The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1920-09-22

until the elimination OF inc greox /
story. the figure Of Christ appears but
once, and then for . moment, but over
all that happens In the intervening
years hovers the gentle spirit; thrilling
as the episodes are in themselves.
strongly as the characters are por.
trayed. they are but preparation for
what Is to follow, a mere worldly set
ting for him who was too great for all
save a few to understand at that time.
Some twenty-One years after the
scenes at the manger, young Jew
Ben-Hur, a prince Of Jerusalem, rich.
happy, ambitious, was standing by
parapet Of his palace. watching the
progress of Valerius Gratus. imperial |
governor of Judea. AS the Roman
passed beneath the wall amid the Jeers
and insults Of the Jews the young
prince leaned far out to see the new
governor; a tile was displaced and, as
bitter fate would have 1t, fell full upon
the governor The accident was not
fatal; but 1t was an opportunity for
exemplary justice, especially as the es-
tates of the Jew we're very desirable
to the governor and his friend MESSIAH.
| hitherto almost brother to Ben-Hu'
| though the latter had been. The un
| happy Jew was sent as rover to the
galleys, where the limit Of life was at
most but a year. His mother and sis
ter were immured in a secret cell In
the Tower Of Antonio, where they
were doomed to the fate Of the lep-
ers. The only act Of kindness Ben
Hur could remember during the years
that followed was on the day he was
dragged to the galleys. "The hand
laid kindly upon his shoulder awoke
the unfortunate man, and looking up,
he saw a face he never forgot-the
face Of boy about his own age,
shaded by locks of yellowish bright
chestnut hair; face lighted by dark
blue eyes, at the time so soft, so ap-
!. pealing, so full OF love and holy pur-
, pose, that they had all the power Of
command and will" That was In
; Nazareth.
How Ben-Hur in time became q
rover on the flagship Of Airrus, dunn
= vir and admiral, how the flagship was
q
Ben-Hur rescued the admiral, became
. his adopted son and heir. learned at
b Rome the manner of Roman war and
Roman sports, returned to the East
4 Roman officer in the train of a con-
t sui setting forth on a great campaign
against the Parthians; how he dis
covered that his fathers old steward
q Simonides had succeeded in saving
from confiscation the vast intangible
e wealth of the Hurs and had multiplied
d it many times, till the young Roman
( Jew was the richest private either
?. in the world; the discovery that Mes
IL sala was entered for the highest stake
n in the great sporting event of thu
): orient how Ben-Hur won the affection
v Of Ilderim, the Arab sheik, who hat
entered his steeds Of the desert TO
II the great event-all this leads up t
It the dramatic encounter of the famou
a chariot race. The author drew hi
.e description of the race from one writ
d ten over twenty-three hundred year
te ago by the tragic poet Sophocles.
ID is one of the curiosities of literatur
t. that the great scene, through the page
" of Lew Wallace's novel. has becom
N as famous on our stage as it was
IN long ago on that of Greece.
By his victory in the arena Ber
Of Hur exacted ancient Jewish justic
on his hated adversary. who wa
1; crushed in body and impoverished /
" fortune, he had wagered on his SUI
as cess all the wealth he had stolen frol
so his former friend. The victor almos
ne fell prey. however, to the vampiI
IS, daughter Of Egypt who was rival fe
IL his love with the gentle Jewish Esthe
to But henceforth his thoughts were col
ey centrated on him who was attractin
he all eyes. Was he Messiah or kinf
to Ben-Hur. in his hatred Of Rome in h
'e- pride Of race, dreamed only of kir
tn Of this world, who should right a
ar cient wrongs and exalt his chosen pc
mt ple. And so he threw himself wi,
lp- all his force, with all his wealth, vii
.p- all the knowledge gained at Rom
n; into making secure and strong the WI
nd Of the king whom he would folio
ng But it was for one supreme in thin
ri spiritual rather than material tn
un the way was being made ready. Al
ng Ben-Hur's mother. rescued with h
'ar daughter from her long imprisonme
he by a chance change OF 1ailers, b
'as hopeless lepers both. saw the tru
ley sooner than her son.
leo "'Oh Master. Master! she cried
he passed upon the road. Thou see
H. our need; thou canst make Us clea
er. Have mercy upon us-mercy
ZEN "'Bellevest thou I am able to
thisY he asked.
"aThou art he Of whom the propht
. . spake-thou art the Messiah! she
tne piled. His eyes grew radiant. his ms
ner confident
"'Woman,' ne said. great 10 t
700 faith; be it unto thee even as tn
''n wilt"
And so, in the end, Ben-Hur rec