"You are not well, I fear," she said, placing her fair hand upon his white brow, and putting back the hair from his temples. "You have been long away, and are weary and ill."
"Weary, Mary? I shall never complain of weariness again, after what I have beheld."
"What have you seen?" I asked.
"Jesus in the desert; and when I remember him there, I shall forget to smile more."
"You have found him, then?" I eagerly asked.
"Yes, after days of painful search. I found him in the very center of the Desert of Ashes, where foot of man had never trodden before. I saw him upon his knees, and heard his voice in prayer. I laid down the sack of bread and fishes and the skin of water I had brought with me to succor him, and with awe drew near where he stood.
"As I came closer to him, I heard him groan in spirit, and he seemed to be borne down to the earth by some mortal agony. He was, as it were, talking to some invisible evil beings who assailed him.
"'Rabbi, good Master,' I said, 'I have brought thee food and water. Pardon me if I have intruded upon thy awful loneliness, which is sacred to some deep grief; but I weep with thee for thy woes, and in all thy afflictions I am afflicted. Eat, that thou mayest have strength to endure thy mysterious sufferings.'
"He turned his pale countenance full upon me, and extended towards me his emaciated hands, while he smiled faintly, and blessed me and said:
"'Son, thou art very dear to me. Thou shalt one day be afflicted for me, but not now, and then understand wherefore I am now a sufferer in the desert.'