commission concerning the house of Ahab (II. Kings 9:4-26).

Gerasa! Beautiful, though in ruins. What glory must once have been
thine! But where are the warriors who passed in triumph through
thy gates? Where are the builders of thy temples? Where are the
the priests who ministered at thy altars? Where are the devotees
who bowed at thy shrines? Where are the people who thronged thy
theaters and trod thy beautiful streets? The hills over which man
walked are still here; the rocks that he quarried, carved,
polished, and fitted into place are here; the stone coffin in
which he lay down to his last resting-place is here--but where is
HE? Gone! gone forever! Surely, how frail is man! How fleeting his
glory! As the waters of thy stream flow on to the Sea of Death, so
has the tide of life which swept through thy streets passed on to
the grave and oblivion.





"Up Into the Mountains"

CHAPTER V.


Passing out over the fallen western wall of Gerasa we are
immediately in the ancient cemetery, which extends for a mile, or
nearly so, from the city. Many stone sarcophagi, some of which are
artistically carved, lie scattered about in almost every
conceivable position--some even lying across the tops of others.