ls and delicacies favorite in the
East--in cakes hot from the oven, vegetables from the gardens,
meats singly, compounds of meats and vegetables, milk of kine,
and honey and butter--all eaten or drunk, it should be remarked,
without any of the modern accessories--knives, forks, spoons,
cups, or plates; and in this part of the repast but little was
said, for they were hungry. But when the dessert was in course it
was otherwise. They laved their hands again, had the lap-cloths
shaken out, and with a renewed table and the sharp edge of their
appetites gone they were disposed to talk and listen.

With such a company--an Arab, a Jew, and an Egyptian, all believers
alike in one God--there could be at that age but one subject of
conversation; and of the three, which should be speaker but he to
whom the Deity had been so nearly a personal appearance, who had
seen him in a star, had heard his voice in direction, had been led
so far and so miraculously by his Spirit? And of what should he
talk but that of which he had been called to testify?

CHAPTER XV

The shadows cast over the Orchard of Palms by the mountains at
set of sun left no sweet margin time of violet sky and drowsing
earth between the day and night. The latter came early and swift;
and against its glooming in the tent this evening the servants
brought four candlesticks of brass, and set them by the corners
of the table. To each candlestick there were four branches, and on
each branch a lighted silver lamp and a supply cup of olive-oil.
In light ample, even brilliant, the group at dessert continued
their conversation, speaking in the Syriac dialect, familiar to
all peoples in that part of the world.

The Egyptian told his story of the meeting of the three in
the desert, and agreed with the sheik that it was in December,
twenty-seven years before, when he and his companions fleeing from
Herod arrived at the tent praying shelter. The narrative was heard
with intense interest; even the servants lingering when they could
to catch its details. Ben-Hur received it as became a man listening
to a revelation of deep concern to all humanity, and to none of
more concern than the people of Israel. In his mind, as we shall
presently see, there was crystallizing an idea which was to change
his course of life, if not absorb it absolutely.

As the recital proceeded, the impression made by Balthasar upon
the young Jew increased; at its conclusion, his feeling was too
pr