diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5470.txt | 2539 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5470.zip | bin | 0 -> 52047 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
5 files changed, 2555 insertions, 0 deletions
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/5470.txt b/5470.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..17bb8e2 --- /dev/null +++ b/5470.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2539 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook Joshua, by Georg Ebers, Volume 4. +#32 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 4. + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5470] +[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 4 *** + + + +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 4. + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +The storm which had risen as night closed in swept over the isthmus. The +waves in its lakes dashed high, and the Red Sea, which thrust a bay +shaped like the horn of a snail into it from the south, was lashed to the +wildest fury. + +Farther northward, where Pharaoh's army, protected by the Migdol of the +South, the strongest fort of the Etham line, had encamped a short time +before, the sand lashed by the storm whirled through the air and, in the +quarter occupied by the king and his great officials, hammers were +constantly busy driving the tent-pins deeper into the earth; for the +brocades, cloths, and linen materials which formed the portable houses of +Pharaoh and his court, struck by the gale, threatened to break from the +poles by which they were supported. + +Black clouds hung in the north, but the moon and stars were often +visible, and flashes of distant lightning frequently brightened the +horizon. Even now the moisture of heaven seemed to avoid this rainless +region and in all directions fires were burning, which the soldiers +surrounded in double rows, like a living shield, to keep the storm from +scattering the fuel. + +The sentries had a hard duty; for the atmosphere was sultry, in spite of +the north wind, which still blew violently, driving fresh clouds of sand +into their faces. + +Only two sentinels were pacing watchfully to and fro at the most northern +gate of the camp, but they were enough; for, on account of the storm, no +one had appeared for a long time to demand entrance or egress. At last, +three hours after sunset, a slender figure, scarcely beyond boyhood, +approached the guards with a firm step and, showing a messenger's pass, +asked the way to Prince Siptah's tent. + +He seemed to have had a toilsome journey; for his thick black locks were +tangled and his feet were covered with dust and dried clay. Yet he +excited no suspicion; for his bearing was that of a self-reliant freeman, +his messenger's pass was perfectly correct, and the letter he produced +was really directed to Prince Siptah; a scribe of the corn storehouses, +who was sitting at the nearest fire with other officials and subordinate +officers, examined it. + +As the youth's appearance pleased most of those present, and he came from +Tanis and perhaps brought news, a seat at the fire and a share in the +meal were offered; but he was in haste. + +Declining the invitation with thanks, he answered the questions curtly +and hurriedly and begged the resting soldiers for a guide. One was +placed at his disposal without delay. But he was soon to learn that it +would not be an easy matter to reach a member of the royal family; for +the tents of Pharaoh, his relatives, and dignitaries stood in a special +spot in the heart of the camp, hedged in by the shields of the heavily- +armed troops. + +When he entered he was challenged again and again, and his messenger's +pass and the prince's letter were frequently inspected. The guide, too, +was sent back, and his place was filled by an aristocratic lord, called I +the 'eye and ear of the king,' who busied himself with the seal of the +letter. But the messenger resolutely demanded it, and as soon as it was +again in his hand, and two tents standing side by side rocking in the +tempest had been pointed out to him, one as Prince Siptah's, the other as +the shelter of Masana, the daughter of Hornecht, for whom he asked, he +turned to the chamberlain who came out of the former one, showed him the +letter, and asked to be taken to the prince; but the former offered to +deliver the letter to his master--whose steward he was--and Ephraim--for +he was the messenger--agreed, if he would obtain him immediate admission +to the young widow. + +The steward seemed to lay much stress upon getting possession of the +letter and, after scanning Ephraim from top to toe, he asked if Kasana +knew him, and when the other assented, adding that he brought her a +verbal message, the Egyptian said smiling: + +"Well then; but we must protect our carpets from such feet, and you seem +weary and in need of refreshment. Follow me." + +With these words he took him to a small tent, before which an old slave +and one scarcely beyond childhood were sitting by the fire, finishing +their late meal with a bunch of garlic. + +They started up as they saw their master; but he ordered the old man to +wash the messenger's feet, and bade the younger ask the prince's cook in +his name for meat, bread, and wine. Then he led Ephraim to his tent, +which was lighted by a lantern, and asked how he, who from his appearance +was neither a slave nor a person of mean degree, had come into such a +pitiable plight. The messenger replied that on his way he had bandaged +the wounds of a severely injured man with the upper part of his apron, +and the chamberlain instantly went to his baggage and gave him a piece of +finely plaited linen. + +Ephraim's reply, which was really very near the truth, had cost him so +little thought and sounded so sincere, that it won credence, and the +steward's kindness seemed to him so worthy of gratitude that he made no +objection when the courtier, without injuring the seal, pressed the roll +of papyrus with a skilful hand, separating the layers and peering into +the openings to decipher the contents. While thus engaged, the corpulent +courtier's round eyes sparkled brightly and it seemed to the youth as if +the countenance of the man, whose comfortable plumpness and smooth +rotundity at first appeared like a mirror of the utmost kindness of +heart, now had the semblance of a cat's. + +As soon as the steward had completed his task, he begged the youth to +refresh himself in all comfort, and did not return until Ephraim had +bathed, wrapped a fresh linen upper-garment around his hips, perfumed and +anointed his hair, and, glancing into the mirror, was in the act of +slipping a broad gold circlet upon his arm. + +He had hesitated some time ere doing this; for he was aware that he would +encounter great perils; but this circlet was his one costly possession +and, during his captivity, it had been very difficult for him to hide it +under his apron. It might be of much service to him but, if he put it +on, it would attract attention and increase the danger of being +recognized. + +Yet the reflection he beheld in the mirror, vanity, and the desire +to appear well in Kasana's eyes, conquered caution and prudent +consideration, and the broad costly ornament soon glittered on his arm. + +The steward stood in astonishment before the handsome, aristocratic +youth, so haughty in his bearing, who had taken the place of the +unassuming messenger. The question whether he was a relative of Kasana +sprang to his lips, and receiving an answer in the negative, he asked to +what family he belonged. + +Ephraim bent his eyes on the ground for some time in embarrassment, and +then requested the Egyptian to spare him an answer until he had talked +with Hornecht's daughter. + +The other, shaking his head, looked at him again, but pressed him no +farther; for what he had read in the letter was a secret which might +bring death to whoever was privy to it, and the aristocratic young +messenger was doubtless the son of a dignitary who belonged to the circle +of the fellow-conspirators of Prince Siptah, his master. + +A chill ran through the courtier's strong, corpulent body, and he gazed +with mingled sympathy and dread at the blooming human flower associated +thus early in plans fraught with danger. + +His master had hitherto only hinted at the secret, and it would still be +possible for him to keep his own fate separate from his. Should he do +so, an old age free from care lay before him; but, if he joined the +prince and his plan succeeded, how high he might rise! Terribly +momentous was the choice confronting him, the father of many children, +and beads of perspiration stood on his brow as, incapable of any coherent +thought, he led Ephraim to Kasana's tent, and then hastened to his +master. + +Silence reigned within the light structure, which was composed of poles +and gay heavy stuffs, tenanted by the beautiful widow. + +With a throbbing heart Ephraim approached the entrance, and when he at +last summoned courage and drew aside the curtain fastened firmly to the +earth, which the wind puffed out like a sail, he beheld a dark room, from +which a similar one opened on the right and left. The one on the left +was as dark as the central one; but a flickering light stole through +numerous chinks of the one on the right. The tent was one of those with +a flat roof, divided into three apartments, which he had often seen, and +the woman who irresistibly attracted him was doubtless in the lighted +one. + +To avoid exposing himself to fresh suspicion, he must conquer his timid +delay, and he had already stooped and loosed the loop which fastened the +curtain to the hook in the floor, when the door of the lighted room +opened and a woman's figure entered the dark central chamber. + +Was it she? + +Should he venture to speak to her? Yes, it must be done. + +Panting for breath and clenching his hands, he summoned up his courage as +if he were about to steal unbidden into the most sacred sanctuary of a +temple. Then he pushed the curtain aside, and the woman whom he had just +noticed greeted him with a low cry. + +But he speedily regained his composure, for a ray of light had fallen on +her face, revealing that the person who stood before him was not Kasana, +but her nurse, who had accompanied her to the prisoners and then to the +camp. She, too, recognized him and stared at him as though he had risen +from the grave. + +They were old acquaintances; for when he was first brought to the +archer's house she had prepared his bath and moistened his wound with +balsam, and during his second stay beneath the same roof, she had joined +her mistress in nursing him. They had chatted away many an hour +together, and he knew that she was kindly disposed toward him; for when +midway between waking and sleeping, in his burning fever, her hand had +stroked him with maternal tenderness, and afterwards she had never +wearied of questioning him about his people and at last had acknowledged +that she was descended from the Syrians, who were allied to the Hebrews. +Nay, even his language was not wholly strange to her; for she had been a +woman of twenty when dragged to Egypt with other prisoners of Rameses the +Great. Ephraim, she was fond of saying, reminded her of her own son when +he was still younger. + +The youth had no ill to fear from her, so grasping her hand, he whispered +that he had escaped from his guards and come to ask counsel from her +mistress and herself. + +The word "escaped" was sufficient to satisfy the old woman; for her idea +of ghosts was that they put others to flight, but did not fly themselves. +Relieved, she stroked the youth's curls and, ere his whispered +explanation was ended, turned her back upon him and hurried into the +lighted room to tell her mistress whom she had found outside. + +A few minutes after Ephraim was standing before the woman who had become +the guiding star of his life. With glowing cheeks he gazed into the +beautiful face, still flushed by weeping, and though it gave his heart a +pang when, before vouchsafing him a greeting, she enquired whether Hosea +had accompanied him, he forgot the foolish pain when he saw her gaze +warmly at him. Yet when the nurse asked whether she did not think he +looked well and vigorous, and withal more manly in appearance, it seemed +as though he had really grown taller, and his heart beat faster and +faster. + +Kasana desired to learn the minutest details of his uncle's experiences; +but after he had done her bidding and finally yielded to the wish to +speak of his own fate, she interrupted him to consult the nurse +concerning the means of saving him from unbidden looks and fresh +dangers--and the right expedient was soon found. + +First, with Ephraim's help, the old woman closed the main entrance of the +tent as firmly as possible, and then pointed to the dark room into which +he must speedily and softly retire as soon as she beckoned to him. + +Meanwhile Kasana had poured some wine into a goblet, and when he came +back with the nurse she made him sit down on the giraffe skin at her feet +and asked how he had succeeded in evading the guards, and what he +expected from the future. She would tell him in advance that her father +had remained in Tanis, so he need not fear recognition and betrayal. + +Her pleasure in this meeting was evident to both eyes and ears; nay, +when Ephraim commenced his story by saying that Prince Siptah's command +to remove the prisoners' chains, for which they were indebted solely to +her, had rendered his escape possible, she clapped her hands like a +child. Then her face clouded and, with a deep sigh, she added that ere +his arrival her heart had almost broken with grief and tears; but Hosea +should learn what a woman would sacrifice for the most ardent desire of +her heart. + +She repaid with grateful words Ephraim's assurance that, before his +flight, he had offered to release his uncle from his bonds and, when she +learned that Joshua had refused to accept his nephew's aid, lest it might +endanger the success of the plan he had cleverly devised for him, she +cried out to her nurse, with tearful eyes, that Hosea alone would have +been capable of such a deed. + +To the remainder of the fugitive's tale she listened intently, often +interrupting him with sympathizing questions. + +The torturing days and nights of the past, which had reached such a happy +termination, seemed now like a blissful dream, a bewildering fairy-tale, +and the goblet she constantly replenished was not needed to lend fire to +his narrative. + +Never before had he been so eloquent as while describing how, in the +ravine, he had stepped on some loose stones and rolled head foremost down +into the chasm with them. On reaching the bottom he had believed that +all was lost; for soon after extricating himself from the rubbish that +had buried him, in order to hurry to the pool, he had heard the whistle +of the guards. + +Yet he had been a good runner from his childhood, had learned in his +native pastures to guide himself by the light of the stars, so without +glancing to the right or to the left, he had hastened southward as fast +as his feet would carry him. Often in the darkness he had fallen over +stones or tripped in the hollows of the desert sand, but only to rise +again quickly and dash onward, onward toward the south, where he knew he +should find her, Kasana, her for whose sake he recklessly flung to the +winds what wiser-heads had counselled, her for whom he was ready to +sacrifice liberty and life. + +Whence he derived the courage to confess this, he knew not, and neither +the blow from her fan, nor the warning exclamation of the nurse: "Just +look at the boy!" sobered him. Nay, his sparkling eyes sought hers still +mote frequently as he continued his story. + +One of the hounds which attacked him he had flung against a rock, and the +other he pelted with stones till it fled howling into a thicket. He had +seen no other pursuers, either that night, or during the whole of the +next day. At last he again reached a travelled road and found country +people who told him which way Pharaoh's army had marched. At noon, +overwhelmed by fatigue, he had fallen asleep under the shade of a +sycamore, and when he awoke the sun was near its setting. He was very +hungry, so he took a few turnips from a neighboring field. But their +owner suddenly sprang from a ditch near by, and he barely escaped his +pursuit. + +He had wandered along during a part of the night, and then rested beside +a well on the roadside, for he knew that wild beasts shun such frequented +places. + +After sunrise he continued his march, following the road taken by the +army. Everywhere he found traces of it, and when, shortly before noon, +exhausted and faint from hunger, he reached a village in the cornlands +watered by the Seti-canal, he debated whether to sell his gold armlet, +obtain more strengthening food, and receive some silver and copper in +change. But he was afraid of being taken for a thief and again +imprisoned, for his apron had been tattered by the thorns, and his +sandals had long since dropped from his feet. He had believed that even +the hardest hearts could not fail to pity his misery so, hard as it was +for him, he had knocked at a peasant's door and begged. But the man gave +him nothing save the jeering counsel that a strong young fellow like him +ought to use his arms and leave begging to the old and weak. A second +peasant had even threatened to beat him; but as he walked on with +drooping bead, a young woman whom he had noticed in front of the +barbarian's house followed him, thrust some bread and dates into his +hand, and whispered hastily that heavy taxes had been levied on the +village when Pharaoh marched through, or she would have given him +something better. + +This unexpected donation, which he had eaten at the next well, had not +tasted exactly like a festal banquet, but he did not tell Kasana that it +had been embittered by the doubt whether to fulfil Joshua's commission +and return to his people or yield to the longing that drew him to her. + +He moved forward irresolutely, but fate seemed to have undertaken to +point out his way; for after walking a short half hour, the latter +portion of the time through barren land, he had found by the wayside a +youth of about his own age who, moaning with pain, held his foot clasped +between both hands. Pity led him to go to him and, to his astonishment, +he recognized the runner and messenger of Kasana's father, with whom he +had often talked. + +"Apu, our nimble Nubian runner?" cried the young widow, and Ephraim +assented and then added that the messenger had been despatched to convey +a letter to Prince Siptah as quickly as possible, and the swift-footed +lad, who was wont to outstrip his master's noble steeds, had shot over +the road like an arrow and would have reached his destination in two +hours more, had he not stepped on the sharp edge of a bottle that had +been shattered by a wagon-wheel--and made a deep and terrible wound. + +"And you helped him?" asked Kasana. + +"How could I do otherwise?" replied Ephraim. "He had already lost a +great deal of blood and was pale as death. So I carried him to the +nearest ditch, washed the gaping wound, and anointed it with his balsam." + +"I put the little box in his pouch myself a year ago," said the nurse who +was easily moved, wiping her eyes. Ephraim confirmed the statement, for +Apu had gratefully told him of it. Then he went on. + +"I tore my upper garment into strips and bandaged the wound as well as I +could. Meanwhile he constantly urged haste, held out the pass and letter +his master had given him and, knowing nothing of the misfortune which had +befallen me, charged me to deliver the roll to the prince in his place. +Oh, how willingly I undertook the task and, soon after the second hour +had passed, I reached the camp. The letter is in the prince's hands, and +here am I--and I can see that you are glad! But no one was ever so happy +as I to sit here at your feet, and look up to you, so grateful as I am +that you have listened to me so kindly, and if they load me with chains +again I will bear it calmly, if you will but care for me. Ah, my +misfortune has been so great! I have neither father nor mother, no one +who loves me. You, you alone are dear, and you will not repulse me, will +you?" + +He had fairly shouted the last words, as if beside himself, and carried +away by the might of passion and rendered incapable by the terrible +experiences of the past few hours of controlling the emotions that +assailed him, the youth, still scarcely beyond childhood, who saw himself +torn away from and bereft of all that had usually sustained and supported +him, sobbed aloud, and like a frightened birdling seeking protection +under its mother's wings, hid his head, amid floods of tears, in Kasana's +lap. + +Warm compassion seized upon the tender-hearted young widow, and her own +eyes grew dim. She laid her hands kindly upon his head, and feeling the +tremor that shook the frame of the weeping lad, she raised his head with +both hands, kissed his brow and cheeks, looked smilingly into his eyes +with tears in her own, and exclaimed: + +"You poor, foolish fellow! Why should I not care for you, why should I +repel you? Your uncle is the most beloved of men to me, and you are like +his son. For your sakes I have already accepted what I should otherwise +have thrust far, far from me! But now I must go on, and must not care +what others may think or say of me, if only I can accomplish the one +thing for which I am risking person, life, all that I once prized! Wait, +you poor, impulsive fellow!"--and here she again kissed him on the +cheeks--"I shall succeed in smoothing the path for you also. That is +enough now!" + +This command sounded graver, and was intended to curb the increasing +impetuosity of the ardent youth. But she suddenly started up, exclaiming +with anxious haste: "Go, go, at once!" + +The footsteps of men approaching the tent, and a warning word from the +nurse had brought this stern order to the young widow's lips, and +Ephraim's quick ear made him understand her anxiety and urged him to join +the old nurse in the dark room. There he perceived that a few moments' +delay would have betrayed him; for the curtain of the tent was drawn +aside and a man passed through the central space straight to the lighted +apartment, where Kasana--the youth heard it distinctly--welcomed the new +guest only too cordially, as though his late arrival surprised her. + +Meanwhile the nurse had seized her own cloak, flung it over the +fugitive's bare shoulders, and whispered: + +"Be near the tent just before sunrise, but do not enter it until I call +you, if you value your life. You have neither mother nor father, and my +child Kasana ah, what a dear, loving heart she has!--she is the best +of all good women; but whether she is fit to be the guide of an +inexperienced young blusterer, whose heart is blazing like dry straw with +love for her, is another question. I considered many things, while +listening to your story, and on account of my liking for you I will tell +you this. You have an uncle who--my child is right there--is the best of +men, and I know mankind. Whatever he advised, do; for it will surely +benefit you. Obey him! If his bidding leads you far away from here and +Kasana, so much the better for you. We are walking in dangerous paths, +and had it not been done for Hosea's sake, I would have tried to hold her +back with all my might. But for him--I am an old woman; but I would go +through fire myself for that man. I am more grieved than I can tell, +both for the pure, sweet child and for yourself, whom my own son was once +so much like, so I repeat: Obey your uncle, boy! Do that, or you will go +to ruin, and that would be a pity!" + +With these words, without waiting for an answer, she drew the curtain of +the tent aside, and waited until Ephraim had slipped through. Then, +wiping her eyes, she entered, as if by chance, the lighted chamber; +but Kasana and her late guest had matters to discuss that brooked no +witnesses, and her "dear child" only permitted her to light her little +lamp at the three-armed candelabra, and then sent her to rest. + +She promptly obeyed and, in the dark room, where her couch stood beside +that of her mistress, she sank down, hid her face in her hands, and wept. + +She felt as though the world was upside down. She no longer understood +her darling Kasana; for she was sacrificing purity and honor for the sake +of a man whom--she knew it--her soul abhorred. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +Ephriam cowered in the shadow of the tent, from which he had slipped, +and pressed his ear close to the wall. He had cautiously ripped a small +opening in a seam of the cloth, so he could see and hear what was passing +in the lighted room of the woman he loved. The storm kept every one +within the tents whom duty did not summon into the open air, and Ephraim +had less reason to fear discovery on account of the deep shadow that +rested on the spot where he lay. The nurse's cloak covered him and, +though shiver after shiver shook his young limbs, it was due to the +bitter anguish that pierced his soul. + +The man on whose breast he saw Kasana lay her head was a prince, a person +of high rank and great power, and the capricious beauty did not always +repel the bold man, when his lips sought those for whose kiss Ephraim so +ardently longed. + +She owed him nothing, it is true, yet her heart belonged to his uncle, +whom she had preferred to all others. She had declared herself ready to +endure the most terrible things for his liberation; and now his own eyes +told him that she was false and faithless, that she granted to another +what belonged to one alone. She had bestowed caresses on him, too, but +these were only the crumbs that fell from Hosea's table, a robbery--he +confessed it with a blush--he had perpetrated on his uncle, yet he felt +offended, insulted, deceived, and consumed to his inmost soul with fierce +jealousy on behalf of his uncle, whom he honored, nay, loved, though he +had opposed his wishes. + +And Hosea? Why, he too, like himself, this princely suitor, and all +other men, must love her, spite of his strange conduct at the well by the +roadside--it was impossible for him to do otherwise--and now, safe from +the poor prisoner's resentment, she was basely, treacherously enjoying +another's tender caresses. + +Siptah, he had heard at their last meeting, was his uncle's foe, and it +was to him that she betrayed the man she loved! + +The chink in the tent was ready to show him everything that occurred +within, but he often closed his eyes that he might not behold it. Often, +it is true, the hateful scene held him in thrall by a mysterious spell +and he would fain have torn the walls of the tent asunder, struck the +detested Egyptian to the ground, and shouted into the faithless woman's +face the name of Hosea, coupled with the harshest reproaches. + +The fervent passion which had taken possession of him was suddenly +transformed to hate and scorn. He had believed himself to be the +happiest of mortals, and he had suddenly become the most miserable; no +one, he believed, had ever experienced such a fall from the loftiest +heights to the lowest depths. + +The nurse had been right. Naught save misery and despair could come to +him from so faithless a woman. + +Once he started up to fly, but he again heard the bewitching tones of her +musical laugh, and mysterious powers detained him, forcing him to listen. + +At first the seething blood had throbbed so violently in his ears that he +felt unable to follow the dialogue in the lighted tent. But, by degrees, +he grasped the purport of whole sentences, and now he understood all that +they said, not a word of their further conversation escaped him, and it +was absorbing enough, though it revealed a gulf from which he shrank +shuddering. + +Kasana refused the bold suitor many favors for which he pleaded, but this +only impelled him to beseech her more fervently to give herself to him, +and the prize he offered in return was the highest gift of earth, the +place by his side as queen on the throne of Egypt, to which he aspired. +He said this distinctly, but what followed was harder to understand; for +the passionate suitor was in great haste and often interrupted his hasty +sentences to assure Kasana, to whose hands in this hour he was committing +his life and liberty, of his changeless love, or to soothe her when the +boldness of his advances awakened fear and aversion. But he soon began +to speak of the letter whose bearer Ephraim had been and, after reading +it aloud and explaining it, the youth realized with a slight shudder that +he had become an accomplice in the most criminal of all plots, and for a +moment the longing stole over him to betray the traitors and deliver them +into the hand of the mighty sovereign whose destruction they were +plotting. But he repelled the thought and merely sunned himself in the +pleasurable consciousness--the first during this cruel hour-of holding +Kasana and her royal lover in his hand as one holds a beetle by a string. +This had a favorable effect on him and restored the confidence and +courage he had lost. The baser the things he continued to hear, the more +clearly he learned to appreciate the value of the goodness and truth +which he had lost. His uncle's words, too, came back to his memory. + +"Give no man, from the loftiest to the lowliest, a right to regard you +save with respect, and you can hold your head as high as the proudest +warrior who ever wore purple robe and golden armor." + +On the couch in Kasana's house, while shaking with fever, he had +constantly repeated this sentence; but in the misery of captivity, and on +his flight it had again vanished from his memory. In the courtier's tent +when, after he had bathed and perfumed himself, the old slave held a +mirror before him, he had given it a passing thought; but now it mastered +his whole soul. And strange to say, the worthless traitor within wore a +purple coat and golden mail, and looked like a military hero, but he +could not hold his head erect, for the work he sought to accomplish could +only succeed in the sccresy that shuns the light, and was like the labor +of the hideous mole which undermines the ground in the darkness. + +His tool was the repulsive cloven-footed trio, falsehood, fraud, and +faithlessness, and she whom he had chosen for his help-mate was the +woman--it shamed him to his inmost soul-for whom he had been in the act +of sacrificing all that was honorable, precious, and dear to him. + +The worst infamies which he had been taught to shun were the rounds of +the ladder on which this evil man intended to mount. + +The roll the youth had brought to the camp contained two letters. The +first was from the conspirators in Tanis, the second from Siptah's +mother. + +The former desired his speedy return and told him that the Syrian Aarsu, +the commander of the foreign mercenaries, who guarded the palace, as well +as the women's house, was ready to do him homage. If the high-priest of +Amon, who was at once chief-judge, viceroy and keeper of the seal, +proclaimed him king, he was sovereign and could enter the palace which +stood open to him and ascend the throne without resistance. If Pharaoh +returned, the body-guards would take him prisoner and remove him as +Siptah, who liked no halfway measures, had secretly directed, while the +chief-priest insisted upon keeping him in mild imprisonment. + +Nothing was to be feared save the premature return from Thebes of Seti, +the second son of Menephtah; for the former, after his older brother's +death, had become heir to the throne, and carrier doves had brought news +yesterday that he was now on his way. Therefore Siptah and the powerful +priest who was to proclaim him king were urged to the utmost haste. + +The necessary measures had been adopted in case of possible resistance +from the army; for as soon as the Hebrews had been destroyed, the larger +portion of the troops, without any suspicion of the impending +dethronement of their commander-in-chief, would be sent to their former +stations. The body-guards were devoted to Siptah, and the others who +entered the capital, should worst come to worst, could be easily +overpowered by Aarsu and his mercenaries. + +"There is nothing farther for me to do," said the prince, "stretching +himself comfortably, like a man who has successfully accomplished a +toilsome task," except to rush back to Tanis in a few hours with Bai, +have myself crowned and proclaimed king in the temple of Amon, and +finally received in the palace as Pharaoh. The rest will take care of +itself. Seti, whom they call the heir to the throne, is just such +another weakling as his father, and must submit to a fixed fact, or if +necessary, be forced to do so. The captain of the body-guards will see +that Menephtah does not again enter the palace in the city of Rameses. + +The second letter which was addressed to the Pharaoh, had been written by +the mother of the prince in order to recall her son and the chief-priest +Bai to the capital as quickly as possible, without exposing the former to +the reproach of cowardice for having quitted the army so shortly before +the battle. Though she had never been better, she protested with +hypocritical complaints and entreaties, that the hours of her life were +numbered, and besought the king to send her son and the chief-priest Bai +to her without delay, that she might be permitted to bless her only child +before her death. + +She was conscious of many a sin, and no one, save the high-priest, +possessed the power of winning the favor of the gods for her, a dying +woman. Without his intercession she would perish in despair. + +This letter, too, the base robber of a crown read aloud, called it a +clever bit of feminine strategy, and rubbed his hands gleefully. + +Treason, murder, hypocrisy, fraud, shameful abuse of the most sacred +feelings, nay all that was evil must serve Siptah to steal the throne, +and though Kasana had wrung her hands and shed tears when she heard +that he meant to remove Pharaoh from his path, she grew calmer after +the prince had represented that her own father had approved of his +arrangements for the deliverance of Egypt from the hand of the king, her +destroyer. + +The letter from the prince's mother to Pharaoh, the mother who urged her +own son to the most atrocious crimes, was the last thing Ephraim heard; +for it roused in the young Hebrew, who was wont to consider nothing purer +and more sacred than the bonds which united parents and children, such +fierce indignation, that he raised his fist threateningly and, springing +up, opened his lips in muttered invective. + +He did not hear that Kasana made the prince swear that, if he attained +the sovereign power, he would grant her first request. It should cost +him neither money nor lands, and only give her the right to exercise +mercy where her heart demanded it; for things were in store which must +challenge the wrath of the gods and he must leave her to soothe it. + +Ephraim could not endure to see or hear more of these abominable things. + +For the first time he felt how great a danger he ran of being dragged +into this marsh and becoming a lost, evil man; but never, he thought, +would he have been so corrupt, so worthless, as this prince. His uncle's +words again returned to his mind, and he now raised his head proudly and +arched his chest as if to assure himself of his own unbroken vigor, +saying meanwhile, with a long breath, that he was of too much worth to +ruin himself for the sake of a wicked woman, even though, like Kasana, +she was the fairest and most bewitching under the sun. + +Away, away from the neighborhood of this net, which threatened to +entangle him in murder and every deed of infamy. + +Resolved to seek his people, he turned toward the gate of the camp, but +after a few hasty steps paused, and a glance at the sky showed him that +it was the second hour past midnight. Every surrounding object was +buried in silence save that from the neighboring Dens of the royal +steeds, came the sound of the rattle of a chain, or of the stamp of a +stallion's hoof. + +If he risked escaping from the camp now, he could not fail to be seen and +stopped. Prudence commanded him to curb his impatience and, as he +glanced around, his eyes rested on the chamberlain's tent from which the +old slave had just emerged to look for his master, who was still waiting +in the prince's tent for his lord's return. + +The old man had treated Ephraim kindly, and now asked him with good- +natured urgency to come in and rest; for the youth needed sleep. + +And Ephraim accepted the well-meant invitation. He felt for the first +time how weary his feet were, and he had scarcely stretched himself upon +the mat which the old slave--it was his own--spread on the floor of the +tent for him, ere the feeling came over him that his limbs were relaxing; +and yet he had expected to find here time and rest for calm deliberation. + +He began, too, to think of the future and his uncle's commission. + +That he must join his people without delay was decided. If they escaped +Pharaoh's army, the others could do what they pleased, his duty was to +summon his shepherds, servants, and the youths of his own age, and with +them hurry to the mines to break Joshua's chains and bring him back to +his old father and the people who needed him. He already saw himself +with a sling in his girdle and a battle-axe in his hand, rushing on in +advance of the others, when sleep overpowered him and bound the sorely +wearied youth so firmly and sweetly that even dreams remained aloof from +his couch and when morning came the old slave was obliged to shake him to +rouse him. + +The camp was already pervaded with bustling life. Tents were struck, +asses and ox-carts laden, steeds curried and newly-shod, chariots washed, +weapons and harnesses cleaned, breakfast was distributed and eaten. + +At intervals the blare of trumpets was heard in one direction, loudly +shouted commands in another, and from the eastern portion of the camp +echoed the chanting of the priests, who devoutly greeted the new-born +sun-god. + +A gilded chariot, followed by a similar one, drove up to the costly +purple tent beside Kasana's, which active servants were beginning to take +down. + +Prince Siptah and the chief-priest Bai had received Pharaoh's permission +to set off for Tanis, to fulfil the wish of a "dying woman." + +Soon after Ephraim took leave of the old slave and bade him give Kasana's +nurse the cloak and tell her that the messenger had followed her advice +and his uncle's. + +Then he set off on his walk. + +He escaped unchallenged from the Egyptian camp and, as he entered the +wilderness, he heard the shout with which he called his shepherds in the +pastures. The cry, resounding far over the plain, startled a sparrow- +hawk which was gazing into the distance from a rock and, as the bird +soared upward, the youth fancied that if he stretched out his arms, wings +must unfold strong enough to bear him also through the air. Never had he +felt so light and active, so strong and free, nay had the priest at this +hour asked him the question whether he would accept the office of a +captain of thousands in the Egyptian army, he would undoubtedly have +answered, as he did before the ruined house of Nun, that his sole desire +was to remain a shepherd and rule his flocks and servants. + +He was an orphan, but he had a nation, and where his people were was his +home. + +Like a wanderer, who, after a long journey, sees his home in the +distance, he quickened his pace. + +He had reached Tanis on the night of the new moon and the round silver +shield which was paling in the morning light was the same which had then +risen before his eyes. Yet it seemed as though years lay between his +farewell of Miriam and the present hour, and the experiences of a life +had been compressed into these few days. + +He had left his tribe a boy; he returned a man; yet, thanks to this one +terrible night, he had remained unchanged, he could look those whom he +loved and reverenced fearlessly in the face. + +Nay, more! + +He would show the man whom he most esteemed that he, too, Ephraim, could +hold his head high. He would repay Joshua for what he had done, when he +remained in chains and captivity that he, his nephew, might go forth as +free as a bird. + +After hurrying onward an hour, he reached a ruined watch-tower, climbed +to its summit, and saw, at a short distance beyond the mount of Baal- +zephon, which had long towered majestically on the horizon, the +glittering northern point of the Red Sea. + +The storm, it is true, had subsided, but he perceived by the surging of +its emerald surface that the sea was by no means calm, and single black +clouds in the sky, elsewhere perfectly clear, seemed to indicate an +approaching tempest. + +He gazed around him asking himself what the leader of the people probably +intended, if--as the prince had told Kasana--they had encamped between +Pihahiroth--whose huts and tents rose before him on the narrow gulf the +northwestern arm of the Red Sea thrust into the land--and the mount of +Baal-zephon. + +Had Siptah lied in this too? + +No. This time the malicious traitor had departed from his usual custom; +for between the sea and the village, where the wind was blowing slender +columns of smoke asunder, his falcon-eye discovered many light spots +resembling a distant flock of sheep, and among and beside them a singular +movement to and fro upon the sands. + +It was the camp of his people. + +How short seemed the distance that separated him from them! + +Yet the nearer it was, the greater became his anxiety lest the great +multitude, with the women and children, herds and tents, could not escape +the vast army which must overtake them in a few hours. + +His heart shrank as he gazed around him; for neither to the east, where a +deeper estuary was surging, nor southward, where the Red Sea tossed its +angry waves, nor even toward the north, whence Pharaoh's army was +marching, was escape possible. To the west lay the wilderness of Aean, +and if the wanderers escaped in that direction, and were pressed farther, +they would again enter Egyptian soil and the exodus would be utterly +defeated. + +So there was nothing left save to risk a battle, and at the thought a +chill ran through the youth's veins; for he knew how badly armed, +untrained, savage, unmanageable, and cowardly were the men of his race, +and had witnessed the march of the powerful, well-equipped Egyptian army, +with its numerous foot-soldiers and superb war-chariots. + +To him now, as to his uncle a short time before, his people seemed doomed +to certain destruction, unless succored by the God of his fathers. In +former years, and just before his departure, Miriam, with sparkling eyes +and enthusiastic words, had praised the power and majesty of this +omnipotent Lord, who preferred his people above all other nations; but +the lofty words of the prophetess had filled his childish heart with a +slight fear of the unapproachable greatness and terrible wrath of this +God. + +It had been easier for him to uplift his soul to the sun-god, when his +teacher, a kind and merry-hearted Egyptian priest, led him to the temple +of Pithom. In later years he had felt no necessity of appealing to any +god; for he lacked nothing, and while other boys obeyed their parents' +commands, the shepherds, who well knew that the flocks they tended +belonged to him, called him their young master, and first in jest, then +in earnest, paid him all the honor due a ruler, which prematurely +increased his self-importance and made him an obstinate fellow. + +He whom stalwart, strong men obeyed, was sufficient unto himself, and +felt that others needed him and, as nothing was more difficult for him +than to ask a favor, great or small, from any one, he rebelled against +praying to a God so far off and high above him. + +But now, when his heart was oppressed by the terrible destiny that +threatened his people, he was overwhelmed by the feeling that only the +Greatest and Mightiest could deliver them from this terrible, unspeakable +peril, as if no one could withstand this powerful army, save He whose +might could destroy heaven and earth. + +What were they that the Most High, whom Miriam and Hosea described as so +pre-eminently great, should care for them? Yet his people numbered many +thousands, and God had not disdained to make them His, and promise great +things for them in the future. Now they were on the verge of +destruction, and he, Ephraim, who came from the camp of the enemy, was +perhaps the sole person who saw the full extent of the danger. + +Suddenly he was filled with the conviction that it was incumbent upon +him, above all others, to tell the God of his fathers,--who perhaps in +caring for earth and heaven, sun and stars, had forgotten the fate of His +people--of the terrible danger impending, and beseech Him to save them. +He was still standing on the top of the ruined tower, and raised his arms +and face toward heaven. + +In the north he saw the black clouds which he had noticed in the blue sky +swiftly massing and rolling hither and thither. The wind, which had +subsided after sunrise, was increasing in strength and power, and rapidly +becoming a storm. It swept across the isthmus in gusts, which followed +one another more and more swiftly, driving before them dense clouds of +yellow sand. + +He must lift up his voice loudly, that the God to whom he prayed might +hear him in His lofty heaven, so, with all the strength of his young +lungs, he shouted into the storm: + +"Adonai, Adonai! Thou, whom they call Jehovah, mighty God of my fathers, +hear me, Ephraim, a young inexperienced lad, of whom, in his +insignificance, Thou hast probably never thought. I ask nothing for +myself. But the people, whom Thou dost call Thine, are in sore peril. +They have left durable houses and good pastures because Thou didst +promise them a better and more beautiful land, and they trusted in Thee +and Thy promises. But now the army of Pharaoh is approaching, so great a +host that our people will never be able to resist it. Thou must believe +this, Eli, my Lord. I have seen it and been in its midst. So surely as +I stand here, I know that it is too mighty for Thy people. Pharaoh's +power will crush them as the hoofs of the cattle trample the grain on the +threshing-floor. And my people, who are also Thine, are encamped in a +spot where Pharaoh's warriors can cut them down from all directions, so +that there is no way for them to fly, not one. I saw it distinctly from +this very spot. Hear me now, Adonai. But canst Thou hear my words, oh +Lord, in such a tempest? Surely Thou canst; for they call Thee +omnipotent and, if Thou dost hear me and dost understand the meaning of +my words, Thou wilt see with Thy mighty eyes, if such is Thy will, that I +speak the truth. Then Thou wilt surely remember the vow Thou didst make +to the people through Thy servant Moses. + +"Among the Egyptians, I have witnessed treachery and murder and shameful +wiles; their deeds have filled me, who am myself but a sinful, +inexperienced youth, with horror and indignation. How couldst Thou, from +whom all good is said to proceed, and whom Miriam calls truth itself, act +like those abominable men and break faith with those who trusted in Thee? +I know, Thou great and mighty One, that this is far from Thee, nay, +perhaps it is a sin even to cherish such a thought. Hear me, Adonai! +Look northward at the troops of the Egyptians, who will surely soon leave +their camp and march forward, and southward to the peril of Thy people, +for whom escape is no longer possible, and Thou wilt rescue them by Thy +omnipotence and great wisdom; for Thou hast promised them a new country, +and if they are destroyed, how can they reach it?" + +With these words he finished his prayer, which, though boyish and +incoherent, gushed from the inmost depths of his heart. Then he sprang +with long leaps from the ruined tower to the barren plain at his feet, +and ran southward as fleetly as if he were escaping from captivity a +second time. He felt how the wind rushing from the north-east urged him +forward, and told himself that it would also hasten the march of +Pharaoh's soldiers. Perhaps the leaders of his people did not yet know +how vast was the military power that threatened them, and undervalued the +danger in which their position placed them. But he saw it, and could +give them every information. Haste was necessary, and he felt as though +he had gained wings in this race with the storm. + +The village of Pihahiroth was soon gained, and while dashing by it +without pausing, he noticed that its huts and tents were deserted by men +and cattle. Perhaps its inhabitants had fled with their property to a +place of safety before the advancing Egyptian troops or the hosts of his +own people. + +The farther he went, the more cloudy became the sky,--which here so +rarely failed to show a sunny vault of blue at noonday,--the more +fiercely howled the tempest. His thick locks fluttered wildly around his +burning head, he panted for breath, yet flew on, on, while his sandals +seemed to him to scarcely touch the ground. + +The nearer he came to the sea, the louder grew the howling and whistling +of the storm, the more furious the roar of the waves dashing against the +rocks of Baal-zephon. Now--a short hour after he had left the tower--he +reached the first tents of the camp, and the familiar cry: "Unclean!" as +well as the mourning-robes of those whose scaly, disfigured faces looked +forth from the ruins of the tents which the storm had overthrown, +informed him that he had reached the lepers, whom Moses had commanded to +remain outside the camp. + +Yet so great was his haste that, instead of making a circuit around their +quarter, he dashed straight through it at his utmost speed. Nor did he +pause even when a lofty palm, uprooted by the tempest, fell to the ground +so close beside him that the fan-shaped leaves in its crown brushed his +face. + +At last he gained the tents and pinfolds of his people, not a few of +which had also been overthrown, and asked the first acquaintances he met +for Nun, the father of his dead mother and of Joshua. + +He had gone down to the shore with Moses and other elders of the people. +Ephraim followed him there, and the damp, salt sea-air refreshed him and +cooled his brow. + +Yet he could not instantly get speech with him, so he collected his +thoughts, and recovered his breath, while watching the men whom he sought +talking eagerly with some gaily-clad Phoenician sailors. A youth like +Ephraim might not venture to interrupt the grey-haired heads of the +people in the discussion, which evidently referred to the sea; for the +Hebrews constantly pointed to the end of the bay, and the Phoenicians +sometimes thither, sometimes to the mountain and the sky, sometimes to +the north, the center of the still increasing tempest. + +A projecting wall sheltered the old men from the hurricane, yet they +found it difficult to stand erect, even while supported by their staves +and clinging to the stones of the masonry. + +At last the conversation ended and while the youth saw the gigantic +figure of Moses go with slow, yet firm steps among the leaders of the +Hebrews down to the shore of the sea, Nun, supported by one of his +shepherds, was working his way with difficulty, but as rapidly as +possible toward the camp. He wore a mourning-robe, and while the others +looked joyous and hopeful when they parted, his handsome face, framed by +its snow-white beard and hair, had the expression of one whose mind and +body were burdened by grief. + +Not until Ephraim called him did he raise his drooping leonine head, and +when he saw him he started back in surprise and terror, and clung more +firmly to the strong arm of the shepherd who supported him. + +Tidings of the cruel fate of his son and grandson had reached him through +the freed slaves he had left in Tanis; and the old man had torn his +garments, strewed ashes on his head, donned mourning robes, and grieved +bitterly for his beloved, noble, only son and promising grandson. + +Now Ephraim was standing before him; and after Nun had laid his hand on +his shoulders, and kissed him again and again, he asked if his son was +still alive and remembered him and his people. + +As soon as the youth had joyfully assured him that such was the case, Nun +threw his arms around the boy's shoulders, that henceforth his own blood, +instead of a stranger, should protect him from the violence of the storm. + +He had grave and urgent duties to fulfil, from which nothing might +withhold him. Yet as the fiery youth shouted into his ear, through the +roar of the hurricane, on their way through the camp, that he would +summon his shepherds and the companions of his own age to release Hosea, +who now called himself Joshua, old Nun's impetuous spirit awoke and, +clasping Ephraim closer to his heart, he cried out that though an old man +he was not yet too aged to swing an axe and go with Ephraim's youthful +band to liberate his son. His eyes sparkled through his tears, and +waving his free arm aloft, he cried: + +"The God of my fathers, on whom I learned to rely, watches over His +faithful people. Do you see the sand, sea-weed, and shells yonder at the +end of the estuary? An hour ago the place was covered with water, and +roaring waves were dashing their white spray upward. That is the way, +boy, which promises escape; if the wind holds, the water--so the +experienced Phoenicians assure us--will recede still farther toward the +sea. Their god of the north wind, they say, is favorable to us, and +their boys are already lighting a fire to him on the summit of Baal- +zephon yonder, but we know that it is Another, Who is opening to us a +path to the desert. We were in evil case, my boy!" + +"Yes, grandfather!" cried the youth. "You were trapped like lions in +the snare, and the Egyptian host--it passed me from the first man to the +last--is mighty and unconquerable. I hurried as fast as my feet could +carry me to tell you how many heavily-armed troops, bowmen, steeds, and +chariots...." + +"We know, we know," the old man interrupted, "but here we are." + +He pointed to an overturned tent which his servants were trying to prop, +and beside which an aged Hebrew, his father Elishama, wrapped in cloth, +sat in the chair in which he was carried by bearers. + +Nun hastily shouted a few words and led Ephraim toward him. But while +the youth was embracing his great-grandfather, who hugged and caressed +him, Nun, with youthful vivacity, was issuing orders to the shepherds and +servants: + +"Let the tent fall, men! The storm has begun the work for you! Wrap the +covering round the poles, load the carts and beasts of burden. Move +briskly, You, Gaddi, Shamma, and Jacob, join the others! The hour for +departure has come! Everybody must hasten to harness the animals, put +them in the wagons, and prepare all things as fast as possible. The +Almighty shows us the way, and every one must hasten, in His name and by +the command of Moses. Keep strictly to the old order. We head the +procession, then come the other tribes, lastly the strangers and leprous +men and women. Rejoice, oh, ye people; for our God is working a great +miracle and making the sea dry land for us, His chosen people. Let +everyone thank Him while working, and pray from the depths of the heart +that He will continue to protect us. Let all who do not desire to be +slain by the sword and crushed by the weight of Pharaoh's chariots put +forth their best strength and forget rest! That will await us as soon as +we have escaped the present peril. Down with the tent-cover yonder; I'll +roll it up myself. Lay hold, boy! Look across at the children of +Manasseh, they are already packing and loading. That's right, Ephraim, +you know how to use your hands! + +"What more have we to do! My head, my forgetful old head! So much has +come upon me at once! You have nimble feet, Raphu;--I undertook to warn +the strangers to prepare for a speedy departure. Run quickly and hurry +them, that they may not linger too far behind the people. Time is +precious! Lord, Lord, my God, extend Thy protecting hand over Thy +people, and roll the waves still farther back with the tempest, Thy +mighty breath! Let every one pray silently while working, the +Omnipresent One, Who sees the heart, will hear it. That load is too +heavy for you, Ephraim, you are lifting beyond your strength. No. The +youth has mastered it. Follow his example, men, and ye of Succoth, +rejoice in your master's strength." + +The last words were addressed to Ephraim's shepherds, men and maid +servants, most of whom shouted a greeting to him in the midst of their +work, kissed his arm or hand, and rejoiced at his return. They were +engaged in packing and wrapping their goods, and in gathering, +harnessing, and loading the animals, which could only be kept together +by blows and shouts. + +The people from Succoth wished to vie with their young master, those from +Tanis with their lord's grandson, and the other owners of flocks and +lesser men of the tribe of Ephraim, whose tents surrounded that of their +chief Nun, did the same, in order not to be surpassed by others; yet +several hours elapsed ere all the tents, household utensils, and +provisions for man and beast were again in their places on the animals +and in the carts, and the aged, feeble and sick had been laid on litters +or in wagons. + +Sometimes the gale bore from the distance to the spot where the +Ephraimites were busily working the sound of Moses' deep voice or the +higher tones of Aaron. But neither they nor the men of the tribe of +Judah heeded the monition; for the latter were ruled by Hur and Naashon, +and beside the former stood his newly-wedded wife Miriam. It was +different with the other tribes and the strangers, to the obstinacy and +cowardice of whose chiefs was due the present critical position of the +people. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +To break through the center of the Etham line of fortifications and march +toward the north-east along the nearest road leading to Palestine had +proved impossible; but Moses' second plan of leading the people around +the Migdol of the South had also been baffled; for spies had reported +that the garrison of the latter had been greatly strengthened. Then the +multitude had pressed around the man of God, declaring that they would +rather return home with their families and appeal to Pharaoh's mercy than +to let themselves, their wives, and their families be slaughtered. + +Several days had been spent in detaining them; but when other messengers +brought tidings that Pharaoh was approaching with a powerful army the +time seemed to have come when the wanderers, in the utmost peril, might +be forced to break through the forts, and Moses exerted the full might of +his commanding personality, Aaron the whole power of his seductive +eloquence, while old Nun and Hur essayed to kindle the others with their +own bold spirit. + +But the terrible news had robbed the majority of the last vestige of self +reliance and trust in God, and they had already resolved to assure +Pharaoh of their repentance when the messengers whom, without their +leader's knowledge, they had sent forth, returned, announcing that the +approaching army had been commanded to spare no Hebrew, and to show by +the sharp edge of the sword, even to those who sued for mercy, how +Pharaoh punished the men by whose shameful sorcery misery and woe had +come upon so many Egyptians. + +Then, too late, they became aware that to return would ensure more speedy +destruction than to boldly press forward. But when the men capable of +bearing arms followed Hur and Nun to the Migdol of the South, they turned +to fly at the defiant blare of the Egyptian war trumpets. When they came +back to the camp with weary limbs, depressed and disheartened, new and +exaggerated reports of Pharaoh's military force had reached the people, +and now terror and despair had taken possession of the bolder men. Every +admonition was vain, every threat derided, and the rebellious people had +forced their leaders to go with them till, after a short march, they +reached the Red Sea, whose deep green waves had forced them to pause in +their southward flight. + +So they had encamped between Pihahiroth and Baal-zephon, and here the +leaders again succeeded in turning the attention of the despairing people +to the God of their fathers. + +In the presence of sure destruction, from which no human power could save +them, they had again learned to raise their eyes to Heaven; but Moses' +soul had once more been thrilled with anxiety and compassion for the +poor, sorely afflicted bands who had followed his summons. During the +night preceding, he had climbed one of the lower peaks of Baal-zephon +and, amid the raging of the tempest and the roar of the hissing surges, +sought the Lord his God, and felt his presence near him. He, too, had +not wearied of pleading the need of his people and adjuring him to save +them. + +At the same hour Miriam, the wife of Hur, had gone to the sea-shore +where, under a solitary palmtree, she addressed the same petition to her +God, whose trusted servant she still felt herself. Here she besought Him +to remember the women and children who, trusting in Him, had wandered +forth into distant lands. She had also knelt to pray for the friend of +her youth, languishing in terrible captivity; but had only cried in low, +timid accents: "Oh, Lord, do not forget the hapless Hosea, whom at Thy +bidding I called Joshua, though he showed himself less obedient to Thy +will than Moses, my brother, and Hur, my husband. Remember also the +youthful Ephraim, the grandson of Nun, Thy faithful servant." + +Then she returned to the tent of the chief, her husband, while many a +lowly man and poor anxious woman, before their rude tents or on their +thin, tear-drenched mats, uplifted their terrified souls to the God of +their fathers and besought His care for those who were dearest to their +hearts. + +So, in this night of utmost need, the camp had become a temple in which +high and low, the heads of families and the housewives, masters and +slaves, nay, even the afflicted lepers sought and found their God. + +At last the morning came on which Ephraim had shouted his childish prayer +amid the roaring of the storm, and the waters of the sea had begun to +recede. + +When the Hebrews beheld with their own eyes the miracle that the Most +High was working for His chosen people, even the discouraged and +despairing became believing and hopeful. + +Not only the Ephraimites, but the other tribes, the foreigners, and +lepers felt the influence of the newly-awakened joyous confidence, which +urged each individual to put forth all his powers to prepare for the +journey and, for the first time, the multitude gathered and formed into +ranks without strife, bickering, deeds of violence, curses, and tears. + +After sunset Moses, holding his staff uplifted, and Aaron, singing and +praying, entered at the head of the procession the end of the bay. + +The storm, which continued to rage with the same violence, had swept the +water out of it and blew the flame and smoke of the torches carried by +the tribes toward the south-west. + +The chief leaders, on whom all eyes rested with trusting eagerness, were +followed by old Nun and the Ephraimites. The bottom of the sea on which +they trod was firm, moist sand, on which even the herds could walk as if +it were a smooth road, sloping gently toward the sea. + +Ephraim, in whom the elders now saw the future chief, had been entrusted, +at his grandfather's suggestion, with the duty of seeing that the +procession did not stop and, for this purpose, had been given a leader's +staff; for the fishermen whose huts stood at the foot of Baal-zephon, +like the Phoenicians, believed that when the moon reached her zenith the +sea would return to its old bed, and therefore all delay was to be +avoided. + +The youth enjoyed the storm, and when his locks fluttered and he battled +victoriously against the gale in rushing hither and thither, as his +office required, it seemed to him a foretaste of the venture he had in +view. + +So the procession moved on through the darkness which had speedily +followed the dusk of evening. The acrid odor of the sea-weed and fishes +which had been left stranded pleased the boy,--who felt that he had +matured into manhood,--better than the sweet fragrance of spikenard in +Kasana's tent. Once the memory of it flashed through his brain, but with +that exception there was not a moment during these hours which gave him +time to think of her. + +He had his hands full of work; sometimes a heap of sea-weed flung on the +path by a wave must be removed; sometimes a ram, the leader of a flock, +refused to step on the wet sand and must be dragged forward by the horns, +or cattle and beasts of burden must be driven through a pool of water +from which they shrank. + +Often, too, he was obliged to brace his shoulder against a heavily-laden +cart, whose wheels had sunk too deeply into the soft sand; and when, even +during this strange, momentous march, two bands of shepherds began to +dispute about precedence close to the Egyptian shore, he quickly settled +the dispute by making them draw lots to decide which party should go +first. + +Two little girls who, crying bitterly, refused to wade through a pool of +water, while their mother was busy with the infant in her arms, he +carried with prompt decision through the shallow puddle, and the cart +with a broken wheel he had moved aside by the light of the torches and +commanded some stalwart bondmen, who were carrying only small bundles, to +load themselves with the sacks and bales, nay, even the fragments of the +vehicle. He uttered a word of cheer to weeping women and children and, +when the light of a torch fell upon the face of a companion of his own +age, whose aid he hoped to obtain for the release of Joshua, he briefly +told him that there was a bold adventure in prospect which he meant to +dare in concert with him. + +The torch-bearers who usually headed the procession this time were +obliged to close its ranks, for the storm raging from the northeast would +have blown the smoke into the people's faces. They stood on the Egyptian +shore, and already the whole train had passed them except the lepers who, +following the strangers, were the last of the whole multitude. + +These "strangers" were a motley crew, comprising Asiatics of Semitic +blood, who had escaped from the bondage or severe punishments which the +Egyptian law imposed, traders who expected to find among the wanderers +purchasers of their wares, or Shasu shepherds, whose return was +prohibited by the officials on the frontier. Ephraim had much trouble +with them, for they refused to leave the firm land until the lepers had +been forced to keep farther away from them; yet the youth, with the aid +of the elders of the tribe of Benjamin, who preceded them, brought them +also to obedience by threatening them with the prediction of the +Phoenicians and the fishermen that the moon, when it had passed its +zenith, would draw the sea back to its old bed. + +Finally he persuaded the leader of the lepers, who had once been an +Egyptian priest, to keep at least half the distance demanded. + +Meanwhile the tempest had continued to blow with increased violence, and +its howling and whistling, blended with the roar of the dashing waves and +the menacing thunder of the surf, drowned the elders' shouts of command, +the terrified shrieks of the children, the lowing and bleating of the +trembling herds, and the whining of the dogs. Ephraim's voice could be +heard only by those nearest and, moreover, many of the torches were +extinguished, while others were kept burning with the utmost difficulty. +Seeking to recover his wind and get a little rest, he walked slowly for a +time over the damp sand behind the last lepers, when he heard some one +call his name and, turning, he saw one of his former playmates, who was +returning from a reconnoitring expedition and who, with the sweat pouring +from his brow and panting breath, shouted into the ear of the youth, in +whose hand he saw the staff of a leader, that Pharaoh's chariots were +approaching at the head of his army. He had left them at Pihahiroth and, +if they did not stop there to give the other troops time to join them, +they might overtake the fugitives at any moment. With these words he +darted past the lepers to join the leaders; but Ephraim stopped in the +middle of the road, pressing his hand upon his brow, while a new burden +of care weighed heavily upon his soul. + +He knew that the approaching army would crush the men, women, and +children whose touching fear and helplessness he had just beheld, as a +man's foot tramples on an ant-bill, and again every instinct of his being +urged him to pray, while from his oppressed heart the imploring cry rose +through the darkness: + +"Eli, Eli, great God most high! Thou knowest--for I have told Thee, and +Thine all-seeing eye must perceive it, spite of the darkness of this +night--the strait of Thy people, whom Thou hast promised to lead into a +new country. Remember Thy vow, Jehovah! Be merciful unto us, Thou great +and mighty one! Our foe is approaching with resistless power! Stay him! +Save us! Protect the poor women and children! Save us, be merciful to +us!" + +During this prayer he had raised his eyes heavenward and saw on the +summit of Baal-zephon the red blaze of a fire. It had been lighted by +the Phoenicians to make the Baal of the north-wind favorable to the men +of kindred race and hostile to the hated Egyptians. This was a kindly +deed; but he put his trust in another God and, as his eye glanced over +the vault of heaven and noted the grey and black storm-clouds scurrying, +gathering, parting, and then rushing in new directions, he perceived +between two dispersing masses of clouds the silvery light of the full +moon, which had now attained her zenith. + +Fresh anxiety assailed him; for he remembered the prediction of men +skilled in the changes of winds and waves. If the sea should now return +to its ancient bed, his people would be lost; for there was no escape, +even toward the north, where deep pools of water were standing amid the +mire and cliffs. Should the waves flow back within the next hour, the +seed of Abraham would be effaced from the earth, as writing inscribed on +wax disappears from the tablet under the pressure of a warm hand. + +Yet was not this people thus marked for destruction, the nation which the +Lord had chosen for His own? Could He deliver it into the hand of those +who were also His own foes? + +No, no, a thousand times no! + +And the moon, which was to cause this destruction, had but a short time +before been the ally of his flight and favored him. Only let him keep up +his hope and faith and not lose confidence. + +Nothing, nothing was lost as yet. + +Come what might, the whole nation need not perish, and his own tribe, +which marched at the head of the procession, certainly would not; for +many must have reached the opposite shore, nay, perhaps more than he +supposed; for the bay was not wide, and even the lepers, the last of the +train, had already advanced some distance across the wet sand. + +Ephraim now remained alone behind them all to listen to the approach of +the hostile chariots. He laid his ear to the ground on the shore of the +bay, and he could trust to the sharpness of his hearing; how often, in +this attitude, he had caught the distant tramp of stray cattle or, while +hunting, the approach of a herd of antelopes or gazelles. + +As the last, he was in the greatest danger; but what cared he for that? + +How gladly he would have sacrificed his young life to save the others. + +Since he had held in his hand the leader's staff, it seemed to him as if +he had assumed the duty of watching over his people, so he listened and +listened till he could hear a slight trembling of the ground and finally +a low rumble. That was the foe, that must be Pharaoh's chariots, and how +swiftly the proud steeds whirled them forward. + +Springing up as if a lash had struck him, he dashed on to urge the others +to hasten. + +How oppressively sultry the air had grown, spite of the raging storm +which extinguished so many torches! The moon was concealed by clouds, +but the flickering fire on the summit of the lofty height of Baal-zephon +blazed brighter and brighter. The sparks that rose from the midst of the +flames glittered as they swept westward; for the wind now came more from +the east. + +Scarcely had he noticed this, when he hurried back to the boys bearing +pans of pitch who closed the procession, to command them in the utmost +haste to fill the copper vessels afresh and see that the smoke rose in +dense, heavy clouds; for, he said to himself, the storm will drive the +smoke into the faces of the stallions who draw the chariots and frighten +or stop them. + +No means seemed to him too insignificant, every moment that could be +gained was precious; and as soon as he had convinced himself that the +smoke-clouds were pouring densely from the vessels and making it +difficult to breathe the air of the path over which the people had +passed, he hurried forward, shouting to the elders whom he overtook that +Pharaoh's chariots were close at hand and the march must be hastened. +At once pedestrians, bearers, drivers, and shepherds exerted all their +strength to advance faster; and though the wind, which blew more and more +from the east, impeded their progress, all struggled stoutly against it, +and dread of their approaching pursuers doubled their strength. + +The youth seemed to the heads of the tribes, who nodded approval wherever +he appeared, like a shepherd dog guarding and urging the flock; and when +he had slipped through the moving bands and battled his way forward +against the storm, the east wind bore to his ears as if in reward a +strange shout; for the nearer he came to its source, the louder it rang, +and the more surely he perceived that it was a cry of joy and exultation, +the first that had burst from a Hebrew's breast for many a long day. + +It refreshed Ephraim like a cool drink after long thirsting, and he could +not refrain from shouting aloud and crying joyously to the others: +"Saved, saved!" Two tribes had already reached the eastern shore of the +bay and were raising the glad shouts which, with the fires blazing in +huge pans on the shore, kindled the courage of the approaching fugitives +and braced their failing strength. Ephraim saw by their light the +majestic figure of Moses on a hill by the sea, extending his staff over +the waters, and the spectacle impressed him, like all the other +fugitives, from the highest to the lowest, more deeply than aught else +and strongly increased the courage of his heart. This man was indeed the +trusted servant of the Most High, and so long as he held his staff +uplifted, the waves seemed spell-bound, and through him God forbade their +return. + +He, Ephraim, need no longer appeal to the Omnipotent One--that was the +appointed task of this great and exalted personage; but he must continue +to fulfil his little duty of watching the progress of individuals. + +Back against the stream of fugitives to the lepers and torch-bearers he +hastened, shouting to each division, "Saved! Saved! They have gained +the goal. Moses' staff is staying the waves. Many have already reached +the shore. Thank the Lord! Forward, that you, too, may join in the +rejoicing! Fix your eyes on the two red beacons! The rescued ones +lighted them! The servant of the Lord is standing between them with +uplifted staff." + +Then, kneeling on the wet sand, he again pressed his ear to the ground, +and now heard distinctly, close at hand, the rattle of wheels and the +swift beat of horses' hoofs. + +But while still listening, the noise gradually ceased, and he heard +nothing save the howling of the furious storm and the threatening dash of +the surging waves, or a single cry borne by the east wind. + +The chariots had reached the dry portion of the bay and lingered some +time ere they continued their way along this dangerous path; but suddenly +the Egyptian war-cry rang out, and the rattle of wheels was again heard. +They advanced more slowly than before but faster than the people could +walk. + +For the Egyptians also the road remained dry; but if his people only kept +a short distance in advance he need feel no anxiety; during the night the +rescued tribes could disperse among the mountains and hide in places +where no chariots nor horses could follow. Moses knew this region where +he had lived so long as a fugitive; it was only necessary to inform him +of the close vicinity of the foe. So he trusted one of his play-fellows +of the tribe of Benjamin with the message, and the latter had not far to +go to reach the shore. He himself remained behind to watch the +approaching army; for already, without stooping or listening, spite of +the storm raging around him, he heard the rattle of wheels and the +neighing of the horses. But the lepers, whose ears also caught the +sound, wailed and lamented, feeling themselves in imagination flung to +the ground, crushed by the chariots, or crowded into a watery grave, for +the pathway had grown narrower and the sea seemed to be trying in earnest +to regain the land it had lost. + +The men and cattle could no longer advance in ranks as wide as before, +and while the files of the hurrying bodies narrowed they lengthened, and +precious time was lost. Those on the right were already wading through +the rising water in haste and terror; for already the commands of the +Egyptian leaders were heard in the distance. + +But the enemy was evidently delayed, and Ephraim easily perceived the +cause of their diminished speed; for the road constantly grew softer and +the narrow wheels of the chariots cut deeply into it and perhaps sank to +the axles. + +Protected by the darkness, he glided forward toward the pursuers, as far +as he could, and heard here a curse, yonder a fierce command to ply the +lash more vigorously; at last he distinctly heard one leader exclaim to +the man next him: + +"Accursed folly! If they had only let us start before noon, and not +waited until the omen had been consulted and Anna had been installed with +all due solemnity in Bai's place, it would have been easy work, and we +should have caught them like a flock of quail! The chief-priest was wont +to bear himself stoutly in the field, and now he gives up the command +because a dying woman touches his heart." + +"Siptah's mother!" said another soothingly. "Yet, after all, twenty +princesses ought not to have turned him from his duty to us. Had he +remained, there would have been no need of scourging our steeds to death, +and that at an hour when every sensible leader lets his men gather round +the camp-fires to eat their suppers and play draughts. Look to the +horses, Heter! We are fast in the sand again!" + +A loud out-cry rose behind the first chariot, and Ephraim heard another +voice shout: + +"Forward, if it costs the horses their lives!" + +"If return were possible," said the commander of the chariot-soldiers, a +relative of the king, "I would go back now. But as matters are, one +would tumble over the other. So forward, whatever it may cost. We are +close on their heels. Halt! Halt! That accursed stinging smoke! Wait, +you dogs! As soon as the pathway widens, we'll run you down with scant +ceremony, and may the gods deprive me of a day of life for each one I +spare! Another torch out! One can't see one's hand before one's face! +At a time like this a beggar's crutch would be better than a leader's +staff" + +"And an executioner's noose round the neck rather than a gold chain!" +said another with a fierce oath. + +"If the moon would only appear again! Because the astrologers predicted +that it would shine in full splendor from evening till morning, I myself +advised the late departure, turning night into day. If it were only +lighter! . . . ." + +But this sentence remained unfinished, for a gust of wind, bursting like +a wild beast from the south-eastern ravine of Mount Baal-zephon, rushed +upon the fugitives, and a high wave drenched Ephraim from head to foot. + +Gasping for breath, he flung back his hair and wiped his eyes; but loud +cries of terror rang from the lips of the Egyptians behind him; for the +same wave that struck the youth had hurled the foremost chariots into the +sea. + +Ephraim began to fear for his people and, while running forward to join +them again, a brilliant flash of lightning illumined the bay, Mount Baal- +zephon, and every surrounding object. The thunder was somewhat long in +following, but the storm soon came nearer, and at last the lightning no +longer flashed through the darkness in zigzag lines, but in shapeless +sheets of flame, and ere they faded the deafening crash of the thunder +pealed forth, reverberating in wild uproar amid the hard, rocky +precipices of the rugged mountain, and dying away in deep, muttering +echoes along the end of the bay and the shore. + +Whenever the clouds, menacing destruction, discharged their lightnings, +sea and land, human beings and animals, far and near, were illumined by +the brilliant glare, while the waters and the sky above were tinged with +a sulphurous yellow hue through which the vivid lightning shone and +flamed as through a wall of yellow glass. + +Ephraim now thought he perceived that the blackest thunder-clouds came +from the south and not from the north, but the glare of the lightning +showed behind him a span of frightened horses rushing into the sea, one +chariot shattered against another, and farther on several jammed firmly +together to the destruction of their occupants, while they barred the +progress of others. + +Yet the foe still advanced, and the space which separated pursued and +pursuers did not increase. But the confusion among the latter had become +so great that the warriors' cries of terror and their leaders' shouts of +encouragement and menace were distinctly heard whenever the fierce +crashing of the thunder died away. + +Yet, black as were the clouds on the southern horizon, fiercely as the +tempest raged, the gloomy sky still withheld its floods and the fugitives +were wet, not with the water from the clouds but by the waves of the sea, +whose surges constantly dashed higher and more and more frequently washed +the dry bed of the bay. + +Narrower and narrower grew the pathway, and with it the end of the +procession. + +Meanwhile the flames blazing in the pitch pans continued to show the +terrified fugitives the goal of escape and remind them of Moses and the +staff God had given him. Every step brought them nearer to it. Now a +loud shout of joy announced that the tribe of Benjamin had also reached +the shore; but they had at last been obliged to wade, and were drenched +by the foaming surf. It had cost unspeakable effort to save the oxen +from the surging waves, get the loaded carts forward, and keep the cattle +together; but now man and beast stood safe on shore. Only the strangers +and the lepers were still to be rescued. The latter possessed no herds +of their own, but the former had many and both sheep and cattle were so +terrified by the storm that they struggled against passing through the +water, now a foot deep over the road. Ephraim hurried to the shore, +called on the shepherds to follow him and, under his direction, they +helped drive the herds forward. + +The attempt was successful and, amid the thunder and lightning, greeted +with loud cheers, the last man and the last head of cattle reached the +land. + +The lepers were obliged to wade through water rising to their knees and +at last to their waists and, ere they had gained the shore, the sluices +of heaven opened and the rain poured in torrents. Yet they, too, arrived +at the goal and though many a mother who had carried her child a long +time in her arms or on her shoulder, fell upon her knees exhausted on the +land, and many a hapless sufferer who, aided by a stronger companion in +misery, had dragged the carts through the yielding sand or wading in the +water carried a litter, felt his disfigured head burn with fever, they, +too, escaped destruction. + +They were to wait beyond the palm-trees, whose green foliage appeared on +the hilly ground at the edge of some springs near the shore; the others +were to be led farther into the country to begin, at a given signal, the +journey toward the southeast into the mountains, through whose +inhospitable stony fastnesses a regular army and the war-chariots could +advance only with the utmost difficulty. + +Hur had assembled his shepherds and they stood armed with lances, slings, +and short swords, ready to attack the enemy who ventured to step on +shore. Horses and men were to be cut down and a high wall was to be made +of the fragments of the chariots to bar the way of the pursuing +Egyptians. + +The pans of burning pitch on the shore were shielded and fed so +industriously that neither the pouring rain nor the wind extinguished +them. They were to light the shepherds who had undertaken to attack the +chariot-soldiers, and were commanded by old Nun, Hur, and Ephraim. + +But they waited in vain for the pursuers, and when the youth, first of +all, perceived by the light of the torches that the way by which the +rescued fugitives had come was now a wide sea, and the smoke was blown +toward the north instead of toward the southwest--it was at the time of +the first morning watch--his heart, surcharged with joy and gratitude, +sent forth the jubilant shout: "Look at the pans. The wind has shifted! +It is driving the sea northward. Pharaoh's army has been swallowed by +the waves!" + +The group of rescued Hebrews remained silent for a short time; but +suddenly Nun's loud voice exclaimed: + +"He has seen aright, children! What are we mortals! Lord, Lord! Stern +and terrible art Thou in judgment upon Thy foes!" + +Here loud cries interrupted him; for at the springs where Moses leaned +exhausted against a palm-tree, and Aaron was resting with many others, +the people had also perceived what Ephraim had noticed--and from lip to +lip ran the glad, terrible, incredible, yet true tidings, which each +passing moment more surely confirmed. + +Many an eye was raised toward the sky, across which the black clouds were +rushing farther and farther northward. + +The rain was ceasing; instead of the lightning and thunder only a few +pale flashes were seen over the isthmus and the distant sea at the north, +while in the south the sky was brightening. + +At last the setting moon emerged from the grey clouds, and her peaceful +light silvered the heights of Baal-zephon and the shore of the bay, whose +bottom was once more covered with tossing waves. + +The raging, howling storm had passed into the low sighing of the morning +breeze, and the sea, which had dashed against the rocks like a roaring +wild-beast, now lay quivering with broken strength at the stone base of +the mountain. + +For a short time the sea still spread a dark pall over the many Egyptian +corpses, but the paling moon, ere her setting, splendidly embellished the +briny resting-place of a king and his nobles; for her rays illumined and +bordered their coverlet, the sea, with a rich array of sparkling diamonds +in a silver setting. + +While the east was brightening and the sky had clothed itself in the +glowing hues of dawn, the camp had been pitched; but little time remained +for a hasty meal for, shortly after sunrise, the gong had summoned the +people and, as soon as they gathered near the springs, Miriam swung her +timbrel, shaking the bells and striking the calf-skin till it resounded +again. As she moved lightly forward, the women and maidens followed her +in the rhythmic step of the dance; but she sang: + +"I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse +and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. + +"The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is +my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will +exalt him. + +"The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name. "Pharaoh's chariots and +his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned +in the Red Sea. + +"The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. + +"Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O +Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. + +"And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that +rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them +as stubble. + +"And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, +the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the +heart of the sea. + +"The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; +my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall +destroy them. + +"Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead +in the mighty waters. + +"Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, +glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? + +"Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. + +"Thou, in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: +thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation." + +Men and women joined in the song, when she repeated the words: + +"I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse +and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." + +This song and this hour of rejoicing were never forgotten by the Hebrews, +and each heart was filled with the glory of God and the glad and grateful +anticipation of better, happier days. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +The hymn of praise had died away, but though the storm had long since +raged itself into calmness, the morning sky, which had been beautiful in +the rosy flush of dawn, was again veiled by grey mists, and a strong wind +still blew from the southwest, lashing the sea and shaking and swaying +the tops of the palm-trees beside the springs. + +The rescued people had paid due honor to the Most High, even the most +indifferent and rebellious had joined in Miriam's song of praise; yet, +when the ranks of the dancers approached the sea, many left the +procession to hurry to the shore, which presented many attractions. + +Hundreds had now gathered on the strand, where the waves, like generous +robbers, washed ashore the booty they had seized during the night. + +Even the women did not allow the wind to keep them back; for the two +strongest impulses of the human heart, avarice and the longing for +vengeance, drew them to the beach. + +Some new object of desire appeared every moment; here lay the corpse of a +warrior, yonder his shattered chariot. If the latter had belonged to a +man of rank, its gold or silver ornaments were torn off, while the short +sword or battle-axe was drawn from the girdle of the lifeless owner, and +men and women of low degree, male and female slaves belonging to the +Hebrews and foreigners, robbed the corpses of the clasps and circlets of +the precious metal, or twisted the rings from the swollen fingers of the +drowned. + +The ravens which had followed the wandering tribes and vanished during +the storm, again appeared and, croaking, struggled against the wind to +maintain their places above the prey whose scent had attracted them. + +But the dregs of the fugitive hordes were still more greedy than they, +and wherever the sea washed a costly ornament ashore, there were fierce +outcries and angry quarrelling. The leaders kept aloof; the people, they +thought, had a right to this booty, and whenever one of them undertook to +control their rude greed, he received no obedience. + +The pass to which the Egyptians had brought them within the last few +hours had been so terrible, that even the better natures among the +Hebrews did not think of curbing the thirst for vengeance. Even grey- +bearded men of dignified bearing, and wives and mothers whose looks +augured gentle hearts thrust back the few hapless foes who had succeeded +in reaching the land on the ruins of the war-chariots or baggage-wagons. +With shepherds' crooks and travelling staves, knives and axes, stones and +insults they forced their hands from the floating wood, and the few who +nevertheless reached the land were flung by the furious mob into the sea +which had taken pity on them in vain. + +Their wrath was so great, and vengeance so sacred a duty, that no one +thought of the respect, the pity, the consideration, which are +misfortune's due, and not a word was uttered to appeal to generosity or +compassion or even to remind the people of the profit which might be +derived from holding the rescued soldiers as prisoners of war. + +"Death to our mortal foes! Destruction to them! Down with them! Feed +the fishes with them! You drove us into the sea with our children, now +try the salt waves yourselves!" + +Such were the shouts that rose everywhere, and which no one opposed, not +even Miriam and Ephraim, who had also gone down to the shore to witness +the scene it presented. + +The maiden had become the wife of Hur, but her new condition had made +little change in her nature and conduct. The fate of her people and the +intercourse with God, whose prophetess she felt herself to be, were still +her highest aims. Now that all for which she had hoped and prayed was +fulfilled; now that at the first great triumph of her efforts she had +expressed the feelings of the faithful in her song, she felt as if she +were the leader of the grateful multitude at whose head she had marched +singing and as if she had attained the goal of her life. + +Ephraim had reminded her of Hosea and, while talking with him about the +prisoner, she moved on as proudly as a queen, answering the greetings of +the throng with majestic dignity. Her eyes sparkled with joy, and her +features wore an expression of compassion only at brief intervals, when +the youth spoke of the greatest sufferings which he had borne with his +uncle. She doubtless still remembered the man she had loved, but he was +no longer necessary to the lofty goal of her aspirations. + +Ephraim had just spoken of the beautiful Egyptian, who had loved Hosea +and at whose intercession the prisoner's chains had been removed, when +loud outcries were heard at a part of the strand where many of the people +had gathered. Shouts of joy mingled with yells of fury; and awakened the +conjecture that the sea had washed some specially valuable prize ashore. + +Curiosity drew both to the spot, and as Miriam's stately bearing made the +throng move respectfully aside, they soon saw the mournful contents of a +large travelling-chariot, which had lost its wheels. The linen canopy +which had protected it was torn away, and on the floor lay two elderly +Egyptian women; a third, who was much younger, leaned against the back of +the vehicle thus strangely transformed into a boat. Her companions lay +dead in the water which had covered its floor, and several Hebrew women +were in the act of tearing the costly gold ornaments from the neck and +arms of one of the corpses. Some chance had preserved this young woman's +life, and she was now giving her rich jewels to the Israelites. Her pale +lips and slender, half-frozen hands trembled as she did so, and in low, +musical tones she promised the robbers to yield them all she possessed +and pay a large ransom, if they would spare her. She was so young, and +she had shown kindness to a Hebrew surely they might listen to her. + +It was a touching entreaty, but so often interrupted by threats and +curses that only a few could hear it. Just as Ephraim and Miriam reached +the shore she shrieked aloud--a rude hand had torn the gold serpent from +her ear. + +The cry pierced the youth's heart like a dagger-thrust and his cheeks +paled, for he recognized Kasana. The bodies beside her were those of her +nurse and the wife of the chief priest Bai. + +Scarcely able to control himself, Ephraim thrust aside the men who +separated him from the object of the moment's assault, sprang on the +sand-hill at whose foot the chariot had rested, and shouted with glowing +cheeks in wild excitement: + +"Back! Woe to any one who touches her!" + +But a Hebrew woman, the wife of a brickmaker whose child had died in +terrible convulsions during the passage through the sea, had already +snatched the dagger from her girdle, and with the jeering cry "This for +my little Ruth, you jade!" dealt her a blow in the back. Then she +raised the tiny blood-stained weapon for a second stroke; but ere she +could give her enemy another thrust, Ephraim flung himself between her +and her victim and wrenched the dagger from her grasp. Then planting +himself before the wounded girl, he swung the blade aloft exclaiming in +loud, threatening tones: + +"Whoever touches her, you robbers and murderers, shall mingle his blood +with this woman's." Then he flung himself beside Kasana's bleeding form, +and finding that she had lost consciousness, raised her in his arms and +carried her to Miriam. + +The astonished plunderers speechlessly made way for a few minutes, but +ere he reached the prophetess shouts of: "Vengeance! Vengeance!" were +heard in all directions. "We found the woman: the booty belongs to us +alone!--How dares the insolent Ephraimite call us robbers and murderers? +--Wherever Egyptian blood can be spilled, it must flow!--At him!--Snatch +the girl from him!" + +The youth paid no heed to these outbursts of wrath until he had laid +Kasana's head in the lap of Miriam, who had seated herself on the nearest +sand-hill, and as the angry throng, the women in front of the men, +pressed upon him, he again waved his dagger, crying: "Back--I command +you. Let all of the blood of Ephraim and Judah rally around me and +Miriam, the wife of their chief! That's right, brothers, and woe betide +any hand that touches her. Do you shriek for vengeance? Has it not been +yours through yonder monster who murdered the poor defenceless one? Do +you want your victim's jewels? Well, well; they belong to you, and I +will give you mine to boot, if you will leave the wife of Hur to care for +this dying girl!" + +With these words he bent over Kasana, took off the clasps and rings she +still wore, and gave them to the greedy hands outstretched to seize them. +Lastly he stripped the broad gold circlet from his arm, and holding it +aloft exclaimed: + +"Here is the promised payment. If you will depart quietly and leave this +woman to Miriam, I will give you the gold, and you can divide it among +you. If you thirst for more blood, come on; but I will keep the armlet." + +These words did not fail to produce their effect. The furious women +looked at the heavy broad gold armlet, then at the handsome youth, and +the men of Judah and Ephraim who had gathered around him, and finally +glanced enquiringly into one another's faces. At last the wife of a +foreign trader cried: + +"Let him give us the gold, and we'll leave the handsome young chief his +bleeding sweetheart." + +To this decision the others agreed, and though the brickmaker's +infuriated wife, who thought as the avenger of her child she had done +an act pleasing in the sight of God, and was upbraided for it as a +murderess, reviled the youth with frantic gestures, she was dragged +away by the crowd to the shore where they hoped to find more booty. + +During this threatening transaction, Miriam had fearlessly examined +Kasana's wound and bound it up with skilful hands, The dagger which +Prince Siptah had jestingly given the beautiful lady of his love, that +she might not go to war defenceless, had inflicted a deep wound under the +shoulder, and the blood had flowed so abundantly that the feeble spark of +life threatened to die out at any moment. + +But she still lived, and in this condition was borne to the tent of Nun, +which was the nearest within reach. + +The old chief had just been supplying weapons to the shepherds and youths +whom Ephraim had summoned to go to the relief of the imprisoned Hosea, +and had promised to join them, when the mournful procession approached. + +As Kasana loved the handsome old man, the latter had for many years kept +a place in his heart for Captain Homecht's pretty daughter. + +She had never met him without gladdening him by a greeting which he +always returned with kind words, such as: "The Lord bless you, child!" +or: "It is a delightful hour when an old man meets so fair a creature." +Many years before--she had then worn the curls of childhood--he had even +sent her a lamb, whose snowy fleece was specially silky, after having +bartered the corn from her father's lands for cattle of his most famous +breed--and what his son had told him of Kasana had been well fitted to +increase his regard for her. + +He beheld in the archer's daughter the most charming young girl in Tanis +and, had she been the child of Hebrew parents, he would have rejoiced to +wed her to his son. + +To find his darling in such a state caused the old man grief so profound +that bright tears ran down upon his snowy beard and his voice trembled +as, while greeting her, he saw the blood-stained bandage on her shoulder. + +After she had been laid on his couch, and Nun had placed his own chest of +medicines at the disposal of the skilful prophetess, Miriam asked the men +to leave her alone with the suffering Egyptian, and when she again called +them into the tent she had revived the strength of the severely-wounded +girl with cordials, and bandaged the hurt more carefully than had been +possible before. + +Kasana, cleansed from the blood-stains and with her hair neatly arranged, +lay beneath the fresh linen coverings like a sleeping child just on the +verge of maidenhood. + +She was still breathing, but the color had not returned to cheeks or +lips, and she did not open her eyes until she had drunk the cordial +Miriam mixed for her a second time. + +The old man and his grandson stood at the foot of her couch, and each +would fain have asked the other why he could not restrain his tears +whenever he looked at this stranger's face. + +The certainty that Kasana was wicked and faithless, which had so +unexpectedly forced itself upon Ephraim, had suddenly turned his heart +from her and startled him back into the right path which he had +abandoned. Yet what he had heard in her tent had remained a profound +secret, and as he told his grandfather and Miriam that she had +compassionately interceded for the prisoners, and both had desired to +hear more of her, he had felt like a father who had witnessed the crime +of a beloved son, and no word of the abominable things he had heard had +escaped his lips. + +Now he rejoiced that he had kept silence; for whatever he might have seen +and heard, this fair creature certainly was capable of no base deed. + +To the old man she had never ceased to be the lovely child whom he had +known, the apple of his eye and the joy of his heart. So he gazed with +tender anxiety at the features convulsed by pain and, when she at last +opened her eyes, smiled at her with paternal affection. Her glance +showed that she instantly recognized both him and Ephraim, but weakness +baffled her attempt to nod to them. Yet her expressive face revealed +surprise and joy, and when Miriam had given her the cordial a third time +and bathed her brow with a powerful essence, her large eyes wandered from +face to face and, noticing the troubled looks of the men, she managed to +whisper: + +"The wound aches--and death--must I die?" One looked enquiringly at +another, and the men would gladly have concealed the terrible truth; but +she went on: + +"Oh, let me know. Ah, I pray you, tell me the truth!" + +Miriam, who was kneeling beside her, found courage to answer: + +"Yes, you poor young creature, the wound is deep, but whatever my skill +can accomplish shall be done to preserve your life as long as possible." + +The words sounded kind and full of compassion, yet the deep voice of the +prophetess seemed to hurt Kasana; for her lips quivered painfully while +Miriam was speaking, and when she ceased, her eyes closed and one large +tear after another ran down her cheeks. Deep, anxious silence reigned +around her until she again raised her lashes and, fixing her eyes wearily +on Miriam, asked softly, as if perplexed by some strange spectacle: + +"You are a woman, and yet practise the art of the leech." + +"My God has commanded me to care for the suffering ones of our people," +replied the other. + +The dying girl's eyes began to glitter with a restless light, and she +gasped in louder tones, nay with a firmness that surprised the others: + +"You are Miriam, the woman who sent for Hosea." And when the other +answered promptly and proudly: "It is as you say!" Kasana continued: + +"And you possess striking, imperious beauty, and much influence. He +obeyed your summons, and you--you consented to wed another?" + +Again the prophetess answered, this time with gloomy earnestness: "It is +as you say." + +The dying girl closed her eyes once more, and a strange proud smile +hovered around her lips. But it soon vanished and a great and painful +restlessness seized upon her. The fingers of her little hands, her lips, +nay, even her eyelids moved perpetually, and her smooth, narrow forehead +contracted as if some great thought occupied her mind. + +At last the ideas that troubled her found utterance and, as if roused +from her repose, she exclaimed in terrified accents: + +"You are Ephraim, who seemed like his son, and the old man is Nun, his +dear father. There you stand and will live on.... But I--I .... Oh, it +is so hard to leave the light.... Anubis will lead me before the +judgment seat of Osiris. My heart will be weighed, and then...." + +Here she shuddered and opened and closed her trembling hands; but she +soon regained her composure and began to speak again. Miriam, however, +sternly forbade this, because it would hasten her death. + +Then the sufferer, summoning all her strength, exclaimed hastily, as +loudly as her voice would permit, after measuring the prophetess' tall +figure with a long glance: "You wish to prevent me from doing my duty-- +you?" + +There had been a slight touch of mockery in the question; but Kasana +doubtless felt that it was necessary to spare her strength; for she +continued far more quietly, as though talking to herself: + +"I cannot die so, I cannot! How it happened; why I sacrificed all, +all.... I must atone for it; I will not complain, if he only learns how +it came to pass. Oh, Nun, dear old Nun, who gave me the lamb when I was +a little thing--I loved it so dearly--and you, Ephraim, my dear boy, I +will tell you everything." + +Here a painful fit of coughing interrupted her; but as soon as she +recovered her breath, she turned to Miriam, and called in a tone which +so plainly expressed bitter dislike, that it would have surprised any +one who knew her kindly nature: + +"But you, yonder,--you tall woman with the deep voice who are a +physician, you lured him from Tanis, from his soldiers and from me. He, +he obeyed your summons. And you . . . . you became another's wife; +probably after his arrival .... yes! For when Ephraim summoned him, he +called you a maiden . . . I don't know whether this caused him, Hosea, +pain .... But there is one thing I do know, and that is that I want to +confess something and must do so, ere it is too late.... And no one must +hear it save those who love him, and I--do you hear--I love him, love him +better than aught else on earth! But you? You have a husband, and a God +whose commands you eagerly obey--you say so yourself. What can Hosea be +to you? So I beseech you to leave us. I have met few who repelled me, +but you--your voice, your eyes--they pierce me to the heart--and if you +were near I could not speak as I must.... and oh, talking hurts me so! +But before you go--you are a leech--let me know this one thing--I have +many messages to leave for him ere I die.... Will it kill me to talk?" + +Again the prophetess found no other words in answer except the brief: +"It is as you say," and this time they sounded harsh and ominous. + +While wavering between the duty which, as a physician, she owed the +sufferer and the impulse not to refuse the request of a dying woman, she +read in old Nun's eyes an entreaty to obey Kasana's wish, and with +drooping head left the tent. But the bitter words of the hapless girl +pursued her and spoiled the day which had begun so gloriously and also +many a later hour; nay, to her life's end she could not understand why, +in the presence of this poor, dying woman, she had been overpowered by +the feeling that she was her inferior and must take a secondary place. + +As soon as Kasana was left alone with Nun and Ephraim, and the latter had +flung himself on his knees beside her couch, while the old man kissed her +brow, and bowed his white head to listen to her low words, she began: + +"I feel better now. That tall woman.... those gloomy brows that meet in +the middle.... those nightblack eyes.... they glow with so fierce a +fire, yet are so cold.... That woman.... did Hosea love her, father? +Tell me; I am not asking from idle curiosity!" + +"He honored her," replied the old man in a troubled tone, "as did our +whole nation; for she has a lofty spirit, and our God suffers her to hear +His voice; but you, my darling, have been dear to him from childhood, I +know." + +A slight tremor shook the dying girl. She closed her eyes for a short +time and a sunny smile hovered around her lips. + +She lay in this attitude so long that Nun feared death had claimed her +and, holding the medicine in his hand, listened to hear her breathing. + +Kasana did not seem to notice it; but when she finally opened her eyes, +she held out her hand for the cordial, drank it, and then began again: + +"It seemed just as if I had seen him, Hosea. He wore the panoply of war +just as he did the first time he took me into his arms. I was a little +thing and felt afraid of him, he looked so grave, and my nurse had told +me that he had slain a great many of our foes. Yet I was glad when he +came and grieved when he went away. So the years passed, and love grew +with my growth. My young heart was so full of him, so full.... Even +when they forced me to wed another, and after I had become a widow." + +The last words had been scarcely audible, and she rested some time ere +she continued: + +"Hosea knows all this, except how anxious I was when he was in the field, +and how I longed for him ere he returned. At last, at last he came home, +and how I rejoiced! But he, Hosea....? That woman--Ephraim told me so-- +that tall, arrogant woman summoned him to Pithom. But he returned, and +then.... Oh, Nun, your son.... that was the hardest thing....! He +refused my hand, which my father offered.... And how that hurt me....! +I can say no more....! Give me the drink!" + +Her cheeks had flushed crimson during these painful confessions, and when +the experienced old man perceived how rapidly the excitement under which +she was laboring hastened the approach of death, he begged her to keep +silence; but she insisted upon profiting by the time still allowed her, +and though the sharp pain with which a short cough tortured her forced +her to press her hand upon her breast, she continued: + +"Then hate came; but it did not last long--and never did I love him more +ardently than when I drove after the poor convict--you remember, my boy. +Then began the horrible, wicked, evil time.... of which I must tell him +that he may not despise me, if he hears about it. I never had a mother, +and there was no one to warn me.... Where shall I begin? Prince Siptah +--you know him, father--that wicked man will soon rule over my country. +My father is in a conspiracy with him.... merciful gods, I can say no +more!" + +Terror and despair convulsed her features as she uttered these words; but +Ephraim interrupted her and, with tearful eyes and faltering voice, +confessed that he knew all. Then he repeated what he had heard while +listening outside of her tent, and her glance confirmed the tale. + +When he finally spoke of the wife of the viceroy and chief-priest Bai, +whose body had been borne to the shore with her, Kasana interrupted him +with the low exclamation: + +"She planned it all. Her husband was to be the greatest man in the +country and rule even Pharaoh; for Siptah is not the son of a king." + +"And," the old man interrupted, to quiet her and help her tell what she +desired to say, "as Bai raised, he can overthrow him. He will become, +even more certainly than the dethroned monarch, the tool of the man who +made him king. But I know Aarsu the Syrian, and if I see aright, the +time will come when he will himself strive, in distracted Egypt, rent by +internal disturbances, for the power which, through his mercenaries, he +aided others to grasp. But child, what induced you to follow the army +and this shameful profligate?" + +The dying girl's eyes sparkled, for the question brought her directly to +what she desired to tell, and she answered as loudly and quickly as her +weakness permitted: + +"I did it for your son's sake, for love of him, to liberate Hosea. The +evening before I had steadily and firmly refused the wife of Bai. But +when I saw your son at the well and he, Hosea.... Oh, at last he was so +affectionate and kissed me so kindly.... and then--then.... My poor +heart! I saw him, the best of men, perishing amid contumely and disease. + +"And when he passed with chains one thought darted through my mind......" + +"You determined, you dear, foolish, misguided child," cried the old man, +"to win the heart of the future king in order, through him, to release my +son, your friend?" + +The dying girl again smiled assent and softly exclaimed: + +"Yes, yes, I did it for that, for that alone. And the prince was so +abhorrent to me. And the shame, the disgrace--oh, how terrible it was!" + +"And you incurred it for my son's sake," the old man interrupted, raising +her hand, wet with his tears, to his lips; but she fixed her eyes on +Ephraim, sobbing softly: + +"I thought of him too. He is so young, and it is so horrible in the +mines." + +She shuddered again as she spoke; but the youth covered her burning hand +with kisses, while she gazed affectionately at him and the old man, +adding in faltering accents: + +"Oh, all is well now, and if the gods grant him freedom...." + +Here Ephraim interrupted her to exclaim in fiery tones: + +"We are going to the mines this very day. I and my comrades, and my +grandfather with us, will put his guards to flight." + +"And he shall hear from my lips," Nun added, "how faithfully Kasana loved +him, and that his life will be too short to thank her for such a +sacrifice." + +His voice failed him--but every trace of suffering had vanished from the +countenance of the dying girl, and for a long time she gazed heavenward +silently with a happy look. By degrees, however, her smooth brow +contracted in an anxious frown, and she gasped in low tones: + +"Well, all is well.... only one thing.... my body.... unembalmed.... +without the sacred amulets. . . ." + +But the old man answered: + +"As soon as you have closed your eyes, I will give it, carefully wrapped, +to the Phoenician captain now tarrying here, that he may deliver it to +your father." + +Kasana tried to turn her head toward him to thank him with a loving +glance, but she suddenly pressed both hands on her breast, crimson blood +welled from her lips, her cheeks varied from livid white to fiery scarlet +and, after a brief, painful convulsion, she sank back. Death laid his +hand on the loving heart, and her features gained the expression of a +child whose mother has forgiven its fault and clasped it to her heart ere +it fell asleep. + +The old man, weeping, closed the dead girl's eyes. Ephraim, deeply +moved, kissed the closed lids, and after a short silence Nun said: + +"I do not like to enquire about our fate beyond the grave, which Moses +himself does not know; but whoever has lived so that his or her memory is +tenderly cherished in the souls of loved ones, has, I think, done the +utmost possible to secure a future existence. We will remember this dead +girl in our most sacred hours. Let us do for her corpse what we +promised, and then set forth to show the man for whom Kasana sacrificed +what she most valued that we do not love him less than this Egyptian +woman." + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +I do not like to enquire about our fate beyond the grave +Then hate came; but it did not last long + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSHUA, BY GEORG EBERS, VOLUME 4 *** + +***********This file should be named 5470.txt or 5470.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. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +https://gutenberg.org or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/5470.zip b/5470.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..045641f --- /dev/null +++ b/5470.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1a7715a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #5470 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5470) |