Chapter 24

‘And you are entitled to be there, Ephraim,’ he went on. ‘You always showed kindness to Jesus, from his childhood. Nobody in Nazareth—except his family and you—had any sympathy for him because he was different from other children. And when he was grown to manhood, the Nazarenes—all but you—openly scoffed at his singular powers. So he went away and talked to people who believed in him and loved him. And you left your shop—and followed him.’

‘Aye, sir; that I did!’ said Ephraim. ‘I heard him speak, for many days, in Cana and Hammath and Capernaum. And I saw him heal the sick…But how did you know?’

‘And when you returned to Nazareth,’ continued the young messenger, ignoring Ephraim’s query, ‘you told all Nazareth what you had heard and seen, and they said you were a blasphemer… Doubtless it injured your business.’

‘Not very much,’ replied Ephraim cheerfully. ‘When the chain to the well-bucket is broken, Nazareth is willing to have it mended by a blasphemer…But I must say for Nazareth that the people were sorry when they heard that Jesus had been crucified.’

‘What did they say when the word came that he had returned to life?’

‘Well—of course they didn’t believe that!’

‘How about you, Ephraim? Do you believe it?’

‘I don’t know,’ replied Ephraim vaguely, after some delay. ‘It’s not easy to believe, especially in a town where the people are sure it can’t be true…I ponder on it—every day.’

‘Would you be glad to have firm proof that it is so?’

‘Indeed I would, sir!’

‘Then come to Jerusalem on Pentecost.’

‘I might do that if I knew that this message was real.’

The youthful messenger made no reply to that. The leaky old bellows wheezed a few times, so loudly that it brought Ephraim wide awake. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. His visitor was gone. But the coals on the forge glowed brightly…Ephraim knew now that he would be in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost.

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