with her handkerchief. We had heard so much of St. Veronica, and seen

her picture by so many masters, that it was like meeting an old friend

unexpectedly to come upon her ancient home in Jerusalem. The strangest

thing about the incident that has made her name so famous, is, that when

she wiped the perspiration away, the print of the Saviour's face remained

upon the handkerchief, a perfect portrait, and so remains unto this day.

We knew this, because we saw this handkerchief in a cathedral in Paris,

in another in Spain, and in two others in Italy. In the Milan cathedral

it costs five francs to see it, and at St. Peter's, at Rome, it is almost

impossible to see it at any price. No tradition is so amply verified as

this of St. Veronica and her handkerchief.

At the next corner we saw a deep indention in the hard stone masonry of

the corner of a house, but might have gone heedlessly by it but that the

guide said it was made by the elbow of the Saviour, who stumbled here and

fell. Presently we came to just such another indention in a stone wall.

The guide said the Saviour fell here, also, and made this depression with

his elbow.

There were other places where the Lord fell, and others where he rested;

but one of the most curious landmarks of ancient history we found on this

morning walk through the crooked lanes that lead toward Calvary, was a

certain stone built into a house--a stone that was so seamed and scarred

that it bore a sort of grotesque resemblance to the human face. The

projections that answered for cheeks were worn smooth by the passionate

kisses of generations of pilgrims from distant lands. We asked "Why?"

654

The Innocents Abroad