“You  have  appealed  to  the  emperor,”  said  Festus
the  governor,  “to  the  emperor  you  shall  go.”

This  decision  meant  a  trip  of  many  hundred
miles  across  the  great  Mediterranean  Sea,  in  order
to  reach  Rome,  then  the  most  noted  city  in  the
world.
When  the  day  came  to  start,  an  officer  by  the
name  of  Julius  was  put  in  charge  of  Paul  and  some
other  prisoners  who  were  on  the  ship.  The  ship  on
which  they  sailed  stopped  at  a  place  called  Sidon.
Years  before  this  Paul  had  preached  at  Sidon  and
had  founded  a  church  there.  Julius  was  kind  to
Paul  and  let  him  go  ashore  and  visit  his  friends
while  the  ship  lay  in  the  harbor.
From  Sidon  the  vessel  made  its  way  to  Crete,  a
large  island  out  in  the  middle  of  the  Mediterranean
Sea  about  half  way  to  Rome.  It  was  getting  late
in  the  season  and  the  sea  at  times  was  very  rough.
Paul  advised  the  captain  to  remain  in  that  harbor
until  spring.  “Men,”  he  said,  “I  see  this  voyage  is


92


KNIGHTS  OF  SERVICE


going  to  be  attended  with  great  hardship  and  serious
loss  not  only  to  the  cargo  and  the  ship  but  also  to
our  own  lives.”

But  the  captain  would  not  heed  Paul’s  advice.
He  weighed  anchor  and  set  sail,  thinking  he  could
reach  another  harbor  not  far  away  where  the  ship
could  be  docked  for  the  winter.
The  day  was  calm  and  they  were  sailing  along  the
coast  of  Crete,  when  all  of  a  sudden  down  rushed  a
terrific  hurricane  and  threatened  to  founder  the  ship.
So  severe  was  the  storm  that  the  ship  could  not
make  headway  against  it.  They  were  then  forced
to  haul  in  the  sails  and  let  the  boat  drift.
