I have spent some time tracing the footsteps of St. Paul, the apostle. You will remember that he was one of the Jewish officials, and was “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord” when he got the high priest to give him letters to the synagogues of Damascus, that he might bring such Christians as he found there to Jerusalem for trial. He was on his way here and was not far from the city when the light from heaven shone round him and blinded him, and the Lord said unto him: I am Jesus whom thou persecutest; it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. You remember how the blind Paul, or Saul, as he was then called, was led into Damascus to the house of a man named Ananias, not the husband of Sapphira, however, or any associate of the champion liar of history. You recall, how, when he came there, he again received his sight and, being converted, was baptized. It was the house of this Ananias, according to Shammas and the guide books, that I visited the other day. I found the Ananias of the present by no means averse to a small gift of silver. He took all my spare change and then asked for more. I later discovered that the authenticity of the house is questioned and there is another Ananias house, which is now used as a chapel. I looked for the house of Naaman the Syrian, and was shown an old building occupied by lepers. It was in the Street called Straight that Ananias met Paul. This is one of the principal highways of the Damascus of to-day. It leads from the chief gate on the south to the bazaars and is about the only straight street in the city. It goes right through Damascus and is so wide that two or three carriages can pass on it. It is the centre of traffic, and while there I saw caravans of camels, donkeys, and horses bringing in and taking out all kinds of goods. One line of camels was loaded with poplar trees as long as telegraph poles. The ends of the poles dragged in the road as they walked. Behind them came donkeys with panniers of green cucumbers and horses loaded with baskets of Jaffa oranges, each as big as the head of a baby. A mule followed the horses. It was loaded with butter from the interior packed in black leather bottles of the shape and size of a tin dinner bucket. St. Paul had a lively time in Damascus. He preached in the synagogue and confounded the Jews. After a while the Jews took counsel to kill him, and they watched the gates day and night for that purpose. It was then that his friends took him by night and let him down over the wall in a basket. This very place is now shown, and I have made a photograph of the spot. The wall is a great structure of stone with a mud parapet on top. There is a house on the top of the wall at the place indicated. This has windows with great bars across them, and it is very easy to imagine how St. Paul might have been let down from such a place when he made his escape. CHAPTER XXVI SHOPPING IN THE STREET CALLED STRAIGHT