Some of the priests went with us down the steps to the well. It lies right in the floor of the chapel and is about three feet in diameter, built up with stones. One of the monks brought a pan tied to a rope in such a way that it remained level. Upon this he placed a lighted candle and then slowly lowered it into the well. It descended perhaps sixty feet before it came to the water. The sill of the well is of marble and shows the marks of the ropes which for ages have been let down into it. It is some distance above the floor and may have been the original stone upon which Christ sat at that weary hour of noon. Jacob’s Well has been known and visited by pilgrims for many years. It probably used to be even with the surface of the earth, but the débris and earth-washings from the mountains near by have filled up the valley, and it is now considerably below the present ground level. Excavations have uncovered in the garden the remains of a church which was built over the well some fifteen hundred years ago. I found immense granite columns lying in the garden as well as many pieces of the stone wall of the church. While I was here a party of travellers conducted by one of the great tourist agencies arrived. They were Americans “doing” the Holy Land at so much per day, and they were bound to get the worth of their money. One I shall never forget. He had such a gigantic frame that I shall call him Goliath. When the party went down to the well the services in the chapel had just begun, and after pointing out the hole in the floor, the guide brought them out. As they came into the churchyard I heard Goliath remark: “I ain’t satisfied.” “About what?” said the guide. “I ain’t satisfied about that well. How do I know there’s a well there?” “You saw it,” said the guide. “Naw, I only saw a hole in the floor. How do I know there’s a well? How do I know it has water? I tell you I ain’t satisfied. Here I come five thousand miles to see Jacob’s Well, and how can I prove that I’ve saw it?” The man protested so much that the guide took him back, stopped the service, and had them let down the candle. Further than that, he brought up some of the water which Goliath drank at a gulp. I have run across this huge doubting Thomas before on the trip. He would not believe in the spot where our Lord was baptized in the Jordan, saying that the banks were too steep, and that if he couldn’t crawl down them no one, not even John the Baptist, could do so.