The face of the older man suddenly became gray and drawn and he went on talking, but as if to himself: “Neither king nor people remember that Jehovah is their refuge, a very present help in trouble. Yet will not the son of Jezebel hearken nor the people whose minds the priests of Baal hath darkened.” He stood silent a moment, then stretched out his arms over the parapet, toward the panoramic view of the city and valley below.
“O Israel, that ye would consider and know that the Lord is good and that thy strength cometh from him, whose servant I am!”
His head sank upon his breast in meditation, but ere long he roused himself and spoke with decision: “We have waited many days, Gehazi. Now shall they see the salvation of the Lord of Hosts. Do thou send to the palace and say to the young King Jehoram, ‘Wherefore hast thou rent thy garments? Let this man, Naaman, come now to me and he shall know that there is a God in Israel and I, his prophet.’”
Gehazi again bowed low, murmuring some words of assent, after which he remembered to speak of the visitor below.
“A stranger, my master, is without the gate, desiring to talk with the seer. He giveth his name as Isaac of Damascus, a soldier. Shall I bid him enter?”
“Knowest thou his voice, Gehazi?”
“Nay, my master, but it hath the ring of sincerity.”
“Then shall he be admitted. Doubtless he cometh with this Syrian, Naaman, and seeketh me to inquire of the Lord concerning him. I await him here.”
Gehazi leisurely descended the stairs, crossed the courtyard, opened the gate and received the visitor within. Isaac’s sandals having been left outside, Gehazi brought forth a basin over which the young man held first his hands and then his feet while the servant, from the ewer which he held, poured water over them. Isaac then wiped off the water with the towel which hung from the other’s girdle.
Gehazi now disappeared and a moment later set before the stranger a little bread and wine. This was partaken of with the audible satisfaction which Eastern etiquette demanded—the smacking of lips which told of the pleasure conferred by this attention.