CHAPTER XXV.

FROM BEYROUT TO THE CEDARS OF LEBANON.

Landing at Beyrout—Escape from Death—Thankful Hearts—Seed Planted—Desire Springs up—Bud of Hope—Golden Fruit—“By God’s Help”—Preparations—New Traveling Companions—Employing a Dragoman—A Many-Sided Man Required to Make a Successful Traveler—“Equestrian Pilgrims”—A Great Caravan—Ships of the Desert—Preparations for War—A Dangerous Mishap—National Hymn—Journey Begun—Mulberry Trees—Fig-Leaf Dresses—An Inspiring Conversation—The Language of Balaam—City of Tents—General Rejoicing—Tidings of Sadness—Welcome News—First Night in Tents—Sabbath Day’s Rest—Johnson and his Grandmother—A Wedding Procession—Johnson Delighted—Brides Bought and Sold—Increase in Price—Inferiority of Woman—Multiplicity of Wives—Folding of Tents—Camel Pasture—Leave Damascus Road—Noah’s Tomb, Eighty-Five Feet Long—Perilous Ascent—Brave Woman—“If I Die, Carry Me on to the Top”—The Cedars at Last—Emotions Stirred—“The Righteous Grow like the Cedars of Lebanon”—Amnon. Page, 250