FROM Gibraltar to Tangier is no great distance, and next morning found the Razila once more safely anchored.
Looked at from the sea Tangier is very pretty as it stretches along the shore and backward up the slope of a hill, and every one was eager to go ashore.
Even Gertrude felt tempted to venture, and soon after breakfast the three friends and Mrs. Phillips, another of the passengers, found themselves seated with others in a boat rowed by lithe natives, who pulled with a will, rising as they dipped their oars, and putting weight as well as strength into each stroke.
They were warned as they crossed that the Moors were not always polite, and that it would be wise to have a protector, so they put themselves under the charge of a man who had come off from the shore that morning, an accredited guide, who soon had his hands full in escorting them through a motley crowd of men and donkeys.
He was a fine-looking man, this guide of theirs, of tall, athletic build, clad in robes of dark blue gracefully draped over a vest of yellowish hue, not long enough to hinder free movement, nor yet to hide a pair of immaculate ribbed tan stockings and heelless slippers. His dark, bearded face, surmounted by a white turban, was kind and intelligent, and he looked trustworthy, though Moors are said to be very treacherous as a people.
In the midst of the rabble they came across Mr. and Mrs. Eddis; the latter had been persuaded to mount one of the donkeys, but she found the saddle, which looked more like a stuffed sack than anything and suggested unpleasant things, so uncomfortable, that after sitting there for a minute or two she called out in distress, "I can't stay on, I can't stay on, help me down!" She slid off, and was glad to find herself once more on her own two feet.
Nora and Gertrude and their friend were careful to keep close to the guide, but Mrs. Phillips was careless in following him, and soon found herself separated from the rest, and surrounded by jostling men excitedly talking in their strange language. Oh! how frightened she felt, and how glad when at last she caught sight of her companions. After that she was even more anxious than the others to keep near their Moorish friend.
When the Lord Jesus went back to heaven He did not leave those who were following Him without a Guide. He sent down the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father, to dwell in their hearts and be with them forever.
Although the Holy Ghost is a divine Person, He did not come to direct our attention to Himself, but to the Lord Jesus. He brings to our minds the words that Jesus spoke and gives us a foretaste of heaven before we get there, and He teaches us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Stephen was a man who was full of the Holy Ghost, and even though he was surrounded by enemies who gnashed on him with their teeth, he "looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.”
If we look at the things of the world that Satan tries to tempt us with, we lose sight of the Lord Jesus and miss the path, and those who are the citizens of this world cannot help us to find it again, for they speak a different language and do not know the way to the city which we seek.
We need to pray earnestly that we may be kept "looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of faith," so that we may not wander from the pathway.