"'Let me remain with thee, Divine Messias,' I said.
"'Thou believest, then, that I am he?' he answered, regarding me with love.
"I replied by casting myself at his desert-parched feet, and bathing them with my tears. He raised me and said, 'Go thy way presently. When the time of my fasting and temptation is past, I will see thee again.'
"'Nay, I will not leave thee,' I asserted.
"'If thou lovest me, beloved, thou wilt obey me,' he answered, with a tone of gentle reproof.
"'But thou wilt first eat of the bread I have brought, and drink of the water,' I entreated.
"'Thou knowest not what temptation thou art offering to me,' he replied, sadly. 'Thou hast not enough for thine own needs. Go, and leave me to gain the victory over Satan, the prince of this world, for which I was led by the Spirit thither.'
"I once more cast myself at his feet, and he lifted me up, kissing me, and sent me away. Oh, you would not have known him! Worn and emaciated by long abstinence, weak through suffering, he looked but the shadow of himself. He could not have lived thus if there had not been a divine power within to sustain him! His existence so long, for he had been in the desert five weeks without food when I found him, was a miracle in itself, proving the power of God to be in him."
"For what mighty work among men is God preparing him?" said Rabbi Amos, with emotion. "Surely he is a prophet come from God."