"And that is the village of Siloam," continued Miss Todd, pointing to
a range of cabins, some of which seemed to be cut out of the rock on
the hill-side, on her right hand as she looked up towards the valley
of Jehoshaphat. "And that is the pool of Siloam, Sir Lionel; we shall
go up there."

"Ah!" said Sir Lionel again.

"Is it not interesting?" said Miss Todd; and a smiling gleam of
satisfaction spread itself across her jovial ruddy face.

"Very," said Sir Lionel. "But don't you find it rather hot?"

"Yes, it is warm. But one gets accustomed to that. I do so like to
find myself among these names which used to torment me so when I
was a child. I had all manner of mysterious ideas about the pool of
Bethesda and the beautiful gate, about the hill of Sion, and Gehenna,
and the brook Cedron. I had a sort of belief that these places were
scattered wide over the unknown deserts of Asia; and now, Sir Lionel,
I am going to show them all to you in one day."

"Would they were scattered wider, that the pleasure might last the
longer," said Sir Lionel, taking off his hat as he bowed to Miss
Todd, but putting it on again very quickly, as he felt the heat.

"Yes; but the mystery, the beautiful mystery, is all gone," said Miss
Jones. "I shall never feel again about these places as I used to do."

"Nor I either, I hope," said Mr. Pott. "I always used to catch it for
scripture geography."

"Yes, the mystery of your childhood will be gone, Miss Jones," said
Mr. M'Gabbery, who, in his present state of hopelessness as regarded
Miss Waddington, was ill-naturedly interfering with young Pott. "The
mystery of your childhood will be gone; but another mystery, a more
matured mystery, will be created in your imagination. Your
associations will henceforth bear a richer tint."

"I don't know that," said Miss Jones, who did not approve of being
interfered with a bit better than did Mr. Pott.

And then they remounted, and the cavalcade moved on. They turned up
the rising ground towards the city wall, and leaving on the left the
gardens in which Jerusalem artichokes did not grow, they came to the
pool of Siloam. Here most of them again descended, and climbed down
to the water, which bursts out from its underground channel into a
cool, but damp and somewhat dirty ravine.

"You are my guide, Miss Todd, in everything," said Sir Lionel. "Is it
necessary that I should study scripture geography down in that hole?
If you bid me, I'll do it."