and pray with his face to the East. At
such times those who stood near shared in his prayers, and went away
blessed and refreshed.

How did Simeon get to the top of the column?

Well, his companions at the monastery, a mile away, said he was carried
there in the night by a miraculous power; that he went to sleep in his
stone cell and awoke on the pillar. Other monks said that Simeon had
gone to pay his respects to a fair lady, and in wrath God had caught him
and placed him on high. The probabilities are, however, Terese, as
viewed by an unbeliever, that he shot a line over the column with a bow
and arrow and then drew up a rope ladder and ascended with ease.

However, in the morning the simple people of the scattered village saw
the man on the column. All day he stayed there. The next day he was
still there.

The days passed, with the scorching heat of the midday sun, and the cool
winds of the night.

Still Simeon kept his place.

The rainy season came on. When the nights were cold and dark, Simeon sat
there with bowed head, and drew the folds of his single garment, a black
robe, over his face.

Another season passed; the sun again grew warm, then hot, and the
sand-storms raged and blew, when the people below almost lost sight of
the man on the column. Some prophesied he would be blown off, but the
morning light revealed his form, naked from the waist up, standing with
hands outstretched to greet the rising sun.

Once each day, as darkness gathered, a monk came with a basket
containing a bottle of goat's milk and a little loaf of black bread, and
Simeon dropped down a rope and drew up the basket.

Simeon never spoke, for words are folly, and to the calls of saint or
sinner he made no reply. He lived in a perpetual attitude of adoration.

Did he suffer? During those first weeks he must have suffered terribly
and horribly. There was no respite nor rest from the hard surface of the
rock, and aching muscles could find no change from the cramped and
perilous position. If he fell, it was damnation for his soul--all were
agreed as to this.

But man's body and mind accommodate themselves to almost any condition.
One thing at least, Simeon was free from economic responsibilities, free
from social cares and intrusion. Bores with sad stories of unappreciated
lives and fond hopes unrealized, never broke in upon his peace. He was
not pressed for time. No frivolous dame of tarnished fame sought to
share with him his pe