g and exciting scenes with which John was
familiar in his early life, and which would interest his refined and
observing nature, of which we know in his manhood. They must have had
an important influence in the formation of his character.

We have spoken of five Bethsaidan boys--Andrew and Peter, James and
John--and a friend. His name was Philip. We know but little of him. What
we do know is from John. He tells us that "Philip was of Bethsaida, the
city of Andrew and Peter." Perhaps he was their special friend, and so
became one of the company of five, as he afterward became one of the
more glorious company of twelve. We shall find three of these five in a
still closer companionship. They are Peter, James and John. One of these
shall have the most glorious honor of all. It is John.

_CHAPTER III_

_John's Royal Kindred_

It seems almost certain that Salome and Mary the mother of Jesus, were
sisters. Royal blood was in their veins. They were descendants of David.
The record of their ancestry had been carefully preserved for God's own
plans, especially concerning Mary, of which plans neither of the sisters
knew until revealed to her by an angel from God. We think of them as
faithful to Him, and ready for any service to which He might call them,
in the fisherman's home of Salome, or the carpenter's home of Mary.
Mary's character has been summed up in the words, "pure, gentle and
gracious." Salome must have had something of the same nature, which we
find again in her sons.

If Salome and Mary were sisters, our interest in James and John deepens,
as we think of them as cousins of Jesus. This family connection may have
had something to do with their years of close intimacy; but we shall
find better reason for it than in this kinship. There was another
relation closer and holier.

We wonder whether Jesus ever visited Bethsaida, and played with His
cousins on the seashore, and gathered shells, and dug in the sand, and
sailed on Gennesaret, and helped with His little hands to drag the net,
and was disappointed because there were no fish, or bounded with glee
because of the multitude of them.

We wonder whether James and John visited Jesus in Nazareth, nestled
among the hills of Galilee. Did they go to the village well, the same
where children go to-day to draw water? Did James and John see how Jesus
treated His little mates, and how they treated Him--the best boy in
Nazareth? Did the cousins talk together of what