"Before we left the grotto we had an opportunity of seeing how the different sects regard each other. The Latins were holding a service at the Altar of the Nativity, and while they were engaged at it the stairway on the right, which belongs to the Greeks and Armenians, was crowded with the monks of those orders. Their manner was anything but reverential; during the service they whispered and laughed, and several times their laughter was not only visible but audible across the grotto to where we stood. "One thing that jarred heavily on our feelings was the presence of two Turkish soldiers with bayonets fixed on their rifles; they belonged to the guard that has charge of the church, and two of them are constantly on duty in the Grotto of the Nativity, and close to the altar. The rest of the company was above in the church, and ready to be called upon at any moment to quell a disturbance. While the Latins were holding their service the men on duty were relieved: the tramp of the soldiers down the stairs and along the grotto, together with the clash and clang of their weapons, sounded strangely with the chant of the monks paying homage to the founder of our religion. Isn't it dreadful to think that only by force can order be maintained in this holy place?" [Illustration: THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.] CHAPTER XXV. FROM BETHLEHEM TO MAR SABA AND THE DEAD SEA. Another visit was paid to the Church of the Nativity on the following morning, and then the party took a stroll through the streets of Bethlehem while the tents and baggage were being packed for removal to the next camping-ground. A little before noon they started for a ride to the Convent of Mar Saba, halting for a few moments to look at the well for whose waters King David longed when he was in the Cave of Adullum. They stopped at the Grotto of the Shepherds, the place where the keepers of the flocks were told of the coming of Christ. Frank and Fred thought it a little singular that the shepherds should have been watching in a grotto when their flocks would naturally be above-ground, and they ought to be near their flocks. The Doctor said this was the spot where tradition asserted that the shepherds were told of the coming of Christ; there was a church and monastery there for several centuries, and it was not until the time of the Crusades that any mention was made of a grotto. The authorities are pretty fairly agreed as to the locality, and it is hardly worth our while to make any objections. The custodian of the place brought the key, and they descended the steps leading to the cavern. The place is fitted up as a chapel, and contains a dozen or more paintings and several fragments of ancient mosaics. There are a few broken columns and other remains of the old church, but, aside from its historical interest, the place is by no means remarkable.