He questioned Jesus, but Jesus
could not answer him; and there seemed to be no other way but to carry
him in his arms out of the tomb, place him on the rock, and from thence
hoist him on to his shoulders.

Jesus was carried more easily than he thought for, as easily carried as
a child for the first hundred yards, nor did he weigh much heavier for
the next, but before three hundred yards were over Joseph began to look
round for a rock against which he might rest his burden.

One of the hardships of this journey was that howsoever he held Jesus he
seemed to cause him great pain, and he guessed by the feel that the body
was wounded in many places; but the stars did not show sufficient light
for him to see where not to grasp it, and he sat in the pathway,
resting Jesus across his knees, thinking of a large rock within sight of
his own gates and how he would lean Jesus against it, if he managed to
carry him so far. He stopped at sight of something, something seemed to
slink through the pale, diffused shadows in and out of the rocks up the
hillside, and Joseph thought of a midnight wolf. The wolves did not
venture as near the city, but--Whatever Joseph saw with his eyes, or
fancied he saw, did not appear again, and he picked up his load,
thinking of the hopeless struggle it would be between him and a grey
wolf burdened as he was. He could not do else than leave Jesus to be
eaten, and his fear of wolf and hyena so exhausted him that he nearly
toppled at the next halt. A fall would be fatal to Jesus, and Joseph
asked himself how he would lift Jesus on to his shoulder again. He did
not think that he could manage it, but he did, and staggered to the
gates; but no sooner had he laid his burden down than he remembered that
he could not ascend the stairs without noise. The gardener's cottage is
empty; I will carry him thither. The very place, Joseph said, as he
paused for breath by the gate-post. I must send away the two
men-servants, he continued, one to Galilee and the other to Jericho. The
truth cannot be kept from Esora. I need her help: I can depend upon her
to cure Jesus of his wounds and keep the young girl in the house,
forbidding her the garden while Jesus is in the cottage. The danger of
dismissal would be too great, she would carry the story or part of it to
Jerusalem, it would spread like oil, and in a few days, in a few weeks
certainly, the Pharisees would be sending their agents to search the
house. With Jesus hoisted