f the city, searched all the public
buildings, inquired of every curator, asked at the strangers' office,
questioned all the shop-keepers about the tall boy with pale face,
brown hair, and an Egyptian fez on his head. But no one had seen him.
They returned to the inn, fully expecting to find him there. But there
was no sign of him. Mary, who was almost fainting with anxiety,
declared that he must have fallen into the hands of Herod. Joseph
comforted her, though he was himself in sad need of consolation.

"Poor mother," he said, drawing her head down on his breast, "let us go
and place our trouble before the Lord."

And when they had gone up into the Temple, there, among the scholars
and the men learned in the law they found Jesus. The youth sat among
the grey-bearded rabbis, and carried on a lively conversation with
them, so that his cheeks glowed and his eyes shone. Judgment had to be
pronounced on a serious case of transgression of the law. A man in
Jerusalem had baked bread on the Sabbath, because his neighbour had
been unable to lend him the oven the day before. The Pharisees met
together, and eagerly brought forward a crowd of statutes regarding the
culpability of the transgressor. Young Jesus listened attentively for
a while, and then suddenly stepped out of the crowd. Placing himself
in front of the learned men, he asked: "Rabbis, ought a man to do good
on the Sabbath or not?"

They did not know at first whether to honour this bold young man with
an answer. But there is a precept in the law which declares that every
inquirer must be answered, so one of them said curtly and roughly: "Of
course a man should do good."

Jesus inquired further; "Is life a good thing or not?"

"As it is the gift of God, it is a good thing."

"Should a man then preserve life or harm it on the Sabbath?"

The wise men were silent, for they would have been compelled to
acknowledge that life must be preserved on the Sabbath, and their
accusation of the man who had baked bread for his food would have
fallen to the ground.

Jesus walked quickly up the steps to the table, and said: "Rabbis, if a
sheep fell into a brook on the Sabbath, would you leave it there till
the next day? You would not first think: To-day is the Sabbath day,
but you would pull it out before it was drowned. Which is of greater
value, a sheep or a man? If a sick man comes on the Sabbath day, and
needs help, it is given him at once. And if you have a