CHAPTER V.
Ben-Hur pitched two tents out on the Upper Cedron east a short space of the Tombs of the Kings, and furnished them with every comfort at his command; and thither, without loss of time, he conducted his mother and sister, to remain until the examining priest could certify their perfect cleansing.
In course of the duty, the young man had subjected himself to such serious defilement as to debar him from participation in the ceremonies of the great feast, then near at hand.

He could not enter the least sacred of the courts of the Temple.

Of necessity, not less than choice, therefore, he stayed at the tents with his beloved people.

There was a great deal to hear from them, and a great deal to tell them of himself.
Stories such as theirs--sad experiences extending through a lapse of years, sufferings of body, acuter sufferings of mind--are usually long in the telling, the incidents seldom following each other in threaded connection.

He listened to the narrative and all they told him, with outward patience masking inward feeling.