These interesting remains of the Stone Age are found east of the Jordan in the Druse country. These doors are slabs of black basalt; they turn on pivots let into sockets in the upper and lower lintels. When struck they ring clear as a bell. Some doors still in use are nine feet high and six feet wide. Unfortunately, these ancient remains are being destroyed to give way to more modern fittings. At Castle Frank, Toronto, is a tomb with stone doors, like those shown in the cut. The hill on the left side is Golgotha, i.e., the place of a skull. On the right is the north wall of Jerusalem. The road leads to Jericho, and was traversed by Mr. Forder when attempting to enter Arabia. hours on the spot; his left leg was broken and the bone badly splintered. When able to travel he returned home with his leg unusable by reason of the bone being badly set. He went to the hospital, had his leg opened, the bone broken down, some pieces taken out, and the limb properly adjusted. Some advised him to give up his futile mission to Arabia, for surely providence was against him, but the evangelization of Ishmael and the redemption of Arabia seemed laid upon his heart and conscience. He Through the wild region of Es-Salt. (Ramoth-Gilead), Gerash and Bashan he fared forth, his chief luggage being a supply of Arabic Bibles or parts of the Bible. The castle of Sulkhud was held by a Turkish garrison. wished to steal past the castle in the night, but was unable. Next day, under the protection of a dense fog, he passed the guard-house of the soldiers. Five minutes later the fog disappeared, but the peril was past. Christmas Day was spent without fuel and without food in a rude shack, in falling snow and rain, on a hard floor on a straw mat filled with vermin. But undeterred by disaster and difficulty he pressed on. He joined at last a caravan of sixteen hundred camels and was soon in full swing with the moving mass. The journey was made under high pressure. He rode thirty-eight hours with only half an These ancient remains of the Stone Age are on the edge of the desert, south-cast of Damascus. How Mr. Forder passed this place in the fog is told in our story. Turkish obstruction hinders modern travellers from visiting these interesting ruins. hour's stop, but he had reached at last the great Arab town of Kaf, the goal of years of effort. 666 Why will you stay with these cursed people?' they asked me. "They will surely kill you because you are a Christian.' Never shall I forget the feeling of loneliness that came over me as I made my way back to that room. Everybody about me strangers-not only nationally, but religiously, and, as I well knew, of a kind not favorable to Christians. The thought that I was the only Christian in the whole district was one that I cannot well describe." It was stony ground in which to labor. "If you are a Christian," said an old sheik, "go and sit among the cattle." He found comfort in these words: "The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; he shall preserve thy soul." He tried to join a caravan leading to the Arab town of Jow.f. Said the chief, "You will never leave here alive, and if you did and reached Jowf, you would surely be killed. This is the land of the Moslem; no Christians come here; you are our enemy and the enemy of God." It was an amazement to the women especially that he should leave his wife and family just to tell the people of the Saviour. "We women," they said, "are no better than our camels or donkeys; we have no souls, when we die there is an end of us." The ten days' journey through the desert to Jowf was one of extreme hardship. For five days they found no water, and had but a scanty supply of bread. "We ofttimes saw skeletons of camels on the sand, and twice saw human remains. On coming across a skull one day, the men called my attention to it and tried to impress me with the fact that it was a Christian's skull-one that like myself had ventured into the land of the Moslem, but had Not long after the cadi was injured by a falling wall. His leg was broken. and he was cut and badly bruised. As he lay on the sand of the courtyard of his castle some one remarked, "This is the Christian's doing; he must have been out and looked at the tower and affected it so that it has fallen; it is the beginning of evil." This was like a spark to a keg of gunpowder. It was quickly agreed to be his doing, and the cry was raised, "Let us kill the Christian." As he stood at the gate of the court he saw the crowd come round the corner, and heard the yell," Kill him, kill him, the Christian, the Christian!" They had clubs and daggers, and some revolvers. On they came nearer and nearer. He did not run away; to have done so might have meant death, and would have appeared as if he had done. something." The present writer at Hebron and Mount Gerizim has been spat at and cursed for "a dog of a Christian," and pelted with sticks and stones by fanatical Moslems and Samaritans. me. "When they got within eighty yards of me, Providence interposed. Three men came from behind and ranged themselves in front of me, crying out, with their revolvers in their hands, 'Not one of you come near this Christian.' The crowd stopped, and I was slowly backed into my room, the three men remaining at the door. The crowd soon melted away, and my deliverers came in to I thanked them for their kind and ready help and asked what led them to act as they did. Their answer was a good one. "We have been to India and have seen Christians there, and know that they work harm to no man; we have also seen the effect of the English rule in that land and in Egypt, and we will always help Christians when we can; we wish the English would come here; Christians are better than Moslems. These people of Jowf are ignorant of the ways of Christians and would have killed you if we had not come along and defended you."" We have not space to follow in detail all Mr. Forder's adventures and hair-breadth escapes. One would need, it would seem, to be endowed with as many lives as a cat to carry on missionary work among the rough and reckless Bedouin. But fever and semi-starvation, perils by robbers and ruffians, did not deter him. When a prisoner, and money was demanded for his release, he had none to offer, for all had been taken from him, as well as his shoes, kettle, soap, comb, towel, underclothes-almost possessions. all his At last he made his way across the desert to Damascus, which seemed an earthly paradise after his prolonged sufferings. He was heartily welcomed at the British consulate, and after a nine days' ride at length rejoined his family in Jerusalem. He rejoiced that in his long and perilous journey two hundred and fifty Arabic Scriptures were sold or distributed among these hitherto neglected people, hundreds of leaflets and booklets given away, and many hundreds heard the Word of Life. Mr. W. N. Hartshorn, the enthusiastic promoter of the Sunday school pilgrimage of 1904, has published this book in the interest of Mr. Forder and his mission, and of the education of his three children. Undaunted by disaster, this intrepid missionary looks forward confidently in the hope that "Arabia's desert ranger to Him shall bow the knee," "the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts, the dwellers in the desert shall bow before him." He cherishes the purpose of returning to the work in which he has devoted so much time and toil. Doors long closed, he says, are slowly opening; every year will make such work easier, and every journey will mean less opposition, and the more seen by the Arabs of Protestant Christianity in contrast to the Christianity of the Orient, so much more will misunderstanding, prejudice and fanaticism lessen. We strongly commend this book for all our Sunday-school and church libraries and for private purchase. It would make an admirable holiday gift book. It is handsomely illustrated and bound, with folding map showing the missionary's travels. Any persons wishing to contribute to his work may address Mr. A. Forder, care of the British Consul, Jerusalem, Palestine, or Mr. W. N. Hartshorn, 120 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass. |