ever was there a message more directly
given to mortal man from his God than that message to us. From almost
the first verse my whole soul seemed flooded with a great peace; all
trace of panic vanished; and I felt God's presence was with us. Indeed,
his presence was so real it could scarcely have been more so had we seen
a visible form.

After prayer we all got on our carts, and one by one passed out into the
densely crowded street. As we approached the city gate we could see that
the road was black with crowds awaiting us. I had just remarked to my
husband on how well we were getting through the crowds, when our carts
passed through the gates. My husband turned pale as he pointed to a
group of several hundred men, fully armed, awaiting us. They waited till
all the carts had passed through the gate, then hurled down upon us a
shower of stones, at the same time rushing forward and maiming or
killing some of the animals. Mr. Goforth jumped down from our cart and
cried to them, "Take everything, but don't kill." His only answer was a
blow. The confusion that followed was so great it would be impossible to
describe the escape of each one in detail. Each one later had his or her
own testimony of that mighty and merciful deliverance. But I must give
the details of Mr. Goforth's experience.

One man struck him a blow on the neck with a great sword wielded with
two hands. "Somehow" the blunt edge of the sword struck his neck; the
blow left a wide mark almost around his neck, but did no further harm.
Had the sharp edge struck his neck he would certainly have been
beheaded!

His thick helmet was cut almost to pieces, one blow cutting through the
leather lining _just over the temple_, but without even scratching the
skin!

Again he was felled to the ground, with a fearful sword cut, which
entered the bone of the skull behind and almost cleft it in two. As he
fell he seemed to hear distinctly a voice saying, "Fear not, they are
praying for you." Rising from this blow, he was again struck down by a
club. As he was falling almost unconscious to the ground he saw a horse
coming at full speed toward him; when he became conscious again he found
the horse had tripped and fallen (on level ground) so near that its tail
almost touched him. The animal, kicking furiously, had served as a
barrier between him and his assailants. While dazed and not knowing what
to do a man came up as if to strike, but whispered, "Leave the carts."
By that