The Cairo bulletin., 1909-12-30


One thousand nine hundred and
nine years ago. in the days Of the
mighty Herod, there lay upon hill.
side not far from Bethlehem. one Ben
Joseph, the shepherd. son Of Joseph
OF Jeffa. Ben Joseph was almost Is
now. and had been shepherd nearly
as long as he could remember. Prac.
tically all his life he had strolled over
the hillsides with his charges through
out the days, and when night had
come had laid himself down to sleep
among them with a sheepskin for his
couch and a sheepskin for his mantle.
And in those long years of loneliness
he had grown strong OF body and wild
OF spirit, knowing little OF faith. hope
or charity and caring less; believing
only in the law of recompense and
that an eye was fair exchange for an
eye and tooth for tooth. For he
who tends sheep among the barren
hills must Craze them seven days a
week, while as for the soul 1t can al
ways starve little while longer and
no harm done. So as time passed,
while his sheep grew plentiful and fat
his soul grew small and lean and was
seldom thought of, for in his idle
hours by day he did nothing but play
upon his reed pipe, while In the early
hours of night after the sheep had
been gathered together he lay upon
his back and looked up at the stars
until the principal ones were as fa-
miliar to his eyes as were the bell
wethsrs Of his flock. True, he knew
almost nothing about the sparkling
bodies of space and gave little thought
as to how they came to be there, yet
for all that he could shut his eyes
and picture the consultations before
his mind as most boys can the faces
OF their playmates. This was because
he could not read, had no one to talk
| to and was hard pressed for means by
which to occupy his brain when the
darkness fell
Now while Ben Joseph was silent
and rather surly of face, he was only
| inclined to be wicked when aroused
At those times, however, he was apt
| to be as savage and merciless as a
wolf, for il was then that the blood
| lust burned hot in his throat And II
happened that upon the day OF which
we are speaking be was nursing
great rage, for while he had been
sleeping few nights before some
enemy had crept into his flock and
cut the throats of three OF his finest
ewes. And this deed meant that very
| bad times were In store for Ben 10
seph indeed. for when his master
came to count the sheep and found
the three missing. Ben Joseph knew
| that he would be beaten with staff
until he could scarcely hobble, and
even worse than that, he would be
charged with their value; sum
which 1t would take him months of
watching to repay. And, furthermore,
he knew who had committed the das-
tardly crime Ii was none other than
| Ben Hadad, who herded his flock in
the hills to the westward and with
whom Ben Joseph had quarreled and
fought year before. and who now
had come prowling across hill and
valley in the dark OF the moon for his
revenge. and that Ben Joseph might
be soundly beaten in payment for the
whipping which he himself had re-
ceived. In his haste the marauder had
dropped the red stone which he al
ways wore as charm, and Ben Jo-
seph picking 1t up among the dead
sheep had instantly known to whom it
belonged, and at that knowledge the
| hot blood taste had arisen strong in
his throat and hate for his enemy set
his blood on fire. Muttering he had
sworn to himself that he should have
his revenge.
And on this night he was formulat-
| ing his plans II Ben Hadad could
creep upon him in the middle of the
| night and kill his sheep. then certain.
ly he could creep upon Ben Hadad
and kill him. For were not his feet as
| light and his ears as keen as those OF
any man! And having put his foe out
| OF the way he could take three OF his
ewes and bring them back to his own
flock to replace the dead ones, and In
this way at one stroke rid himself OF
dangerous enemy and escape the
beating and loss of wages that he
knew otherwise must be his. Clearly
Il was the only thing to do, and arts
ing IN the early darkness he felt oil
the edge OF his knife and finding Il
! plenty keen enough he seized his
crook and went Looping of among the
hills towards where he knew his en-
envy could be found. II was Ions
journey, but he travelled fast, and
when midnight had come he hat
marked the fold, while near by 1t in
his rough shelter OF skins he could
hear the steady breathing of the un
suspicious man whom he sought Ant
at that token of the others helpless
ness his eyes took on the glitter of 1
Wild beasts, and with his knife helt
armly he crept onward to where the
sleeping one lay behind his screen.