"It is a matter of religion with them," said the Doctor, "and also of family pride. Doubtless you could get one tribe to make an end of its feuds if another would do so _first_; but the great difficulty is to find the one who will be the first to act. These blood-feuds may be said to be commanded by the Koran, and they existed in the time of the Old Testament. In fact, they were so numerous that the children of Israel appointed six cities where any person who had killed another 'unawares and unwittingly' might take refuge from the avenger of blood. These cities are named in the twentieth chapter of Joshua, and there is a fuller account of the customs of the time in this matter of blood revenge in the nineteenth chapter of Deuteronomy. We are approaching one of the cities of refuge, and shall spend the night there. Nabulus is the ancient Shechem, which was one of the six places to which I just referred." [Illustration: ROOF OF A HOUSE IN NABULUS.] They were on the crest of a ridge looking down upon a plain bounded on its farthest side by a broken chain of mountains. In an opening between two mountains the guide indicated the position of Nabulus, and far to the north was Mount Hermon; Gerizim and Ebal were the two mountains between which lay Nabulus, and the rays of the declining sun bathed them with golden light of that peculiar richness rarely seen away from the tropics. The hills around the plain were terraced with orchards of olive-trees, while the broad stretch of level ground had every indication of fertility. Taken as a whole, the scene was one of the prettiest that our friends had looked upon since leaving Egypt. "We are in the land of Ephraim," said the Doctor, "and you can realize how much Ephraim was blessed in comparison with Judah and Benjamin. The soil is more fertile, and the inhabitants have an easier life of it than in the neighboring districts: what was true of it in the days of the patriarchs is true at present. Ephraim is indeed blessed with 'the good things of the ancient mountains.'" As they descended to the plain and crossed it in the direction of Nabulus there was a manifest impatience on the part of the youths. The guide had told them they were coming to Jacob's Well, and their curiosity was roused to its highest point. They found a cistern about ten feet square hewn in the solid rock; the recent rains had partly filled it, but the guide said it was generally dry in summer. Its depth is about eighty feet, but was formerly much greater. A church was built over it at the time of the Crusades, but it is now in ruins, and a considerable part of the material is supposed to have fallen into the well. Night was approaching. The lengthening shadows warned our friends not to tarry long on their way; but they rested while Doctor Bronson read in his clear, impressive voice the fourth chapter of John, containing the beautiful story of Jesus at the well of Jacob, and his conversation with the woman of Samaria.