CHAPTER XXXIII—THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, AND SHRINE OF THE CITY OF DAVID
A Snow-Storm in Jerusalem—The “Doubter’s” Opinion of Gum-Shoes—Kicked by a Vicious Horse—An Obliging Moslem—A Guard of Turks—Bloodthirsty Christians—An Extraordinary Shrine—The Angel’s Seat—The Quarrels of the Greek and Latin Monks—A Spot of Marvels—The Soil Pressed by the Feet of Christ—Strange Traditions—The Discovery of the True Cross—The Spot where Peter Denied his Lord—The Scene of the Last Supper—What a Wealthy Jew Did—The Man who was his own Father—The “Good Thief”—Extracting Sixpence from the “Doubter”—A Pertinacious Guide—Trying to Elude Pursuit—. A Claim for Damages—Loading Up with Oranges—Talking in Four Languages.
AS we lay in bed all that afternoon at Jerusalem, the snow continued falling and the wind blew, so that the place was anything but cheerful. By sundown there were four inches of snow, the most—so the hotel-keeper said—that had been seen there in fifteen years. During the night it changed to rain, and in the morning the streets were as “sloshy” as could well be imagined. The pool of Hezekiah, just back of the hotel, contained a strange mixture of snow, ice, and water, and did not accord with the description of it as made by summer visitors.