third. 
 For a time the wild advance was checked and the 
 enemy were held, but as the defenders of the oasis 
 were forced back more and more men poured 
 through the opening. They were hopelessly over- 
 matched, and Dodai in despair realized they were 
 beaten. His spear head had been cut off by the 
 blow of an axe, his sword had been broken against 
 an opposing shield. His own shield had been cut 
 in two and was useless. 
 
 The road narrowed back of the wall and the 
 defenders had been driven to the narrowest part. 
 Dodai suddenly stooped and picked up a huge 
 stone which he could scarcely have moved with- 
 out the tremendous stimulus of the conflict. Reck- 
 lessly exposing himself, he lifted it high in the 
 air and hurled it full in the face of the crowd of 
 soldiers. At the same instant Nadab threw his 
 last spear, and those of his men who had any 
 missiles left followed his example. For a few 
 moments the Canaanites gave back and Dodai, call- 
 ing upon all men to follow him, turned and ran. 
 Those who could do so tore after him. Those who 
 were wounded and could not make their escape
 
 256 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 were cut down ruthlessly by the soldiers, who 
 recovered from the slight check almost in an 
 instant. 
 
 Dodai and those with him knew the shortest 
 way, among the groves and the buildings, and they 
 gained the little rise in front of the storehouse' 
 caves, where the women and children were, some 
 time in advance of their pursuers, most of whom, 
 by Arami's direction, scattered in various ways 
 to plunder the house and other buildings which 
 lay between, while other detachments assembled 
 the sheep and oxen. Dodai was shieldless and 
 weaponless save for his copper dagger, but one of 
 the men gave him a heavy axe and from another 
 who sank down overcome by wounds and loss of 
 blood he snatched a shield. 
 
 There were perhaps fifteen men and boys with 
 the young Benjamite, a forlorn hope to hold the 
 storehouse. If they had gone within and closed 
 the door it would have been battered down in a 
 moment. They elected to stand in the opening 
 and die fighting. Arami led a picked detach- 
 ment of perhaps threescore men against them. 
 
 The sun was now some hours high. Dodai cast 
 a glance upward, another glance toward the brink 
 of the oasis that overlooked the valley, breathed 
 a short prayer to Jehovah, gave a quick thought 
 to Arinna, and the enemy was upon him. There 
 was another brief, fierce fight. The defenders 
 gave more than they got, but were gradually 
 picked off one by one. They were driven back-
 
 THE LEFT HAND OF DODAI 257 
 
 ward up the slope until finally there was left but 
 Dodai hard pressed against the wall. 
 
 Some of his wounds of the night before had 
 opened. He had not come through the present 
 conflict scatheless. He was gashed and cut and 
 torn and bleeding in a dozen places. Only the 
 quality of his armor and that Egyptian helmet 
 painted blue kept death from him a dozen times, 
 but he had not yet been hit in any vital part and 
 while the frenzy of battle was upon him the loss 
 of blood had not yet drained away his nervous 
 vitality. He had earned a certain amount of 
 respect from those fierce implacable warriors by 
 the splendor of his advance, the glory of his fight- 
 ing, the magnificence of his courage. The de- 
 fenders had made the assailants pay a heavy toll. 
 They had lost as many as they had killed and 
 more. 
 
 There was nothing now to be feared from this 
 solitary Hebrew in battered armor with a lion's 
 skin at his back, blood streaming down his naked 
 arms and legs, while his eyes blazed out of his 
 white face beneath that Egyptian helmet painted 
 blue, and so they paused. For one thing, the 
 place where he stood was difficult to come at. Not 
 more than one man at a time could safely attack 
 him, for he had taken a position between the 
 huge rocks built out from the narrow door which 
 in a measure covered him on either side. Who- 
 ever engaged him was apt to be killed. They 
 could, of course, shoot him from a safe distance
 
 258 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 with arrows or launch spears against him, in 
 which event he would be as helpless as a trussed 
 fowl; nor was it in accordance with the ideas of 
 the age to give quarter. Wars were wars to 
 kill. Yet they neither advanced upon him nor 
 let fly spear or arrow ! 
 
 For one reason the loud voice of their com- 
 mander bade them stay. Arami himself had borne 
 no part in the fray, contenting himself with direc- 
 tion, but now was his opportunity. Forcing him- 
 self through the crowd of men he stopped in 
 front of Dodai. 
 
 "Thou art that slave called Dodai," he cried. 
 1 l Thou didst steal my woman and brave me in the 
 Council at Gibeon." 
 
 "I am Dodai of the Tribe of Benjamin of the 
 people of Jehovah," was the proud answer. 
 
 "Yield thee, thou hast made a good fight. Thy 
 slavery with me shall be lighter than in Egypt." 
 
 "Yield to thee, dog!" exclaimed Dodai, throw- 
 ing back his head and laughing scornfully. 
 
 Arami flushed with rage. 
 
 "Let none interpose between us," he cried, 
 whipping out his sword and advancing. "He 
 shall be offered to Baal when I have taken him." 
 
 "Idolatrous blasphemer," answered Dodai. 
 "Jehovah hath delivered thee into my hands." 
 
 It was evidently to be a fair fight between the 
 two, if any battle could be called fair between a 
 wounded, exhausted, almost broken man and one 
 entirely fresh, save for a slight weakness of the
 
 THE LEFT HAND OF DODAI 259 
 
 left arm which was trifling, and who had taken no 
 part in the hard fighting. 
 
 As the Canaanites in obedience to Arami's 
 orders drew back Dodai fiercely forced the fight- 
 ing. He leaped down the acclivity and upraising 
 the heavy woodman's axe brought it crashing 
 down upon the shield which Arami had barely 
 time to interpose. The Prince of Jerusalem did 
 not dream that there was so much strength left 
 in the Hebrew, and he reeled and staggered back 
 from the unexpected stroke, which beat down his 
 weakened shield arm and split the heavy shield as 
 he gave way before his furious enemy. 
 
 The downward sweep of the great axe and the 
 tremendous force he had put in the blow prevented 
 Dodai from recovering himself as quickly as he 
 had hoped. His foot turned a little under a loose 
 stone and he plunged forward, following his 
 stroke almost on top of the staggering Jebusite. 
 Arami was quick to see his advantage and seize 
 it. He recovered himself sooner than the other. 
 With a movement of his hand he threw the piece 
 of shield that still remained on his arm in the face 
 of the Hebrew, then shortening his sword he 
 drove home a mighty thrust straight at his 
 enemy's heart. Dodai had just time to drop his 
 shield to cover his breast when the sword of the 
 Canaanite cut through it as if it had been a piece 
 of parchment, inflicting a severe wound. The 
 pain, the shock, and the fall bad caused Dodai 
 f 9 lose hi grip on Ju
 
 260 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 Honors were easy so far. The two men were 
 face to face, almost breast to breast, struggling 
 desperately for the next adventure. Arami strove 
 to withdraw his sword, but it was too deeply 
 bedded in the shield. Dodai flung away that shield 
 and sought to catch Arami in his arms, intend- 
 ing in his mad passion to choke him to death or to 
 crush him against his broad chest, but again the 
 Canaanite was too quick for him. 
 
 Amid the shouts and cries of his men and the 
 wails of the women in the storehouse, who from 
 openings in the rock wall could see what was 
 toward, Arami leaped aside. He picked up an axe 
 that had fallen from Dodai 's hand and before the 
 other, who was now without any weapons at all 
 and had no shield, could avoid it he struck him 
 again a terrible blow upon the head, crashing in 
 that Egyptian helmet painted blue. Dodai, whiter 
 than death itself, reeled from the stroke. Arami 
 shouted his battle cry and once again lifted the 
 terrible axe. No longer now would that helmet 
 which had gone hurtling down upon the rocks 
 afford protection. The next blow would end it. 
 In his battle rage he forgot his purpose to take 
 the man alive as he heaved up the great weapon, 
 but Dodai was not yet spent. 
 
 "For Jehovah," he cried hoarsely, "and 
 Arinna." 
 
 As the axe was raised he leaped forward, all 
 his strength in the endeavor. His right hand was 
 outstretched to seize Arami. He got inside the
 
 THE LEFT HAND OF DODAI 261 
 
 blow, for it fell on empty air as the two bodies 
 crashed together. Dropping the axe, no weapon 
 for close quarters, Arami caught the Hebrew's 
 right hand with his own. He had no fear in a 
 trial of bodily strength with this spent and bleed- 
 ing youth. He was not aware of the deadly and 
 fatal facility of the Benjamites with the left hand, 
 for as the two struggled together, Dodai's right 
 hand held inexorably in the air, his left hand 
 seized the copper dagger; and, although Arami 's 
 observant men shouted words of warning, the 
 Hebrew drove it through a joint of the Jebusite's 
 armor and buried it to its hilt in his enemy's 
 heart. 
 
 Thus Dodai conquered Arami! Thus was Je- 
 hovah victorious over Baal!
 
 XXIII 
 THE LAST DEFENDER 
 
 "^C ITU have done well," said Joshua, his voice 
 \ sounding harsh and strained coming out 
 from his dry throat. "Above us, at the 
 summit of yonder cliff lieth the oasis of Beth- 
 Aram. The enemy may be there in force." His 
 keen eyes swept the cliff. "There be two ways, 
 nay three, by which we may surmount this last 
 barrier, upon the right, upon the left and" his 
 hand pointed straight upward, "here. A hardy 
 man may climb the cliff through this rift. Thou, 
 Kemuel, and thou, Hanniel, will lead on either 
 side. When we reach the open the men of Manas- 
 seh on the left are to run swiftly across the oasis 
 to the pass that openeth on the plateau. They 
 are to seize the wall that is there. If the enemy 
 are within, they are to keep them from escaping, 
 and if they are without, they are to give no sign 
 of their presence yet. In any event no man is to 
 get away. I want no message of our arrival car- 
 ried to the Canaanites. Do ye understand, 
 Princes of Ephraim and Manasseh!" 
 
 "We understand, lord." 
 
 "Forward then, and thou, maiden " 
 
 "I shall follow thee." 
 
 262
 
 THE LAST DEFENDER 263 
 
 Joshua turned to one of the under officers. 
 
 "Bide thou here, Sethur," he said, "and as the 
 others come, hasten them to the oasis and when 
 all have appeared follow. There is water there?" 
 he asked of the maiden. 
 
 "Plenty," said Arinna. 
 
 "And food?" 
 
 "That, too, and freely thine." 
 
 "There will be a brief rest in the oasis then, and 
 we will break our fast and drink before adventur- 
 ing further on the march to battle. Now!" 
 
 The old man sprang at the cliff with the agility 
 of a chamois and Arinna, summoning all her 
 strength for the last effort, followed him, the two 
 men, into whose charge she had been committed, 
 one before, one after, lifting and pushing the girl 
 up. Instantly, the wall of the cliff on either side 
 was black with crawling soldiers. The last few 
 moments of the climb were the hardest, for they 
 were very weary indeed and the mountain face 
 rose almost sheer. There was, of course, a race 
 between them all, but none passed Joshua. 
 Presently, his hand went over the edge of the cliff 
 at the top, he drew himself up and disappeared. 
 The toilsome ascent was over for him at least. 
 The next second the heads of the leaders of the 
 two columns were visible, and in another moment 
 they stood beside Joshua. After them the man 
 came crowding. Arinna was scarcely an appre- 
 ciable time behind the leaders. 
 
 When she had left it the evening before the
 
 264 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 oasis of Beth-Aram had been a place of smiling 
 plenty and restful peace. Now it was a scene of 
 ruin and desolation. The oxen, the cattle, the 
 sheep had been driven away, although not until 
 many of them had been slain by the wanton 
 Canaanitish soldiers who had forced the wall and 
 seized the place. Flames and smoke lowered over 
 the house at the farther end. Growing plants had 
 been uprooted, the gardens were destroyed, the 
 corn had been trampled to the ground, and many 
 dead bodies of the poor defenders lay here and 
 there on the sward. 
 
 A low cry of anguish broke from the lips of the 
 woman. It was quite unheeded by the Hebrews 
 in their excitement, for off to the right that is, 
 to the northward a large body of Canaanite 
 soldiers were gathered in a confused mob upon 
 the slope, shouting and yelling madly, apparently 
 striving to get at someone who had his back to the 
 mountain wall before the door. 
 
 "There are the caves where my fathers are 
 buried, where the stores are kept," whispered 
 poor little Arinna. "Dodai!" she gasped, "he 
 must be there." 
 
 "Forward, but in silence," said Joshua in a 
 low voice to the men, whose number was increas- 
 ing with every second. 
 
 Dividing into two parties as they had been com- 
 manded, one group ran straight across the oasis 
 toward the gate as Joshua had directed them. It 
 was evident that the Canaanites had overcome
 
 THE LAST DEFENDER 265 
 
 the defenders and had seized the place. They had 
 assembled the cattle and sheep that had not been 
 killed, preparatory to driving them off, while the 
 detachment at the cave entrance completed the 
 destruction of the defenders and the seizure of 
 the women and children the men of the oasis had 
 died to protect. 
 
 Without a sound, in order to make the sur- 
 prise the more complete and the destruction the 
 more certain, Joshua, pointing with his spear, led 
 the other moiety of his force toward the mob on 
 the run. At the sight of the hated and despised 
 enemy the Hebrews forgot their wounds, their 
 bruises, their bleeding hands and arms and 
 legs, their burning thirst, their beating hearts, 
 their awful fatigue; and like hounds unleashed 
 they flung themselves upon the Canaanites. The 
 first notice of their arrival was given by spear 
 thrusts and blows of the sword upon their backs. 
 The astonished Canaanites, already disheartened 
 by the death of their leader, turned to find them- 
 selves surrounded by glistening steel. In their 
 amazement, as they stared into the furious faces, 
 dust covered and sweat streaked, of the Hebrews 
 now roaring with battle madness they thought 
 some demons had dropped from the sky or burst 
 from the earth to attack them. Victory was turned 
 to defeat, to disaster, in a moment. 
 
 A few made resistance, but the hearts of most 
 of them fell and they broke and sought to flee, 
 their blood turning to water in their veins. The
 
 266 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 fierce Hebrews made short work of them. They 
 were cut down to a man, and the thrusts which 
 were delivered them were not gentle or merciful 
 but murderous. Shouts and cries rose as the fugi- 
 tives met the detachment which had seized the 
 gate and then all was silence. In less time than it 
 takes to tell there was not a living Canaanite in 
 the oasis. 
 
 As the Canaanites at the base of the hill were 
 cut down, the Israelites caught sight of a great 
 and gory figure leaning against the wall. At his 
 feet lay an Egyptian helmet painted blue, ham- 
 mered into a shapeless mass by mighty blows, 
 its silver serpent head shorn from it by some 
 sweeping sword cut. Sweat matted the dark curls 
 upon the man's forehead. Blood from a wound in 
 his head trickled down his face. His iron-covered 
 leather tunic was hacked and gashed, blood 
 gushed from many wounds in his breast and arms 
 and legs. A broken shield, shivered by a terrific 
 blow, lay before him. In his hand he held a bat- 
 tered axe, which he had seized again after 
 his mighty battle, with which he had beaten down 
 enemies as a man beats heads of wheat with a 
 flail. His face where it was not streaked with 
 blood and dust was as white as death. He swayed 
 backward and forward, his head dragging down- 
 ward. He strove to speak, but in vain. His eyes 
 took in Joshua and the men of Israel, but there 
 was no recognition in them. He was utterly 
 spent. Only by a titanic effort did he keep his
 
 THE LAST DEFENDER 267 
 
 feet ; by a sort of instinct, as it were. But for the 
 support of the wall he had fallen. 
 
 Foremost among the dead at his feet, by which 
 he was ringed about, lay the body of a great and 
 splendid warrior. Although none knew him there, 
 it was all that was left of Arami, Prince in 
 Jerusalem, beloved of his king, who had been his 
 mouthpiece in the negotiations, who had loved 
 Arinna, who had sworn to kill Dodai, to possess 
 the maiden who had rejected his suit because she 
 loved the Hebrew. Nay more, whose desires and 
 intentions had been larger, who had hoped to play 
 a great part in driving these Hebrew slaves back 
 into the desert whence they had come, who had 
 purposed to show his little world that Jehovah 
 was as naught before Baal and Ishtar whom he 
 worshiped in the high places of his land. And 
 this was the end of all his high ambitions, to lie 
 dead at the feet of his enemy with the copper 
 dagger of the fierce Benjamite of the left hand 
 buried to its hilt in his proud heart. 
 
 Back of Dodai opened the narrow entrance of 
 a cave and from within came the shrill cries of 
 children and the high-pitched, mournful wailing 
 of the bereft and frightened women. In front of 
 the cave mouth on either side of the Benjamite 
 half a dozen men belonging to the household of 
 Ephron the Hittite lay dead. They, too, had 
 fought bravely and well in defense of their women 
 and children and the ashes of their fathers, and 
 had sold their lives dearly. Joshua stared at the
 
 268 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 1 
 
 only living figure for a moment, failing at first to 
 recognize the man before him. A woman's scream 
 rent the air, a woman leaped up the slope and fell 
 senseless at the feet of the man whose feet she 
 touched with her outstretched hand. 
 
 "Dodai!" she cried, "Dodai!" with her last 
 voice before she lost consciousness. 
 
 "It is even so," said Joshua, marveling greatly. 
 
 Handing his bloody sword to a soldier the old 
 captain stepped up the slope in time to receive the 
 young man in his arms. 
 
 "I have fought a good fight," whispered Dodai 
 with a terrible effort to speak, "for Jehovah and 
 for the people of Arinna." 
 
 "Thou hast thy reward!" cried Joshua in a 
 great voice, striving to make certain the fainting 
 man heard and all the world as well. "Hear, 
 ye men of Israel, Dodai the son of Ahoah is re- 
 ceived back into his family, into his tribe, into 
 his nation. His failings are forgot, his sins are 
 forgiven. Before all of you I declare it." 
 
 "Long life to Dodai!" cried one old captain. 
 
 "We are glad to have thee back," cried another. 
 
 The whole multitude broke into acclaim, but 
 Dodai, having fallen senseless, heard no word of 
 his pardon from the lips of the leader. He hung 
 a dead weight in Joshua's arms. The great cap- 
 tain eased him down to the ground and laid him 
 beside the woman who loved him. They had both 
 done well, for it was the last effort of Dodai which 
 had saved the sepulchre of the house of Ephron
 
 THE LAST DEFENDER 269 
 
 from desecration, and he with the other brave men 
 had at least preserved the women from outrage 
 and the children from slavery. 
 
 By Joshua's orders the women were called 
 forth, and to them the young couple were com- 
 mitted. There were men skilled in the rude medi- 
 cine and the surgery of the day among the He- 
 brews, and Hani and her women were not without 
 that knowledge. Not all the defenders had been 
 slain, and a number of them so severely wounded 
 as to have seemed dead were eventually brought 
 back to life, health, freedom, and the just reward 
 for their valor and devotion, by loving care and 
 skillful tendance. Fortunately none of Dodai's 
 wounds was mortal. He was fearfully weak, un- 
 conscious for a time, and then delirious, but with 
 rest and care and nourishment there was no 
 reason why he should not recover ; and the experi- 
 enced men and the old women said so. Indeed, 
 poor little Arinna was in worse case than her 
 lover, but she, too, would suffer no permanent 
 disability. 
 
 By Joshua's orders, a party of the Hebrews 
 put out the fires which fortunately had not had 
 time to burn up more than the outbuildings. The 
 main portion of the house still stood intact. Bid- 
 ding the wretched women who had lost husbands, 
 fathers, lovers, and sons all who could be spared 
 from the care of Arinna and Dodai, that is to 
 bring food, Joshua with his men prepared to break 
 their fast and take a brief rest. The wanton
 
 270 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 Canaanites had choked up the spring and pool, 
 but the Hebrews soon cleared it and kneeling 
 down beside it in succession, they drank their fill. 
 With the waste water they washed their faces 
 free of the dust. Fires were soon blazing in the 
 open and the slaughtered sheep and oxen, dismem- 
 bered and cut up, were soon broiling or roasting 
 on every hand. 
 
 It was perhaps an hour and a half later, or it 
 may have been about ten o'clock in the morning, 
 when the whole force was up the mountain. The 
 very weakest stragglers had come last and had 
 enjoyed little opportunity for refreshment. Leav- 
 ing these men to guard the oasis and gather up 
 the stragglers, and bidding them hold themselves 
 ready for a command from him, Joshua directed 
 the main force to be marched out of the gate into 
 the pass and assembled in the open. Six miles 
 away lay the city of Gibeon. It would be nearly 
 noon before they could reach it going at their best 
 speed over such a country. This would leave 
 them a short time indeed for what they had to do, 
 but when Joshua thought of what his men had 
 already accomplished he had not the heart to re- 
 proach them for delay. 
 
 Weary still, but in better spirits, they prepared 
 to set out for their hot and dusty tramp for the 
 city. Long before this time, if his calculations were 
 correct, Caleb and Salmon must have drawn the 
 main force away from the town. There was no 
 opportunity for scouting, but Joshua joining t^ m
 
 THE LAST DEFENDER 271 
 
 presently had implicit confidence that his arrange- 
 ments would be carried out and that he had fore- 
 cast events accurately. Therefore, without hesi- 
 tation, he gave the order to advance, himself once 
 more taking the lead. 
 
 Before he left he visited the rooms in which 
 Dodai and Arinna lay, in order to satisfy him- 
 self as to their condition and prospects. He 
 knelt down with the priest, the fiery Phinehas, 
 who had accompanied his detachment and humbly 
 supplicated Jehovah for the lives of these gallant 
 and devoted young people. And since Dodai had 
 not heard Joshua's reinstatement of him, he 
 straitly charged all in the oasis not to tell him 
 anything as to that, on pain of his dire dis- 
 pleasure. He wished to have the pleasure of 
 notifying the youth himself. Meanwhile he sent 
 word to the camp giving Ahoah and Meriam per- 
 mission to join their son at Beth-Aram so soon 
 as it was safe to do so.
 
 XXIV 
 THE COMMAND TO THE SUN 
 
 A> no man in that detachment of the Hebrew 
 host had ever set foot upon that section of 
 the upland before, save for the general 
 direction in which Gibeon lay, no one knew the 
 quickest, the easiest, and the most practicable 
 approach to the town. The plateau was very 
 broken, both in a small way and in a large way. 
 The ground was covered with rocky formations 
 and from it rose numerous hills which cut off the 
 view in every direction. 
 
 Some little delay was necessary in order to find 
 the best way to march. Joshua wished that some 
 of those in Beth- Aram had survived to direct him, 
 but failing that he halted his men and he himself 
 with his two subordinate captains climbed to the 
 high hill overlooking the oasis, whence the whole 
 extent of country from Jerusalem to Gibeon and 
 far beyond was revealed to him. With his fine 
 topographical instinct he soon selected his way 
 and rapidly descended to his little army, which 
 at once sprang to attention and stood to their 
 arms as he approached. 
 
 The soldiers had been measurably refreshed by 
 their brief halt and the meal of which they had 
 
 272
 
 THE COMMAND TO THE SUN 273 
 
 partaken. In their consuming thirst they had 
 drunk in such great quantities they had almost 
 dried up the spring and pool. As Joshua passed 
 down to the front rank, many soldiers with the 
 freedom that prevailed among them greeted him 
 with words evidencing their affection and their 
 admiration. Even the dullest among them had 
 now divined the plan of their great captain; the 
 simplicity, yet brilliance of his strategical con- 
 ception and his tactical move was apparent. 
 They saw the reason for that forced march, and 
 they were glad that they had made it. They were 
 eager for the real fray, for which this skirmish 
 at Beth-Aram had but whetted their appetites. 
 They lifted their spears and shook them and 
 roared to be led on. 
 
 Once more, therefore, smiling with fierce pleas- 
 ure, Joshua placed himself at the head of his 
 men. The long lines broke into irregular columns 
 and set forth at a smart pace, like the trotting of 
 a dog. Joshua, like other great captains, had a 
 topographical eye and as if by instinct he led them 
 over the plain, across the hills, through the val- 
 leys in almost a straight line. 
 
 It was burning hot, the heat of late July, mid- 
 summer and verging upon midday. True, it was 
 hotter in the Jordan valley than on the high 
 plateau. Generally a breeze blew morning and 
 evening over the upland. But the men had been 
 accustomed to pass the midday hours in the valley 
 in the shelter of the camp. Now, after an all-night
 
 274 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 1 
 
 march of the most toilsome and terrible character, 
 they were actually running at eleven o 'clock in the 
 morning under the fiercest blaze of the hottest 
 sunlight on earth ; for as the time sped away, the 
 indefatigable captain on foot, and dressed like 
 the rest of his men with little to distinguish him 
 save the richness of his armor, increased the pace. 
 The young men marveled to see such spirit and 
 endurance in so old a man, for whoever faltered 
 in that race it was not he. 
 
 Sweat dripped from them, legs trembled, bodies 
 reeled, hearts throbbed, breath came short, but 
 with eyes blinded and throats parched again still 
 they pressed on. Shields, spears, swords, bows 
 became almost insupportable burdens. Steel caps 
 pressed upon heads not used to such covering, 
 binding as if in iron circlets temples that throbbed 
 until the blood seemed like to burst from the 
 veins. 
 
 The ascent of the mountain had taken more time 
 than had been anticipated. The absolutely un- 
 avoidable delay at Beth-Aram had expended 
 precious moments. With an ever-growing anxiety, 
 Joshua pressed on and casting aside the skins 
 which covered their tunics and everything else 
 that could be dispensed with, but clinging to their 
 precious arms the men raced after him. As the 
 morning wore away, Joshua abandoned the prac- 
 tice of seeking easy ways and advanced now, 
 unless it were absolutely impossible, straight 
 across the country to the northwest.
 
 275 
 
 It was about half after eleven they judged from 
 the position of the sun which had almost reached 
 the zenith. Before them rose a high hill. The 
 men glanced longingly at the easy ways that 
 sloped around either flank, perhaps a mile to the 
 right and left, but the indefatigable Joshua went 
 straight at it and they could only tighten their 
 belts and pant after him. Up the ascent they toiled 
 with lagging feet, tongues dropping out of their 
 mouths in their awful thirst, sustained only by 
 the fierce will power of their indomitable leader. 
 
 The force had kept well together. There were 
 stragglers, of course, always there were men 
 who could not keep up with the rest, but mainly 
 they were closed up and ready. Joshua was 
 again first at the top of the hill. Those toiling 
 after him saw him suddenly stop and throw out 
 his hands. His gesture was unmistakable. They 
 had reached the end of their long march at last. 
 A few whom he permitted to join him on the top 
 of the hill saw before them an exquisite oasis which 
 made the surrounding desolation more pro- 
 nounced. 
 
 Between the hill they stood on and the hill 
 crowned by the walls of the city lay a broad 
 valley. In the bottom of the valley were the 
 remains of what, in the rainy season, must have 
 been a considerable lake. It was now almost 
 dried up. There was just enough water left here 
 and there to show what it was under more favor- 
 able circumstances. And the valley was actually
 
 276 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 green where the yellow grain had not already 
 ripened. There were trees extending from the 
 border of the lake up the sides of the hill, which 
 was covered with verdure here and there almost 
 to the walls of Gibeon. To the southward, break- 
 ing through a precipitous wall of rock below the 
 city, was the famous spring of Gibeon. Its waters 
 flowed into an artificial pool, one hundred and fifty 
 feet long and half again as broad on the side of 
 the hill. 
 
 Joshua had heard about the lake and the pool 
 from Ephron and from Arinna, and he had 
 counted upon one or both of them for the refresh- 
 ment of his soldiers. Alas, the walls of the pool 
 had been broken down and the water had flowed 
 down the rocky slope that fell away from the 
 southwest portion of the town and had been dissi- 
 pated. The lake, except for the few muddy spots, 
 was dried up. The spring itself appeared to be 
 choked up with something not discernible from 
 where they stood. 
 
 Groves around the foot of the hill had been 
 chopped down in places. Smoke and flame from 
 the burning houses on the outside of the city rose 
 heavily in the hot still air. Bands of armed men 
 lay encamped on the slopes of the hill. Other 
 bands tramped to and fro jeering at and threaten- 
 ing the soldiers of the town manning the walls. 
 How many Canaanites there were Joshua could 
 not tell, but they seemed to exceed in number his 
 own force. Perhaps there were twice as many
 
 THE COMMAND TO THE SUN 277 
 
 men left to beleaguer the town as the force Joshua 
 had led to its relief. That, however, did not dis- 
 turb the old Hebrew. The men he had brought 
 with him were picked men, they had proved their 
 mettle by what they had already accomplished if 
 in no other way. Their blood was up, too, and 
 they were clamorous to be led against the foe. 
 He reasoned that the best of the forces of the 
 five kings would have gone north. He was glad 
 to see that his forecast had been accurate and that 
 the main body of the Jebusite confederation was 
 not present. He cast a long glance to the north- 
 ward, but because of the intervening hills could 
 see nothing. He never doubted, however, that 
 the battle was raging around the slopes of Ai and 
 Beeroth. 
 
 Joshua had allowed only two or three men to 
 join him on the brow of the hill. The others 
 were ordered to halt just below the crest, so as 
 not to be seen. Glad of the chance, the panting 
 soldiers threw themselves down on the hard 
 ground, sheltered their faces from the sun with 
 their shields, and lay striving to recover their 
 breath and strength. 
 
 Joshua delayed until they were all up. He then 
 divided his men into two forces. One portion, 
 which he intrusted to the Prince of Manasseh, 
 was to cross the hill and charge straight down 
 upon the Canaanites. The other portion he pro- 
 posed to lead to the westward sheltered by the 
 hill and with them fall upon the flank of the
 
 278 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL' 
 
 Canaanitish detachment at the critical moment. 
 The grim, ruthless old captain admonished each 
 man to strike to kill. Annihilation was the watch- 
 word of that fierce day. He wanted no prisoners, 
 nor did he desire that any should escape to warn 
 the enemy, if it were possible to prevent it, al- 
 though he foresaw that he could not hope to kill 
 everybody and that some would certainly get 
 away. 
 
 When all was ready the Hebrew gave the word 
 and the men of Manasseh crossed the top of the 
 hill and for a wonder were not at first observed. 
 The eyes of the Canaanites were all turned toward 
 the town. They had no watchmen looking back- 
 ward, expecting no enemy from that direction. 
 At a signal from Hanniel the Manassites began 
 their march toward the valley. This captain, 
 who was a soldier trained under Joshua, led his 
 men in open order straight down the hill, every 
 moment drawing nearer to the temporary encamp- 
 ment of the Canaanites. How near he could have 
 come without observation was, of course, a prob- 
 lem, but the incautious shouts of the joy-filled 
 guards of the town at the sight of this timely 
 succor at once awakened the besiegers to their 
 peril. 
 
 They turned and saw the long ranks of the 
 enemy so swiftly approaching them. The fierce 
 sunlight blazed on spears, shields, and helmets. 
 They had not expected an enemy from that 
 quarter, they anticipated no attack of that kind.
 
 THE COMMAND TO THE SUN 279 
 
 The troops were not yet all over the hill, and their 
 number partly because of that shrewd open order 
 seemed interminable. There was a moment of 
 panic among the Canaanites, but there were cool 
 heads among them who saw that the force was 
 not a great one. The incipient panic was checked. 
 The men were rallied, bands of troopers pillaging 
 the houses were called to the ranks, and every- 
 thing was made ready for the fray. 
 
 HanniePs men had advanced without the sound 
 of trumpet, but now the men charged with the 
 duty put their long silver horns to their parched 
 lips and, in spite of their dry throats, musical 
 notes of defiance echoed through the valley. The 
 next instant the Prince of Manasseh shook his 
 spear in the air, leaped forward, and the whole 
 half -tribe broke into a run. In a short time the 
 battle was joined. The first fierce thrust of the 
 charge drove back for a little space the Canaan- 
 itish line. The attack was pressed home with 
 tremendous vigor. Spear thrust against spear, 
 shield was uplifted against shield, sword crossed 
 sword. But the pressing impetus of the charge 
 was soon stopped and the greater numbers of the 
 Canaanites began to tell. The Hebrews, fighting 
 desperately, were pushed back slowly by sheer 
 weight of men. 
 
 At that moment Joshua and his contingent 
 joined the battle. There was a moment of tremu- 
 lous panic again, but a second time the trained 
 soldiers who led the Canaanites rallied their men.
 
 280 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 Even with this accession of the Ephraimites they 
 still outnumbered the Hebrews and they stood in 
 their tracks fighting sturdily. Joshua was in 
 the fore when the battle was joined, fighting like 
 a common soldier. There was a fierce joy in the 
 old Hebrew warrior's heart with every thrust, 
 every blow upon his shield, and he shouted his 
 war cry as he pressed harder and harder against 
 the Canaanites. They were slowly driven back 
 into a mass of congested men, their line was dis- 
 ordered, it began to break, though many still 
 fought stubbornly on, delaying the inevitable by 
 their courage. 
 
 A sudden diversion ended the contest more 
 quickly than otherwise. The Gibeonites under 
 the bold Irkanati, their chief captain, made a 
 timely sortie. They fell upon the unsuspecting 
 enemy at the same time that Joshua called upon 
 his men for a final effort. The battle was over 
 and the contest became a massacre. To do them 
 justice, the Canaanites put up no unavailing pleas 
 for quarter, but they were cut down where they 
 stood. After half an hour of fierce fighting that 
 detachment had ceased to exist. A few, however, 
 had broken away, and these were being pursued 
 not only by arrows but by the fleetest among the 
 Gibeonites. Many of them fell in their desperate 
 effort to escape, but some, fear lending wings to 
 their feet, managed to get away. They fled north- 
 ward, and they would probably carry the news of 
 Joshua's presence to their kings and the army.
 
 THE COMMAND TO THE SUN 281 
 
 There was no time to be lost. Not a moment 
 could be spared for rest. If the pool had been 
 intact, they might have drunk from it, but it 
 was broken and polluted, hundreds of dead bodies 
 of the citizens having been thrown into it. The 
 spring was choked up and defiled. There was 
 water, reservoirs and cisterns, in the town suffi- 
 cient for their needs, to be sure, and it was fully 
 at the service of the conquerors, of course, but 
 Joshua could not wait for it. Bidding the Gibeon- 
 ites secure their city and giving permission to 
 some who desired to follow him, he called together 
 his tired men and marched up the hill that lay to 
 the north of the town, a place of worship, an 
 ancient shrine, the "High Place of Gibeon," and 
 from there surveyed the scene. 
 
 The sun was now at the very zenith of its 
 course ; it stood in the bisection of the heavens. It 
 was exactly noon. From where Joshua stood a 
 cloud of dust far off on the horizon proclaimed 
 the movements of great bodies of men. The main 
 battle was being fought there. The fugitives, he 
 knew, in an hour would be there. He must be 
 hard upon their heels, and yet The indomitable 
 old man looked around him at the utterly ex- 
 hausted ranks of his own soldiers. A good many 
 of them had lost their lives in that fierce contest. 
 Some of the survivors were wounded. All who 
 were left were apparently at the last limit of their 
 endurance. They had done all that brave, devoted 
 men could do. He thought with a fierce pang that
 
 282 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 his well-devised plan must fail, that the Canaan- 
 ites would escape. 
 
 Was there nothing left to him? Nothing but 
 God and prayer. Jehovah had never failed them. 
 The cause was His. Would He fail them now? 
 Off on the horizon to the westward over the Great 
 Sea, the clouds hung black and lowering, although 
 it was the dry season. There was no breath of 
 air stirring on the high place of Gibeon, yet the 
 clouds were moving wildly in tumultuous agita- 
 tion. If they would only rise in the heavens and 
 veil the awful glare of the midday sun fairly burn- 
 ing the men up ! As he stared to the westward his 
 eyes swept the horizon, and there a little to the 
 north of due west, above a valley called Aijalon, 
 he saw the faint outline of the three-quarter 
 moon's disk just above the rolling clouds. How 
 soft and cool and sweet her light had been in the 
 long struggle up the mountains! How different 
 from the blaze above their heads now! The sun 
 and moon and stars were God's, the earth itself 
 was held in the hollow of His hand. Twice angels 
 had held converse with Joshua. In days past the 
 glory that had been poured upon Moses upon 
 Sinai he had experienced in some measure. Did 
 some angel speak to the old man then as these 
 thoughts ran like lightning through his fevered 
 brain? 
 
 He slowly lifted up and spread abroad his arms, 
 one hand still holding his blood-stained spear, and 
 turned his face upward to the heavens.
 
 THE COMMAND TO THE SUN 283 
 
 "SuN," he cried with a voice of thunder, "BE 
 THOU SILENT UPON GlBEON, AND THOU, MOON, IN 
 THE VALLEY OF AIJALON. IN THE NAME OF THE 
 GKEAT JEHOVAH, GOD OF GODS, LOBD OF LOBDS, KING 
 OF KINGS, I, JOSHUA, HlS SERVANT, SPEAK AND COM- 
 MAND THEE."
 
 XXV 
 
 THE BATTLE OF BETH-HORON 
 
 A> the great words rolled over the crest of the 
 hill, as the men of Israel leaning on their 
 spears heard him, as the meaning pene- 
 trated to their consciousness, they lifted their 
 heads in wonder in which awe and even terror 
 mingled. Who was this that shouted imperial 
 orders in the Name of God to the very sun itself? 
 And what did those commands mean? What was 
 involved in them? 
 
 The Gibeonites on the hill, who worshiped the 
 sun as Baal and the moon as Ishtar, also heard 
 the double command. They shivered at the 
 blasphemy. Who was this man and who was his 
 God that he could speak thus to the lord of the 
 heavens by day and the queen of the heavens 
 by night? Why was not Joshua struck dead by 
 the angry gods ? They looked at him with paling 
 faces, wondering to see him still erect, unharmed. 
 And what was to be the answer? Would the 
 sun obey? Neither Israelites nor Gibeonites 
 doubted after the first moment. A thrill came 
 into the hearts of the Hebrew soldiers in which 
 the Gibeonites also shared. Was there a human 
 enemy who could withstand them and their cap- 
 
 284
 
 THE BATTLE OF BETH-HORON 285 
 
 tain when he spake thus to the sun? Would it 
 obey? They listened for a moment without 
 sound or motion. Would it indeed obey, and in 
 what way? 
 
 The answer came with astonishing quickness. 
 The air had been deathly still. There was a sud- 
 den sigh of wind across the hilltop. The next 
 moment the wind became a breeze, the breeze a 
 storm how cool and refreshing was its touch! 
 Joshua stood still, a great figure motionless as 
 if carved of stone or bronze, his hands uplifted 
 in prayer. 
 
 Down upon the western horizon, driven by the 
 wind, clouds rose. They expanded, they extended 
 in every direction. They raced upward across 
 the sky. Lightning shot athwart the heavens. 
 A terrible peal of thunder reverberated through 
 the lowland and was reflected from the mountain 
 walls. As they stared, the sky above them be- 
 came overcast. The next moment the clouds 
 veiled the sun, its rays that had blazed upon them 
 with such fierceness were dimmed in the thin 
 edges and soon lost in the solid masses. The sun 
 had obeyed Joshua's command. It was silent 
 in the bisection of the heavens! 
 
 And then the rain came down upon them, soft, 
 gentle, refreshing. They were upon the edge of 
 the storm. Rain in that season was so rare that 
 it was almost unheard-of. They watched the scene 
 in awe. It was a miracle, an answer to the prayer. 
 
 " Great is Jehovah. He is Lord!" burst from
 
 286 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 their lips spontaneously, new life throbbing in 
 their veins with every gentle drop of rain upon 
 them. 
 
 "Forward," cried the great captain, his heart 
 full of thankfulness and relief, again setting forth 
 upon the run, as if what had passed had been as 
 nothing. 
 
 With new hearts and refreshed bodies they fol- 
 lowed him. The great storm, as if driven by the 
 mighty hand of God Himself, roaring, flashing, 
 thundering, swept to the northward of them, 
 while the cool, refreshing rain still fell quietly 
 upon them. Behind them the sun shone upon 
 Gibeon. Ahead of them the sky was black with 
 clouds, lightning darted through the lowering 
 masses, thunder rolled and pealed above them. If 
 they had not been running so fast they had been 
 chilled by the sudden coolness in the air. Never 
 was such an advance made under such circum- 
 stances and with such speed. 
 
 Presently over the crests of the hills they caught 
 sight of a great mass of men sweeping westward 
 in wild confusion the army of the Canaanites! 
 Camp followers, slaves, servants, captains, gen- 
 erals, princes, kings were inextricably inter- 
 mingled. The lightning darted among them, the 
 thunder crashed upon them. The direction of the 
 storm changed abruptly and followed the flying, 
 terrified mob in its panic-stricken effort to escape. 
 It was as though they were being driven onward 
 by the wrath of the tempest launched upon them
 
 THE BATTLE OF BETH-HORON 287 
 
 by some Great Hand. In the rear of them moved 
 the great army of the Hebrews safe from the 
 storm like their comrades, for it had now passed 
 completely over their heads. They had enjoyed 
 its refreshing coolness, its gentle rain. It had 
 blessed them ; it was now to curse their wretched 
 enemies. 
 
 The fugitives were headed for the opening that 
 gave entrance to the passes of Beth-Horon. Those 
 who had escaped from the fierce battle before 
 Gibeon had carried tidings of the approach of 
 Joshua. They had magnified his numbers. The 
 army of the confederates had been able to make 
 no impression upon the Israelites before them, 
 and they were already discouraged. Old Caleb, 
 the Kenizzite, had handled his troops in a 
 masterly way. He had lured the Canaanites to 
 assault him again and again and had contented 
 himself with repelling them. He had seen oppor- 
 tunities for falling upon them and defeating them, 
 but obedience was the law of his life and he had 
 followed the orders of his captain explicitly. It 
 was well that he had done so, for the very fact 
 he made no counterattack encouraged the Canaan- 
 ites to persevere. 
 
 So strenuous had been their efforts that they 
 had not marked the coming of the storm until 
 it had broken upon them. Coincident with the 
 first flash of lightning and the first peal of 
 thunder had come the messengers of disaster. 
 Caleb had seen the advance of Joshua and he had
 
 288 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 deemed it time to move. With tremendous pres- 
 sure and fierce attack, more irresistible because 
 it had been so long withheld, he fell upon the 
 Canaanites. There was a sudden panic, and al- 
 though the five kings strove desperately to control 
 it, the task was beyond their power and then the 
 storm broke. They saw Joshua advancing in the 
 sunlight among the hills. It was all over, they 
 turned and fled for their lives in a panic terror 
 which grew with every passing moment. 
 
 The storm came lower and lower, nearer and 
 nearer. The lightning struck again and again 
 among the army and men were shocked to death as 
 if by explosive outbreaks of the earth itself. The 
 way to the north, the way to the east, and the 
 way to the south were held by the enemy. They 
 were cut off from their cities, cut off from every- 
 thing. There was but one way open to them. 
 
 "To the passes of Beth-Horon!" cried Adoni- 
 Zedec, who still sought to rally and direct the 
 frightened men. 
 
 The cry was taken up and thitherward they all 
 streamed. These were narrow, tortuous, precipi- 
 tuous, dangerous ways. Only an army in order 
 could by any means traverse them in safety and 
 without destruction. And this was an army in 
 such disorder as had never before been witnessed 
 in that battle ground of the world. Into the pass 
 the men rushed frantically in their mad terror. 
 Men fell and were trampled instantly underfoot. 
 Barriers rose, barriers of dead and survivors
 
 THE BATTLE OF BETH-HORON 289 
 
 trampled over them or leaped them without hesi- 
 tation. Indeed, the declivities and narrows of 
 the passes were soon filled with dead bodies and 
 the men in the rear tearing along in their panic 
 found the way easier because of that human pave- 
 ment. 
 
 Many of them would have escaped, but all the 
 power of the storm had not yet been evoked, for 
 suddenly the heavens opened as it were and it 
 rained hailstones and coals of fire. The coals of 
 fire, the lightning flashes, the hailstones, big 
 some of them as a man's head, fell upon 
 the fugitives, beating them down. So terrible 
 was the awful discharge of the artillery of 
 heaven, that Joshua and his men, pursuing like 
 mad after the fleeing Canaanites, had to stop at 
 the head of the passes and wait for the fury of 
 the storm to pass. 
 
 Such terrific demonstrations are usually short. 
 God had avenged Himself upon these people who 
 had defied Him. The upper and lower passes 
 were choked with dead men. And the storm was 
 at last over. The clouds disappeared with the 
 same suddenness with which they had come. The 
 heavens above them were clear. God had done His 
 part, the rest was to be left for man. As yet none 
 had seen the five kings. 
 
 Girding up their loins, therefore, the old cap- 
 tain and his men, with Caleb and his army, 
 streamed down the pass. Gone was their weari- 
 ness, relieved was their exhaustion, forgot was
 
 290 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 their hunger, neglected were their wounds. With 
 a new spirit they raced after the fleeing enemy; 
 faster and faster they sped, each moment giving 
 them new strength, bringing them nearer to their 
 doomed quarry. The Hebrews inflicted frightful 
 punishment on the helpless stragglers as they 
 pressed on. 
 
 The guard of the five kings, the best body of 
 men in the Canaanitish army, had closed around 
 them. They numbered, even after the losses of 
 their flight, several thousand picked men. The 
 litters of the kings had been abandoned, no 
 horses could have been used in the passes of 
 Beth-Horon on that day. The hapless monarchs 
 were on foot like all the rest. The retreating 
 Canaanites, reaching the lowlands at last, had 
 passed town after town in the foothills in their 
 mad flight, but in every case the gates had been 
 closed, and no succor had been offered them, in 
 spite of petitions, appeals, and proffered bribes. 
 
 There might be a chance to save the kings at 
 the sacrifice of their guard. A turn in the hills 
 hid them from the pursuing enemy for a moment. 
 The important town of Makkedah was hard by, 
 but its gates were shut, its walls manned. There 
 were caves in the hills. Perhaps the best hiding- 
 place would be in one of them. It was the last 
 resort. Committing the remnants of their armies 
 to their captains the five kings, now frantic with 
 terror, sought the nearest of the caves. The 
 royal body guard drew together for a moment,
 
 THE BATTLE OF BETH-HORON 291 
 
 but their first thought to make a stand to defend 
 the entrance was succeeded by a better idea : they 
 ran on to draw the pursuit from the cave and 
 perhaps by that means to insure the safety of 
 their monarchs. 
 
 But the kings had scarcely concealed themselves 
 when the Israelites appeared above the slope 
 of the hills. Someone more active than the rest 
 from the crest of the hill had seen the whole 
 maneuver. Joshua was at once apprised of the 
 hiding-place of the fugitives. Detailing some of 
 the men to roll great stones to the mouth of the 
 cave to seal it and taking a further precaution 
 to leave a watch, the Israelites continued their 
 pursuit after the retreating guard. These last 
 made a brave stand, fighting valiantly, but to no 
 avail. The number of the pursuers constantly 
 grew. The slaughter of the pursued was terrible. 
 A few of them managed to break through and get 
 away, but not many. The rest died. 
 
 The sun was now low in the heavens, the day 
 was far spent, the night was at hand. Joshua 
 at last reluctantly ended the pursuit. He marched 
 back to the cave, from the mouth of which the 
 stones were rolled away at his command. The 
 once mighty men made no resistance. Their treat- 
 ment was ruthless and terrible. The kings were 
 flung down at the feet of the great Hebrew, where 
 they lay helpless, listless, inert, waiting the inevi- 
 table, not daring to ask for mercy. One by one 
 by Joshua's command the captains of the host
 
 292 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 walked up and put their blood-sandaled feet upon 
 the necks of the dethroned the last humiliation, 
 more bitter even than death itself. 
 
 "Fear not," said Joshua in a great voice to the 
 thousands of panting warriors who surrounded 
 him leaning on bloody swords and spears, as he 
 pointed to the prostrate broken rulers ; "be strong 
 and of good courage. For thus shall the Lord do 
 to all your enemies against whom ye fight." 
 
 "Great is Jehovah. He is God!" cried the 
 soldiers. 
 
 Then the unfortunate kings were raised to their 
 feet only to be instantly cut down where they 
 stood. The bodies were hung to the trees in 
 front of the cave that all the army might see 
 them. 
 
 There was yet a little daylight left. The 
 soldiers of Joshua were flushed with victory. 
 Before them lay the Canaanite town of Makkedah. 
 It was defended with walls which bristled with 
 soldiery, who had stared in horror at the scene 
 just enacted. It was a strong place, but the men 
 of Israel clamored to be led against it. Joshua 
 gave the signal. They rushed at the walls, sword 
 in hand. They tore down trees, they made human 
 ladders, they climbed on one another's shoulders. 
 Thus they got to the top of the walls. They 
 cleared them of their defenders, they leaped down 
 into the city, they forced their way through the 
 crowded streets, they opened the gates, they 
 poured through the city, they devoted it to de-
 
 THE BATTLE OF BETH-HORON 298 
 
 struction. The king of Makkedah received the 
 same treatment which he had watched with terror 
 being meted out to the other five. 
 
 And it came to pass at sunset that Joshua com- 
 manded the bodies of the kings to be taken down 
 from the trees and thrust into the cave where 
 they had sought hiding, the entrance of which 
 was closed with great stones rolled against it by 
 masses of men, and in front of them a huge mound 
 of stone arose, for every soldier in passing threw 
 a stone upon the heap. There was mourning, 
 bitter mourning thereafter in Jerusalem and in 
 the confederated cities. 
 
 Then in that pleasant lowland, amid the vine- 
 yards and trees of the Valley of Makkedah, the 
 hosts of Israel made their camp for the night. 
 When they looked back on all that had happened 
 since the night before, the long march all night 
 over the mountains from Gilgal, the advance upon 
 Gibeon, the fierce battle there, their wild run to 
 the northward in the wake of the driving storm, 
 the pursuit down the passes of Beth-Horon to 
 the lowlands to Makkedah, the capture of that 
 city, and the execution of the kings, it seemed to 
 them that they could have by no means accom- 
 plished it all in the short space of a single day. 
 
 That sun, which Joshua had called upon to be 
 silent, to be hidden, to be veiled, to be still, be- 
 cause its fierce heat blighted the soldiers and 
 made impossible the carrying out of his plans, 
 must have stood at rest in the heavens, said the
 
 294 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 poets who hymned the triumph and passed down 
 the traditions of those glorious hours. It surely 
 had hastened not to go down at its usual hour, or 
 they could not have accomplished what they did ; 
 so they declared.
 
 XXVI 
 LOVE AND THE RESTORATION 
 
 Ai'TER that long day of wild, awful battle, 
 Joshua, quick to appreciate his advantage 
 and determined to allow the heathen no rest, 
 prosecuted a brilliantly successful campaign in 
 the lowlands in which city after city and king 
 after king fell to his arms. He swept around to 
 the southward, and after an uninterrupted series 
 of triumphs he ascended to the plateau again and 
 took all the cities of the confederacy except 
 Jerusalem, which, perched on its rocky mountains 
 and well-nigh impregnable, defied his army and 
 the armies of all his successors until long after in 
 David's time. 
 
 In due course the victorious army returned to 
 the camp at Grilgal for a well-earned rest after its 
 tremendous labors. Joshua, however, did not 
 lead the army there as had been his custom. At- 
 tended by Salmon and Phinehas and Elidad, chief 
 of the Tribe of Benjamin, he left the host at the 
 Michmash road hard by the ruins of Ai and came 
 down the eventful pathway of his victorious sweep 
 northward a few weeks before, retracing his steps 
 past Gibeon to the oasis of Beth- Aram. 
 Although Jerusalem was still unconquered it 
 
 295
 
 296 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 was thoroughly cowed for the present, its king- 
 had been slain, its armies scattered, its mighty 
 men laid low. There was no danger to be appre- 
 hended from it or the Jebusites then, so Joshua's 
 escort was comparatively speaking a small one 
 chosen from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin 
 with Salmon in command. He had sent no mes- 
 sengers before him to announce his arrival. He 
 halted his escort outside the wall and accompanied 
 only by Salmon, Phinehas, and Elidad presented 
 himself at the gate. Some of the herdsmen of 
 Ephron had advised the Hittite chief of the ap- 
 proach of his party, and the sheik of Beth- Aram 
 met them at the gate. 
 
 "Is it well with thee, my friend 1 ?" began Joshua. 
 
 "It is well," answered Ephron. 
 
 "And that young Benjamite, Dodai, left here 
 sore wounded?" 
 
 "It is well with him also, lord. He is still weak, 
 but he hath regained his consciousness long since 
 and under the care of my people is well on the 
 way to recovery." 
 
 "I doubt not that brave and lovely daughter 
 of thine hath contributed much toward the curing 
 of his ailments." 
 
 "Thou speakest true. There is but one thing 
 needed to his complete restoration to health and 
 happiness." 
 
 "And that is?" 
 
 "Thy forgiveness, mighty lord, and reinstate- 
 ment in his people once again. ' '
 
 LOVE AND THE RESTORATION 297 
 
 "Thou hast not told him?" 
 
 "According to thine order which was told me on 
 my return after the bloody day at Beth-Horon." 
 
 "Where I have heard from Caleb, mine old 
 friend, that thou didst bear thyself bravely." 
 
 "It was good for me to strike a blow in Je- 
 hovah's cause," answered Ephron simply. 
 
 "It is well," said Joshua. "I think thou know- 
 est these, my companions. Thou wilt conduct us 
 to the youth and the maiden." 
 
 "Thou wilt find them together," said Ephron, 
 smiling, as he pointed them to the way. 
 
 "As I trust they may ever be," said Joshua 
 meaningly, stepping forward. 
 
 Once again under the mighty terebinth, which 
 had been the scene of their first meeting and their 
 second, where Dodai had slain the lion and not far 
 from the point where he had held the last fortress 
 against Arami, they found the two lovers. 
 
 Dodai 's look at death had been a very near one. 
 The mighty blow of the axe upon his head which 
 had all but beaten him down, the fierce thrust at 
 his heart which it had barely missed, by the sword 
 of Arami, had almost put a final end to his dreams 
 and his visions. If he had erred grievously he 
 had atoned nobly, and it seemed as if Jehovah on 
 that account had granted him another chance. 
 
 In answer to Arinna's frantic petitions to God 
 and to Dodai himself as she knelt for long hours 
 by the bedside of her unconscious, delirious hera 
 he had finally opened his eyes and recognized her.
 
 God had prospered old Hani's efforts for his cure, 
 and when Ephron returned the day after the bat- 
 tle at Beth-Horon, in which he had borne a splen- 
 did part by Caleb's side, his own medical skill, 
 which was not little, had contributed much to the 
 recovery. But Dodai always said it was Arinna's 
 love and Arinna's prayers that had wrought the 
 almost miracle of his resurrection. 
 
 They would not allow him to talk much at first. 
 Indeed, he was quite content to lie and just look 
 at Arinna. She, too, had gone through trouble 
 and toil and anguish, mental and physical. She, 
 too, had been laid low, but her recovery had been 
 more rapid than his. She had been conscious all 
 the time, and thinking little of herself and much 
 of Dodai had helped her to regain her strength. 
 Now she hovered over him like a ministering 
 angel. 
 
 From the few survivors among the men and 
 from the women and children, not one of whom 
 had been hurt, she learned the whole story of the 
 desperate battle against overwhelming odds on 
 the wall, how they had held the gate, how Dodai 
 had kept the door and in that last terrific hand to 
 hand, breast to breast encounter had slain his 
 rival, the man who had threatened her with 
 degradation and insult because she had preferred 
 the brave Hebrew to the idolatrous Jebusite. 
 
 It was not alone the face of Arinna that Dodai 
 gazed into with returning consciousness, for in 
 his bedchamber assisting in his care he found his
 
 LOVE AND THE RESTORATION 299 
 
 mother, Meriam, while on the other side of his 
 couch old Ahoah, his father, bowed over him and 
 thanked Jehovah for this beginning of his son's 
 recovery. So soon as it had been safe they had 
 been summoned from the camp at Gilgal at 
 Joshua's order. Dodai's chief concern, now that 
 the safety of Arinna was assured and he had 
 heard the story from Ahoah and Meriam, who 
 were both glad to bear their testimony to the 
 maiden's tremendous feat in carrying the message 
 to Joshua, was as to his own future status. As to 
 that all those about him were strangely silent. 
 Neither from Ephron nor from his father nor 
 from his mother nor from the woman he loved 
 could he get any satisfactory answer. They could 
 not even tell him that by Joshua's orders they 
 were silent. They just met his request with an 
 unbroken refusal to discuss the matter. Yet when 
 he asked the question old Ephron looked wise, his 
 father smiled, his mother kissed him, and Arinna 
 laughed gaily. There was some comfort to the 
 young man's heart in all of these various mani- 
 festations of emotion. He knew Joshua was a 
 stern, inflexible, even terrible ruler. But he also 
 knew him as justice incarnate, so hope played its 
 part in bringing him to his feet again. 
 
 Tacitly his approaching union with Arinna was 
 admitted, but neither Ephron nor Ahoah was will- 
 ing to discuss it with him. It was apparently a 
 tabooed subject. As they said to him when he 
 broached it he had nothing to do now but to get
 
 300 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 well. It was not a tabooed subject between the 
 two lovers, however, and they discussed it in all 
 its lights and bearings longing, planning, dream- 
 ing. 
 
 Ordinarily the men of that day recovered 
 quickly from wounds, but Dodai had lost so much 
 blood in two days of fighting, he had drawn so 
 much upon his nervous vitality in the second day 
 in performing feats which would have taxed to 
 the very limit the nerves and strength of an en- 
 tirely fresh man, that his recovery was accord- 
 ingly slow. It was some weeks after he had been 
 stricken down before he was able to go out on 
 the paved terrace in front of the house where he 
 could recline on cushions and robes in the morn- 
 ing or evening sunlight. And still more time 
 elapsed before with unsteady steps he could walk 
 to that place he loved above all others in the oasis, 
 under the terebinth which was so associated with 
 his fortunes. 
 
 They had all helped him heretofore, but on this 
 great day they left his tendance to Arinna alone. 
 Ephron and Ahoah, now congenial friends, 
 watched the two from the doorway as they made 
 their way toward the shelter of the great oak. 
 Dodai 's arm was on Arinna 's shoulder. He bore 
 heavily upon that slender maiden. He still needed 
 her support, and she was glad to feel the pressure 
 of his weight. The two old men smiled. Meriam, 
 who stood by the other side with old Hani, stared 
 after them with tears in her eyes in accordance
 
 LOVE AND THE RESTORATION SOI 
 
 with the way of women and mothers. The men 
 might gain by the alliance, but she stood only to 
 lose. 
 
 There were still many evidences of the terrible 
 battle which had raged through the oasis, and 
 there would be for many a long day, but Ephron 
 had bought other slaves and employed other 
 people and much had been done to repair the 
 ravages of war. Under the terebinth and there- 
 abouts all was as it had been before. Slaves had 
 preceded them by Arinna's forethought and had 
 spread robes and cushions on the thick grass for 
 the comfort of the convalescent. Dodai sank 
 down upon this improvised couch, half reclining 
 against the bank, and his dearly beloved Arinna 
 knelt by his side. 
 
 From where he lay he could not see the camp at 
 Gilgal, but the tops of the far-off mountains of 
 Moab rose across the valley above the edge of 
 the oasis. His eyes strayed that way. 
 
 "Jehovah hath been good to me," began the 
 Hebrew. "Thou art safe and well, beloved 
 Arinna. Thy home hath been preserved, and al- 
 though many men are gone others have taken 
 their places and all the women and children are 
 well." 
 
 "There is much in that for which to be thank- 
 ful, ' ' murmured the girl. 
 
 "But that would not fill my cup to overflowing," 
 continued Dodai, sitting up and stretching out 
 his hand to her.
 
 302 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 "And what more?" asked Arinna, who very 
 well knew but would fain hear. 
 
 "Thou hast given me thine heart." 
 
 "And doth not that content thee?" 
 
 "It is more than my deserts. I know not how 
 I have been so blessed. Yet I can never be com- 
 pletely happy while I am an exile and an outcast 
 from my people." 
 
 "Not even with me? In my arms?" asked the 
 maiden softly. 
 
 "Thou hast given me much more than I ever 
 hoped to possess in giving me thyself, yet half the 
 joy I take in thee will be lost if I cannot present 
 thee as my wife to my people and my tribe. ' ' 
 
 This was a very adroit answer indeed, and it 
 almost satisfied Arinna. She moved nearer to 
 him and took that outstretched hand and pressed 
 it against her heart. 
 
 "Women are not like men," said the girl 
 resignedly, but with a little regret in her voice 
 nevertheless. "With thee alone I am content." 
 
 "And thy father, the noble Ephron?" ques- 
 tioned Dodai, smiling shrewdly. 
 
 "Oh!" exclaimed Arinna, a little puzzled. "I 
 want him as well, of course, but " 
 
 In default of an argument she raised his hand 
 to her lips. 
 
 "Nay, waste not thy kisses upon my hand," he 
 whispered tenderly. 
 
 He was quite strong enough to draw her to his 
 breast and kiss her as he had done many times
 
 LOVE AND THE RESTORATION 303 
 
 since he recovered consciousness, each time with 
 a new thrill and a greater joy. 
 
 "It is so easy to love thee," he said, releasing 
 her a little. "All that thou hast done hath tended 
 to increase thy glory and reputation with all men. 
 I can imagine how the tale of that bold journey 
 of thine down the cliff at night will be told from 
 generation to generation." 
 
 "It was for thee." 
 
 "But I " he shook his head "I sinned 
 grievously. I know not whether the little I was 
 permitted to do before I was stricken down hath 
 atoned or whether more will be exacted of me." 
 
 "And dost thou not think that the story of thy 
 fight for Israel, and for me, will be told as well 
 as the little I have done?" 
 
 ' * Perhaps, but if more be required of me I stand 
 ready. With thy love I could do anything. See. ' * 
 He had released her and got slowly to his feet. 
 "The strength cometh back to my veins. In a 
 few days I shall be able to do a man 's part again. 
 There will be more fighting. I shall be ready 
 and, if God pleaseth, the mighty Joshua, whom I 
 love next to thee and those who gave me birth, 
 may give me opportunity to win back his favor." 
 
 "That will be, I am sure," answered the maiden. 
 
 "Let us now go yonder to the wall that over- 
 looketh the valley," said Dodai. 
 
 "Art strong enough?" 
 
 "Thou shalt see. I would fain gaze again upon 
 the tents of my people."
 
 304 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 There was perhaps no need for Arinna to offer 
 her shoulder as a crutch, but she was glad to do 
 it and Dodai was glad to avail himself of it. Thus 
 the two started toward the edge. Their backs 
 were to the house. They did not see the little 
 group coming across the grass, and Joshua signed 
 to those with him that they should be silent. The 
 two lovers paused by the wall. Dodai leaned upon 
 it and stared down. As he looked the great en- 
 campment broke into sudden life. From out the 
 black goafs-hair tents the women and children 
 poured. The priests assembled. The Levites 
 came forth. Many of them bore instruments of 
 music. They broke into frantic motion as down 
 the road the advance guard of the army return- 
 ing victorious came into view. The sunlight 
 sparkled on helm and spear point. Dodai 's hands 
 left the wall. He stood up straight, his head 
 thrown back, his eyes flashing, his heart throb- 
 bing, drinking it in. 
 
 "They have come back," he said. " Would 
 God that I were there." 
 
 Poor little Arinna felt rather small and lonely. 
 She nestled close to him. 
 
 "Thou art with me," she whispered. 
 
 "Yes," said the young Hebrew, looking down 
 upon her and drawing her to his heart. "Would 
 we were both there." 
 
 "Thou shalt be," said a deep and well-remem- 
 bered voice behind him. 
 
 Not releasing the girl, he turned. There gtood
 
 LOVE AND THE RESTORATION 305 
 
 great and mighty Joshua in all his splendor of 
 personality, yet his bent and battered armor and 
 his stained and faded garments bore evidences 
 of hard campaigning and fierce hand-to-hand fight- 
 ing. And back of Joshua the noble Ephron, his 
 gentle father Ahoah, Salmon his beloved comrade 
 in arms, fierce Phinehas the high priest that was 
 to be, Elidad his tribal captain, and Meriam his 
 mother with old Hani looked kindly upon him. 
 
 "My lord," exclaimed Dodai, releasing Arinna. 
 He saluted, bowed low, and then drew himself up. 
 "I have sinned and played the fool exceeding," he 
 said straightforwardly. 
 
 "Thou hast indeed, but thou hast atoned. I 
 cannot speak for Jehovah, but so far as I and 
 the people are concerned thou hast put away thy 
 sins. Thy punishment is remitted." 
 
 "Dost thou mean " 
 
 "My sentence is revoked. Thou art restored 
 to thy tribe and people," answered Joshua, 
 "Eleazar, the High Priest of Jehovah, consent- 
 ing." 
 
 Dodai, forgetful of his weakness, sprang for- 
 ward in glad thankfulness inexpressible and unut- 
 terable. He seized the hand of Joshua and bent 
 over it, but that great man gathered him to his 
 breast and pressed a kiss upon the youthful Ben- 
 jamite's forehead. 
 
 "My son, my son," he said with rare tender- 
 ness, "I had rather receive thee back than take 
 ten cities."
 
 306 
 
 "And thou, Phinehas," cried Dodai, "who shalt 
 some day stand in thy father's place as Chief of 
 the Priests of our God?" 
 
 "Jehovah hath not spoken to me," said Phine- 
 has, extending his hand, "but the whole army 
 rings with the story of thy great fighting here 
 and of the message that thou and yonder maiden 
 didst bring. I dare not yet speak for our God, but 
 when we inquire of you by Urim and by Thum- 
 min, the lots will declare in thy favor, I am 
 persuaded." 
 
 "And I," added Elidad. 
 
 "And I, and I," said Ahoah and Meriam. 
 
 "Thou knowest how I feel," said Salmon. 
 "And Rahab hath never ceased to blame herself. 
 There will be joy in her heart." 
 
 Old Ephron said nothing. He detached him- 
 self from the little group and walked to Arinna, 
 who had stood somewhat forlornly apart although 
 her heart thrilled at the praise heaped upon her 
 lover and she had rejoiced with him at the promise 
 of restoration. 
 
 "There is another here," said Joshua, follow- 
 ing Ephron 's movement, "who meriteth much 
 from Israel. As our fathers did four hundred 
 years ago so we have entered into blood brother- 
 hood with Ephron the Hittite of the Tribe of 
 Zohar, and the elders of Israel consenting we 
 shall cement that brotherhood, Ephron also con- 
 senting and thou, too, Dodai, by a marriage be- 
 tween thee and that Arinna yonder. Maiden, ' '
 
 LOVE AND THE RESTORATION 307 
 
 said Joshua, turning to the young girl, " Israel 
 oweth thee much. What can we give thee to show 
 our gratitude? There is rich spoil in the camp. 
 Thou shalt choose what thou wilt." 
 
 "My lord," said Arinna, looking at Dodai, 
 "thou hast this moment given me all I could ask. 
 I wish for nothing else." 
 
 Dodai turned on the instant. He stepped close 
 to her and put his arm about her. 
 
 "Thou art willing?" said Joshua to Ephron. 
 
 "Glad." 
 
 "And thou, Ahoah!" 
 
 "Glad, too." 
 
 "May the blessing of Jehovah be upon ye," 
 said Joshua, lifting his hands. 
 
 "Amen," said fierce Phinehas the priest, lend- 
 ing whatsoever sanction his sacerdotal character 
 could convey. 
 
 Some days after, Dodai, now fully recovered 
 from his wounds, was formally restored to all his 
 tribal, national, and religious privileges in the 
 very place in the camp at Gilgal where he had 
 lost them. Eleazar had satisfied them all that the 
 restoration was in accordance with the will of 
 Jehovah. Immediately thereafter Dodai and 
 Arinna were wedded with the hearty approval of 
 all. 
 
 His marriage did not prevent the young prince 
 from participating in the subsequent campaigns 
 and greatly distinguishing himself in the tre- 
 mendous and decisive battle fought against the
 
 308 WHEN THE SUN STOOD STILL 
 
 northern Canaanitish confederation under Jabin, 
 king of Hazor, by the waters of Merom. 
 
 In the final division of territory the Tribe of 
 Benjamin received that section of the country in 
 which Gibeon lay, and Dodai was appointed gov- 
 ernor of that city by old Elidad, the chief of the 
 tribe. The Gibeonites, rightly or wrongly, re- 
 garded him as their savior, and although they 
 often murmured under the hard yoke which they 
 bore as hewers of wood and drawers of water 
 to the Israelites, their murmurs were not directed 
 against the young Prince of Benjamin, to whom 
 they were persistently grateful. 
 
 Dodai sometimes resided in the city, but he 
 loved better to repair with his beautiful young 
 wife to the delightful oasis of Beth- Aram, where 
 he had both won his love and restored his honor. 
 And as we found him there at the beginning of the 
 story, there with Ephron and with the little 
 children which speedily grew up around him, we 
 may leave him. 
 
 Printed the United States of America
 
 FICTION, JUVENILE, Etc. 
 
 CYRUS TOJTNSEND BRADY AND SON 
 
 \Veh of Steel ILLUSTRATED BY 
 v eu vi oieei THK K , NNKYS 
 
 A Story About a Father and Son by a Father and 
 Son for All Mankind, izmo, cloth, net $1.35. 
 
 "All who delight in adventure stories will find a thrill in 
 every chapter in this story by Cyrus Townsend Brady." 
 Des Moines Capital. 
 
 ABE CORY 
 
 The Trail to the Hearts of Men 
 
 A Story of East and West. Illustrated, lamo, 
 cloth, net $1.35. 
 
 A story of action and power with the scenes laid in China. 
 The hero is a man of high ideals, determined upon a life of 
 high purpose. Social ties including a sweetheart endeavor 
 to hold him, and he has to come to the cross-road of decision. 
 He chooses for his higher ideals to find in the long run, the 
 other things are his. There is much of the spell of adventure 
 in the story, and some quickly-moving scenes that grip and 
 hold the reader with undiminished interest. 
 
 S. HALL YOUNG Authtr ./ "Alatla Days with Jthn Mulr" 
 
 The Klondike Clan 
 
 Illustrated, I2mo, cloth, net $1.35. 
 
 Out of his wonderful experiences in the great Northwest, 
 Dr. S. Hall Young has evolved a story of breathless interest 
 dealing with the days of the Great Stampede to the Yukon in 
 the days of the gold craze. Dr. Young's adventures are real 
 adventures, through which he and those of whom he writes 
 literally passed. A book of vigour, interest and power. 
 
 WITH "fITCHENXR'S MOB" 
 
 Wee Macgreegor Enlists 
 
 Illustrated, I2mo, cloth, net $1.00. 
 
 "A rare and rollicking book, is this one. For all its fun, 
 it gives a graphic picture of present-day Scotland and the 
 Scotch. But, oh, it's the wee Mac and Private Thompson 
 and Christina that belong in the Caledonian Hall of Famel" 
 Evening Sun. 
 
 CHARLES H. LERRIGO Doe William's Stronghold 
 
 The Castle of Cheer 
 
 I2mo, cloth, net $1.25. 
 
 "One resounding note of optimism." "Doc Williams is a 
 benefactor of the race, for in these pages he succeeds in 
 instilling a note of cheer into the soul of a fellow_-mortal. It 
 is a strong, inspiring, invigorating story, spicy with romance 
 and huiMW." Tht Contintnt.
 
 FICTION, JUVENILE, Etc. 
 
 ARNOLD 
 
 The Twins "Pro" and "Con" 
 
 Illustrated, I2mo, cloth, net $1.25. 
 
 An altogether delightful story, in which two vivacious girl- 
 
 this jolly little story except with rapt interest and gleeful 
 delight. 
 
 Little Merry Christmas 
 
 New Popular Edition. Illustrated, boards, net 5oc. 
 
 The immediate success of this unusual Christmas story has 
 called forth a new popular-priced edition. "From the moment 
 she alights, one wintry night, at the snow-piled station of 
 Oatka Center, little Mary Christie begins to carry sunshine 
 and happiness into the frosty homes, and still frostier hearts 
 of its inhabitants." Presbyterian Banner. 
 
 MARY STEWART Author of Tell Ml a Trui Story" 
 
 Tell Me a Hero Story 
 
 Illustrated by Samuel M. Palmer, ismo, net $1.35. 
 
 "Tell Me a Hero Story," is the oft-repeated request of 
 childhood. Miss Stewart has retold in clear, simple form 
 (while still preserving their stirring spirit) some old stories 
 found enshrined in mummy-cases and the peasant songs of 
 the world. And it ends, does this inspiriting procession, with 
 some stories of heroes of our own time a French lad who 
 received the Cross of Honor the King without a kingdom 
 whose very name thrills us and a child of the city streets, a 
 hero as great as any "who ever won a battle" 
 
 LOUISE RICE A glory of Chrlstmai Evi in Gotham 
 
 The Girl Who Walked Without Fear 
 
 _ Both a Story and an Indictment of So-called Chris- 
 tian America. Decorated, net SQC. 
 
 "As novel as it is interesting. The message which runs, 
 like a thread of gold, through the pretty tale is one which 
 renders the work an ideal gift-book. * Dayton Hermld. 
 
 NORMAN DUNCAN 
 
 Dr. Grenfell's Parish 
 
 ^ The Deep Sea Fishermen. A New Enlarged Edi- 
 tion with Added Material. Illustrated. i2mo, cloth, 
 net $1.00. 
 
 "A very rare picture the author has given of a very rare 
 man; a true story of adventure which we should like to see 
 in the hands of every one." Outlook,
 
 NEW EDITIONS 
 
 S. HALL YOUNG 
 
 Alaska Days with John Muir 
 
 Illustrated, I2mo, cloth, net $1.15. 
 
 "Do you remember Stickeen, the canine hero of John 
 Muir's famous dog story? Here is a book by the man who 
 owned Stickeen and who was Muir's companion on that ad- 
 venturous trip among the Alaskan glaciers. This is not only 
 a breezy outdoor book, full of the wild beauties of the Alas- 
 kan wilderness; it is also a living portrait of John Muir in 
 the great moments of bis career." New York Times. 
 
 S. R. CROCKETT Authtr / Silver Sand." etc. 
 
 Hal 'o the Ironsides: AS *?^ r f m t we? ay8 
 
 Illustrated, i2mo, cloth, net $1.25. 
 
 "Crockett's last story. A rip-roaring tale of the days of the 
 great Oliver days when the dogs of war were let loose in 
 .English meadows, and "the gallants of England struck borne 
 for the King." Examiner. 
 
 FANNY CROSBY 
 
 Fanny Crosby's Story ^7,; 
 
 By S. Trevena Jackson. Illustrated, cloth, net $1.15. 
 
 "This is, in a way, an autobiography, for it is the story of 
 Fanny Crosby's life as she told it to her friend, who retells 
 it in this charming book. All lovers of the blind hymn 
 writer ought to read this volume. It tells a story of pathos 
 and of cheer. It will strengthen the faith and cheer the 
 heart of every reader." Watchman-Examiner, 
 
 PROF. HUGH BLACK 
 
 The New World 
 
 i6mo, cloth, net $1.15. 
 
 "Dr. Black is a strong thinker and a clear, forcible writer. 
 Here he analyzes national tendencies toward unrest social, 
 material, religious. This he does with moderation yet with 
 courage, and always with hopefulness." The Outlook. 
 
 S. M. ZWEMER, P.P., F.R.G.S. Aulhtr ., A rat ia *,. 
 
 Childhood in the Moslem World 
 
 Illustrated, 8vo, cloth, net $2.00. 
 
 "The claims of millions of children living and dying tinder 
 the blighting influence of Islam are set forth with graphic 
 fidelity. Both in text and illustrations, Dr. Zwemer i new 
 book covers much ground hitherto lying untouched in Mo- 
 hammedan literature." Christian Work.
 
 FICTION, JUVENILE, Etc. 
 
 /. T. THURSTON Authtr f Tht Blihf't Shadno" 
 
 Billy Bums of Troop 5 
 
 Illustrated, I2mo, cloth, net 1.15. 
 
 Here is a Boy Scout's story which has to do with the 
 average boy of the city. Like "The Bishop's Shadow" and 
 "The Scout Master of Troop 5," it is fresh, breezy, clear-cut 
 and catchy a fine, strong, earnest, lucid book, written with 
 the idea of helping boys to do their part of the world's work. 
 The author's wonderful insight into the boy nature and 
 knowledge of his ways of work and recreation is apparent. 
 
 NORMAN DUNCAN s m, T. f ,*u S.H* 
 
 Billy Topsail, M.D. 
 
 A Tale of Adventure with Doctor Luke of the 
 Labrador. Illustrated. I2mo, cloth, net $1.25. 
 
 The further adventures of Billy Topsail and Archie Arm- 
 strong on the ice, in the forest, and at sea. In a singular 
 manner, "the boys fall in with a doctor of the outposts and 
 are moved to join forces with him. The doctor is "Doctor 
 I,uke of the Labrador," whose prototype, as everyone knows, 
 is Dr. Grenfell. Its pageS are as crowded with brisk adven- 
 tures as the pages of the preceding books. 
 
 EDWIN C. BURRITT Xnd, r ,ed officiaii, t, ** 
 
 1 " ' Bty Scouti ef Amtrica 
 
 Boy Scout Crusoes 
 
 A Tale of the South Seas. Illustrated by Walter 
 Louderback. I2mo, cloth, net $1.25. 
 
 Storm, wreck, liunger, encounters with reptiles, wild beasts 
 and strange birds, house-building in the wilderness, an ex- 
 ploration of a volcano - together with many interesting bits 
 of natural history are interwoven in this ftory of the Boy 
 Scouts' adventures on an unchartered island of the tropics. 
 
 ESSAYS 
 
 VANCE THOMPSON 
 
 Auth . r . f Xat and Gnu 
 
 "Take It From Me" 
 
 A Look-In on the Other Fellow. I2mo, net $1.00. 
 
 Mr. Thompson's new book is written with the sympathetic 
 understanding of men and women that has characterized his 
 previous work. No subject of greater interest has yet been 
 touched by his pen, and his reflections and analyses touch 
 upon every phase of human experience. In its broad sanity 
 and genuine helpfulness, this latest book equals anything he 
 has written.
 
 A 000118720 2