E-li-jah said, Thou dost ask a hard thing. But if thou dost see me when the Lord takes me from thee, then it shall be so. But if thou dost not see, then it shall not be so. So they went on, and while they yet spoke, there came a great light in the sky, and the clouds took on strange forms. And E-li-jah was caught up as if by a whirl-wind, and E-li-sha cried out as he saw him pass through the sky, but he was soon out of sight, and E-li-sha saw him no more. CHAPTER XVII. ELISHA. AS E-li-jah rose from the earth he let his cloak fall on E-li-sha. And E-li-sha went down to the Jor-dan, and took the cloak and struck the waves, and they stood up on each side, so that he went a-cross dry shod. And it was made known to all the seers and wise men that E-li-sha had been called to fill E-li-jah's place, and he gave proof that the Lord was with him. As E-li-sha went from Jer-i-cho to Beth-el, some young folks ran out and made fun of him, and cried, Go up, thou bald head! Go up, thou bald head! E-li-sha turned back, and asked the Lord to take them in hand. So the Lord sent two great bears out of the wood, and they fell on the chil-dren and tore o-ver two-score of them. [Illustration: THE CHIL-DREN OF BETH-EL.] One day E-li-sha came to Shu-nem, where a rich wo-man dwelt. And she bade him come in and eat. And as oft as he went that way, he made it a rule to stop and take the food and drink she set out for him. And she had a room built for him on the side of her house, and put a bed and a chair in it, that he might go in and out as he chose, and have a place to rest in. And one day when he was in this room, he sent for the wo-man to come to him. And he said to her, What can I do to pay thee for all thy kind care of us? Shall I speak to the king for thee? She said there was no need, that she sought no pay, and then left the room. E-li-sha said to his man, What is there that I can do for her? And the man said, She has no child. And E-li-sha said, Call her. And she came back and stood at the door. And when the man of God told her that she should have a son, she thought he did not speak the truth. And the word of the Lord came true, for in less than a year she had a son. And the child grew up, and went out one day to the field to see the men reap the corn. And while he was there he felt sick, and cried out to his fath-er, My head! my head! And his fath-er said to a lad, Take the boy home to his moth-er. And she took him, and he sat in her lap till noon, and then died. And she took the boy to E-li-sha's room, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and then went out and shut the door. Then she sent for one of the young men, and had him bring an ass to the door, and she got on the ass, and bade the man drive as fast as he could till she told him to stop.