Each of the mourners had a book in his hand and read the Lamentations of Jeremiah, swaying back and forth as he did so. Now and then the whole party broke out into a chant, a gray-haired rabbi acting as leader and the rest coming in on the refrain. The substance of one of the chants was as follows: O Lord, we pray thee have mercy on Zion, Gather the children of Jerusalem together! May the kingdom soon return to Zion! Comfort those who mourn over Jerusalem, And let the branch of Jesse spring up in Zion! Still more affecting was this one: _Leader_—For the palace that lies desolate. _Response_—We sit in solitude and mourn. _Leader_—For our Majesty that is departed. _Response_—We sit in solitude and mourn. _Leader_—For the walls that are destroyed. _Response_—We sit in solitude and mourn. _Leader_—For our great men who lie dead. _Response_—We sit in solitude and mourn. _Leader_—For our priests who have stumbled. _Response_—We sit in solitude and mourn. The effect of this chant cannot be appreciated unless you hear it. The old men, the weeping women who kiss the stones of the wall that separates them from what was once the site of Solomon’s Temple, and that is even now the holiest spot on the earth to the Jew, the genuine feeling expressed by all and the faith they show in thus coming here week after week and year after year, are most wonderfully impressive. It is indeed one of the strange sights of this strangest of cities. A nation is mourned for. [Illustration: Many learned Jews come to end their days in the Holy City. The raggedest man may be the greatest scholar. Some of them have returned from America whence their successful sons send funds for their support in the land of their fathers] [Illustration: The Tower of David was standing here when Christ walked in Zion. Jerusalem, like other ancient cities, was surrounded by walls for its defence, with towers here and there along their course] CHAPTER XI THE EVIL EYE The Evil Eye is abroad in the Holy Land, and a glance from it will bring you misfortune. It will lame your horse, cow, or camel, and it may cause your child to sicken or die. It can ruin your health or your business, and it may even send your soul to eternal damnation. Those who possess the evil eye are devils incarnate, but you cannot tell who they are. They go about in the shape of innocent-looking men, women, and children, so you will not realize that their spells have been cast upon you until misfortune comes.