What an evening that was for the Boy! His first sight of the holy city, the city of the great king, the city lifted up and exalted on the sides of the north, beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth! He had dreamed of her glory as he listened at his mother's knee to the wonder-tales of David and Solomon and the brave adventures of the fighting Maccabees. He had prayed for the peace of Jerusalem every night as he kneeled by his bed and lifted his hands toward the holy place. He had tried a thousand times to picture her strength and her splendor, her marvels and mysteries, her multitude of houses and her vast bulwarks, as he strayed among the humble cottages of Nazareth or sat in the low doorway of his own home. Now his dream had come true. He looked into the face of Jerusalem, just across the deep, narrow valley of the Kidron, where the shadows of the evening were rising among the tombs. The huge battlemented walls, encircling the double mounts of Zion and Moriah--the vast huddle of white houses, covering hill and hollow with their flat roofs and standing so close together that the streets were hidden among them--the towers, the colonnades, the terraces--the dark bulk of the Roman castle--the marble pillars and glittering roof of the Temple in its broad court on the hilltop--it was a city of stone and ivory and gold, rising clear against the soft saffron and rose and violet of the sunset sky. The Boy sat with his mother on the hillside while the light waned, and the lamps began to twinkle in the city, the stars to glow in the deepening blue. He questioned her eagerly--what is that black tower?--why does the big roof shine so bright?--where was King David's house?--where are we going to-morrow? “To-morrow,” she answered, “you will see. But now it is the sleep-time. Let us sing the psalm that we used to sing at night in Nazareth--but very softly, not to disturb the others--for you know this psalm is not one of the songs of the pilgrimage.” So the mother and her Child sang together with low voices: “In peace will I both lay me down and sleep, For thou, Lord, makest me dwell in safety.” The tune and the words quieted the Boy. It was like a bit of home in a far land. II. THE GILDED TEMPLE The next day was full of wonder and excitement. It was the first day of the Feast, and the myriad of pilgrims crowded through the gates and streets of the city, all straining toward the enclosure of the Temple, within whose walls two hundred thousand people could be gathered. On every side the Boy saw new and strange things: soldiers in their armor, and shops full of costly wares; richly dressed Sadducees with their servants following; Jews from far-away countries, and curious visitors from all parts of the world; ragged children of the city, and painted women of the street, and beggars and outcasts of the lower quarters, and rich ladies with their retinues, and priests in their snowy robes.