Hold to the iron rod

1 And I shit you not, a mist arose along the path, and Lehi found a rod of iron beside the river.

2 He laid a hand upon it, and the footing became easier to negotiate.

3 Hold to the iron rod, he called, for this part of the path is slippery.

4 Nephi approved the advice and began preparing a universal instruction concerning all paths, all hands, and all conditions of weather.

5 But Lemuel asked whether the instruction might first concern this particular river.

6 A traveler with a painful wrist used the rail differently. Another asked for an arm. Another stopped to rest.

7 The iron object was not offended by the variations.

8 Nevertheless, an attendant appeared with a measuring cord to determine the sincerity of each grip.

9 Laman asked whether the purpose was to cross the difficult ground or to become attached to the railing.

10 The attendant replied that this distinction had not appeared in his training.

11 At a broken section Sariah asked them to stop. Nephi nearly called her hesitation a failure of faith, until he looked where she was pointing.

12 Together they made a safer passage.

13 Beyond the mist, the rod ended in a patch of ordinary grass.