They went down the slope of the crowded yard slowly, for the dull carriers of the women had wills of their own.

At length they turned into a path running towards the gray limestone bluff overlooking the khan on the west.
"We are going to the cave," said Joseph, laconically.
The guide lingered till Mary came to his side.
"The cave to which we are going," he said to her, "must have been a resort of your ancestor David.

From the field below us, and from the well down in the valley, he used to drive his flocks to it for safety; and afterwards, when he was king, he came back to the old house here for rest and health, bringing great trains of animals.
The mangers yet remain as they were in his day.

Better a bed on the floor where he has slept than one in the court-yard or out by the roadside.

Ah, here is the house before the cave!" This speech must not be taken as an apology for the lodging offered.
There was no need of apology.