And  his  servant  came  to  Naaman  and  said,  “If
the  prophet  had  bid  thee  do  some  great  thing,
would  thou  not  have  done  it?  How  much  rather,
then,  ought  you  to  obey  him  when  he  says  unto
thee,  ‘Wash  and  be  clean.’  ”

So  Naaman  went  down  and  dipped  himself  seven
times  in  the  Jordan  as  Elisha  had  commanded  him.
And  behold!  his  flesh  became  again  like  the  flesh
of  a  little  child,  and  he  was  cured  of  his  leprosy.
Naaman,  when  he  came  up  out  of  the  water,  said,


88  KNIGHTS  OF  SERVICE

“Behold!  Now  I  know  that  there  is  no  god  in  all
the  earth  but  the  God  of  Israel.”

Then  Naaman  offered  Elisha  a  present,  because
he  had  cured  him  of  his  leprosy.  But  Elisha  would
take  no  pay  for  his  service.  When  Naaman  had
urged  him,  Elisha  again  refused,  and  Elisha  said
unto  him,  “Go  in  peace,”  and  sent  him  back,  cured
of  his  leprosy,  to  his  own  country  and  people.
XXII


THE  CHAMPION  CHRISTIAN  SOLDIER

The  command,  “Forward!  March!”  was  given-
and  two  hundred  soldiers,  two  hundred  spearmen
and  seventy  horsemen  were  on  the  move.  They
were  under  the  marching  orders  of  the  commander
of  the  Roman  troops  at  Jerusalem.  Caisarea,  a  city
sixty  miles  away,  was  to  be  reached  in  double-quick
time.
Among  the  horsemen  there  rode  a  man  whom
the  soldiers  were  guarding  and  who  was  not  himself
a  soldier.  This  man  was  dressed  as  an  ordinary
citizen.  He  had  gray  hair,  gray  beard,  dark  piercing
eyes  and  a  firm  but  kindly  countenance.  He  was
small  in  body,  but  dignified  in  appearance,  and  as
brave  as  any  soldier  that  ever  lived.
