Now laddie, come to supper," and as the little watcher left the window and seated himself, holding out his hands for the meal, she put it into them, and herself went to the window to look out for the expected cne. Laughing and talking and eating all at once, the little ones though sleepy, were getting very merry and noisy, when a faint sound from the room behind made the mother hold up her finger with a "hush!" and they were quieted directly.

"Ye must not make so much noise," she said, "ye have disturbed him now. Come, make haste and get to your beds;" and, supper being finished, and one more look taken out of the window, the tired and excited children were soon lying side by side on the low bed, in the corner of the room. Then their mother took a light, and shading it with her hand, softly opened the inner door and entered the adjoining room, leaving them to rest and sleep.

It was a low, small chamber, and the rough rafters, dark and unpolished, were all between the occupants and the roof. There was a little window, and the twilight showed the single pane blue against the mist and dusk outside. But the reflected candle, as the bearer well knew, could be seen far off, so she hastily covered the window with a cloth; and then, still shading the candle with her hand, turned towards the bed which stood by the wall, with its rude hangings and coarse furniture, and looked anxiously upon the occupant who lay there. It was a man, lying very still, with pale white features, and locks of dark, damp hair falling loosely over and around the white bandage surrounding his head. That stern, dark face, the bound forehead, and bandaged right arm lying over the coverlet, told a tale of battle and fighting beyond all doubt. Aye, and in all seeming, that fighting was desperate, and the battle his last, for the eye was sunken, and the features wan, and the strength of manhood prostrated, till he lay there like a child-as helpless and as weak. light was shaded, but enough fell upon his face to show the expression of patient pain upon it, and the kind nurse looked anxiously at him as she spoke at last.

(To be continued.)

The

JERICHO.

JERICHO, a town which is frequently mentioned in the Bible, lies in the valley of the Jordan, about five miles to the westward of that river, about the same distance

from the northern point of the Dead Sea, and seventeen miles north-east of Jerusalem. The district in which it is situated is called in scripture, sometimes a plain,

and sometimes a valley; and is in reality a strip of lower land, some miles in breadth, through which the Jordan rushes, in a deep narrow bed, which its waters have dug out for themselves. This plain is watered and rendered fruitful by a brook which here runs down from the mountains into the river, and which was, of old, distributed over the fields by artificial channels. On every side, rise lofty, bare hills of limestone, which reflect and increase the heat of the sun's rays; thus combining with the plentiful supply of water, so necessary in those regions, to make the plain a most productive hot-bed of all vegetable life. It is, perhaps, from the mists and exhalations hence ensuing, that the word Jericho, which is said to signify vapour, is derived.

The fruitfulness of the plain of Jericho has always been celebrated. The town is several times mentioned in scripture as "the city of Palm Trees"-for example (Deut. xxxiv. 3. Judges iii. 13.) Its productiveness in this respect is also recorded by several heathen writers who also inform us that it was rich in honey, and famous for the growth of roses and of balsam. It presented, therefore, a marked contrast to the country which lay between it and Jerusalem. The road from the latter city to Jericho, led through Bethany, and is accurately described in the parable of the Good Samaritan as a descent (a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho) for, according to Dr. Olin, the plain lies from 1,500 to 2,000 feet below the summits of the mountains over which the traveller has to pass. The surrounding country is an uninhabitable desert, which has always harboured bands of robbers. Even yet it is found necessary to quarter a small body of soldiers, in the little village which stands on the site of the ancient Jericho, to protect the pilgrims to the Jordan from the wandering Arabs. And almost every traveller in Palestine has a tale to tell, either of his own adventures on this road of bad reputation, or of the perils and inconveniences to which others have been subject. The road was however much used, as the highway between Judea and Galilee the southern and northern extremities of the Holy Land. And yet a look at the map assures us,

that the traveller thus deviated from a straight linevery much towards the east. The reason must be sought in the violent prejudices of the Jews against their neighbours, and those were the Samaritans. The direct road from Judea to Galilee led due north, through Samaria. Compare John iv. 3, 4: "He left Judea and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs go through Samaria." So to avoid the real or supposed

dangers of the Samaritan route, Jewish travellers (as indeed our Lord, on one memorable occasion: Matt. xx. 29. Mark x. 46. Luke xix. 1) usually made the circuit through Jericho. Does it not seem to add a fresh point to the parable-that the traveller passing that way to avoid contact with Samaritans, should fall into 'perils by his own countrymen'-from which he was rescued by a Samaritan's unsolicited benevolence?

The history of the city of Jericho reaches back to the earliest years of the occupation of Canaan by the Israelites. It was one of the thirty independent cities of Palestine, each having its own king (Joshua xii. 9), and was speedily reduced and razed to the ground by the Hebrews, under their leader Joshua (Josh. vi). A curse was invoked on the head of whomsoever should venture to rebuild it, a work which was, however, performed by Hiel, of Bethel, in the days of king Ahab (1 Kings xvi. 34). In the original distribution of the land among the tribes, Jericho fell to the lot of Benjamin: in later times, it seems to have belonged sometimes to the kingdom of Israel, sometimes to that of Judah. In 2 Kings ii. 4, we read that Elisha, an Israelitish prophet, had here disciples-or what is elsewhere called, a school of the prophets. Its frontier position near the river, seems to have given a sort of military importance to Jericho for in the days of the Maccabees it was fortified, and again by Herod, who made it his occasional residence, and is said to have died there. The only trace of it which now remains is a wretched village, called Ericho, or Riha.

It remains only to notice, in connexion with this subject, that owing to the peculiar geological structure of the Holy Land, it is possible to fix the sites of its ancient cities with more precision than is generally the case. In level plains, such for instance as those of Mesopotamia, the great rivers are the only ordinary land-marks, and even these dig out new courses for themselves from year to year. But in many countries like Palestine where water is scarce, and the spots available for cultivation not numerous, the face of the land remains the same for centuries. The torrents fill, every winter, the same beds; and the inhabitants of each village draw water from the well which supplied their ancestors in the days of David. And thus, even if the name Jericho did not remain in its corrupted form to guide us, the sultry plain with its numerous palm trees, the brook hastening to join the Jordan, the wilderness in the way to Jerusalem, and the balsam