only a heap of white bones
in the sand.

But, as he turned, a long, faint, ghostly sigh came from the man's lips.
The brown, bony fingers closed convulsively on the hem of the Magian's
robe and held him fast.

Artaban's heart leaped to his throat, not with fear, but with a dumb
resentment at the importunity of this blind delay. How could he stay
here in the darkness to minister to a dying stranger? What claim had
this unknown fragment of human life upon his compassion or his service?
If he lingered but for an hour he could hardly reach Borsippa at the
appointed time. His companions would think he had given up the journey.
They would go without him. He would lose his quest.

But if he went on now, the man would surely die. If he stayed, life
might be restored. His spirit throbbed and fluttered with the urgency of
the crisis. Should he risk the great reward of his divine faith for the
sake of a single deed of human love? Should he turn aside, if only for a
moment, from the following of the star, to give a cup of cold water to a
poor, perishing Hebrew?

"God of truth and purity," he prayed, "direct me in the holy path, the
way of wisdom which Thou only knowest."

Then he turned back to the sick man. Loosening the grasp of his hand, he
carried him to a little mound at the foot of the palm-tree. He unbound
the thick folds of the turban and opened the garment above the sunken
breast. He brought water from one of the small canals near by, and
moistened the sufferer's brow and mouth. He mingled a draught of one of
those simple but potent remedies which he carried always in his
girdle--for the Magians were physicians as well as astrologers--and
poured it slowly between the colourless lips. Hour after hour he labored
as only a skilful healer of disease can do; and, at last, the man's
strength returned; he sat up and looked about him.

"Who art thou?" he said, in the rude dialect of the country, "and why
hast thou sought me here to bring back my life?"

"I am Artaban the Magian, of the city of Ecbatana, and I am going to
Jerusalem in search of one who is to be born King of the Jews, a great
Prince and Deliverer for all men. I dare not delay any longer upon my
journey, for the caravan that has waited for me may depart without me.
But see, here is all that I have left of bread and wine, and here is a
potion of healing herbs. When thy strength is restored thou can'st
find the dwellings of the Hebrews among the houses of Baby