_JONAH_ _Books by ROBERT NATHAN_ [Illustration] AUTUMN: _A novel_ THE PUPPET MASTER: _A novel_ YOUTH GROWS OLD: _A book of verse_ JONAH :: :: _by_ ROBERT NATHAN ROBERT M. McBRIDE & COMPANY NEW YORK :: :: :: :: :: 1925 JONAH BY ROBERT NATHAN WAS FIRST PRINTED AND PUBLISHED IN NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND IS COPYRIGHTED NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE BY ROBERT M. MC BRIDE AND COMPANY _To_ ALICE AND ARTHUR CARNS JONAH I In those days there were prophets in Israel. They lived in the desert, beyond the Jordan, in caves and in rude huts made of clay and mats. There were many holy men among them, whose ears had been pierced by the sweetness of God’s voice and whose eyes had been dazzled by the fiery appearance of His angels. They were like the saints to whom in later times the Virgin Mary used to come with eyes melting with tenderness, and who used to perform such astonishing miracles in the desert near Thebes. Theirs was an holy and severe life, made anxious by the sins of the Jews, whose punishment they prophesied in tones of great bitterness and haunting sadness. Surrounded by gloomy rocks, they beheld visions, and conversed with angels. They shared their meals with the lions of the desert, with such birds and beasts as foxes, gazelles, snakes, mice, and ravens. Many of these were holy beings; more than human, but less than divine, they were obliged to eat, and devoured with shy and reverent looks the food set apart for Jehovah. It was a life of poverty, of danger, and of glory. In the silence of the desert the prophets drew together in an austere community. Those returning from lands across the Jordan brought back news to the Schools. It was said that Amos of Tekoa had spoken at Bethel; standing in the presence of King Jeroboam, surrounded by the proudest nobles, he had prophesied the doom of Israel. Two angels attended him while he spoke, and collected the drops of moisture which fell from his brow. Thereafter an earthquake, followed by a drought, destroyed the crops of Israel and Judah. When Jonah, the prophet, heard this news, he left his hut in Golan, and taking his stick and a gourd filled with water, set his face southward toward the Land of Tob. He walked from dawn to dusk; his thoughts were grave, and his expression serious. As evening fell he found himself beside a little pool in the desert; here he sat down to rest. The sky was green with early night; the evening star, smaller than the moon and silver as a distant sea, sailed above Sharon. Before him lay the desert, heavy with silence, drenched with the cold dew of evening. Jonah shivered, and drew his cloak closer about him. As he sat there, his head bowed upon his hand, a fox came out of a hole and, seeing Jonah, exclaimed, “There is the man of God.”