ine and water, which seemed to soothe him,
and feeling he could do no more he sat down by the bedside to wait for
Esora. A few minutes after he heard her steps and she came into the
cottage with balsam and bandages in a basket, divining before any
examination Jesus' state. He is in a bad way; you've given him wine and
water, but he'll need something stronger, and, taking a bottle from her
basket, she lifted Jesus' head so that he might drink from it. It will
help him to bear the pain of the dressing, she said. Now, Master, will
you roll him over on to his side, so that I may see his back. The pain,
she said, looking up, when we remove this cloth on which you have laid
him will almost kill him, but we must get it off. The water with which
I'll cleanse the wound, you'll find it in that basket: it is cool enough
now to use. Take him by the wrists and pull him forward, keeping him in
a sitting position. Which Joseph did, Esora washing his back the while
and removing the splinters that Joseph missed overnight. And, taking
pleasure in her ministrations, she steeped a piece of linen in the balm,
and over the medicated linen laid a linen pad, rolling a bandage round
the chest; and the skill with which she wound it surprised Joseph and
persuaded him that the worst was over and there was no cause for further
fear, a confidence Esora did not share. He'll rest easier, she said, and
will suffer no pain at the next dressing; for the oil will prevent the
balm from sticking. We can roll him on his back now, and without asking
any question she dressed his hands and feet.

Joseph thanked her inwardly for her reticence, and he nailed up the fine
linen cloth before the window, saying: now he is secure from the flies.
But one or two have got in already, Esora answered, and one or two will
trouble the sick man as much as a hundred. We can't leave him alone;
one of us must watch by his side; for he is still delirious and knows
not yet what has befallen him nor where he is. If he were to return to
clear reason and find the door locked he might lose his reason for good
and all, and if we left the door open he might run out into the garden.
It isn't safe to leave him.

And perceiving all she said to be sound sense, Joseph took counsel with
her, and his resolve was that the two men-servants should remain in
their house till the sunset That I should send them away to Jericho on
my own horses will surprise them, he said to himself, but that can't b