eight
hours before midday
In those days there was little else in me but love of God , and I could walk from dusk to dusk without wearying ; twelve and fifteen hours were not too many for my feet : my feet bounded along the road while my eyes followed white clouds moving over the sky ; I dreamed of them as God 's palaces , and I saw God not only in the clouds but in the grass , and in the fields , and the flower that covers the fields . I read God in the air and in the waters : and in every town in Palestine I sought out those that loved God and those that could learn to love God . I could walk well in those days , fifteen hours were less than as many minutes are now . I have walked from Jerusalem to Joppa in one day , and the night that I met thy father outside Nazareth I had walked twelve hours , though I had been delayed in the morning : eight hours before midday , and after a rest in the wood I went on again for several hours more , how many I do not know , I 've forgotten . I did not know the distance that I had walked till I met thy father coming home from his work , his tools in the bag upon his shoulder . His voice is still in my ear . But if it be to Nazareth thou ` rt going , come along with me , he said .