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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5468.txt b/5468.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..54aefd2 --- /dev/null +++ b/5468.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2466 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook Joshua, by Georg Ebers, Volume 2. +#30 in our series by Georg Ebers + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + +Title: Joshua, Volume 2. + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5468] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 15, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSHUA, BY GEORG EBERS, VOLUME 2 *** + + + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + +[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of the +file for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making an +entire meal of them. D.W.] + + + + + +JOSHUA + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 2. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +At the same hour a chamberlain was ushering Hosea into the audience +chamber. + +Usually subjects summoned to the presence of the king were kept waiting +for hours, but the Hebrew's patience was not tried long. During this +period of the deepest mourning the spacious rooms of the palace, commonly +tenanted by a gay and noisy multitude, were hushed to the stillness of +death; for not only the slaves and warders, but many men and women in +close attendance on the royal couple had fled from the pestilence, +quitting the palace without leave. + +Here and there a solitary priest, official, or courtier leaned against a +pillar or crouched on the floor, hiding his face in his hands, while +awaiting some order. Sentries paced to and fro with lowered weapons, +lost in melancholy thoughts. Now and then a few young priests in +mourning robes glided through the infected rooms, silently swinging +silver censers which diffused a pungent scent of resin and juniper. + +A nightmare seemed to weigh upon the palace and its occupants; for in +addition to grief for their beloved prince, which saddened many a heart, +the dread of death and the desert wind paralyzed alike the energy of mind +and body. + +Here in the immediate vicinity of the throne where, in former days, all +eyes had sparkled with hope, ambition, gratitude, fear, loyalty, or hate, +Hosea now encountered only drooping heads and downcast looks. + +Bai, the second prophet of Amon, alone seemed untouched alike by sorrow, +anxiety, or the enervating atmosphere of the day; he greeted the warrior +in the ante-room as vigorously and cheerily as ever, and assured him-- +though in the lowest whisper--that no one thought of holding him +responsible for the misdeeds of his people. But when Hosea volunteered +the acknowledgment that, at the moment of his summons to the king, he had +been in the act of going to the commander-in-chief to beg a release from +military service, the priest interrupted him to remind him of the debt of +gratitude he, Bai, owed to him as the preserver of his life. Then he +added that he would make every effort in his power to keep him in the +army and show that the Egyptians--even against Pharaoh's will, or which +he would speak farther with him privately--knew how to honor genuine +merit without distinction of person or birth. + +The Hebrew had little time to repeat his resolve; the head chamberlain +interrupted them to lead Hosea into the presence of the "good god." + +The sovereign awaited Hosea in the smaller audience-room adjoining the +royal apartments. + +It was a stately chamber, and to-day looked more spacious than when, as +of yore, it was filled with obsequious throngs. Only a few courtiers and +priests, with some of the queen's ladies-in-waiting, all clad in deep +mourning, stood in groups near the throne. Opposite to Pharaoh, +squatting in a circle on the floor, were the king's councillors and +interpreters, each adorned with an ostrich plume. + +All wore tokens of mourning, and the monotonous, piteous plaint of the +wailing women, which ever and anon rose into a loud, shrill, tremulous +shriek, echoed through the silent rooms within to this hall, announcing +that death had claimed a victim even in the royal dwelling. + +The king and queen sat on a gold and ivory couch, heavily draped with +black. Instead of their usual splendid attire, both wore dark robes, and +the royal consort and mother, who mourned her first-born son, leaned +motionless, with drooping head, against her kingly husband's shoulder. + +Pharaoh, too, gazed fixedly into space, as though lost in a dream. The +sceptre had slipped from his hand and lay in his lap. + +The queen had been torn away from the corpse of her son, which was now +delivered to the embalmers, and it was not until she reached the entrance +of the audience-chamber that she had succeeded in checking her tears. +She had no thought of resistance; the inexorable ceremonial of court +etiquette required the queen to be present at any audience of importance. +To-day she would gladly have shunned the task, but Pharaoh had commanded +her presence, and she knew and approved the course to be pursued; for she +was full of dread of the power of the Hebrew Mesu, called by his own +people Moses, and of his God, who had brought such terrible woe on the +Egyptians. She had other children to lose, and she had known Mesu from +her childhood, and was well aware how highly the great Rameses, her +husband's father and predecessor, had prized the wisdom of this stranger +who had been reared with his own sons. + +Ah, if it were only possible to conciliate this man. But Mesu had +departed with the Israelites, and she knew his iron will and had learned +that the terrible prophet was armed, not alone against Pharaoh's threats, +but also against her own fervent entreaties. + +She was now expecting Hosea. He, the son of Nun, the foremost man of all +the Hebrews in Tanis, would succeed, if any one could, in carrying out +the plan which she and her royal husband deemed best for all parties,--a +plan supported also by Rui, the hoary high-priest and first prophet of +Amon, the head of the whole Egyptian priesthood, who held the offices of +chief judge, chief treasurer, and viceroy of the kingdom, and had +followed the court from Thebes to Tanis. + +Ere going to the audience hall, she had been twining wreaths for her +loved dead and the lotus flowers, larkspurs, mallow and willow-leaves, +from which she was to weave them, had been brought there by her desire. +They were lying on a small table and in her lap; but she felt paralyzed, +and the hand she stretched toward them refused to obey her will. + +Rui, the first prophet of Amon, an aged man long past his ninetieth +birthday, squatted on a mat at Pharaoh's left hand. A pair of bright +eyes, shaded by bushy white brows, glittered in his brown face--seamed +and wrinkled like the bark of a gnarled oaklike gay flowers amid withered +leaves, forming a strange contrast to his lean, bowed, and shrivelled +form. + +The old man had long since resigned the management of business affairs to +the second prophet, Bai, but he held firmly to his honors, his seat at +Pharaoh's side, and his place in the council, where, though he said +little, his opinion was more frequently followed than that of the +eloquent, ardent second prophet, who was many years his junior. + +The old man had not quitted Pharaoh's side since the plague entered the +palace, yet to-day he felt more vigorous than usual; the hot desert wind, +which weakened others, refreshed him. He was constantly shivering, +despite the panther-skin which hung over his back and shoulders, and the +heat of the day warmed his chilly old blood. + +Moses, the Hebrew, had been his pupil, and never had he instructed a +nobler nature, a youth more richly endowed with all the gifts of +intellect. He had initiated the Israelite into all the highest +mysteries, anticipating the greatest results for Egypt and the +priesthood, and when the Hebrew one day slew an overseer who had +mercilessly beaten one of his race, and then fled into the desert, Rui +had secretly mourned the evil deed as if his own son had committed it and +must suffer the consequences. His intercession had secured Mesu's +pardon; but when the latter returned to Egypt and the change had occurred +which other priests termed his "apostasy," the old man had grieved even +more keenly than over his flight. Had he, Rui, been younger, he would +have hated the man who had thus robbed him of his fairest hopes; but the +aged priest, who read men's hearts like an open book and could judge the +souls of his fellow-mortals with the calm impartiality of an unclouded +mind, confessed that he had been to blame in failing to foresee his +pupil's change of thought. + +Education and precept had made Mesu an Egyptian priest according to his +own heart and that of the divinity; but after having once raised his hand +in the defence of his own people against those to whom he had been bound +only by human craft and human will, he was lost to the Egyptians and +became once more a true son of his race. And where this man of the +strong will and lofty soul led the way, others could not fail to follow. + +Rui knew likewise full well what the renegade meant to give to his race; +he had confessed it himself to the priest-faith in the one God. Mesu had +rejected the accusation of perjury, declaring that he would never betray +the mysteries to the Hebrews, his sole desire was to lead them back to +the God whom they had worshipped ere Joseph and his family came to Egypt. +True, the "One" of the initiated resembled the God of the Hebrews in many +things, but this very fact had soothed the old sage; for experience had +taught him that the masses are not content with a single invisible God, +an idea which many, even among the more advanced of his own pupils found +difficult to comprehend. The men and women of the lower classes needed +visible symbols of every important thing whose influence they perceived +in and around them, and the Egyptian religion supplied these images. +What could an invisible creative power guiding the course of the universe +be to a love-sick girl? She sought the friendly Hathor, whose gentle +hands held the cords that bound heart to heart, the beautiful mighty +representative of her sex--to her she could trustingly pour forth all the +sorrows that burdened her bosom. What was the petty grief of a mother +who sought to snatch her darling child from death, to the mighty and +incomprehensible Deity who governed the entire universe? But the good +Isis, who herself had wept her eyes red in bitter anguish, could +understand her woe. And how often in Egypt it was the wife who +determined her husband's relations to the gods! + +Rui had frequently seen Hebrew men and women praying fervently in +Egyptian temples. Even if Mesu should induce them to acknowledge his +God, the experienced sage clearly foresaw that they would speedily +turn from the invisible Spirit, who must ever remain aloof and +incomprehensible, and return by hundreds to the gods they understood. + +Now Egypt was threatened with the loss of the laborers and builders she +so greatly needed, but Rui believed that they might be won back. + +"When fair words will answer our purpose, put aside sword and bow," he +had replied to Bai, who demanded that the fugitives should be pursued and +slain. "We have already too many corpses in our country; what we want is +workers. Let us hold fast what we seem on the verge of losing." + +These mild words were in full harmony with the mood of Pharaoh, who had +had sufficient sorrow, and would have thought it wiser to venture unarmed +into a lion's cage than to again defy the wrath of the terrible Hebrew. + +So he had closed his ears to the exhortations of the second prophet, +whose steadfast, energetic will usually exercised all the greater +influence upon him on account of his own irresolution, and upheld old +Rui's suggestion that the warrior, Hosea, should be sent after his people +to deal with them in Pharaoh's name--a plan that soothed his mind and +renewed his hopes. + +The second prophet, Bai, had finally assented to the plan; for it +afforded a new chance of undermining the throne he intended to overthrow. +If the Hebrews were once more settled in the land, Prince Siptah, who +regarded no punishment too severe for the race he hated, might perhaps +seize the sceptre of the cowardly king Menephtah. + +But the fugitives must first be stopped, and Hosea was the right man to +do this. But in Bai's eyes no one would be more able to gain the +confidence of an unsuspicious soldier than Pharaoh and his royal consort. +The venerable high-priest Rui, though wholly unaware of the conspiracy, +shared this opinion, and thus the sovereigns had been persuaded to +interrupt the mourning for the dead and speak in person to the Hebrew. + +Hosea had prostrated himself before the throne and, when he rose, the +king's weary face was bent toward him, sadly, it is true, yet graciously. + +According to custom, the hair and beard of the father who had lost his +first-born son had been shaven. Formerly they had encircled his face in +a frame of glossy black, but twenty years of anxious government had made +them grey, and his figure, too, had lost its erect carriage and seemed +bent and feeble, though he had scarcely passed his fifth decade. His +regular features were still beautiful in their symmetry, and there was a +touch of pathos in their mournful gentleness, so evidently incapable of +any firm resolve, especially when a smile lent his mouth a bewitching +charm. + +The languid indolence of his movements scarcely impaired the natural +dignity of his presence, yet his musical voice was wont to have a feeble, +beseeching tone. He was no born ruler; thirteen older brothers had died +ere the throne of Pharaoh had become his heritage, and up to early +manhood he had led a careless, joyous existence--as the handsomest youth +in the whole land, the darling of women, the light-hearted favorite of +fortune. Then he succeeded his father the great Rameses, but he had +scarcely grasped the sceptre ere the Libyans, with numerous allies, +rebelled against Egypt. The trained troops and their leaders, who had +fought in his predecessor's wars, gained him victory, but during the +twenty years which had now passed since Rameses' death, the soldiers had +rarely had any rest. Insurrections constantly occurred, sometimes in the +East, anon in the West and, instead of living in Thebes, where he had +spent many years of happiness, and following the bent of his inclination +by enjoying in the splendid palace the blessing of peace and the society +of the famous scholars and poets who then made that city their home, he +was compelled sometimes to lead his armies in the field, sometimes to +live in Tanis, the capital of Lower Egypt, to settle the disturbances of +the border land. + +This was the desire of the venerable Rui, and the king willingly followed +his guidance. During the latter years of Rameses' reign, the temple at +Thebes, and with it the chief priest, had risen to power and wealth +greater than that possessed by royalty itself, and Menephtah's indolent +nature was better suited to be a tool than a guiding hand, so long as he +received all the external honors due to Pharaoh. These he guarded with a +determination which he never roused himself to display in matters of +graver import. + +The condescending graciousness of Pharaoh's reception awakened feelings +of mingled pleasure and distrust in Hosea's mind, but he summoned courage +to frankly express his desire to be relieved from his office and the oath +he had sworn to his sovereign. + +Pharaoh listened quietly. Not until Hosea confessed that he was induced +to take this step by his father's command did he beckon to the high- +priest, who began in low, almost inaudible tones: + +"The son who resigns great things to remain obedient to his father will +be the most loyal of the 'good god's' servants. Go, obey the summons of +Nun. The son of the sun, the Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt, sets you +free; but through me, the slave of his master, he imposes one condition." + +"What is that?" asked Hosea. + +Pharaoh signed to Rui a second time and, as the monarch sank back upon +his throne, the old man, fixing his keen eyes on Hosea, replied: + +"The demand which the lord of both worlds makes upon you by my lips is +easy to fulfil. You must return to be once more his servant and one of +us, as soon as your people and their leader, who have brought such +terrible woe upon this land, shall have clasped the divine hand which the +son of the sun extends to them in reconciliation, and shall have returned +to the beneficent shadow of his throne. He intends to attach them to his +person and his realm by rich tokens of his favor, as soon as they return +from the desert to which they have gone forth to sacrifice to their God. +Understand me fully! All the burdens which have oppressed the people of +your race shall be removed. The 'great god' will secure to them, by a +new law, privileges and great freedom, and whatever we promise shall be +written down and witnessed on our part and yours as a new and valid +covenant binding on our children and our children's children. When such +a compact has been made with an honest purpose on our part to keep it for +all time, and your tribes have consented to accept it, will you promise +that you will then be one of us again?" + +"Accept the office of mediator, Hosea," the queen here interrupted in a +low tone, with her sorrowful eyes fixed imploringly on Hosea's face. +"I dread the fury of Mesu, and everything in our power shall be done to +regain his old friendship. Mention my name and recall the time when he +taught little Isisnefert the names of the plants she brought to him and +explained to her and her sister their beneficial or their harmful +qualities, during his visits to the queen, his second mother, in the +women's apartments. The wounds he has dealt our hearts shall be pardoned +and forgotten. Be our envoy. Hosea, do not deny us." + +"Such words from royal lips are a strict mandate," replied the Hebrew. +"And yet they make the heart rejoice. I will accept the office of +mediator." + +The hoary high-priest nodded approvingly, exclaiming: + +"I hope a long period of blessing may arise from this brief hour. But +note this. Where potions can aid, surgery must be shunned. Where a +bridge spans the stream, beware of swimming through the whirlpool." + +"Yes, by all means shun the whirlpool," Pharaoh repeated, and the queen +uttered the same words, then once more bent her eyes on the flowers in +her lap. + +A council now began. + +Three private scribes took seats on the floor close by Rui, in order to +catch his low tones, and the scribes and councillors in the circle before +the throne seized their writing-materials and, holding the papyrus in +their left hands, wrote with reed or brush; for nothing which was debated +and determined in Pharaoh's presence was suffered to be left unrecorded. + +During the continuance of this debate no voice in the audience chamber +was raised above a whisper; the courtiers and guards stood motionless at +their posts, and the royal pair gazed mutely into vacancy as though lost +in reverie. + +Neither Pharaoh nor his queen could possibly have heard the muttered +conversation between the men; yet the Egyptians, at the close of every +sentence, glanced upward at the king as if to ensure his approbation. +Hosea, to whom the custom was perfectly familiar, did the same and, like +the rest, lowered his tones. Whenever the voices of Bai or of the chief +of the scribes waxed somewhat louder, Pharaoh raised his head and +repeated the words of Rui: "Where a bridge spans the stream, beware of +swimming through the whirlpool;" for this saying precisely expressed his +own desires and those of the queen. No strife! Let us live at peace +with the Hebrews, and escape from the anger of their awful leader and his +God, without losing the thousands of industrious workers in the departed +tribes. + +So the discussion went on, and when the murmuring of the debaters and the +scratching of the scribes' reeds had continued at least an hour the queen +remained in the same position; but Pharaoh began to move and lift up his +voice, fearing that the second prophet, who had detested the man whose +benedictions he had implored and whose enmity seemed so terrible, was +imposing on the mediator requirements impossible to fulfil. + +Yet he said nothing save to repeat the warning about the bridge, but his +questioning look caused the chief of the scribes to soothe him with the +assurance that everything was progressing as well as possible. Hosea had +only requested that, in future, the overseers of the workmen should not +be of Libyan birth, but Hebrews themselves, chosen by the elders of their +tribes with the approval of the Egyptian government. + +Pharaoh cast a glance of imploring anxiety at Bai, the second prophet, +and the other councillors; but the former shrugged his shoulders +deprecatingly and, pretending to yield his own opinion to the divine +wisdom of Pharaoh, acceded to Hosea's request. + +The divinity on the throne of the world accepted, with a grateful bend of +the head, this concession from a man whose wishes had so often opposed +his own, and after the "repeater" or herald had read aloud all the +separate conditions of the agreement, Hosea was forced to make a solemn +vow to return in any case to Tanis, and report to the Sublime Porte how +his people had received the king's proposals. + +But the wary chief, versed in the wiles and tricks with which the +government was but too well supplied, uttered the vow with great +reluctance, and only after he had received a written assurance that, +whatever might be the result of the negotiations, his liberty should not +be restricted in any respect, after he had proved that he had used his +utmost efforts to induce the leader of the Hebrews to accept the compact. + +At last Pharaoh extended his hand for the warrior to kiss, and when the +latter had also pressed his lips to the edge of the queen's garments, Rui +signed to the head-chamberlain, who made obeisance to Pharaoh, and the +sovereign knew that the hour had come when he might retire. He did so +gladly and with a lighter heart; for he believed that he had done his +best to secure his own welfare and that of his people. + +A sunny expression flitted across his handsome, worn features, and when +the queen also rose and saw his smile of satisfaction it was reflected on +her face. Pharaoh uttered a sigh of relief as he crossed the threshold +of the audience chamber and, accosting his wife, said: + +"If Hosea wins his cause, we shall cross the bridge safely." + +"And need not swim through the whirlpool," the queen answered in the same +tone. + +"And if the chief succeeds in soothing Mesu, and induces the Hebrews to +stay in the land," Pharaoh added: + +"Then you will enrol this Hosea--he looks noble and upright--among the +kindred of the king," Isisnefert interrupted. + +But upon this Pharaoh drew up his languid, drooping figure, exclaiming +eagerly: + +"How can I? A Hebrew! Were we to admit him among the 'friends' or +'fan-bearers' it would be the highest favor we could bestow! It is no +easy matter in such a case to choose between too great or too small a +recompense." + +The farther the royal pair advanced toward the interior of the palace, +the louder rose the wailing voices of the mourning women. Tears once +more filled the eyes of the queen; but Pharaoh continued to ponder over +what office at court he could bestow on Hosea, should his mission prove +successful. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +Hosea was forced to hurry in order to overtake the tribes in time; for +the farther they proceeded, the harder it would be to induce Moses and +the leaders of the people to return and accept the treaty. + +The events which had befallen him that morning seemed so strange that he +regarded them as a dispensation of the God whom he had found again; he +recollected, too, that the name "Joshua," "he who helps Jehovah," had +been received through Miriam's message. He would gladly bear it; for +though it was no easy matter to resign the name for which he had won +renown, still many of his comrades had done likewise. His new one was +attesting its truth grandly; never had God's help been more manifest to +him than this morning. He had entered Pharaoh's palace expecting to be +imprisoned or delivered over to the executioner, as soon as he insisted +upon following his people, and how speedily the bonds that held him in +the Egyptian army had been sundered. And he had been appointed to +discharge a task which seemed in his eyes so grand, so lofty, that he was +on the point of believing that the God of his fathers had summoned him to +perform it. + +He loved Egypt. It was a fair country. Where could his people find a +more delightful home? It was only the circumstances under which they had +lived there which had been intolerable. Happier times were now in store. +The tribes were given the choice between returning to Goshen, or settling +on the lake land west of the Nile, with whose fertility and ample supply +of water he was well acquainted. No one would have a right to reduce +them to bondage, and whoever gave his labor to the service of the state +was to have for overseer no stern and cruel foreigner, but a man of his +own blood. + +True, he knew that the Hebrews must remain under subjection to Pharaoh. +But had not Joseph, Ephraim, and his sons, Hosea's ancestors, been called +his subjects and lived content to be numbered among the Egyptians. + +If the covenant was made, the elders of the tribes were to direct the +private concerns of the people. Spite of Bai's opposition, Moses had +been named regent of the new territory, while he, Hosea, himself was to +command the soldiers who would defend the frontiers, and marshal fresh +troops from the Israelite mercenaries, who had already borne themselves +valiantly in many a fray. Ere he had quitted the palace, Bai had made +various mysterious allusions, which though vague in purport, betrayed +that the priest was cherishing important plans and, as soon as the +guidance of the government passed from old Rui's hands into his, a high +position, perhaps the command of the whole army, now led by a Syrian +named Aarsu, would be conferred on him, Hosea. + +But this prospect caused him more anxiety than pleasure, though great was +his satisfaction at having gained the concession that every third year +the eastern frontiers of the country should be thrown open to his people, +that they might go to the desert and there offer sacrifices to their God. +Moses had seemed to lay the utmost stress upon this privilege, and +according to the existing law, no one was permitted to cross the narrow +fortified frontier on the east without the permission of the government. +Perhaps granting this desire of the mighty leader might win him to accept +a compact so desirable for his nation. + +During these negotiations Hosea had again realized his estrangement from +his people, he was not even aware--for what purpose the sacrifice in the +desert was offered. He also frankly acknowledged to Pharaoh's +councillors that he knew neither the grievances nor the requirements of +the tribes, a course he pursued to secure to the Hebrews the right of +changing or revising in any respect the offers he was to convey. + +What better proposals could they or their leader desire? + +The future was full of fresh hopes of happiness for his people and +himself. If the compact was made, the time had arrived for him to +establish a home of his own, and Miriam's image again appeared in all +its loftiness and beauty. The thought of gaining this splendid maiden +was fairly intoxicating, and he wondered whether he was worthy of her, +and if it would not be presumptuous to aspire to the hand of the +divinely-inspired, majestic virgin and prophetess. + +He was experienced in the affairs of life and knew full well how little +reliance could be placed upon the promises of the vacillating man, who +found the sceptre too heavy for his feeble hand. But he had exercised +caution and, if the elders of the people could but be won over, the +agreement would be inscribed on metal tables, sentence by sentence, and +hung in the temple at Thebes, with the signatures of Pharaoh and the +envoys of the Hebrews, like every other binding agreement between Egypt +and a foreign nation. Such documents--he had learned this from the +treaty of peace concluded with the Cheta--assured and lengthened the +brief "eternity" of national covenants. He had certainly neglected no +precaution to secure his people from treachery and perjury. Never had he +felt more vigorous, more confident, more joyous than when he again +entered Pharaoh's chariot to take leave of his subordinates. Bai's +mysterious hints and suggestions troubled him very little; he was +accustomed to leave future anxieties to be cared for in the future. But +at the camp he encountered a grief which belonged to the present; +surprised, angry, and troubled, he learned that Ephraim had secretly left +the tent, telling no one whither he was going. A hurried investigation +drew out the information that the youth had been seen on the road to +Tanis, and Hosea hastily bade his trusty shield-bearer search the city +for the youth and, if he found him, to order him to follow his uncle to +Succoth. + +After the chief had said farewell to his men, he set off, attended only +by his old groom. He was pleased to have the adone--[Corresponding to +the rank of adjutant.]--and subaltern officers who had been with him, the +stern warriors, with whom he had shared everything in war and peace, in +want and privation, show so plainly the pain of parting. Tears streamed +down the bronzed cheeks of many a man who had grown grey in warfare, as +he clasped his hand for the last time. Many a bearded lip was pressed to +the hem of his robe, to his feet, and to the sleek skin of the noble +Libyan steed which, pressing forward with arching neck only to be curbed +by its rider's strength, bore him through the ranks. For the first time +since his mother's death his own eyes grew dim, as shouts of farewell +rang warmly and loudly from the manly breasts of his soldiers. + +Never before had he so deeply realized how firmly he was bound to these +men, and how he loved his noble profession. + +Yet the duty he was now fulfilling was also great and glorious, and the +God who had absolved him from his oath and smoothed the way for him to +obey his father's commands as a true and upright man, would perhaps bring +him back to his comrades in arms, whose cordial farewell he still fancied +he heard long after he was out of reach of their voices. + +The greatness of the work assigned to him, the enthusiasm of a man who +devotes himself with devout earnestness to the performance of a difficult +task, the rapturous joy of the lover, who with well-founded hopes of the +fulfilment of the purest and fairest desires of his heart, hastens to +meet the woman of his choice, first dawned upon him when he had left the +city behind and was dashing at a rapid trot toward the south-east across +the flat, well-watered plain with its wealth of palm-groves. + +While forcing his steed to a slower pace as he passed through the streets +of the capital, and the region near the harbor, his mind was so engrossed +by his recent experiences and his anxiety concerning the runaway youth, +that he paid little attention to the throng of vessels lying at anchor, +the motley crowd of ship owners, traders, sailors, and laborers, +representatives of all the nations of Africa and Asia, who sought a +livelihood here, and the officials, soldiers, and petitioners, who had +followed Pharaoh from Thebes to the city of Rameses. + +He had even failed to see two men of high rank, though one, Hornecht, the +captain of the archers, had waved his hand to him. + +They had retired into the deep gateway formed by the pylons at the +entrance of the temple of Seth, to escape the clouds of dust which the +desert wind was still blowing along the road. + +While Hornecht was vainly trying to arrest the horseman's attention, his +companion, Bai, the second prophet of Amon, whispered: "Let him go! He +will learn where his nephew is soon enough." + +"As you desire," replied the soldier. Then he eagerly continued the +story he had just begun. "When they brought the lad in, he looked like a +piece of clay in the potter's workshop." + +"No wonder," replied the priest; "he had lain long enough in the road in +the dust of Typhon. But what was your steward seeking among the +soldiers?" + +"We had heard from my adon, whom I sent to the camp last evening, that +the poor youth was attacked by a severe fever, so Kasana put up some wine +and her nurse's balsam, and dispatched the old creature with them to the +camp." + +"To the youth or to Hosea?" asked the prophet with a mischievous smile. + +"To the sufferer," replied Hornecht positively, a frown darkening his +brow. But, restraining himself, he added as if apologizing: "Her heart +is as soft as wax, and the Hebrew youth--you saw him yesterday......" + +"Is a splendid lad, just fitted to win a woman's heart!" replied the +priest laughing. "Besides, whoever shows kindness to the nephew does not +harm the uncle." + +"That was not in her mind," replied Hornecht bluntly. "But the invisible +God of the Hebrews is not less watchful of his children than the +Immortals whom you serve; for he led Hotepu to the youth just as he was +at the point of death. The dreamer would undoubtedly have ridden past +him; for the dust had already . . . ." + +"Transformed him into a bit of potter's clay. But then?" + +"Then the old man suddenly saw a glint of gold in the dusty heap." + +"And the stiffest neck will stoop for that." + +"Quite true. My Hotepu did so, and the broad gold circlet the lad wore +flashed in the sunlight and preserved his life a second time." + +"The luckiest thing is that we have the lad in our possession." + +"Yes, I was rejoiced to have him open his eyes once more. Then his +recovery grew more and more rapid; the doctor says he is like a kitten, +and all these mishaps will not cost him his life. But he is in a violent +fever, and in his delirium says all sorts of senseless things, which even +my daughter's nurse, a native of Ascalon, cannot clearly comprehend. +Only she thought she caught Kasana's name." + +"So it is once more a woman who is the source of the trouble." + +"Stop these jests, holy father," replied Hornecht, biting his lips. +"A modest widow, and that boy with the down still on his lips." + +"At his age," replied the unabashed priest, "fullblown roses have a +stronger attraction for young beetles than do buds; and in this +instance," he added more gravely, "it is a most fortunate accident. We +have Hosea's nephew in the snare, and it will be your part not to let him +escape." + +"Do you mean that we are to deprive him of his liberty?" cried the +warrior. + +"Even so." + +"Yet you value his uncle?" + +"Certainly. But the state has a higher claim." + +"This boy. . . ." + +"Is a desirable hostage. Hosea's sword was an extremely useful tool to +us; but if the hand that guides it is directed by the man whose power +ever greater things we know . . . ." + +"You mean the Hebrew, Mesu?" + +"Then Hosea will deal us wounds as deep as those he erst inflicted on our +foes." + +"Yet I have heard you say more than once that he was incapable of +perjury." + +"And so I say still, he has given wonderful proof of it to-day. Merely +for the sake of being released from his oath, he thrust his head into the +crocodile's jaws. But though the son of Nun is a lion, he will find his +master in Mesu. That man is the mortal foe of the Egyptians, the bare +thought of him stirs my gall." + +"The cries of the wailing women behind this door admonish us loudly +enough to hate him." + +"Yet the weakling on the throne has forgotten vengeance, and is now +sending Hosea on an errand of reconciliation." + +"With your sanction, I think?" + +"Ay," replied the priest with a mocking smile. "We send him to build a +bridge! Oh, this bridge! A grey-beard's withered brain recommends it to +be thrown across the stream, and the idea just suits this pitiful son of +a great father, who would certainly never have shunned swimming through +the wildest whirlpool, especially when revenge was to be sought. Let +Hosea essay the bridge! If it leads him back across the stream to us, I +will offer him a right warm and cordial welcome; but as soon as this one +man stands on our shores, may its supports sink under the leaders of his +people; we, the only brave souls in Egypt, must see to that." + +"So be it. Yet I fear we shall lose the chief, too, if justice overtakes +his people." + +"It might almost seem so." + +"You have greater wisdom than I" + +"Yet here you believe me in error." + +"How could I venture to . . . ." + +"As a member of the military council you are entitled to your own +opinion, and I consider myself bound to show you the end of the path +along which you have hitherto followed us with blindfold eyes. So +listen, and judge accordingly when your turn comes to speak in the +council. The chief-priest Rui is old . . . ." + +"And you now fill half his offices." + +"Would that he might soon be relieved of the last half of his burden. +Not on my own account. I love strife, but for the welfare of our native +land. It is a deep-seated feeling of our natures to regard the +utterances and mandates of age as wisdom, so there are few among the +councillors who do not follow the old man's opinions; yet his policy +limps on crutches, like himself. All good projects are swamped under his +weak, fainthearted guidance." + +"That is the very reason my vote is at your disposal," cried the warrior. +"That is why I am ready to use all my might to hurl this sleeper from the +throne and get rid of his foolish advisers." + +The prophet laid his finger on his lips to warn his companion to be more +cautious, drew nearer to him, pointed to his litter, and said in a low, +hurried tone: + +"I am expected at the Sublime Porte, so listen. If Hosea's mission is +successful his people will return--the guilty with the innocent--and the +latter will suffer. Among the former we can include the whole of Hosea's +tribe, who call themselves the sons of Ephraim, from old Nun down to the +youth in your dwelling." + +"We may spare them; but Mesu, too, is a Hebrew, and what we do to him..." + +"Will not occur in the public street, and it is child's play to sow +enmity between two men who desire to rule in the same sphere. I will +make sure that Hosea shall shut his eyes to the other's death; but +Pharaoh, whether his name is Meneptah or"--he lowered his voice--"Siptah, +must then raise him to so great a height--and he merits it--that his +giddy eyes will never discern aught we desire to conceal. There is one +dish that never palls on any man who has once tasted it." + +"And what is that?" + +"Power, Hornecht--mighty power! As ruler of a whole province, commander +of all the mercenaries in Aarsu's stead, he will take care not to break +with us. I know him. If I can succeed in making him believe Mesu has +wronged him--and the imperious man will afford some pretext for it--and +can bring him to the conviction that the law directs the punishment we +mete out to the sorcerer and the worst of his adherents, he will not only +assent but approve it." + +"And if he fails in his mission?" + +"He will return at any rate; for he would not be false to his oath. But +if Mesu, from whom we may expect anything, should detain him by force, +the boy will be of service to us; for Hosea loves him, his people value +his life, and he belongs to one of their noblest tribes. In any case +Pharaoh must threaten the lad; we will guard him, and that will unite his +uncle to us by fresh ties and lead him to join those who are angry with +the king." + +"Excellent!" + +"The surest way to attain our object will be by forging still another +chain. In short--now I beg you to be quiet, your temper is far too hot +for your grey hairs--in short, our Hebrew brother-in-arms, the saviour of +my life, the ablest man in the army, who is certain to win the highest +place, must be your son-in-law. Kasana's heart is his--my wife has told +me so." Hornecht frowned again, and struggled painfully to control his +anger. He perceived that he must overcome his objection to giving his +daughter to the man whose birth he scorned, much as he liked and esteemed +his character. He could not refrain from uttering an oath under his +breath, but his answer to the prophet was more calm and sensible than the +latter had anticipated. If Kasana was so possessed by demons that this +stranger infatuated her, let her have her will. But Hosea had not yet +sued for her. + +"By the red god Seth, and his seventy companions," he added wrathfully, +"neither you, nor any one shall induce me to offer my daughter, who has +twenty suitors, to a man who terms himself our friend, yet finds no +leisure to greet us in our own house! To keep fast hold of the lad is +another thing, I will see to that." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +The midnight heavens, decked with countless stars, spanned with their +cloudless azure vault the flat plains of the eastern Delta and the city +of Succoth, called by the Egyptians, from their sanctuary, the place of +the god Tum, or Pithom. + +The March night was drawing toward its end, pallid mists floated over the +canal, the work of Hebrew bondmen which, as far as the eye could reach, +intersected the plain, watering the fields and pastures along its course. + +Eastward and southward the sky was shrouded by dense veils of mist that +rose from the large lakes and from the narrow estuaries that ran far up +into the isthmus. The hot and dusty desert wind, which the day before +had swept over the parched grass and the tents and houses of Succoth, had +subsided at nightfall; and the cool atmosphere which in March, even in +Egypt, precedes the approach of dawn, made itself felt. + +Whoever had formerly entered, between midnight and morning, the humble +frontier hamlet with its shepherd tents, wretched hovels of Nile mud, and +by no means handsome farms and dwellings, would scarcely have recognized +it now. Even the one noticeable building in the place--besides the +stately temple of the sungod Turn--the large fortified store-house, +presented at this hour an unfamiliar aspect. Its long white-washed +walls, it is true, glimmered through the gloom as distinctly as ever, but +instead of towering--as usual at this time--mute and lifeless above the +slumbering town--the most active bustle was going on within and around +it. It was intended also as a defense against the predatory hordes of +the Shasu, + + [Bedouins, who dwelt as nomads in the desert adjacent to Egypt, now + regarded as part of Asia.] + +who had made a circuit around the fortified works on the isthmus, and its +indestructible walls contained an Egyptian garrison, who could easily +defend it against a force greatly superior in numbers. + +To-day it looked as if the sons of the desert had assailed it; but the +men and women who were bustling about below and on the broad parapet of +the gigantic building were Hebrews, not Shasu. With loud outcries and +gesticulations of delight they were seizing the thousands of measures of +wheat, barley, rye, and durra, the stores of pulse, dates, and onions +they found in the well-filled granaries, and even before sunset had begun +to empty the store-rooms and put their contents into sacks, pails, and +skins, trays, jugs, and aprons, which were let down by ropes or carried +to the ground on ladders. + +The better classes took no share in this work, but among the busy throng, +spite of the lateness of the hour, were children of all ages, carrying +away in pots, jugs, and dishes-borrowed from their mothers' cooking +utensils--as much as they could. + +Above, beside the unroofed openings of the storerooms, into which the +stars were shining, and also at the foot of the ladders, women held +torches or lanterns to light the others at their toil. + +Pans of blazing pitch were set in front of the strong locked doors of the +real fortress, and in their light armed shepherds were pacing to and fro. +When heavy stones or kicks belabored the brazen-bound door from within, +and threats were uttered in the Egyptian tongue, the Hebrews outside did +not fail to retort in words of mockery and scorn. + +On the day of the harvest festival, during the first evening watch, +runners arrived at Succoth and announced to the Israelites, whose numbers +were twenty-fold greater than those of the Egyptians, that they had +quitted Tanis in the morning and the tribes intended to leave at night; +their kindred in Succoth must be ready to go forth with them. There was +great rejoicing among the Hebrews, who like those of their blood in the +city of Rameses, had assembled in every house at a festive repast on the +night of the new moon after the vernal equinox when the harvest festival +usually began. The heads of the tribes had informed them that the day of +liberation had arrived, and the Lord would lead them into the Promised +Land. + +Here, too, as in Tanis, many had been faint-hearted and rebellious, and +others had endeavored to separate their lot from the rest and remain +behind; but here, too, they were carried away by the majority. Eleasar, +the son of Aaron, and the distinguished heads of the tribe of Judah, Hur +and Naashon, had addressed the multitude, as Aaron and Nun had done in +the city of Rameses. But Miriam, the virgin, the sister of Moses, had +gone from house to house, everywhere awakening the fire of enthusiasm in +men's hearts, and telling the women that the morrow's sun would usher in +for them and their children a new day of happiness, prosperity, and +freedom. + +Few had been deaf to the appeals of the prophetess; there was an air of +majesty, which compelled obedience, in the bearing of this maiden, whose +large black eyes, surmounted by heavy dark eye-brows, which met m the +middle, pierced the hearts of those on whom her gaze was bent and seemed +to threaten the rebellious with their gloomy radiance. + +The members of every household went to rest after the festival with +hearts uplifted and full of hope. But what a change had passed over them +during the second day, the night that followed it, and the next morning! +It seemed as though the desert wind had buried all their courage and +confidence in the dust it swept before it. The dread of going forth to +face an unknown future had stolen into every heart, and many a man who +had waved his staff full of trust and joyful enterprise was now held, as +if with clamps and fetters, to his well-tilled garden, the home of his +ancestors, and the harvest in the fields, which had just been half +gathered. + +The Egyptian garrison in the fortified store-house had not failed to +notice that the Hebrews were under some special excitement, but they +supposed it due to the harvest festival. The commander of the garrison +had learned that Moses desired to lead his people into the wilderness to +offer sacrifices to their God, and had asked for a reinforcement. But he +knew nothing more; for until the morning when the desert wind blew, no +Hebrew had disclosed the plans of his kindred. But the more sorely the +heat of the day oppressed them, the greater became the dread of the +faint-hearted of the pilgrimage through the hot, dusty, waterless desert. +The terrible day had given them a foretaste of what was impending and +when, toward noon, the dust grew thicker, the air more and more +oppressive, a Hebrew trader, from whom the Egyptian soldiers purchased +goods, stole into the store-house to ask the commander to prevent his +people from rushing to their doom. + +Even among the leaders the voices of malcontents had grown loud. Asarja +and Michael, with their sons, who grudged the power of Moses and Aaron, +had even gone from one to another to try to persuade them, ere departing, +to summon the elders again and charge then to enter into fresh +negotiations with the Egyptians. While these malcontents were +successfully gathering adherents, and the traitor had sought the +commander of the Egyptian garrison, two more messengers arrived with +tidings that the fugitives would arrive in Succoth between midnight and +morning. + +Breathless, speechless, dripping with perspiration, and with bleeding +lips, the elder messenger sank on the threshold of Amminadab's house, now +the home of Miriam also. Both the exhausted men were refreshed with wine +and food, ere the least wearied was fully capable of speech. Then, in a +hoarse voice, but from a heart overflowing with gratitude and ardent +enthusiasm, be reported the scenes which had occurred at the exodus, and +how the God of their fathers had filled every heart with His spirit, and +instilled new faith into the souls of the cowards. + +Miriam had listened to this story with sparkling eyes; at its close she +flung her veil over her head and bade the servants of the household, who +had assembled around the messengers, to summon the whole Hebrew people +under the sycamore, whose broad summit, the growth of a thousand years, +protected a wide space of earth from the scorching sunbeams. + +The desert wind was still blowing, but the glad news seemed to have +destroyed the baneful power it exerted on man, and when many hundreds of +people had flocked together under the sycamore, Miriam had given her hand +to Eleasar, the son of her brother Aaron, sprung upon the bench which +rested against the huge hollow trunk of the tree, raised her hands and +eyes toward heaven in an ecstasy, and began in a loud voice to address a +prayer to the Lord, as if she beheld him with her earthly vision. + +Then she permitted the messenger to speak, and when the latter again +described the events which had occurred in the city of Rameses, and then +announced that the fugitives from Tanis would arrive in a few hours, loud +shouts of joy burst from the throng. Eleasar, the son of Aaron, +proclaimed with glowing enthusiasm what the Lord had done for his people +and had promised to them, their children, and children's children. + +Each word from the lips of the inspired speaker fell upon the hearts of +the Hebrews like the fresh dew of morning on the parched grass. The +trusting hearers pressed around him and Miriam with shouts of joy, and +the drooping courage of the timorous appeared to put forth new wings. +Asarja, Michael, and their followers no longer murmured, nay, most of +them had been infected by the general enthusiasm, and when a Hebrew +mercenary stole out from the garrison of the store-house and disclosed +what had been betrayed to his commander, Eleasar, Naashon, Hur, and +others took counsel together, gathered all the shepherds around them, and +with glowing words urged them to show in this hour that they were men +indeed and did not fear, with their God's mighty aid, to fight for their +people and their liberty. + +There was no lack of axes, clubs, sickles, brazen spears, heavy staves, +slings, the shepherds' weapons of defence against the wild beasts of the +desert, or bows and arrows, and as soon as a goodly number of strong men +had joined him, Hur fell upon the Egyptian overseers who were watching +the labor of several hundred Hebrew slaves. Shouting: "They are coming! +Down with the oppressors! The Lord our God is our leader!" they rushed +upon the Lybian warders, put them to rout, and released their fellows who +were digging the earth, and laying bricks. As soon as the illustrious +Naashon had pressed one of the oldest of these hapless men like a brother +to his heart, the other liberated bondsmen had flung themselves into the +shepherds' arms and thus, still shouting: "They are coming!" and "The +Lord, the God of our fathers, is our leader!" they pressed forward in an +increasing multitude. When at last the little band of shepherds had +grown to a body of several thousand men, Hur led them against the +Egyptian soldiers, whom they largely outnumbered. + +The Egyptian bowmen had already discharged a shower of arrows, and stones +hurled from the slings of the powerful shepherds had dealt fatal wounds +in the front ranks of the foe, when the blast of a trumpet rang out, +summoning the garrison of the fortress behind the sloping walls and solid +door. The Hebrews seemed to the commander too superior a force to fight, +but duty required him to hold the fort until the arrival of the +reinforcements he had requested. + +Hur, however, had not been satisfied with his first victory. Success had +kindled the courage of his followers, as a sharp gust of wind fans a +smouldering fire, and wherever an Egyptian showed himself on the +battlements of the store-house, the round stone from a shepherd's sling +struck heavily upon him. At Naashon's bidding ladders had been brought +and, in the twinkling of an eye, hundreds climbed up the building from +every direction and, after a short, bloodless struggle, the granaries +fell into the Hebrews' hands, though the Egyptians had succeeded in still +retaining the fort. During the passage of these events the desert wind +had subsided. Some of the liberated bondsmen, furious with rage, had +heaped straw, wood, and faggots against the gate of the courtyard into +which the Egyptians had been forced. It would have been a light task for +the assailants to destroy every one of their foes by fire; but Hur, +Naashon, and other prudent leaders had not suffered this to be done, lest +the provisions still in the store-rooms should be burned. + +It had been no easy matter, in truth, to deter the younger of the ill- +treated bondsmen from this act of vengeance; but each one was a member of +some family, and when Hur's admonitions were supported by those of the +fathers and mothers, they not only allowed themselves to be pacified, but +aided the elders to distribute the contents of the magazines among the +heads of families and pack them on the beasts of burden and into the +carts which were to accompany the fugitives. + +The work went forward amid the broad glare of torches, and became a new +festival; for neither Hur, Naashon, nor Eleasar could prevent the men and +women from opening the wine-jars and skins. They succeeded, however, in +preserving the lion's share of the precious booty for a time of need, and +thus averted much drunkenness, though the spirit of the grape-juice and +the pleasure in obtaining so rich a prize doubtless enhanced the grateful +excitement of the throng. When Eleasar finally went among them for the +second time to tell them of the Promised Land, men and women listened +with uplifted hearts, and joined in the hymn Miriam began to sing. + +Devout enthusiasm now took possession of every heart in Succoth, as it +had done in Tanis during the hour that preceded the exodus, and when +seventy Hebrew men and women, who had concealed themselves in the temple +of Turn, heard the jubilant hymn, they came forth into the open air, +joined the others, and packed their possessions with as much glad +hopefulness and warm trust in the God of their fathers, as if they had +never shrunk from the departure. + +As the stars sank lower in the heavens, the joyous excitement increased. +Men and women thronged the road to Tanis to meet their approaching +kindred. Many a father led his boy by the hand, and many a mother +carried her child in her arms; the multitude drawing near contained +numerous beloved relatives to be greeted, and the coming dawn could not +fail to bring solemn hours of which one would wish no beloved heart to be +deprived, and which would linger in the souls of the little ones till +they themselves had children and grandchildren. + +No bed in tent, hovel, or house was occupied; for everywhere the final +packing was going on. The throng of workers at the granaries had +lessened; most of them were now supplied with as much food as they could +carry. + +Men and women equipped for travelling lay around fires hurriedly lighted +in front of many tents and houses, and in the larger farms shepherds were +driving the cattle and slaughtering the oxen and sheep which were unable +to go with the people. The blows of axes and hammers and the creaking of +saws were heard in front of many a house; for litters to transport the +sick and feeble must be made. Carts and wains were still to be loaded, +and the heads of families had a hard task with the women; for a woman's +heart often clings more closely to things apparently worthless than to +those of the greatest value. When the weaver Rebecca was more eager to +find room in the cart for the rude cradle in which her darling had died, +than for the beautiful ebony chest inlaid with ivory an Egyptian had +pawned to her husband, who could blame her? + +Light shone from all the window openings and tent doors, while from the +roofs of the largest houses the blaze of torches or lanterns greeted the +approaching Hebrews. + +At the banquet served on the night of the harvest festival, no table had +lacked a roast lamb; during this hour of waiting the housewife offered +her family what she could. + +The narrow streets of the humble little town were full of active life, +and never had the setting stars shone upon features so cheerful, eyes +sparkling so brightly with enthusiasm, and faces so transfigured by hope +and devout piety. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +When morning dawned, all who had not gone down to meet the fugitives who +were to make their first long halt here, had assembled on the roof of one +of the largest houses in Succoth. + +One after another fleet-footed man or boy, hurrying in advance of the +rest, had reached Succoth. Amminadab's house was the goal sought by the +majority. It consisted of two buildings, one occupied by Naashon, the +owner's son, and his family, the other, a larger dwelling, which +sheltered, besides the grey-haired owner and his wife, his son-in-law +Aaron with his wife, children, and grand-children, and Miriam. The aged +leader of his tribe, who had assigned the duties of his position to his +son Naashon, extended his hand to every messenger and listened to his +story with sparkling eyes, often dimmed by tears. He had induced his old +wife to sit in the armchair in which she was to be carried after the +people, that she might become accustomed to it, and for the same reason +he now occupied his own. + +When the old dame heard the messengers boast that the fair future +promised to the people was now close at hand, her eyes often sought her +husband, and she exclaimed: "Yes, Moses!" for she held her son-in-law's +brother in high esteem, and rejoiced to see his prophecy fulfilled. The +old people were proud of Aaron, too; but all their love was lavished upon +Eleasar, their grandson, whom they beheld growing up into a second Moses. +Miriam had been for some time a new and welcome member of the household. +True, the warm-hearted old couple's liking for the grave maiden had not +increased to parental tenderness, and their daughter Elisheba, Aaron's +active wife, had no greater inclination to share the cares of the large +family with the prophetess than her son Naashon's spouse, who, moreover, +dwelt with her immediate family under her own roof. Yet the old people +owed Miriam a debt of gratitude for the care she bestowed upon their +granddaughter Milcah, the daughter of Aaron and Elisheba, whom a great +misfortune had transformed from a merry-hearted child into a melancholy +woman, whose heart seemed dead to every joy. + +A few days after her marriage to a beloved husband the latter, carried +away by passion, had raised his hand against an Egyptian tax-gatherer, +who, while Pharaoh was passing through Succoth toward the east, had +attempted to drive off a herd of his finest cattle for "the kitchen of +the lord of both worlds." For this act of self-defence the hapless man +had been conveyed to the mines as a prisoner of state, and every one knew +that the convicts there perished, soul and body, from torturing labor far +beyond their strength. Through the influence of old Nun, Hosea's father, +the wife and relatives of the condemned man had been saved from sharing +his punishment, as the law prescribed. But Milcah languished under the +blow, and the only person who could rouse the pale, silent woman from +brooding over her grief was Miriam. The desolate heart clung to the +prophetess, and she accompanied her when she practised in the huts of the +poor the medical skill she had learned and took them medicines and alms. + +The last messengers Amninadab and his wife received on the roof described +the hardships of the journey and the misery they had witnessed in dark +hues; but if one, more tender-hearted than the rest, broke into +lamentations over the sufferings endured by the women and children during +the prevalence of the desert wind, and recalling the worst horrors +impressed upon his memory, uttered mournful predictions for the future, +the old man spoke cheering words, telling him of the omnipotence of God, +and how custom would inure one to hardship. His wrinkled features +expressed firm confidence, while one could read in Miriam's beautiful, +yet stern countenance, little of the courageous hope, which youth is wont +to possess in a far higher degree than age. + +During the arrival and departure of the messengers she did not quit the +old couple's side, leaving to her sister-in-law Elisheba and her servants +the duty of offering refreshments to the wearied men. She herself +listened intently, with panting breath, but what she heard seemed to +awaken her anxiety; for she knew that no one came to the house which +sheltered Aaron save those who were adherents of her brothers, the +leaders of the people. If such men's blitheness was already waning, +what must the outlook be to the lukewarm and refractory! + +She rarely added a question of her own to those asked by the old man and, +when she did so, the messengers who heard her voice for the first time +looked at her in surprise; though musical, the tones were unusually deep. + +After several messengers, in reply to her inquiries, declared that Hosea, +the son of Nun, had not come with the others, her head drooped and she +asked nothing more, till pallid Milcah, who followed her everywhere, +raised her dark eyes beseechingly and murmured the name of Reuben, her +captive husband. The prophetess kissed the poor desolate wife's +forehead, glanced at her as if she had neglected her in some way, and +then questioned the messengers with urgent eagerness concerning their +news of Reuben, who had been dragged to the mines. One only had learned +from a released prisoner that Milcah's husband was living in the copper +mines of the province of Bech, in the neighborhood of Mt. Sinai, and +Miriam seized upon these tidings to assure Milcah, with great vivacity +and warmth, that if the tribes moved eastward they would surely pass the +mines and release the Hebrews imprisoned there. + +These were welcome words, and Milcah, who nestled to her comforter's +breast, would gladly have heard more; but great restlessness had seized +upon the people gazing into the distance from the roof of Amminadab's +house; a dense cloud of dust was approaching from the north, and soon +after a strange murmur arose, then a loud uproar, and finally shouts and +cries from thousands of voices, lowing, neighing, and bleating, such as +none of the listeners had ever heard,--and then on surged the many-limbed +and many-voiced multitude, the endless stream of human beings and herds, +which the astrologer's grandson on the observatory of the temple at Tanis +had mistaken for the serpent of the nether-world. + +Now, too, in the light of early dawn, it might easily have been imagined +a host of bodiless spirits driven forth from the realms of the dead; for +a whitish-grey column of dust extending to the blue vault of heaven moved +before it, and the vast whole, with its many parts and voices, veiled by +the clouds of sand, had the appearance of a single form. Often, however, +a metal spear-head or a brazen kettle, smitten by a sunbeam, flashed +brightly, and individual voices, shouting loudly, fell upon the ear. + +The foremost billows of the flood had now reached Amminadab's house, +before which pasture lands extended as far as the eye could reach. + +Words of command rang on the air, the procession halted, dispersing as a +mountain lake overflows in spring, sending rivulets and streams hither +and thither; but the various small runlets speedily united, taking +possession of broad patches of the dewy pastures, and wherever such +portions of the torrent of human beings and animals rested, the shroud of +dust which had concealed them disappeared. + +The road remained hidden by the cloud a long time, but on the meadows the +morning sunlight shone upon men, women, and children, cattle and donkeys, +sheep and goats, and soon tent after tent was pitched on the green sward +in front of the dwellings of Amminadab and Naashon, herds were surrounded +by pens, stakes and posts were driven into the hard ground, awnings were +stretched, cows were fastened to ropes, cattle and sheep were led to +water, fires were lighted, and long lines of women, balancing jars on +their heads, with their slender, beautifully curved arms, went to the +well behind the old sycamore or to the side of the neighboring canal. + +This morning, as on every other working-day, a pied ox with a large hump +was turning the wheel that raised the water. It watered the land, though +the owner of the cattle intended to leave it on the morrow; but the slave +who drove it had no thought beyond the present and, as no one forbade +him, moistened as he was wont the grass for the foe into whose hands it +was to fall. + +Hours elapsed ere the advancing multitude reached the camp, and Miriam +who stood describing to Amminadab, whose eyes were no longer keen enough +to discern distant objects, what was passing below, witnessed many an +incident from which she would fain have averted her gaze. + +She dared not frankly tell the old man what she beheld, it would have +clouded his joyous hope. + +Relying, with all the might of an inspired soul upon the God of her +fathers and his omnipotence, she had but yesterday fully shared +Amminadab's confidence; but the Lord had bestowed upon her spirit the +fatal gift of seeing things and hearing words incomprehensible to all +other human beings. Usually she distinguished them in dreams, but they +often came to her also in solitary hours, when she was deeply absorbed by +thoughts of the past or the future. + +The words Ephraim had announced to Hosea in her name, as a message from +the Most High, had been uttered by unseen lips while she was thinking +under the sycamore of the exodus and the man whom she had loved from her +childhood--and when that day, between midnight and morning, she again sat +beneath the venerable tree and was overpowered by weariness, she had +believed she heard the same voice. The words had vanished from her +memory when she awoke, but she knew that their purport had been sorrowful +and of ill omen. + +Spite of the vagueness of the monition, it disturbed her, and the +outcries rising from the pastures certainly were not evoked by joy that +the people had joined her brothers and the first goal of their wanderings +had been successfully gained, as the old man at her side supposed; no, +they were the furious shouts of wrathful, undisciplined men, wrangling +and fighting with fierce hostility on the meadow for a good place to +pitch their tents or the best spot at the wells or on the brink of the +canals to water their cattle. + +Wrath, disappointment, despair echoed in the shouts, and when her gaze +sought the point whence they rose loudest, she saw the corpse of a woman +borne on a piece of tent-cloth by railing bondmen and a pale, death- +stricken infant held on the arm of a half naked, frantic man, its father, +who shook his disengaged hand in menace toward the spot where she saw her +brothers. + +The next moment she beheld a grey-haired old man, bowed by heavy toil, +raise his fist against Moses. He would have struck him, had he not been +dragged away by others. + +She could not bear to stay longer on the roof. Pale and panting for +breath, she hurried to the camp. Milcah followed, and wherever they +encountered people who lived in Succoth, they received respectful +greetings. + +The new comers from Zoan,--as the Hebrews called Tanis,--Pha-kos, and +Bubastis, whom they met on the way, did not know Miriam, yet the tall +figure and stately dignity of the prophetess led them also to make way +respectfully or pause to answer her questions. + +The things she learned were evil and heart-rending; for joyously as the +procession had marched forward on the first day, it dragged along sadly +and hopelessly on the second. The desert wind had robbed many of the +strong of their power of resistance and energy; others, like the +bondman's wife and nursling, had been attacked by fever on the pilgrimage +through the dust and the oppressive heat of the day, and they pointed out +to her the procession which was approaching the burial-place of the +Hebrews of Succoth. Those who were being conveyed to the bourn whence +there is no return were not only women and children, or those who had +been brought from their homes ill, that they might not be left behind, +but also men who were in robust health the day before and had broken down +under burdens too heavy for their strength, or who had recklessly exposed +themselves, while working, to the beams of the noon-day sun. + +In one tent, where a young mother was shaking with the chill of a severe +attack of fever, Miriam asked the pallid Milcah to bring her medicine +chest, and the desolate wife went on her errand with joyous alacrity. +On the way she stopped many and timidly asked about her captive husband, +but could obtain no news of him. Miriam, however, heard from Nun, +Hosea's father, that Eliab, the freedman whom he had left behind, had +informed him that his son would be ready to join his people. She also +learned that the wounded Ephraim had found shelter in his uncle's tent. + +Was the lad's illness serious, or what other cause detained Hosea in +Tanis? These questions filled Miriam's heart with fresh anxiety, yet +with rare energy she nevertheless lavished help and comfort wherever she +went. + +Old Nun's cordial greeting had cheered her, and a more vigorous, kind, +and lovable old man could not be imagined. + +The mere sight of his venerable head, with its thick snow-white hair and +beard, his regular features, and eyes sparkling with the fire of youth, +was a pleasure to her, and as, in his vivacious, winning manner, he +expressed his joy at meeting her again, as he drew her to his heart and +kissed her brow, after she had told him that, in the name of the Most +High, she had called Hosea "Joshua" and summoned him back to his people +that he might command their forces, she felt as if she had found in him +some compensation for her dead father's loss, and devoted herself with +fresh vigor to the arduous duties which everywhere demanded her +attention. + +And it was no trivial matter for the high-souled maiden to devote +herself, with sweet self-sacrifice, to those whose roughness and uncouth +manners wounded her. The women, it is true, gladly accepted her aid, but +the men, who had grown up under the rod of the overseer, knew neither +reserve nor consideration. Their natures were as rude as their persons +and when, as soon as they learned her name, they began to assail her with +harsh reproaches, asserting that her brother had lured them from an +endurable situation to plunge them into the most horrible position, when +she heard imprecations and blasphemy, and saw the furious wrath of the +black eyes that flashed in the brown faces framed by masses of tangled +hair and beards, her heart failed her. + +But she succeeded in mastering dread and aversion, and though her heart +throbbed violently, and she expected to meet the worst, she reminded +those who were repulsive to her and from whom her woman's weakness urged +her to flee, of the God of their fathers and His promises. + +She now thought she knew what the sorrowful warning voice under the +sycamore had portended, and beside the couch of the young dying mother +she raised her hands and heart to Heaven and took an oath unto the Most +High that she would exert every power of her being to battle against the +faint-hearted lack of faith and rude obstinacy, which threatened to +plunge the people into sore perils. Jehovah had promised them the +fairest future and they must not be robbed of it by the short-sightedness +and defiance of a few deluded individuals; but God himself could scarcely +be wroth with those who, content if their bodily wants were satisfied, +had unresistingly borne insults and blows like cattle. The multitude +even now did not realize that they must pass through the darkness of +misery to be worthy of the bright day that awaited them. + +The medicines administered by Miriam seemed to relieve the sufferer, and +filled with fresh confidence, she left the tent to seek her brothers. + +There had been little change in the state of affairs in the camp, and she +again beheld scenes from which she recoiled and which made her regret +that the sensitive Milcah was her companion. + +Some rascally bondmen who had seized cattle and utensils belonging to +others had been bound to a palmtree, and the ravens that followed the +procession; and had found ample sustenance on the way, now croaked +greedily around the quickly established place of execution. + +No one knew who had been judge or executioner of the sentence; but those +who took part in the swift retribution considered it well justified, and +rejoiced in the deed. + +With rapid steps and averted head Miriam drew the trembling Milcah on and +gave her to the care of her uncle Naashon to lead home. The latter had +just parted from the man who with him ruled the sons of Judah as a prince +of the tribe--Hur, who at the head of the shepherds had won the first +victory against the Egyptians, and who now led to the maiden with joyful +pride a man and a boy, his son and grandson. Both had been in the +service of the Egyptians, practising the trade of goldsmith and worker in +metals for Pharaoh at Memphis. The former's skill had won him the name +of Uri, which in Egyptian means 'great', and this artificer's son +Bezaleel, Hur's grandson, though scarcely beyond boyhood, was reputed to +surpass his father in the gifts of genius. + +Hur gazed with justifiable pride at son and grandson; for though both had +attained much consideration among the Egyptians they had followed their +father's messenger without demur, leaving behind them many who were dear +to their hearts, and the property gained in Memphis, to join their +wandering nation and share its uncertain destiny. + +Miriam greeted the new arrivals with the utmost warmth, and the men who, +representing three generations, stood before her, presented a picture on +which the eyes of any well-disposed person could not fail to rest with +pleasure. + +The grandfather was approaching his sixtieth year, and though many +threads of silver mingled with his ebon-black hair, he held himself as +erect as a youth, while his thin, sharply-cut features expressed the +unyielding determination, which explained his son's and grandson's prompt +obedience to his will. + +Uri, too, was a stately man, and Bezaleel a youth who showed that he had +industriously utilized his nineteen years and already attained an +independent position. His artist eye sparkled with special brilliancy, +and after he and his father had taken leave of Miriam to greet Caleb, +their grandfather and great-grandfather, she heartily congratulated the +man who was one of her brother's most loyal friends, upon such scions of +his noble race. + +Hur seized her hand and, with a warmth of emotion gushing from a grateful +heart that was by no means usual to the stern, imperious nature of this +chief of an unruly shepherd tribe, exclaimed: + +"Ay, they have remained good, true, and obedient. God has guarded them +and prepared this day of happiness for me. Now it depends on you to make +it the fairest of all festivals. You must have long perceived that my +eyes have followed you and that you have been dear to my heart. To work +for our people and their welfare is my highest aim as a man, yours as a +woman, and that is a strong bond. But I desired to have a still firmer +one unite us, and since your parents are dead, and I cannot go with the +bridal dower to Amram, to buy you from him, I now bring my suit to you in +person, high-souled maiden. But ere you say yes or no, you should learn +that my son and grandson are ready to pay you the same honor as head of +our household that they render me, and your brothers willingly permitted +me to approach you as a suitor." + +Miriam had listened to this offer in silent surprise. She had a high +esteem and warm regard for the man who so fervently desired her love. +Spite of his age, he stood before her in the full flush of manhood and +stately dignity, and the beseeching expression of eyes whose glance was +wont to be so imperious and steadfast stirred the inmost depths of her +soul. + +She, however, was waiting with ardent longing for another, so her sole +answer was a troubled shake of the head. + +But this man of mature years, a prince of his tribe, who was accustomed +to carry his plans persistently into execution, undeterred by her mute +refusal, continued even more warmly than before. + +"Do not destroy in one short moment the yearning repressed with so much +difficulty for years! Do you object to my age?" + +Miriam shook her head a second time, but Hur went on: + +"That was the source of my anxiety, though I can still vie with many a +younger man in vigor. But, if you can overlook your lover's grey hairs, +perhaps you may be induced to weigh the words he now utters. Of the +faith and devotion of my soul I will say nothing. No man of my years +woos a woman, unless his heart's strong impulse urges him on. But there +is something else which, meseems, is of equal import. I said that I +would lead you to my house. Yonder it stands, a building firm and +spacious enough; but from to-morrow a tent will be our home, the camp +our dwelling-place, and there will be wild work enough within its bounds. +No one is secure, not even of life, least of all a woman, however strong +she may be, who has made common cause with those against whom thousands +murmur. Your parents are dead, your brothers might protect you, but +should the people lay hands on them, the same stones on which you cross +the stream would drag you down into the depths with them." + +"And were I your wife, you also," replied Miriam, her thick eye-brows +contracting in a heavy frown. + +"I will take the risk," Hur answered. "The destinies of all are in God's +hands, my faith is as firm as yours, and behind me stands the tribe of +Judah, who follow me and Naashon as the sheep follow the shepherds. Old +Nun and the Ephraimites are with us, and should matters come to the +worst, it would mean perishing according to God's will, or in faithful +union, power, and prosperity, awaiting old age in the Promised Land." + +Miriam fearlessly gazed full into his stern eyes, laid her hand on his +arm, and answered: "Those words are worthy of the man whom I have honored +from childhood, and who has reared such sons; but I cannot be your wife." + +"You cannot?" + +"No, my lord, I cannot." + +"A hard sentence, but it must suffice," replied the other, his head +drooping in sorrow; but Miriam exclaimed: + +"Nay, Hur, you have a right to ask the cause of my refusal, and because I +honor you, I owe you the truth. Another man of our race reigns in my +heart. He met me for the first time when I was still a child. Like your +son and grandson, he has lived among the Egyptians, but the summons of +our God and of his father reached him as did the message to your sons, +and like Uri and Bezaleel, he showed himself obedient. If he still +desires to wed me, I shall become his wife, if it is the will of the God +whom I serve, and who shows me the favor of suffering me to hear his +voice. But I shall think of you with gratitude forever." + +Her large eyes had been glittering through tears as she uttered the +words, and there was a tremor in the grey-haired lover's voice as he +asked in hesitating, embarrassed tones: + +"And if the man for whom you are waiting--I do not ask his name--shuts +his ears to the call that has reached him, if he declines to share the +uncertain destiny of his people?" + +"That will never happen!" Miriam interrupted, a chill creeping through +her veins, but Hur exclaimed: + +"There is no 'never,' no 'surely,' save with God. If, spite of your firm +faith, the result should be different from your expectations, will you +resign to the Lord the wish which began to stir in your heart, when you +were still a foolish child?" + +"He who has guided me until now will show me the right way." + +"Well then," replied Hur, "put your trust in Him, and if the man of your +choice is worthy of you, and becomes your lord, my soul will rejoice +without envy when the Most High blesses your union. But if God wills +otherwise, and you need a strong arm for your support, I am here. The +tent and the heart of Hur will ever be open to you." + +With these words he turned away; but Miriam gazed thoughtfully after him +as long as the old chief's stately figure was visible. + +At last, still pondering, she moved toward her host's house, but at the +road leading to Tanis, she paused and gazed northward. The dust had +subsided, and she could see a long distance, but the one person whom it +was to lead back to her and to his people did not appear. Sighing sadly, +she moved onward with drooping head, and started violently when her +brother Moses' deep voice called to her from the old sycamore. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Aaron and Eleasar, with fiery eloquence, had reminded the murmuring, +disheartened people of the power and promises of their God. Whoever had +stretched his limbs undisturbed to comfortable rest, whoever had been +strengthened by food and drink regained the confidence that had been +lost. The liberated bondmen were told of the hard labor and dishonoring +blows which they had escaped and admonished that they must recognize as +God's dispensation, among other things, that Pharaoh had not pursued +them; but the rich booty still found in the plundered storehouse had no +small share in the revival of their drooping courage, and the bondmen and +lepers--for many of the latter had accompanied them and rested outside +the camp--in short, all for whose support Pharaoh had provided, saw +themselves safe for a long time from care and privation. Yet there was +no lack of malcontents, and here and there, though no one knew who +instigated the question, loud discussion arose whether it would not be +more advisable to return to Pharaoh and rely on his favor. Whoever +raised it, did the work secretly, and was often compelled to submit to +sharp, threatening retorts. + +Miriam had talked with her brothers and shared the heavy anxieties that +oppressed them. Why had the desert wind so speedily destroyed the +courage of the people during their brief pilgrimage? How impatient, how +weak in faith, how rebellious they had showed themselves at the first +obstacle they had encountered, how uncontrollable they had been in +following their fierce impulses. When summoned to prayer just before +sunrise during their journey, some had turned toward the day-star rising +in the east, others had taken out a small idol they had brought with +them, and others still had uplifted their eyes to the Nile acacia, which +in some provinces of Egypt was regarded as a sacred tree. What did they +know of the God who had commanded them to cast so much behind them and +take upon themselves such heavy burdens? Even now many were despairing, +though they had confronted no serious dangers; for Moses had intended to +lead the Hebrews in Succoth over the road to Philistia direct to the +Promised Land in Palestine, but the conduct of the people forced him to +resign this plan and form another. + +To reach the great highway connecting Asia and Africa it was necessary to +cross the isthmus, which rather divided than united the two continents; +for it was most thoroughly guarded from intruders and, partly by natural, +partly by artificial obstacles, barred the path of every fugitive; a +series of deep lakes rolled their waves upon its soil, and where these +did not stay the march of the travelers strong fortifications, garrisoned +by trained Egyptian troops, rose before them. + +This chain of forts was called Chetam--or in the Hebrew tongue--Etham, +and wayfarers leaving Succoth would reach the nearest and strongest of +these forts in a few hours. + +When the tribes, full of enthusiasm for their God, and ready for the most +arduous enterprises, shook off their chains and, exulting in their new +liberty, rushed forward to the Promised Land Moses, and with him the +majority of the elders, had believed that, like a mountain torrent, +bursting dams and sluices, they would destroy and overthrow everything +that ventured to oppose their progress. With these enthusiastic masses, +to whom bold advance would secure the highest good, and timid hesitation +could bring nothing save death and ruin, they had expected to rush over +the Etham line as if it were a pile of faggots. But now since a short +chain of difficulties and suffering had stifled the fire of their souls, +now that wherever the eye turned, there were two calm and five +dissatisfied or anxious individuals to one upheld by joyous anticipation, +to storm the Etham line would have cost rivers of blood and moreover +jeopardized all that had been already gained. + +The overpowering of the little garrison in the storehouse of Pithom had +occurred under specially favorable circumstances, which could hardly be +expected to happen again, so the original plan must be changed, and an +attempt made to take a circuit around the fortifications. Instead of +moving toward the northeast, the tribes must turn southward. + +But, ere carrying this plan into execution, Moses, accompanied by a few +trusty men, desired to examine the new route and ascertain whether it +would be passable for the great wandering people. + +These matters were discussed under the great sycamore in front of +Amminadab's house, and Miriam was present, a mute witness. + +Women,--even those like herself,--were forced to keep silence when men +were holding counsel; yet it was hard for her to remain speechless when +it was decided to abstain from attacking the forts, even should the +trained warrior, Hosea, whom God Himself had chosen to be his sword, +return to his people. + +"What avails the best leader, if there is no army to obey him?" Naashon, +Amminadab's son, had exclaimed, and the others shared his opinion. + +When the council finally broke up, Moses took leave of his sister with +fraternal affection. She knew that he was in the act of plunging into +fresh dangers and--in the modest manner in which she was always wont to +accost the brother who so far surpassed all others in every gift of mind +and body,--expressed her anxiety. He looked into her eyes with friendly +reproach and raised his right hand toward heaven; but she understood his +meaning, and kissing his hand with grateful warmth, replied: + +"You stand under the protection of the Most High, and I fear no longer." + +Pressing his lips upon her brow, he bade her give him a tablet, wrote a +few words on it, flung it into the hollow trunk of the sycamore, and said: + +"For Hosea, no, for Joshua, the son of Nun, if he comes while I am +absent. The Lord has great deeds for him to accomplish, when he learns +to expect loftier things from the Most High than from the mighty ones of +earth." + +With these words he left her; but Aaron who, as the oldest, was the head +of her tribe, lingered and told her that a man of worth sought her hand. +Miriam, with blanching face, replied: + +"I know it......" + +He looked at her in surprise and with earnest monition, added: + +"As you choose; yet it will be wise to consider this. Your heart belongs +to your God and to your people, and the man whom you wed must be ready, +like yourself, to serve both; for two must be one in marriage, and if the +highest aim of one is not also that of the other, they will remain two +till the end. The voice of the senses, which drew them together, will +soon be mute and nothing will be left to them save discord." + +Having said this, he went away, and she, too, was preparing to leave the +others; for on the eve of departure she might be needed in the house +whose hospitality she enjoyed. But a new incident detained her, as +though bound with fetters, under the sycamore. + +What cared she for the packing of perishable wares and providing for +bodily needs, when affairs which occupied her whole soul were under +discussion! Elisheba, Naashon's wife, any housekeeper and faithful slave +could attend to the former wants. Higher things were to be determined +here--the weal or woe of her people. + +Several men of distinction in the tribes had joined the elders under the +sycamore; but Hur had already departed with Moses. + +Uri, the son of the former, now appeared beneath the ancient tree. The +worker in metals, who had just come from Egypt, had talked in Memphis +with persons who were near to the king and learned that Pharaoh was ready +to remove great burdens from the Hebrews and grant them new favors, if +Moses would render the God whom he served propitious to him and induce +the people to return after they had offered sacrifices in the wilderness. +Therefore it would be advisable to send envoys to Tanis and enter into +negotiations with the Sublime Porte. + +These proposals, which Uri had not yet ventured to moot to his father, +he, with good intentions, brought before the assembled elders; he hoped +that their acceptance might spare the people great suffering. But +scarcely had he concluded his clear and convincing speech, when old Nun, +Hosea's father, who had with difficulty held his feelings in check, broke +in. + +The old man's face, usually so cheerful, glowed with wrath, and its fiery +hue formed a strange contrast to the thick white locks which framed it. +A few hours before he had heard Moses repel similar propositions with +harsh decision and crushing reasons; now he had heard them again brought. +forward and noted many a gesture of assent among the listeners, and saw +the whole great enterprise imperilled, the enterprise for whose success +he had himself risked and sacrificed more than any other man. + +This was too much for the active old man who, with flashing eyes and hand +upraised in menace, burst forth "What do you mean? Are we to pick up the +ends of the rope the Lord our God has severed? Do you counsel us to +fasten it anew, with a looser knot, which will hold as long as the whim +of a vacillating weakling who has broken his promises to us and to Moses +a score of times? Do you wish to lead us back to the cage whence the +Almighty released us by a miracle? Are we to treat the Lord our God like +a bad debtor and prefer the spurious gold ring we are offered to the +royal treasures He promises? Oh, messenger from the Egyptians-- +I would . . . ." + +Here the hot-blooded grey-beard raised his clenched fist in menace but, +ere he had uttered the threat that hovered on his lips, he let his arm +fall; for Gabriel, the oldest member of the tribe of Zebulun, shouted: + +"Remember your own son, who is to-day among the foes of his people." + +The words struck home; yet they only dimmed the fiery old man's glad +self-reliance a moment and, amid the voices uttering disapproval of the +malicious Gabriel and the few who upheld the Zebulunite, he cried: + +"And because I am perhaps in danger of losing, not only the ten thousand +acres of land I flung behind me, but a noble son, it is my right to speak +here." + +His broad chest heaved with his labored breathing and his eyes, shadowed +by thick white brows, rested with a milder expression on the son of Hur, +whose face had paled at his vehement words, as he continued: + +"Uri is a good and dutiful son to his father and has also been obliged to +make great sacrifices in leaving the place where his work was so much +praised and his own house in Memphis. The blessing of the Most High will +not fail him. But for the very reason that he has hitherto obeyed the +command, he must not now seek to destroy what we have commenced under the +guidance of the Most High. To you, Gabriel, I answer that my son +probably will not tarry among our foes, but obedient to my summons, +will join us, like Uri, the first-born of Hur. What still detains him is +doubtless some important matter of which Hosea will have as little cause +to be ashamed as I, his father. I know and trust him, and whoever +expects aught else will sooner or later, by my son's course of action, +be proved a liar." + +Here he paused to push his white hair back from his burning brow and, +as no one contradicted him, he turned to the worker in metals, and added +with cordial friendliness: + +"What angered me, Uri, was certainly not your purpose. That is a good +one; but you have measured the greatness and majesty of the God of our +fathers by the standard of the false gods of the Egyptians, who die and +rise again and, as Aaron has just said, represent only minor attributes +of Him who is in all and transcends everything. To serve God, until +Moses taught me a better counsel, I deemed meant to sacrifice an ox, a +lamb, or a goose upon the altar like the Egyptians; but your eyes, as +befell me through Moses, will not be opened to Him who rules the world +and has made us His people, until, like me, you, and all of us, and +probably my son also, shall each have kindled in his own breast the +sacrificial fire which never goes out and consumes everything that does +not relate to Him in love and loyalty, faith and reverence. Through +Moses, His servant, God has promised us the greatest blessings-- +deliverance from bondage, the privilege of ruling on our own land as free +men in a beautiful country, our own possession and the heritage of our +children. We are going forth to receive His gift, and whoever seeks to +stop us on our way, whoever urges us to turn and creep back into the net +whose brazen meshes we have burst, advises his people to run once more +like sheep into the fire from which they have escaped. I am not angry +with you; your face shows that you perceive how foolishly you have erred; +but all ye who are here must know that I heard only a few hours ago from +Moses' own lips these words: 'Whoever counsels return and the making of +covenants with the Egyptians, I will denounce as a scorner of Jehovah our +God, and the destroyer and worst foe of his people!'" + +Uri went to the old man, gave him his hand, and deeply convinced of the +justice of his reproaches, exclaimed: "No treaty, no covenant with the +Egyptians! I am grateful to you, Nun, for opening my eyes. To me, also, +the hour will doubtless come in which you, or some one who stands nearer +to Him than I, will teach me to know your God, who is also mine." + +As he ceased speaking, he went away with Nun, who put his arm around his +shoulders; but Miriam had listened breathlessly to Uri's last words, and +as he expressed a desire to know the God of his people, her eyes had +sparkled with the light of enthusiasm. She felt that her soul was filled +with the greatness of the Most High and that she had the gift of speech +to make another familiar with the knowledge she herself possessed. But +this time also custom required her to keep silence. Her heart ached, and +as she again moved among the multitude and convinced herself that Hosea +had not yet come, she went home, as twilight was beginning to gather, and +joined the others on the roof. + +No one there appeared to have missed her, not even poor melancholy +Milcah, and she felt unutterably lonely in this house. + +If Hosea would only come, if she might have a strong breast on which to +lean, if this sense of being a stranger in her own home, this useless +life beneath the roof she was obliged to call hers, though she never felt +thoroughly at home under it, would but cease. Moses and Aaron, too, had +gone away, taking Hur's grandson with them; but no one had deemed her, +who lived and breathed solely for her people and their welfare, worthy +to learn whither their journey led or what was its purpose. + +Why had the God to whom she devoted her whole life and being made her a +woman, yet given her the mind and soul of a man? + +She waited, as if to test whether any of the circle of kindly-natured +people to which she belonged really loved her, for some one of the elders +or the children to accost her; but Eleasar's little ones were pressing +around their grandparents, and she had never understood how to make +herself agreeable to children. Elisheba was directing the slaves who +were putting the finishing touches to the packing; Milcah sat with her +cat in her lap, gazing into vacancy. No one heeded or spoke to her. + +Bitter pain overpowered Miriam, and after she had shared the evening meal +with the others, and forced herself not to disturb by her own sorrowful +mood, the joyous excitement of the children, who looked forward to the +pilgrimage as a great pleasure, she longed to go out of doors. + +Closely veiled, she passed alone through the camp and what she beheld +there was certainly ill-suited to dispel the mood that oppressed her. +There was plenty of noise, and though sometimes devout hymns, full of joy +and hope, echoed on the air, she heard far more frequently savage +quarrelling and rebellious words. When her ear caught threats or +reproaches levelled against her noble brother, she quickened her pace, +but she could not escape her anxiety concerning what would happen at the +departure after sunrise on the morrow, should the malcontents obtain +supremacy. + +She knew that the people would be forced to press forward; but her dread +of Pharaoh's military power had never permitted her to be at peace--to +her it was as it were embodied in Hosea's heroic figure. If the Lord +Himself did not fight in the ranks of the wretched bondmen and shepherds +who were quarrelling and disputing around her, how were they to withstand +the well-trained and equipped hosts of the Egyptians, with their horses +and chariots? + +She had heard that guards had been posted in all parts of the camp, with +orders to sound the horn or strike the cymbal at the approach of the foe, +until the men had flocked to the spot whence the warning first echoed. + +She had long listened for such an alarm, yet how much more intently for +the hoof-beats of a single steed, the firm step and deep voice of the +warrior for whom she yearned. On his account she constantly returned to +the northern part of the camp which adjoined the road coming from Tanis +and where now, at Moses' bidding, the tents of most of the men capable of +bearing arms were pitched. Here she had hoped to find true confidence; +but as she listened to the talk of the armed soldiers who surrounded the +camp-fires in dense circles, she heard that Uri's proposal had reached +them also. Most of them were husbands and fathers, had left behind a +house, a bit of land, a business, or an office, and though many spoke of +the command of the Most High and the beautiful new home God had promised, +not a few were disposed to return. How gladly she would have gone among +these blinded mortals and exhorted them to obey with fresh faith and +confidence the command of the Lord and of her brother. But here, too, +she was forced to keep silence. She was permitted to listen only, and +she was most strongly attracted to the very places where she might expect +to hear rebellious words and proposals. + +There was a mysterious charm in this cruel excitement and she felt as if +she were deprived of something desirable when many a fire was +extinguished, the soldiers went to sleep, and conversation ceased. + +She now turned for the last time toward the road leading from Tanis; but +nothing was stirring there save the sentries pacing to and fro. + +She had not yet doubted Hosea's coming; for the summons she had sent to +him in the name of the Lord had undoubtedly reached him; but now that the +stars showed her it was past midnight, the thought came vividly before +her mind of the many years he had spent among the Egyptians, and that he +might perhaps deem it unworthy of a man to obey the call of a woman, +even if she uplifted her voice in the name of the Most High. She had +experienced humiliations enough that day, why should not this be decreed +also? + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Deeply disturbed and tortured by such thoughts, Miriam walked toward +Amminadab's house to seek repose; but just as she was in the act of +crossing the threshold, she paused and again listened for sounds coming +from the north. + +Hosea must arrive from that direction. + +But she heard nothing save the footsteps of a sentinel and the voice of +Hur, who was patrolling the camp with a body of armed men. + +He, too, had been unable to stay in the house. + +The night was mild and starry, the time seemed just suited for dreams +under the sycamore. Her bench beneath the venerable tree was empty, and +with drooping head she approached the beloved resting-place, which she +must leave forever on the morrow. + +But ere she had reached the spot so close at hand, she paused with her +figure drawn up to its full height and her hand pressed upon her +throbbing bosom. This time she was not mistaken, the beat of hoofs +echoed on the air, and it came from the north. + +Were Pharaoh's chariots approaching to attack the camp? Should she shout +to wake the warriors? Or could it be he whom she so longingly expected? +Yes, yes, yes! It was the tramp of a single steed, and must be a new +arrival; for there were loud voices in the tents, the dogs barked, and +shouts, questions, and answers came nearer and nearer with the rider. + +It was Hosea, she felt sure. His riding alone through the night, +released from the bonds that united him to Pharaoh and his comrades in +arms, was a sign of his obedience! Love had steeled his will and +quickened the pace of his steed, and the gratitude of answering +affection, the reward she could bestow, should be withheld no longer. +In her arms he should blissfully perceive that he had resigned great +possessions to obtain something still fairer and sweeter! She felt as +though the darkness around had suddenly brightened into broad day, as her +ear told her that the approaching horseman was riding straight toward the +house of her host Amminadab. She now knew that he was obeying her +summons, that he had come to find her. Hosea was seeking her ere he went +to his own father, who had found shelter in the big empty house of his +grandson, Ephraim. + +He would gladly have dashed toward her at the swiftest pace of his steed, +but it would not do to ride rapidly through the camp. Ah, how long the +time seemed ere she at last saw the horseman, ere he swung himself to the +ground, and his companion flung the reins of the horse to a man who +followed him. + +It was he, it was Hosea! + +But his companion--she had recognized him distinctly and shrank a little +--his companion was Hur, the man who a few hours before had sought her +for his wife. + +There stood her two suitors side by side in the starlight, illumined by +the glare of the pitch torches blazing beside the carts and household +utensils which had been packed for the morrow's journey. + +The tall figure of the elder Hebrew towered over the sinewy form of the +warrior, and the shepherd prince bore himself no whit less erect than the +Egyptian hero. Both voices sounded earnest and manly, yet her lover's +seemed to Miriam stronger and deeper. They had now advanced so near that +she could understand their conversation. + +Hur was telling the newcomer that Moses had gone on a reconnoitring +expedition, and Hosea was expressing his regret, because he had important +matters to discuss with him. + +Then he must set out with the tribes the next morning, Hur replied, for +Moses intended to join them on the way. + +Then he pointed to Amminadab's house, from which no ray of light gleamed +through the darkness, and asked Hosea to spend the remainder of the night +beneath his roof, as he probably would not wish yo disturb his aged +father at so late an hour. + +Miriam saw her friend hesitate and gaze intently up to the women's +apartments and the roof of her host's house. Knowing what he sought, she +could no longer resist the impulse of her heart, but stepped forth from +the shadow of the sycamore and gave Hosea a cordial and tender welcome. + +He, too, disdained to conceal the joy of his heart, and Hur stood beside +the reunited lovers, as they clasped each other's hands, and exchanged +greetings, at first mutely, then with warm words. + +"I knew you would come!" cried the maiden, and Hosea answered with +joyful emotion. + +"You might easily suppose so, oh Prophetess; for your own voice was among +those that summoned me here." + +Then in a calmer tone, he added: "I hoped to find your brother also; I am +the bearer of a message of grave import to him, to us, and to the people. +I see that you, too, are ready to depart and should grieve to behold the +comfort of your aged hosts destroyed by hasty acts that may yet be +needless." + +"What do you mean?" asked Hur, advancing a step nearer to the other. +"I mean," replied Hosea, "that if Moses persists in leading the tribes +eastward, much blood will flow uselessly to-morrow; for I learned at +Tanis that the garrison of Etham has been ordered to let no man pass, +still less the countless throng, whose magnitude surprised me as I rode +through the camp. I know Apu, who commands the fortifications and the +legions whom he leads. There would be a terrible, fruitless massacre of +our half-armed, untrained people, there would be--in short, I have urgent +business to discuss with Moses, urgent and immediate, to avert the +heaviest misfortune ere it is too late." + +"What you fear has not escaped our notice," replied Hur, "and it is in +order to guard against this peril that Moses has set forth on a dangerous +quest." + +"Whither?" asked Hosea. + +"That is the secret of the leaders of the tribes." + +"Of which my father is one." + +"Certainly; and I have already offered to take you to him. If he assumes +the responsibility of informing you ..." + +"Should he deem it a breach of duty, he will keep silence. Who is to +command the wandering hosts tomorrow?" + +"I." + +"You?" asked Hosea in astonishment, and Hur answered calmly: + +"You marvel at the audacity of the shepherd who ventures to lead an army; +but the Lord of all armies, to whom we trust our cause, is our leader; I +rely solely on His guidance." + +"And so do I," replied Hosea. "No one save the God through whom Miriam +summoned me to this spot, entrusted me--of that I am confident--with the +important message which brings me here. I must find Moses ere it is too +late." + +"You have already heard that he will be beyond the reach of any one, +myself included, until to-morrow, perhaps the day after. Will you speak +to Aaron?" + +"Is he in the camp?" + +"No; but we expect his return before the departure of the people, that is +in a few hours." + +"Has he the power to decide important matters in Moses' absence?" + +"No, he merely announces to the people in eloquent language what his +illustrious brother commands." + +The warrior bent his eyes with a disappointed expression on the ground, +and after a brief pause for reflection eagerly added, fixing his gaze on +Miriam: + +"It is Moses to whom the Lord our God announces his will; but to you, his +august maiden sister, the Most High also reveals himself, to you . . ." + +"Oh, Hosea!" interrupted the prophetess, extending her hands toward him +with a gesture of mingled entreaty and warning; but the chief, instead of +heeding her monition, went on: + +"The Lord our God hath commanded you to summon me, His servant, back to +the people; He hath commanded you to give me the name for which I am to +exchange the one my father and mother bestowed upon me, and which I have +borne in honor for thirty years. Obedient to your summons, I have cast +aside all that could make me great among men; but on my way through +Egypt,--bearing in my heart the image of my God and of you,--braving +death, the message I now have to deliver was entrusted to me, and I +believe that it came from the Most High Himself. It is my duty to convey +it to the leaders of the people; but as I am unable to find Moses, I can +confide it to no better one than you who, though only a woman, stand,-- +next to your brother--nearest to the Most High, so I implore you to +listen to me. The tidings I bring are not yet ripe for the ears of a +third person." + +Hur drew his figure to a still greater height and, interrupting Hosea, +asked Miriam whether she desired to hear the son of Nun without +witnesses; she answered with a quiet "yes." + +Then Hur turned haughtily and coldly to the warrior: + +"I think that Miriam knows the Lord's will, as well as her brother's, and +is aware of what beseems the women of Israel. If I am not mistaken, it +was under this tree that your own father, the worthy Nun, gave to my son +Uri the sole answer which Moses must also make to every bearer of a +message akin to yours." + +"Do you know it?" asked Hosea in a tone of curt reproof. + +"No," replied the other, "but I suspect its purport, and look here." + +While speaking he stooped with youthful agility and, raising two large +stones with his powerful arms, propped them against each other, rolled +several smaller ones to their sides, and then, with panting breath, +exclaimed: + +"Let this heap be a witness between me and thee, like the stones named +Mizpah which Jacob and Laban erected. And as the latter called upon the +Lord to watch between him and the other, so do I likewise. I point to +this heap that you may remember it, when we are parted one from the +other. I lay my hand upon these stones and bear witness that I, Hur, son +of Caleb and Ephrath, put my trust in no other than the Lord, the God of +our fathers, and am ready to obey His command, which calls us forth from +the kingdom of Pharaoh into a land which He promised to us. But of thee, +Hosea, son of Nun, I ask and the Lord our God hears thee: Dost thou, too, +expect no other help save from the God of Abraham, who has made thy race +His chosen people? And wilt thou also testify whether thou wilt ever +regard the Egyptians who oppressed us, and from whose bondage the Lord +our God delivered us, as the mortal foes of thy God and of thy race?" + +The warrior's bearded features quivered, and he longed to overthrow the +heap and answer the troublesome questioner with wrathful words, but +Miriam had laid her hand on the top of the pile of stones, and clasping +his right hand, exclaimed: + +"He is questioning you in the presence of our God and Lord, who is your +witness." + +Hosea succeeded in controlling his wrath, and pressing the maiden's hand +more closely, he answered earnestly: + +"He questions, but I may not answer; 'yea' or 'nay' will be of little +service here; but I, too, call God to witness, and before this heap you, +Miriam, but you alone, shall hear what I propose and for what purpose I +have come. Look, Hur! Like you I lay my hand upon this heap and bear +witness that I, Hosea, son of Nun, put my sole trust in the Lord and God +of our fathers. He stands as a witness between me and thee, and shall +decide whether my way is His, or that of an erring mortal. I will obey +His will, which He has made known to Moses and to this noble maiden. +This I swear by an oath whose witness is the Lord our God." + +Hur had listened intently and, impressed by the earnestness of the words, +now exclaimed: + +"The Lord our God has heard your vow and against your oath I, in the +presence of this heap, take another: If the hour comes when, mindful of +this heap of stones, you give the testimony you have refused me, there +shall henceforward be no ill-will between us, and if it is in accordance +with the will of the Most High, I will cheerfully resign to you the +office of commander, which you, trained in many wars, would be better +suited to fill than I, who hitherto have ruled only my flocks and +shepherds. But you, Miriam, I charge to remember that this heap of +stones will also be a witness of the colloquy you are to hold with this +man in the presence of God. I remind you of the reproving words you +heard beneath this tree from the lips of his father, and call God to +witness that I would have darkened the life of my son Uri, who is the joy +of my heart, with a father's curse if he had gone among the people to +induce them to favor the message he brought; for it would have turned +those of little faith from their God. Remember this, maiden, and let me +say again: + +"If you seek me you will find me, and the door I opened will remain open +to you, whatever may happen!" + +With these words Hur turned his back upon Miriam and the warrior. + +Neither knew what had befallen them, but he who during the long ride +beset by many a peril had yearned with ardent anticipations for the hour +which was to once more unite him to the object of his love, gazed on the +ground full of bewilderment and profound anxiety, while Miriam who, at +his approach, had been ready to bestow upon him the highest, sweetest +gifts with which a loving woman rewards fidelity and love, had sunk to +the earth before the ominous pile of stones close beside the tree and +pressed her forehead against its gnarled, hollow trunk. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Brief "eternity" of national covenants +Choose between too great or too small a recompense +Regard the utterances and mandates of age as wisdom +There is no 'never,' no surely +Voice of the senses, which drew them together, will soon be mute + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSHUA, BY GEORG EBERS, VOLUME 2 *** + +***********This file should be named 5468.txt or 5468.zip *********** + +This eBook was produced by David Widger + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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