“I say not that; but yet life is like the ebb and flow of the tides. If stillness were never broken up, peradventure there would be stagnation. It is the fury of the storm that gives tranquillity its charm.”
“Should we, then, seek for waves to buffet us?”
“Nay; but when they come unsought, we should be lifted by them rather than submerged.”
“Peradventure one be not able?”
“That must not be conceded even to ourselves.”
“What is the secret of overcoming?”
“Keep a well-ordered mind, for our life is what our thoughts make it. Look beneath the surface of things. When the billows of the sea are angry, and foam and dash themselves, there is serenity in their unseen deeps.”
“Thou must account thyself a philosopher as well as a son of Israel.”
“Daughter of Benoni! I am a Jew; but the Chosen People are not the sole possessors of wisdom. It aboundeth through all the earth, but only they who seek it for its own sake taste of its fulness.”
They passed out through the west Temple gate of the outer court, and down the long flight of steps along the slope of Mount Moriah. The steep descent caused Rebecca again to grow dizzy from faintness, and she leaned upon Serenus for support. He put his arm about her to save her from falling, and thus they made their way as rapidly as possible toward the Sheepmarket. As they entered a narrow street, they met, face to face, a young woman moving with a rapid step in the opposite [pg 149]direction. She gave Serenus a slight salutation, and quickly passed by. He was still supporting Rebecca, and was startled at the recognition. It was Amabel.