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diff --git a/old/ge34v10.txt b/old/ge34v10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..78cd14f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ge34v10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11599 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook Joshua, by Georg Ebers, Complete +#34 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, Complete + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5472] +[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, COMPLETE *** + + + +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, Complete + +By Georg Ebers + + +Translated from the German by Mary J. Safford + + + + +PREFACE. + +Last winter I resolved to complete this book, and while giving it the +form in which it now goes forth into the world, I was constantly reminded +of the dear friend to whom I intended to dedicate it. Now I am permitted +to offer it only to the manes of Gustav Baur; for a few months ago death +snatched him from us. + +Every one who was allowed to be on terms of intimacy with this man feels +his departure from earth as an unspeakably heavy loss, not only because +his sunny, cheerful nature and brilliant intellect brightened the souls +of his friends; not only because he poured generously from the +overflowing cornucopia of his rich knowledge precious gifts to those with +whom he stood in intellectual relations, but above all because of the +loving heart which beamed through his clear eyes, and enabled him to +share the joys and sorrows of others, and enter into their thoughts and +feelings. + +To my life's end I shall not forget that during the last few years, +himself physically disabled and overburdened by the duties imposed by the +office of professor and counsellor of the Consistory, he so often found +his way to me, a still greater invalid. The hours he then permitted me +to spend in animated conversation with him are among those which, +according to old Horace, whom he know so thoroughly and loved so well, +must be numbered among the 'good ones'. I have done so, and whenever I +gratefully recall them, in my ear rings my friend's question: + +"What of the story of the Exodus?" + +After I had told him that in the midst of the desert, while following the +traces of the departing Hebrews, the idea had occurred to me of treating +their wanderings in the form of a romance, he expressed his approval in +the eager, enthusiastic manner natural to him. When I finally entered +farther into the details of the sketch outlined on the back of a camel, +he never ceased to encourage me, though he thoroughly understood my +scruples and fully appreciated the difficulties which attended the +fulfilment of my task. + +So in a certain degree this book is his, and the inability to offer it +to the living man and hear his acute judgment is one of the griefs which +render it hard to reconcile oneself to the advancing years which in other +respects bring many a joy. + +Himself one of the most renowned, acute and learned students and +interpreters of the Bible, he was perfectly familiar with the critical +works the last five years have brought to light in the domain of Old +Testament criticism. He had taken a firm stand against the views of the +younger school, who seek to banish the Exodus of the Jews from the +province of history and represent it as a later production of the myth- +making popular mind; a theory we both believed untenable. One of his +remarks on this subject has lingered in my memory and ran nearly as +follows: + +"If the events recorded in the Second Book of Moses--which I believe are +true--really never occurred, then nowhere and at no period has a +historical event of equally momentous result taken place. For thousands +of years the story of the Exodus has lived in the minds of numberless +people as something actual, and it still retains its vitality. Therefore +it belongs to history no less certainty than the French Revolution and +its consequences." + +Notwithstanding such encouragement, for a long series of years I lacked +courage to finish the story of the Exodus until last winter an unexpected +appeal from abroad induced me to resume it. After this I worked +uninterruptedly with fresh zeal and I may say renewed pleasure at the +perilous yet fascinating task until its completion. + +The locality of the romance, the scenery as we say of the drama, I have +copied as faithfully as possible from the landscapes I beheld in Goshen +and on the Sinai peninsula. It will agree with the conception of many of +the readers of "Joshua." + +The case will be different with those portions of the story which I have +interwoven upon the ground of ancient Egyptian records. They will +surprise the laymen; for few have probably asked themselves how the +events related in the Bible from the standpoint of the Jews affected the +Egyptians, and what political conditions existed in the realm of Pharaoh +when the Hebrews left it. I have endeavored to represent these relations +with the utmost fidelity to the testimony of the monuments. For the +description of the Hebrews, which is mentioned in the Scriptures, the +Bible itself offers the best authority. The character of the "Pharaoh of +the Exodus" I also copied from the Biblical narrative, and the portraits +of the weak King Menephtah, which have been preserved, harmonize +admirably with it. What we have learned of later times induced me to +weave into the romance the conspiracy of Siptah, the accession to the +throne of Seti II., and the person of the Syrian Aarsu who, according to +the London Papyrus Harris I., after Siptah had become king, seized the +government. + +The Naville excavations have fixed the location of Pithom-Succoth beyond +question, and have also brought to light the fortified store-house of +Pithom (Succoth) mentioned in the Bible; and as the scripture says the +Hebrews rested in this place and thence moved farther on, it must be +supposed that they overpowered the garrison of the strong building and +seized the contents of the spacious granaries, which are in existence at +the present day. + +In my "Egypt and the Books of Moses" which appeared in 1868, I stated +that the Biblical Etham was the same as the Egyptian Chetam, that is, the +line of fortresses which protected the isthmus of Suez from the attacks +of the nations of the East, and my statement has long since found +universal acceptance. Through it, the turning back of the Hebrews before +Etham is intelligible. + +The mount where the laws were given I believe was the majestic Serbal, +not the Sinai of the monks; the reasons for which I explained fully in my +work "Through Goshen to Sinai." I have also--in the same volume-- +attempted to show that the halting-place of the tribes called in the +Bible "Dophkah" was the deserted mines of the modern Wadi Maghara. + +By the aid of the mental and external experiences of the characters, +whose acts have in part been freely guided by the author's imagination, +he has endeavored to bring nearer to the sympathizing reader the human +side of the mighty destiny of the nation which it was incumbent on him to +describe. If he has succeeded in doing so, without belittling the +magnificent Biblical narrative, he has accomplished his desire; if he has +failed, he must content himself with the remembrance of the pleasure and +mental exaltation he experienced during the creation of this work. + +Tutzing on the Starnberger See, +September 20th, 1889. + GEORG EBERS. + + + +JOSHUA. + +CHAPTER I. + +"Go down, grandfather: I will watch." + +But the old man to whom the entreaty was addressed shook his shaven head. + +"Yet you can get no rest here...... + +"And the stars? And the tumult below? Who can think of rest in hours +like these? Throw my cloak around me! Rest--on such a night of horror!" + +"You are shivering. And how your hand and the instrument are shaking." + +"Then support my arm." + +The youth dutifully obeyed the request; but in a short time he exclaimed: +"Vain, all is vain; star after star is shrouded by the murky clouds. +Alas, hear the wailing from the city. Ah, it rises from our own house +too. I am so anxious, grandfather, feel how my head burns! Come down, +perhaps they need help." + +"Their fate is in the hands of the gods--my place is here. + +"But there--there! Look northward across the lake. No, farther to the +west. They are coming from the city of the dead." + +"Oh, grandfather! Father--there!" cried the youth, a grandson of the +astrologer of Amon-Ra, to whom he was lending his aid. They were +standing in the observatory of the temple of this god in Tanis, the +Pharaoh's capital in the north of the land of Goshen. He moved away, +depriving the old man of the support of his shoulder, as he continued: +"There, there! Is the sea sweeping over the land? Have the clouds +dropped on the earth to heave to and fro? Oh, grandfather, look yonder! +May the Immortals have pity on us! The under-world is yawning, and the +giant serpent Apep has come forth from the realm of the dead. It is +moving past the temple. I see, I hear it. The great Hebrew's menace is +approaching fulfilment. Our race will be effaced from the earth. The +serpent! Its head is turned toward the southeast. It will devour the +sun when it rises in the morning." + +The old man's eyes followed the youth's finger, and he, too, perceived a +huge, dark mass, whose outlines blended with the dusky night, come +surging through the gloom; he, too, heard, with a thrill of terror, the +monster's loud roar. + +Both stood straining their eyes and ears to pierce the darkness; but +instead of gazing upward the star-reader's eye was bent upon the city, +the distant sea, and the level plain. Deep silence, yet no peace reigned +above them: the high wind now piled the dark clouds into shapeless +masses, anon severed that grey veil and drove the torn fragments far +asunder. The moon was invisible to mortal eyes, but the clouds were +toying with the bright Southern stars, sometimes hiding them, sometimes +affording a free course for their beams. Sky and earth alike showed a +constant interchange of pallid light and intense darkness. Sometimes the +sheen of the heavenly bodies flashed brightly from sea and bay, the +smooth granite surfaces of the obelisks in the precincts of the temple, +and the gilded copper roof of the airy royal palace, anon sea and river, +the sails in the harbor, the sanctuaries, the streets of the city, and +the palm-grown plain which surrounded it vanished in gloom. Eye and ear +failed to retain the impression of the objects they sought to discern; +for sometimes the silence was so profound that all life, far and near, +seemed hushed and dead, then a shrill shriek of anguish pierced the +silence of the night, followed at longer or shorter intervals by the loud +roar the youthful priest had mistaken for the voice of the serpent of the +nether-world, and to which grandfather and grandson listened with +increasing suspense. + +The dark shape, whose incessant motion could be clearly perceived +whenever the starlight broke through the clouds, appeared first near the +city of the dead and the strangers' quarter. Both the youth and the old +man had been seized with terror, but the latter was the first to regain +his self-control, and his keen eye, trained to watch the stars, speedily +discovered that it was not a single giant form emerging from the city of +the dead upon the plain, but a multitude of moving shapes that seemed to +be swaying hither and thither over the meadow lands. The bellowing and +bleating, too, did not proceed from one special place, but came now +nearer and now farther away. Sometimes it seemed to issue from the +bowels of the earth, and at others to float from some airy height. + +Fresh horror seized upon the old man. Grasping his grandson's right hand +in his, he pointed with his left to the necropolis, exclaiming in +tremulous tones: "The dead are too great a multitude. The under-world is +overflowing, as the river does when its bed is not wide enough for the +waters from the south. How they swarm and surge and roll onward! How +they scatter and sway to and fro. They are the souls of the thousands +whom grim death has snatched away, laden with the curse of the Hebrew, +unburied, unshielded from corruption, to descend the rounds of the ladder +leading to the eternal world." + +"Yes, yes, those are their wandering ghosts," shrieked the youth in +absolute faith, snatching his hand from the grey-beard's grasp and +striking his burning brow, exclaiming, almost incapable of speech in his +horror: "Ay, those are the souls of the damned. The wind has swept them +into the sea, whose waters cast them forth again upon the land, but the +sacred earth spurns them and flings them into the air. The pure ether of +Shu hurls them back to the ground and now--oh look, listen--they are +seeking the way to the wilderness." + +"To the fire!" cried the old astrologer. "Purify them, ye flames; +cleanse them, water." + +The youth joined his grandfather's form of exorcism, and while still +chanting together, the trap-door leading to this observatory on the top +of the highest gate of the temple was opened, and a priest of inferior +rank called: "Cease thy toil. Who cares to question the stars when the +light of life is departing from all the denizens of earth!" + +The old man listened silently till the priest, in faltering accents, +added that the astrologer's wife had sent him, then he stammered: + +"Hora? Has my son, too, been stricken?" + +The messenger bent his head, and the two listeners wept bitterly, for the +astrologer had lost his first-born son and the youth a beloved father. + +But as the lad, shivering with the chill of fever, sank ill and powerless +on the old man's breast, the latter hastily released himself from his +embrace and hurried to the trap-door. Though the priest had announced +himself to be the herald of death, a father's heart needs more than the +mere words of another ere resigning all hope of the life of his child. + +Down the stone stairs, through the lofty halls and wide courts of the +temple he hurried, closely followed by the youth, though his trembling +limbs could scarcely support his fevered body. The blow that had fallen +upon his own little circle had made the old man forget the awful vision +which perchance menaced the whole universe with destruction; but his +grandson could not banish the sight and, when he had passed the fore- +court and was approaching the outermost pylons his imagination, under the +tension of anxiety and grief, made the shadows of the obelisks appear to +be dancing, while the two stone statues of King Rameses, on the corner +pillars of the lofty gate, beat time with the crook they held in their +hands. + +Then the fever struck the youth to the ground. His face was distorted by +the convulsions which tossed his limbs to and fro, and the old man, +failing on his knees, strove to protect the beautiful head, covered with +clustering curls, from striking the stone flags, moaning under his breath +"Now fate has overtaken him too." + +Then calming himself, he shouted again and again for help, but in vain. +At last, as he lowered his tones to seek comfort in prayer, he heard the +sound of voices in the avenue of sphinxes beyond the pylons, and fresh +hope animated his heart. + +Who was coming at so late an hour? + +Loud wails of grief blended with the songs of the priests, the clinking +and tinkling of the metal sistrums, shaken by the holy women in the +service of the god, and the measured tread of men praying as they marched +in the procession which was approaching the temple. + +Faithful to the habits of a long life, the astrologer raised his eyes +and, after a glance at the double row of granite pillars, the colossal +statues and obelisks in the fore-court, fixed them on the starlit skies. +Even amid his grief a bitter smile hovered around his sunken lips; to- +night the gods themselves were deprived of the honors which were their +due. + +For on this, the first night after the new moon in the month of +Pharmuthi, the sanctuary in bygone years was always adorned with flowers. +As soon as the darkness of this moonless night passed away, the high +festival of the spring equinox and the harvest celebration would begin. + +A grand procession in honor of the great goddess Neith, of Rennut, who +bestows the blessings of the fields, and of Horus at whose sign the seeds +begin to germinate, passed, in accordance with the rules prescribed by +the Book of the Divine Birth of the Sun, through the city to the river +and harbor; but to-day the silence of death reigned throughout the +sanctuary, whose courts at this hour were usually thronged with men, +women, and children, bringing offerings to lay on the very spot where +death's finger had now touched his grandson's heart. + +A flood of light streamed into the vast space, hitherto but dimly +illumined by a few lamps. Could the throng be so frenzied as to imagine +that the joyous festival might be celebrated, spite of the unspeakable +horrors of the night. + +Yet, the evening before, the council of priests had resolved that, on +account of the rage of the merciless pestilence, the temple should not be +adorned nor the procession be marshalled. In the afternoon many whose +houses had been visited by the plague had remained absent, and now while +he, the astrologer, had been watching the course of the stars, the pest +had made its way into this sanctuary, else why had it been forsaken by +the watchers and the other astrologers who had entered with him at +sunset, and whose duty it was to watch through the night? + +He again turned with tender solicitude to the sufferer, but instantly +started to his feet, for the gates were flung wide open and the light of +torches and lanterns streamed into the court. A swift glance at the sky +told him that it was a little after midnight, yet his fears seemed to +have been true--the priests were crowding into the temples to prepare for +the harvest festival to-morrow. + +But he was wrong. When had they ever entered the sanctuary for this +purpose in orderly procession, solemnly chanting hymns? Nor was the +train composed only of servants of the deity. The population had joined +them, for the shrill lamentations of women and wild cries of despair, +such as he had never heard before in all his long life within these +sacred walls, blended in the solemn litany. + +Or were his senses playing him false? Was the groaning throng of +restless spirits which his grandson had pointed out to him from the +observatory, pouring into the sanctuary of the gods? + +New horror seized upon him; with arms flung upward to bid the specters +avaunt he muttered the exorcism against the wiles of evil spirits. But +he soon let his hands fall again; for among the throng he noted some of +his friends who yesterday, at least, had still walked among living men. +First, the tall form of the second prophet of the god, then the women +consecrated to the service of Amon-Ra, the singers and the holy fathers +and, when he perceived behind the singers, astrologers, and pastophori +his own brother-in-law, whose house had yesterday been spared by the +plague, he summoned fresh courage and spoke to him. But his voice was +smothered by the shouts of the advancing multitude. + +The courtyard was now lighted, but each individual was so engrossed by +his own sorrows that no one noticed the old astrologer. Tearing the +cloak from his shivering limbs to make a pillow for the lad's tossing +head, he heard, while tending him with fatherly affection, fierce +imprecations on the Hebrews who had brought this woe on Pharaoh and his +people, mingling with the chants and shouts of the approaching crowd and, +recurring again and again, the name of Prince Rameses, the heir to the +throne, while the tone in which it was uttered, the formulas of +lamentation associated with it, announced the tidings that the eyes of +the monarch's first-born son were closed in death. + +The astrologer gazed at his grandson's wan features with increasing +anxiety, and even while the wailing for the prince rose louder and louder +a slight touch of gratification stirred his soul at the thought of the +impartial justice Death metes out alike to the sovereign on his throne +and the beggar by the roadside. He now realized what had brought the +noisy multitude to the temple! + +With as much swiftness as his aged limbs would permit, he hastened +forward to meet the mourners; but ere he reached them he saw the gate- +keeper and his wife come out of their house, carrying between them on a +mat the dead body of a boy. The husband held one end, his fragile little +wife the other, and the gigantic warder was forced to stoop low to keep +the rigid form in a horizontal position and not let it slip toward the +woman. Three children, preceded by a little girl carrying a lantern, +closed the mournful procession. + +Perhaps no one would have noticed the group, had not the gate-keeper's +little wife shrieked so wildly and piteously that no one could help +hearing her lamentations. The second prophet of Amon, and then his +companions, turned toward them. The procession halted, and as some of +the priests approached the corpse the gate-keeper shouted loudly: "Away, +away from the plague! It has stricken our first-born son." + +The wife meantime had snatched the lantern from her little girl's hand +and casting its light full on the dead boy's rigid face, she screamed: + +"The god hath suffered it to happen. Ay, he permitted the horror to +enter beneath his own roof. Not his will, but the curse of the stranger +rules us and our lives. Look, this was our first-born son, and the +plague has also stricken two of the temple-servants. One already lies +dead in our room, and there lies Kamus, grandson of the astrologer +Rameri. We heard the old man call, and saw what was happening; but who +can prop another's house when his own is falling? Take heed while there +is time; for the gods have opened their own sanctuaries to the horror. +If the whole world crumbles into ruin, I shall neither marvel nor grieve. +My lord priests, I am only a poor lowly woman, but am I not right when I +ask: Do our gods sleep, or has some one paralyzed them, or what are they +doing that they leave us and our children in the power of the base Hebrew +brood?" + +"Overthrow them! Down with the foreigners! Death to the sorcerer Mesu, +--[Mesu is the Egyptian name of Moses]--hurl him into the sea." Such +were the imprecations that followed the woman's curse, as an echo follows +a shout, and the aged astrologer's brother-in-law Hornecht, captain of +the archers, whose hot blood seethed in his veins at the sight of the +dying form of his beloved nephew, waved his short sword, crying +frantically: "Let all men who have hearts follow me. Upon them! A life +for a life! Ten Hebrews for each Egyptian whom the sorcerer has slain!" + +As a flock rushes into a fire when the ram leads the way, the warrior's +summons fired the throng. Women forced themselves in front of the men, +pressing after him into the gateway, and when the servants of the temple +lingered to await the verdict of the prophet of Amon, the latter drew his +stately figure to its full height, and said calmly: "Let all who wear +priestly garments remain and pray with me. The populace is heaven's +instrument to mete out vengeance. We will remain here to pray for their +success." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +Bai, the second prophet of Amon, who acted as the representative of the +aged and feeble chief-prophet and high-priest Rui, went into the holy of +holies, the throng of inferior servants of the divinity pursued their +various duties, and the frenzied mob rushed through the streets of the +city towards the distant Hebrew quarter. + +As the flood, pouring into the valley, sweeps everything before it, the +people, rushing to seek vengeance, forced every one they met to join +them. No Egyptian from whom death had snatched a loved one failed to +follow the swelling torrent, which increased till hundreds became +thousands. Men, women, and children, freedmen and slaves, winged by the +ardent longing to bring death and destruction on the hated Hebrews, +darted to the remote quarter where they dwelt. + +How the workman had grasped a hatchet, the housewife an axe, they +themselves scarcely knew. They were dashing forward to deal death and +ruin and had had no occasion to search for weapons--they had been close +at hand. + +The first to feel the weight of their vengeance must be Nun, an aged +Hebrew, rich in herds, loved and esteemed by many an Egyptian whom he had +benefitted--but when hate and revenge speak, gratitude shrinks timidly +into the background. + +His property, like the houses and hovels of his people, was in the +strangers' quarter, west of Tanis, and lay nearest to the streets +inhabited by the Egyptians themselves. + +Usually at this hour herds of cattle and flocks of sheep were being +watered or driven to pasture and the great yard before his house was +filled with cattle, servants of both sexes, carts, and agricultural +implements. The owner usually overlooked the departure of the flocks and +herds, and the mob had marked him and his family for the first victims of +their fury. + +The swiftest of the avengers had now reached his extensive farm- +buildings, among them Hornecht, captain of the archers, brother-in-law of +the old astrologer. House and barns were brightly illumined by the first +light of the young day. A stalwart smith kicked violently on the stout +door; but the unbolted sides yielded so easily that he was forced to +cling to the door-post to save himself from falling. Others, Hornecht +among them, pressed past him into the yard. What did this mean? + +Had some new spell been displayed to attest the power of the Hebrew +leader Mesu, who had brought such terrible plagues on the land,--and of +his God. + +The yard was absolutely empty. The stalls contained a few dead cattle +and sheep, killed because they had been crippled in some way, while a +lame lamb limped off at sight of the mob. The carts and wagons, too, had +vanished. The lowing, bleating throng which the priests had imagined to +be the souls of the damned was the Hebrew host, departing by night from +their old home with all their flocks under the guidance of Moses. + +The captain of the archers dropped his sword, and a spectator might have +believed that the sight was a pleasant surprise to him; but his neighbor, +a clerk from the king's treasure-house, gazed around the empty space with +the disappointed air of a man who has been defrauded. + +The flood of schemes and passions, which had surged so high during the +night, ebbed under the clear light of day. Even the soldier's quickly +awakened wrath had long since subsided into composure. The populace +might have wreaked their utmost fury on the other Hebrews, but not upon +Nun, whose son, Hosea, had been his comrade in arms, one of the most +distinguished leaders in the army, and an intimate family friend. Had he +thought of him and foreseen that his father's dwelling would be first +attacked, he would never have headed the mob in their pursuit of +vengeance; nay, he bitterly repented having forgotten the deliberate +judgment which befitted his years. + +While many of the throng began to plunder and destroy Nun's deserted +home, men and women came to report that not a soul was to be found in any +of the neighboring dwellings. Others told of cats cowering on the +deserted hearthstones, of slaughtered cattle and shattered furniture; but +at last the furious avengers dragged out a Hebrew with his family and a +half-witted grey-haired woman found hidden among some straw. The crone, +amid imbecile laughter, said her people had made themselves hoarse +calling her, but Meliela was too wise to walk on and on as they meant +to do; besides her feet were too tender, and she had not even a pair of +shoes. + +The man, a frightfully ugly Jew, whom few of his own race would have +pitied, protested, sometimes with a humility akin to fawning, sometimes +with the insolence which was a trait of his character, that he had +nothing to do with the god of lies in whose name the seducer Moses had +led away his people to ruin; he himself, his wife, and his child had +always been on friendly terms with the Egyptians. Indeed, many knew him, +he was a money-lender and when the rest of his nation had set forth on +their pilgrimage, be had concealed himself, hoping to pursue his +dishonest calling and sustain no loss. + +Some of his debtors, however, were among the infuriated populace, though +even without their presence he was a doomed man; for he was the first +person on whom the excited mob could show that they were resolved upon +revenge. Rushing upon him with savage yells, the lifeless bodies of the +luckless wretch and his family were soon strewn over the ground. Nobody +knew who had done this first bloody deed; too many had dashed forward at +once. + +Not a few others who had remained in the houses and huts also fell +victims to the people's thirst for vengeance, though many had time to +escape, and while streams of blood were flowing, axes were wielded, and +walls and doors were battered down with beams and posts to efface the +abodes of the detested race from the earth. + +The burning embers brought by some frantic women were extinguished and +trampled out; the more prudent warned them of the peril that would menace +their own homes and the whole city of Tanis, if the strangers' quarter +should be fired. + +So the Hebrews' dwellings escaped the flames; but as the sun mounted +higher dense clouds of white dust shrouded the abodes they had forsaken, +and where, only yesterday, thousands of people had possessed happy homes +and numerous herds had quenched their thirst in fresh waters, the glowing +soil was covered with rubbish and stone, shattered beams, and broken +woodwork. Dogs and cats left behind by their owners wandered among the +ruins and were joined by women and children who lived in the beggars' +hovels on the edge of the necropolis close by, and now, holding their +hands over their mouths, searched amid the stifling dust and rubbish for +any household utensil or food which might have been left by the fugitives +and overlooked by the mob. + +During the afternoon Fai, the second prophet of Amon, was carried past +the ruined quarter. He did not come to gloat over the spectacle of +destruction, it was his nearest way from the necropolis to his home. +Yet a satisfied smile hovered around his stern mouth as he noticed how +thoroughly the people had performed their work. His own purpose, it is +true, had not been fulfilled, the leader of the fugitives had escaped +their vengeance, but hate, though never sated, can yet be gratified. +Even the smallest pangs of an enemy are a satisfaction, and the priest +had just come from the grieving Pharaoh. He had not succeeded in +releasing him entirely from the bonds of the Hebrew magician, but he had +loosened them. + +The resolute, ambitious man, by no means wont to hold converse with +himself, had repeated over and over again, while sitting alone in the +sanctuary reflecting on what had occurred and what yet remained to be +done, these little words, and the words were: "Bless me too!" + +Pharaoh had uttered them, and the entreaty had been addressed neither to +old Rui, the chief priest, nor to himself, the only persons who could +possess the privilege of blessing the monarch, nay--but to the most +atrocious wretch that breathed, to the foreigner the Hebrew, Mesu, whom +he hated more than any other man on earth. + +"Bless me too!" The pious entreaty, which wells so trustingly from the +human heart in the hour of anguish, had pierced his soul like a dagger. +It had seemed as if such a petition, uttered by the royal lips to such a +man, had broken the crozier in the hand of the whole body of Egyptian +priests, stripped the panther-skin from their shoulders, and branded with +shame the whole people whom he loved. + +He knew full well that Moses was one of the wisest sages who had ever +graduated from the Egyptian schools, knew that Pharaoh was completely +under the thrall of this man who had grown up in the royal household and +been a friend of his father Rameses the Great. He had seen the monarch +pardon deeds committed by Moses which would have cost the life of any +other mortal, though he were the highest noble in the land--and what must +the Hebrew be to Pharaoh, the sun-god incarnate on the throne of the +world, when standing by the death-bed of his own son, he could yield to +the impulse to uplift his hands to him and cry "Bless me too!" + +He had told himself all these things, maturely considered them, yet he +would not yield to the might of the strangers. The destruction of this +man and all his race was in his eyes the holiest, most urgent duty--to +accomplish which he would not shrink even from assailing the throne. +Nay, in his eyes Pharaoh Menephtah's shameful entreaty: "Bless me too!" +had deprived him of all the rights of sovereignty. + +Moses had murdered Pharaoh's first-born son, but he and the aged chief- +priest of Amon held the weal or woe of the dead prince's soul in their +hands,--a weapon sharp and strong, for he knew the monarch's weak and +vacillating heart. If the high-priest of Amon--the only man whose +authority surpassed his own--did not thwart him by some of the +unaccountable whims of age, it would be the merest trifle to force +Pharaoh to yield; but any concession made to-day would be withdrawn +to-morrow, should the Hebrew succeed in coming between the irresolute +monarch and his Egyptian advisers. This very day the unworthy son of the +great Rameses had covered his face and trembled like a timid fawn at the +bare mention of the sorcerer's name, and to-morrow he might curse him and +pronounce a death sentence upon him. Perhaps he might be induced to do +this, and on the following one he would recall him and again sue for his +blessing. + +Down with such monarchs! Let the feeble reed on the throne be hurled +into the dust! Already he had chosen a successor from among the princes +of the blood, and when the time was ripe--when Rui, the high-priest of +Amon, had passed the limits of life decreed by the gods to mortals and +closed his eyes in death, he, Bai, would occupy his place, a new life +for Egypt, and Moses and his race would commence would perish. + +While the prophet was absorbed in these reflections a pair of ravens +fluttered around his head and, croaking loudly, alighted on the dusty +ruins of one of the shattered houses. He involuntarily glanced around +him and noted that they had perched on the corpse of a murdered Hebrew, +lying half concealed amid the rubbish. A smile which the priests of +lower rank who surrounded his litter knew not how to interpret, flitted +over his shrewd, defiant countenance. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +Hornecht, commander of the archers, was among the prophet's companions. +Indeed they were on terms of intimacy, for the soldier was a leader amid +the nobles who had conspired to dethrone Pharaoh. + +As they approached Nun's ruined dwelling, the prophet pointed to the +wreck and said: "The former owner of this abode is the only Hebrew I +would gladly spare. He was a man of genuine worth, and his son, +Hosea. . . ." + +"Will be one of us," the captain interrupted. "There are few better +men in Pharaoh's army, and," he added, lowering his voice, "I rely on him +when the decisive hour comes." + +"We will discuss that before fewer witnesses," replied Bai. "But I am +greatly indebted to him. During the Libyan war--you are aware of the +fact--I fell into the hands of the enemy, and Hosea, at the head of his +little troop, rescued me from the savage hordes." Sinking his tones, he +went on in his most instructive manner, as though apologizing for the +mischief wrought: "Such is the course of earthly affairs! Where a whole +body of men merit punishment, the innocent must suffer with the guilty. +Under such circumstances the gods themselves cannot separate the +individual from the multitude; nay, even the innocent animals share the +penalty. Look at the flocks of doves fluttering around the ruins; they +are seeking their cotes in vain. And the cat with her kittens yonder. +Go and take them, Beki; it is our duty to save the sacred animals from +starving to death." + +And this man, who had just been planning the destruction of so many of +his fellow-mortals, was so warmly interested in kindly caring for the +senseless beasts, that he stopped his litter and watched his servants +catch the cats. + +This was less quickly accomplished than he had hoped; for one had taken +refuge in the nearest cellar, whose opening was too narrow for the men to +follow. The youngest, a slender Nubian, undertook the task; but he had +scarcely approached the hole when he started back, calling: "There is a +human being there who seems to be alive. Yes, he is raising his hand. +It is a boy or a youth, and assuredly no slave; his head is covered with +long waving locks, and--a sunbeam is shining into the cellar--I can see a +broad gold circlet on his arm." + +"Perhaps it is one of Nun's kindred, who has been forgotten," said +Hornecht, and Bai eagerly added: + +"It is an interposition from the gods! Their sacred animals have +pointed out the way by which I can render a service to the man to whom I +am so much indebted. Try to get in, Beki, and bring the youth out." + +Meanwhile the Nubian had removed the stone whose fall had choked the +opening, and soon after he lifted toward his companions a motionless +young form which they brought into the open air and bore to a well whose +cool water speedily restored consciousness. + +As he regained his senses, he rubbed his eyes, gazed around him +bewildered, as if uncertain where he was, then his head drooped as though +overwhelmed with grief and horror, revealing that the locks at the back +were matted together with black clots of dried blood. + +The prophet had the deep wound, inflicted on the lad by a falling stone, +washed at the well and, after it had been bandaged, summoned him to his +own litter, which was protected from the sun. + +The young Hebrew, bringing a message, had arrived at the house of his +grandfather Nun, before sunrise, after a long night walk from Pithom, +called by the Hebrews Succoth, but finding it deserted had lain down in +one of the rooms to rest a while. Roused by the shouts of the infuriated +mob, he had heard the curses on his race which rang through the whole +quarter and fled to the cellar. The roof, which had injured him in its +fall, proved his deliverance; for the clouds of dust which had concealed +everything as it came down hid him from the sight of the rioters. + +The prophet looked at him intently and, though the youth was unwashed, +wan, and disfigured by the bloody bandage round his head, he saw that the +lad he had recalled to life was a handsome, well-grown boy just nearing +manhood. + +His sympathy was roused, and his stern glance softened as he asked kindly +whence he came and what had brought him to Tanis; for the rescued youth's +features gave no clue to his race. He might readily have declared +himself an Egyptian, but he frankly admitted that he was a grandson of +Nun. He had just attained his eighteenth year, his name was Ephraim, +like that of his forefather, the son of Joseph, and he had come to visit +his grandfather. The words expressed steadfast self-respect and pride in +his illustrious ancestry. + +He delayed a short time ere answering the question whether he brought a +message; but soon collected his thoughts and, looking the prophet +fearlessly in the face, replied: + +"Whoever you may be, I have been taught to speak the truth, so I will +tell you that I have another relative in Tanis, Hosea, the son of Nun, a +chief in Pharaoh's army, for whom I have a message." + +"And I will tell you," the priest replied, "that it was for the sake of +this very Hosea I tarried here and ordered my servants to bring you out +of the ruined house. I owe him a debt of gratitude, and though most of +your nation have committed deeds worthy of the harshest punishment, for +the sake of his worth you shall remain among us free and unharmed." + +The boy raised his eyes to the priest with a proud, fiery glance, but ere +he could find words, Bai went on with encouraging kindness. + +"I believe I can read in your face, my lad, that you have come to seek +admittance to Pharaoh's army under your uncle Hosea. Your figure is +well-suited to the trade of war, and you surely are not wanting in +courage." + +A smile of flattered vanity rested on Ephraim's lips, and toying with the +broad gold bracelet on his arm, perhaps unconsciously, he replied with +eagerness: + +"Ay, my lord, I have often proved my courage in the hunting field; but at +home we have plenty of sheep and cattle, which even now I call my own, +and it seems to me a more enviable lot to wander freely and rule the +shepherds than to obey the commands of others." + +"Aha!" said the priest. "Perhaps Hosea may instil different and better +views. To rule--a lofty ambition for youth. The misfortune is that we +who have attained it are but servants whose burdens grow heavier with the +increasing number of those who obey us. You understand me, Hornecht, and +you, my lad, will comprehend my meaning later, when you become the palm- +tree the promise of your youth foretells. But we are losing time. Who +sent you to Hosea?" + +The youth cast down his eyes irresolutely, but when the prophet broke the +silence with the query: "And what has become of the frankness you were +taught?" he responded promptly and resolutely: + +"I came for the sake of a woman whom you know not." + +"A woman?" the prophet repeated, casting an enquiring glance at +Hornecht. "When a bold warrior and a fair woman seek each other, the +Hathors"--[The Egyptian goddesses of love, who are frequently represented +with cords in their hands,]--are apt to appear and use the binding cords; +but it does not befit a servant of the divinity to witness such goings +on, so I forbear farther questioning. Take charge of the lad, captain, +and aid him to deliver his message to Hosea. The only doubt is whether +he is in the city." + +"No," the soldier answered, "but he is expected with thousands of his men +at the armory to-day." + +"Then may the Hathors, who are partial to love messengers, bring these +two together to-morrow at latest," said the priest. + +But the lad indignantly retorted: "I am the bearer of no love message." + +The prophet, pleased with the bold rejoinder, answered pleasantly: +"I had forgotten that I was accosting a young shepherd-prince." Then he +added in graver tones: "When you have found Hosea, greet him from me and +tell him that Bai, the second prophet of Amon sought to discharge a part +of the debt of gratitude he owed for his release from the hands of the +Libyans by extending his protection to you, his nephew. Perhaps, my +brave boy, you do not know that you have escaped as if by a miracle a +double peril; the savage populace would no more have spared your life +than would the stifling dust of the falling houses. Remember this, and +tell Hosea also from me, Bai, that I am sure when he beholds the woe +wrought by the magic arts of one of your race on the house of Pharaoh, +to which he vowed fealty, and with it on this city and the whole country, +he will tear himself with abhorrence from his kindred. They have fled +like cowards, after dealing the sorest blows, robbing of their dearest +possessions those among whom they dwelt in peace, whose protection they +enjoyed, and who for long years have given them work and ample food. All +this they have done and, if I know him aright, he will turn his back upon +men who have committed such crimes. Tell him also that this has been +voluntarily done by the Hebrew officers and men under the command of the +Syrian Aarsu. This very morning--Hosea will have heard the news from +other sources--they offered sacrifices not only to Baal and Seth, their +own gods, whom so many of you were ready to serve ere the accursed +sorcerer, Mesu, seduced you, but also to Father Amon and the sacred nine +of our eternal deities. If he will do the same, we will rise hand in +hand to the highest place, of that he may be sure--and well he merits it. +The obligation still due him I shall gratefully discharge in other ways, +which must for the present remain secret. But you may tell your uncle +now from me that I shall find means to protect Nun, his noble father, +when the vengeance of the gods and of Pharaoh falls upon the rest of your +race. Already--tell him this also--the sword is whetted, and a pitiless +judgment is impending. Bid him ask himself what fugitive shepherds can +do against the power of the army among whose ablest leaders he is +numbered. Is your father still alive, my son?" + +"No, he was borne to his last resting-place long ago," replied the youth +in a faltering voice. + +Was the fever of his wound attacking him? Or did the shame of belonging +to a race capable of acts so base overwhelm the young heart? Or did the +lad cling to his kindred, and was it wrath and resentment at hearing them +so bitterly reviled which made his color vary from red to pale and roused +such a tumult in his soul that he was scarcely capable of speech? No +matter! This lad was certainly no suitable bearer of the message the +prophet desired to send to his uncle, and Bai beckoned to Hornecht to +come with him under the shadow of a broad-limbed sycamore-tree. + +The point was to secure Hosea's services in the army at any cost, so he +laid his hand on his friend's shoulder, saying: + +"You know that it was my wife who won you and others over to our cause. +She serves us better and more eagerly than many a man, and while I +appreciate your daughter's beauty, she never tires of lauding the winning +charm of her innocence." + +"And Kasana is to take part in the plot?" cried the soldier angrily. + +"Not as an active worker, like my wife,--certainly not." + +"She would be ill-suited to such a task," replied the other in a calmer +tone, "she is scarcely more than a child." + +"Yet through her aid we might bring to our cause a man whose good-will +seems to me priceless." + +"You mean Hosea?" asked the captain, his brow darkening again, but the +prophet added: + +"And if I do? Is he still a real Hebrew? Can you deem it unworthy the +daughter of a distinguished warrior to bestow her band on a man who, if +our plans prosper, will be commander-in-chief of all the troops in the +land?" + +"No, my lord!" cried Hornecht. "But one of my motives for rebelling +against Pharaoh and upholding Siptah is that the king's mother was a +foreigner, while our own blood courses through Siptah's veins. +The mother decides the race to which a man belongs, and Hosea's +mother was a Hebrew woman. He is my friend, I value his talents; +Kasana likes him. . . ." + +"Yet you desire a more distinguished son-in-law?" interrupted his +companion. "How is our arduous enterprise to prosper, if those who are +to peril their lives for its success consider the first sacrifice too +great? You say that your daughter favors Hosea?" + +"Yes, she did care for him," the soldier answered; "yes, he was her +heart's desire. But I compelled her to obey me, and now that she is a +widow, am I to give her to the man whom--the gods alone know with how +much difficulty--I forced her to resign? When was such an act heard of +in Egypt?" + +"Ever since the men and women who dwell by the Nile have submitted, for +the sake of a great cause, to demands opposed to their wishes," replied +the priest. + +"Consider all this, and remember that Hosea's ancestress--he boasted of +it in your own presence--was an Egyptian, the daughter of a man of my own +class." + +"How many generations have passed to the tomb since?" + +"No matter! It brings us into closer relations with him. That must +suffice. Farewell until this evening. Meanwhile, will you extend your +hospitality to Hosea's nephew and commend him to your fair daughter's +nursing; he seems in sore need of care." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +The house of Hornecht, like nearly every other dwelling in the city, was +the scene of the deepest mourning. The men had shaved their hair, and +the women had put dust on their foreheads. The archer's wife had died +long before, but his daughter and her women received him with waving +veils and loud lamentations; for the astrologer, his brother-in-law, had +lost both his first-born son and his grandson, and the plague had +snatched its victims from the homes of many a friend. + +But the senseless youth soon demanded all the care the women could +bestow, and after bathing him and binding a healing ointment on the +dangerous wound in his head, strong wine and food were placed before him, +after which, refreshed and strengthened, he obeyed the summons of the +daughter of his host. + +The dust-covered, worn-out fellow was transformed into a handsome youth. +His perfumed hair fell in long curling locks from beneath the fresh white +bandage, and gold-bordered Egyptian robes from the wardrobe of Kasana's +dead husband covered his pliant bronzed limbs. He seemed pleased with +the finery of his garments, which exhaled a subtle odor of spikenard new +to his senses; for the eyes in his handsome face sparkled brilliantly. + +It was many a day since the captain's daughter, herself a woman of +unusual beauty and charm, had seen a handsomer youth. Within the year +she had married a man she did not love Kasana had returned a widow to her +father's house, which lacked a mistress, and the great wealth bequeathed +to her, at her husband's death, made it possible for her to bring into +the soldier's unpretending home the luxury and ease which to her had now +become a second nature. + +Her father, a stern man prone to sudden fits of passion, now yielded +absolutely to her will. Formerly he had pitilessly enforced his own, +compelling the girl of fifteen to wed a man many years her senior. This +had been done because he perceived that Kasana had given her young heart +to Hosea, the soldier, and he deemed it beneath his dignity to receive +the Hebrew, who at that time held no prominent position in the army, as +his son-in-law. An Egyptian girl had no choice save to accept the +husband chosen by her father and Kasana submitted, though she shed so +many bitter tears that the archer rejoiced when, in obedience to his +will, she had wedded an unloved husband. + +But even as a widow Kasana's heart clung to the Hebrew. When the army +was in the field her anxiety was ceaseless; day and night were spent in +restlessness and watching. When news came from the troops she asked only +about Hosea, and her father with deep annoyance attributed to her love +for the Hebrew her rejection of suitor after suitor. As a widow she had +a right to the bestowal of her own hand, and the tender, gentle-natured +woman astonished Hornecht by the resolute decision displayed, not alone +to him and lovers of her own rank, but to Prince Siptah, whose cause the +captain had espoused as his own. + +To-day Kasana expressed her delight at the Hebrew's return with such +entire frankness and absence of reserve that the quick-tempered man +rushed out of the house lest he might be tempted into some thoughtless +act or word. His young guest was left to the care of his daughter and +her nurse. + +How deeply the lad's sensitive nature was impressed by the airy rooms, +the open verandas supported by many pillars, the brilliant hues of the +painting, the artistic household utensils, the soft cushions, and the +sweet perfume everywhere! All these things were novel and strange to the +son of a herdsman who had always lived within the grey walls of a +spacious, but absolutely plain abode, and spent months together in canvas +tents among shepherds and flocks, nay was more accustomed to be in the +open air than under any shelter! He felt as though some wizard had borne +him into a higher and more beautiful world, where he was entirely at home +in his magnificent garb, with his perfumed curls and limbs fresh from the +bath. True, the whole earth was fair, even out in the pastures among the +flocks or round the fire in front of the tent in the cool of the evening, +when the shepherds sang, the hunters told tales of daring exploits, and +the stars sparkled brightly overhead. + +But all these pleasures were preceded by weary, hateful labor; here it +was a delight merely to see and to breathe and, when the curtains parted +and the young widow, giving him a friendly greeting, made him sit down +opposite to her, sometimes questioning him and sometimes listening with +earnest sympathy to his replies, he almost imagined his senses had failed +him as they had done under the ruins of the fallen house, and he was +enjoying the sweetest of dreams. The feeling that threatened to stifle +him and frequently interrupted the flow of words was the rapture bestowed +upon him by great Aschera, the companion of Baal, of whom the Phoenician +traders who supplied the shepherds with many good things had told him +such marvels, and whom the stern Miriam forbade him ever to name at home. + +His family had instilled into his young heart hatred of the Egyptians as +the oppressors of his race, but could they be so wicked, could he detest +a people among whom were creatures like this lovely, gentle woman, who +gazed into his eyes so softly, so tenderly, whose voice fell on his ear +like harmonious music, and whose glance made his blood course so swiftly +that he could scarce endure it and pressed his hand upon his heart to +quiet its wild pulsation. + +Kasana sat opposite to him on a seat covered with a panther-skin, drawing +the fine wool from the distaff. He had pleased her and she had received +him kindly because he was related to the man whom she had loved from +childhood. She imagined that she could trace a resemblance between him +and Hosea, though the youth lacked the grave earnestness of the man to +whom she had yielded her young heart, she knew not why nor when, though +he had never sought her love. + +A lotus blossom rested among her dark waving curls, and its stem fell in +a graceful curve on her bent neck, round which clustered a mass of soft +locks. When she lifted her eyes to his, he felt as though two springs +had opened to pour floods of bliss into his young breast, and he had +already clasped in greeting the dainty hand which held the yarn. + +She now questioned him about Hosea and the woman who had sent the +message, whether she was young and fair and whether any tie of love bound +her to his uncle. + +Ephraim laughed merrily. She who had sent him was so grave and earnest +that the bare thought of her being capable of any tender emotion wakened +his mirth. As to her beauty, he had never asked himself the question. + +The young widow interpreted the laugh as the reply she most desired and, +much relieved, laid aside the spindle and invited Ephraim to go into the +garden. + +How fragrant and full of bloom it was, how well-kept were the beds, the +paths, the arbors, and the pond. + +His unpretending home adjoined a dreary yard, wholly unadorned and filled +with pens for sheep and cattle. Yet he knew that at some future day he +would be owner of great possessions, for he was the sole child and heir +of a wealthy father and his mother was the daughter of the rich Nun. The +men servants had told him this more than once, and it angered him to see +that his own home was scarcely better than Hornecht's slave-quarters, to +which Kasana had called his attention. + +During their stroll through the garden Ephraim was asked to help her cull +the flowers and, when the basket he carried was filled, she invited him +to sit with her in a bower and aid her to twine the wreaths. These were +intended for the dear departed. Her uncle and a beloved cousin--who bore +some resemblance to Ephraim--had been snatched away the night before by +the plague which his people had brought upon Tanis. + +From the street which adjoined the garden-wall they heard the wails of +women lamenting the dead or bearing a corpse to the tomb. Once, when the +cries of woe rose more loudly and clearly than ever, Kasana gently +reproached him for all that the people of Tanis had suffered through the +Hebrews, and asked if he could deny that the Egyptians had good reason to +hate a race which had brought such anguish upon them. + +It was hard for Ephraim to find a fitting answer; he had been told that +the God of his race had punished the Egyptians to rescue his own people +from shame and bondage, and he could neither condemn nor scorn the men of +his own blood. So he kept silence that he might neither speak falsely +nor blaspheme; but Kasana allowed him no peace, and he at last replied +that aught which caused her sorrow was grief to him, but his people had +no power over life and health, and when a Hebrew was ill, he often sent +for an Egyptian physician. What had occurred was doubtless the will of +the great God of his fathers, whose power far surpassed the might of any +other deity. He himself was a Hebrew, yet she would surely believe his +assurance that he was guiltless of the plague and would gladly recall her +uncle and cousin to life, had he the power to do so. For her sake he +would undertake the most difficult enterprise. + +She smiled kindly and replied: + +"My poor boy! If I see any guilt in you, it is only that you are one of +a race which knows no ruth, no patience. Our beloved, hapless dead! +They must even lose the lamentations of their kindred; for the house +where they rest is plague-stricken and no one is permitted to enter." + +She silently wiped her eyes and went on arranging her garlands, but tear +after tear coursed down her cheeks. + +Ephraim knew not what to say, and mutely handed her the leaves and +blossoms. Whenever his hand touched hers a thrill ran through his veins. +His head and the wound began to ache, and he sometimes felt a slight +chill. He knew that the fever was increasing, as it had done once before +when he nearly lost his life in the red disease; but he was ashamed to +own it and battled bravely against his pain. + +When the sun was nearing the horizon Hornecht entered the garden. He had +already seen Hosea, and though heartily glad to greet his old friend once +more, it had vexed him that the soldier's first enquiry was for his +daughter. He did not withhold this from the young widow, but his +flashing eyes betrayed the displeasure with which he delivered the +Hebrew's message. Then, turning to Ephraim, he told him that Hosea and +his men would encamp outside of the city, pitching their tents, on +account of the pestilence, between Tanis and the sea. They would soon +march by. His uncle sent Ephraim word that he must seek him in his tent. + +When he noticed that the youth was aiding his daughter to weave the +garlands, he smiled, and said: + +"Only this morning this young fellow declared his intention of remaining +free and a ruler all his life. Now he has taken service with you, +Kasana. You need not blush, young friend. If either your mistress or +your uncle can persuade you to join us and embrace the noblest trade-- +that of the soldier--so much the better for you. Look at me! I've +wielded the bow more than forty years and still rejoice in my profession. +I must obey, it is true, but it is also my privilege to command, and the +thousands who obey me are not sheep and cattle, but brave men. Consider +the matter again. He would make a splendid leader of the archers. What +say you, Kasana?" + +"Certainly," replied the young widow. And she was about to say more, but +the regular tramp of approaching troops was heard on the other side of +the garden-wall. A slight flush crimsoned Kasana's cheeks, her eyes +sparkled with a light that startled Ephraim and, regardless of her father +or her guest, she darted past the pond, across paths and flower-beds, to +a grassy bank beside the wall, whence she gazed eagerly toward the road +and the armed host which soon marched by. + +Hosea, in full armor, headed his men. As he passed Hornecht's garden he +turned his grave head, and seeing Kasana lowered his battle-axe in +friendly salutation. + +Ephraim had followed the captain of the archers, who pointed out the +youth's uncle, saying: "Shining armor would become you also, and when +drums are beating, pipes squeaking shrilly, and banners waving, a man +marches as lightly as if he had wings. To-day the martial music is +hushed by the terrible woe brought upon us by that Hebrew villain. True, +Hosea is one of his race yet, though I cannot forget that fact, I must +admit that he is a genuine soldier, a model for the rising generation. +Tell him what I think of him on this score. Now bid farewell to Kasana +quickly and follow the men; the little side-door in the wall is open." +He turned towards the house as he spoke, and Ephraim held out his hand to +bid the young widow farewell. + +She clasped it, but hurriedly withdrew her own, exclaiming anxiously: +"How burning hot your hand is! You have a fever!" + +"No, no," faltered the youth, but even while speaking he fell upon his +knees and the veil of unconsciousness descended upon the sufferer's soul, +which had been the prey of so many conflicting emotions. + +Kasana was alarmed, but speedily regained her composure and began to cool +his brow and head by bathing them with water from the neighboring pond. +Yes, in his boyhood the man she loved must have resembled this youth. +Her heart throbbed more quickly and, while supporting his head in her +hands, she gently kissed him. + +She supposed him to be unconscious, but the refreshing water had already +dispelled the brief swoon, and he felt the caress with a thrill of +rapture. But he kept his eyes closed, and would gladly have lain for a +life-time with his head pillowed on her breast in the hope that her lips +might once more meet his. But instead of kissing him a second time she +called loudly for aid. He raised himself, gave one wild, ardent look +into her face and, ere she could stay him, rushed like a strong man to +the garden gate, flung it open, and followed the troops. He soon +overtook the rear ranks, passed on in advance of the others, and at last +reached their leader's side and, calling his uncle by name, gave his own. +Hosea, in his joy and astonishment, held out his arms, but ere Ephraim +could fall upon his breast, he again lost consciousness, and stalwart +soldiers bore the senseless lad into the tent the quartermaster had +already pitched on a dune by the sea. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +It was midnight. A fire was blazing in front of Hosea's tent, and he sat +alone before it, gazing mournfully now into the flames and anon over the +distant country. Inside the canvas walls Ephraim was lying on his +uncle's camp-bed. + +The surgeon who attended the soldiers had bandaged the youth's wounds, +given him an invigorating cordial, and commanded him to keep still; for +the violence with which the fever had attacked the lad alarmed him. + +But in spite of the leech's prescription Ephraim continued restless. +Sometimes Kasana's image rose before his eyes, increasing the fever of +his over-heated blood, sometimes he recalled the counsel to become a +warrior like his uncle. The advice seemed wise--at least he tried to +persuade himself that it was--because it promised honor and fame, but in +reality he wished to follow it because it would bring her for whom his +soul yearned nearer to him. + +Then his pride rose as he remembered the insults which she and her father +had heaped on those to whom by every tie of blood and affection, he +belonged. His hand clenched as he thought of the ruined home of his +grandfather, whom he had ever regarded one of the noblest of men. Nor +was his message forgotten. Miriam had repeated it again and again, and +his clear memory retained every syllable, for he had unweariedly iterated +it to himself during his solitary walk to Tanis. He was striving to do +the same thing now but, ere he could finish, his mind always reverted to +thoughts of Kasana. The leech had told Hosea to forbid the sufferer to +talk and, when the youth attempted to deliver his message, the uncle +ordered him to keep silence. Then the soldier arranged his pillow with a +mother's tenderness, gave him his medicine, and kissed him on the +forehead. At last he took his seat by the fire before the tent and only +rose to give Ephraim a drink when he saw by the stars that an hour had +passed. + +The flames illumined Hosea's bronzed features, revealing the countenance +of a man who had confronted many a peril and vanquished all by steadfast +perseverance and wise consideration. His black eyes had an imperious +look, and his full, firmly-compressed lips suggested a quick temper and, +still more, the iron will of a resolute man. His broad-shouldered form +leaned against some lances thrust crosswise into the earth, and when he +passed his strong hand through his thick black locks or smoothed his dark +beard, and his eyes sparkled with ire, it was evident that his soul was +stirred by conflicting emotions and that he stood on the threshold of a +great resolve. The lion was resting, but when he starts up, let his foes +beware! + +His soldiers had often compared their fearless, resolute leader, with his +luxuriant hair, to the king of beasts, and as he now shook his fist, +while the muscles of his bronzed arm swelled as though they would burst +the gold armlet that encircled them, and his eyes flashed fire, his awe- +inspiring mien did not invite approach. + +Westward, the direction toward which his eyes were turned, lay the +necropolis and the ruined strangers' quarter. But a few hours ago he had +led his troops through the ruins around which the ravens were circling +and past his father's devastated home. + +Silently, as duty required, he marched on. Not until he halted to seek +quarters for the soldiers did he hear from Hornecht, the captain of the +archers, what had happened during the night. He listened silently, +without the quiver of an eye-lash, or a word of questioning, until his +men had pitched their tents. He had but just gone to rest when a Hebrew +maiden, spite of the menaces of the guard, made her way in to implore +him, in the name of Eliab, one of the oldest slaves of his family, to go +with her to the old man, her grandfather. The latter, whose weakness +prevented journeying, had been left behind, and directly after the +departure of the Hebrews he and his wife had been carried on an ass to +the little but near the harbor, which generous Nun, his master, had +bestowed on the faithful slave. + +The grand-daughter had been left to care for the feeble pair, and now the +old servant's heart yearned for one more sight of his lord's first-born +son whom, when a child, he had carried in his arms. He had charged the +girl to tell Hosea that Nun had promised his people that his son would +abandon the Egyptians and cleave to his own race. The tribe of Ephraim, +nay the whole Hebrew nation had hailed these tidings with the utmost joy. +Eliab would give him fuller details; she herself had been well nigh dazed +with weeping and anxiety. He would earn the richest blessings if he +would only follow her. + +The soldier realized at once that he must fulfil this desire, but he was +obliged to defer his visit to the old slave until the nest morning. The +messenger, however, even in her haste, had told him many incidents she +had seen herself or heard from others. + +At last she left him. He rekindled the fire and, so long as the flames +burned brightly, his gaze was bent with a gloomy, thoughtful expression +upon the west. Not till they had devoured the fuel and merely flickered +with a faint bluish light around the charred embers did he fix his eyes +on the whirling sparks. And the longer he did so, the deeper, the more +unconquerable became the conflict in his soul, whose every energy, but +yesterday, had been bent upon a single glorious goal. + +The war against the Libyan rebels had detained him eighteen months from +his home, and he had seen ten crescent moons grow full since any news had +reached him of his kindred. A few weeks before he had been ordered to +return, and when to-day he approached nearer and nearer to the obelisks +towering above Tanis, the city of Rameses, his heart had pulsed with as +much joy and hopefulness as if the man of thirty were once more a boy. + +Within a few short hours he should again see his beloved, noble father, +who had needed great deliberation and much persuasion from Hosea's +mother--long since dead--ere he would permit his son to follow the bent +of his inclinations and enter upon a military life in Pharaoh's army. +He had anticipated that very day surprising him with the news that he had +been promoted above men many years his seniors and of Egyptian lineage. +Instead of the slights Nun had dreaded, Hosea's gallant bearing, courage +and, as he modestly added, good-fortune had gained him promotion, yet he +had remained a Hebrew. When he felt the necessity of offering to some +god sacrifices and prayer, he had bowed before Seth, to whose temple Nun +had led him when a child, and whom in those days all the people in Goshen +in whose veins flowed Semitic blood had worshipped. But he also owed +allegiance to another god, not the God of his fathers, but the deity +revered by all the Egyptians who had been initiated. He remained unknown +to the masses, who could not have understood him; yet he was adored not +only by the adepts but by the majority of those who had obtained high +positions in civil or military life-whether they were servants of the +divinity or not--and Hosea, the initiated and the stranger, knew him +also. Everybody understood when allusion was made to "the God," the "Sum +of All," the "Creator of Himself," and the "Great One." Hymns extolled +him, inscriptions on the monuments, which all could read, spoke of him, +the one God, who manifested himself to the world, pervaded the universe, +and existed throughout creation not alone as the vital spark animates the +human organism, but as himself the sum of creation, the world with its +perpetual growth, decay, and renewal, obeying the laws he had himself +ordained. His spirit, existing in every form of nature, dwelt also in +man, and wherever a mortal gazed he could discern the rule of the "One." +Nothing could be imagined without him, therefore he was one like the God +of Israel. Nothing could be created nor happen on earth apart from him, +therefore, like Jehovah, he was omnipotent. Hosea had long regarded both +as alike in spirit, varying only in name. Whoever adored one was a +servant of the other, so the warrior could have entered his father's +presence with a clear conscience, and told him that although in the +service of the king he had remained loyal to the God of his nation. + +Another thought had made his heart pulse faster and more joyously as he +saw in the distance the pylons and obelisks of Tanis; for on countless +marches through the silent wilderness and in many a lonely camp he had +beheld in imagination a virgin of his own race, whom he had known as a +singular child, stirred by marvellous thoughts, and whom, just before +leading his troops to the Libyan war, he had again met, now a dignified +maiden of stern and unapproachable beauty. She had journeyed from +Succoth to Tanis to attend his mother's funeral, and her image had been +deeply imprinted on his heart, as his--he ventured to hope--on hers. She +had since become a prophetess, who heard the voice of her God. While the +other maidens of his people were kept in strict seclusion, she was free +to come and go at will, even among men, and spite of her hate of the +Egyptians and of Hosea's rank among them, she did not deny that it was +grief to part and that she would never cease thinking of him. His future +wife must be as strong, as earnest, as himself. Miriam was both, and +quite eclipsed a younger and brighter vision which he had once conjured +before his memory with joy. + +He loved children, and a lovelier girl than Kasana he had never met, +either in Egypt or in alien lands. The interest with which the fair +daughter of his companion-in-arms watched his deeds and his destiny, the +modest yet ardent devotion afterwards displayed by the much sought-after +young widow, who coldly repelled all other suitors, had been a delight to +him in times of peace. Prior to her marriage he had thought of her as +the future mistress of his home, but her wedding another, and Hornecht's +oft-repeated declaration that he would never give his child to a +foreigner, had hurt his pride and cooled his passion. Then he met Miriam +and was fired with an ardent desire to make her his wife. Still, on the +homeward march the thought of seeing Kasana again had been a pleasant +one. It was fortunate he no longer wished to wed Hornecht's daughter; +it could have led to naught save trouble. Both Hebrews and Egyptians +held it to be an abomination to eat at the same board, or use the same +seats or knives. Though he himself was treated by his comrades as one of +themselves, and had often heard Kasana's father speak kindly of his +kindred, yet "strangers" were hateful in the eyes of the captain of the +archers, and of all free Egyptians. + +He had found in Miriam the noblest of women. He hoped that Kasana might +make another happy. To him she would ever be the charming child from +whom we expect nothing save the delight of her presence. + +He had come to ask from her, as a tried friend ever ready for leal +service, a joyous glance. From Miriam he would ask herself, with all her +majesty and beauty, for he had borne the solitude of the camp long +enough, and now that on his return no mother's arms opened to welcome +him, he felt for the first time the desolation of a single life. He +longed to enjoy the time of peace when, after dangers and privations of +every kind, he could lay aside his weapons. It was his duty to lead a +wife home to his father's hearth and to provide against the extinction of +the noble race of which he was the sole representative. Ephraim was the +son of his sister. + +Filled with the happiest thoughts, he had advanced toward Tannis and, on +reaching the goal of all his hopes and wishes, found it lying before him +like a ripening grain-field devastated by hail and swarms of locusts. + +As if in derision, fate led him first to the Hebrew quarter. A heap +of dusty ruins marked the site of the house where he had spent his +childhood, and for which his heart had longed; and where his loved ones +had watched his departure, beggars were now greedily searching for +plunder among the debris. + +The first man to greet him in Tanis was Kasana's father. Instead of a +friendly glance from her eyes, he had received from him tidings that +pierced his inmost heart. He had expected to bring home a wife, and the +house where she was to reign as mistress was razed to the ground. The +father, for whose blessing he longed, and who was to have been gladdened +by his advancement, had journeyed far away and must henceforward be the +foe of the sovereign to whom he owed his prosperity. + +He had been proud of rising, despite his origin, to place and power. Now +he would be able, as leader of a great host, to show the prowess of which +he was capable. His inventive brain had never lacked schemes which, if +executed by his superiors, would have had good results; now he could +fulfil them according to his own will, and instead of the tool become the +guiding power. + +These reflections had awakened a keen sense of exultation in his breast +and winged his steps on his homeward march and, now that he had reached +the goal, so long desired, must he turn back to join the shepherds and +builders to whom--it now seemed a sore misfortune--he belonged by the +accident of birth and ancestry, though, denial was futile, he felt as +utterly alien to the Hebrews as he was to the Libyans whom he had +confronted on the battle-field. In almost every pursuit he valued, he +had nothing in common with his people. He had believed he might +truthfully answer yes to his father's enquiry whether he had returned a +Hebrew, yet he now felt it would be only a reluctant and half-hearted +assent. + +He clung with his whole soul to the standards beneath which he had gone +to battle and might now himself lead to victory. Was it possible to +wrench his heart from them, renounce what his own deeds had won? Yet +Eliab's granddaughter had told him that the Hebrews expected him to leave +the army and join them. A message from his father must soon reach him-- +and among the Hebrews a son never opposed a parent's command. + +There was still another to whom implicit obedience was due, Pharaoh, to +whom he had solemnly vowed loyal service, sworn to follow his summons +without hesitation or demur, through fire and water, by day and night. + +How often he had branded the soldier who deserted to the foe or rebelled +against the orders of his commander as a base scoundrel and villain, and +by his orders many a renegade from his standard had died a shameful death +on the gallows under his own eyes. Was he now to commit the deed for +which he had despised and killed others? His prompt decision was known +throughout the army, how quickly in the most difficult situations he +could resolve upon the right course and carry it into action; but during +this dark and lonely hour of the night he seemed to himself a mere +swaying reed, and felt as helpless as a forsaken orphan. + +Wrath against himself preyed upon him, and when he thrust a spear into +the flames, scattering the embers and sending a shower of bright sparks +upward, it was rage at his own wavering will that guided his hand. + +Had recent events imposed upon him the virile duty of vengeance, doubt +and hesitation would have vanished and his father's summons would have +spurred him on to action; but who had been the heaviest sufferers here? +Surely it was the Egyptians whom Moses' curse had robbed of thousands of +beloved lives, while the Hebrews had escaped their revenge by flight. +His wrath had been kindled by the destruction of the Hebrews' houses, but +he saw no sufficient cause for a bloody revenge, when he remembered the +unspeakable anguish inflicted upon Pharaoh and his subjects by the men of +his own race. + +Nay; he had nothing to avenge; he seemed to himself like a man who +beholds his father and mother in mortal peril, owns that he cannot save +both, yet knows that while staking his life to rescue one he must leave +the other to perish. If he obeyed the summons of his people, he would +lose his honor, which he had kept as untarnished as his brazen helm, and +with it the highest goal of his life; if he remained loyal to Pharaoh and +his oath, he must betray his own race, have all his future days darkened +by his father's curse, and resign the brightest dream he cherished; for +Miriam was a true child of her people and he would be blest indeed if her +lofty soul could be as ardent in love as it was bitter in hate. + +Stately and beautiful, but with gloomy eyes and hand upraised in warning, +her image rose before his mental vision as he sat gazing over the +smouldering fire out into the darkness. And now the pride of his manhood +rebelled, and it seemed base cowardice to cast aside, from dread of a +woman's wrath and censure, all that a warrior held most dear. + +"Nay, nay," he murmured, and the scale containing duty, love, and filial +obedience suddenly kicked the beam. He was what he was--the leader of +ten thousand men in Pharaoh's army. He had vowed fealty to him--and to +none other. Let his people fly from the Egyptian yoke, if they desired. +He, Hosea, scorned flight. Bondage had sorely oppressed them, but the +highest in the land had received him as an equal and held him worthy of +the loftiest honor. To repay them with treachery and desertion was +foreign to his nature and, drawing a long breath, he sprang to his feet +with the conviction that he had chosen aright. A fair woman and the weak +yearning of a loving heart should not make him a recreant to grave duties +and the loftiest purposes of his life. + +"I will stay!" cried a loud voice in his breast. "Father is wise and +kind, and when he learns the reasons for my choice he will approve them +and bless, instead of cursing me. I will write to him, and the boy +Miriam sent me shall be the messenger." + +A call from the tent startled him and when, springing up, he glanced at +the stars, he found that he had forgotten his duty to the suffering lad +and hurried to his couch. + +Ephraim was sitting up in his bed, watching for him, and exclaimed: "I +have been waiting a long, long time to see you. So many thoughts crowd +my brain and, above all, Miriam's message. I can get no rest until I +have delivered it--so listen now." + +Hosea nodded assent and, after drinking the healing potion handed to him, +Ephraim began: + +"Miriam the daughter of Amram and Jochebed greets the son of Nun the +Ephraimite. Thy name is Hosea, 'the Help,' and the Lord our God hath +chosen thee to be the helper of His people. But henceforward, by His +command, thou shalt be called Joshua,--[Jehoshua, he who helps Jehova]-- +the help of Jehovah; for through Miriam's lips the God of her fathers, +who is the God of thy fathers likewise, bids thee be the sword and +buckler of thy people. In Him dwells all power, and he promises to steel +thine arm that He may smite the foe." + +Ephraim had begun in a low voice, but gradually his tones grew more +resonant and the last words rang loudly and solemnly through the +stillness of the night. + +Thus had Miriam uttered them, laying her hands on the lad's head and +gazing earnestly into his face with eyes deep and dark as night, and +while repeating them he had felt as though some secret power were +constraining him to shout them aloud to Hosea, just as he had heard them +from the lips of the prophetess. Then, with a sigh of relief, he turned +his face toward the canvas wall of the tent, saying quietly: + +"Now I will go to sleep." + +But Hosea laid his hand on his shoulder, exclaiming imperiously: "Say it +again." + +The youth obeyed, but this time he repeated the words in a low, careless +tone, then saying beseechingly: + +"Let me rest now," put his hand under his cheek and closed his eyes. + +Hosea let him have his way, carefully applied a fresh bandage to his +burning head, extinguished the light, and flung more fuel on the +smouldering fire outside; but the alert, resolute man performed every act +as if in a dream. At last he sat down, and propping his elbows on his +knees and his head in his hands, stared alternately, now into vacancy, +and anon into the flames. + +Who was this God who summoned him through Miriam's lips to be, under His +guidance, the sword and shield of His people? + +He was to be known by a new name, and in the minds of the Egyptians the +name was everything "Honor to the name of Pharaoh," not "Honor to +Tharaoh" was spoken and written. And if henceforward he was to be called +Joshua, the behest involved casting aside his former self, and becoming a +new man. + +The will of the God of his fathers announced to him by Miriam meant no +less a thing than the command to transform himself from the Egyptian his +life had made him, into the Hebrew he had been when a lad. He must learn +to act and feel like an Israelite! Miriam's summons called him back to +his people. The God of his race, through her, commanded him to fulfil +his father's expectations. Instead of the Egyptian troops whom he must +forsake, he was in future to lead the men of his own blood forth to +battle! This was the meaning of her bidding, and when the noble virgin +and prophetess who addressed him, asserted that God Himself spoke through +her lips, it was no idle boast, she was really obeying the will of the +Most High. And now the image of the woman whom he had ventured to love, +rose in unapproachable majesty before him. Many things which he had +heard in his childhood concerning the God of Abraham, and His promises +returned to his mind, and the scale which hitherto had been the heavier, +rose higher and higher. The resolve just matured, now seemed uncertain, +and he again confronted the terrible conflict he had believed was +overpast. + +How loud, how potent was the call he heard! Ringing in his ears, it +disturbed the clearness and serenity of his mind, and instead of calmly +reflecting on the matter, memories of his boyhood, which he had imagined +were buried long ago, raised their voices, and incoherent flashes of +thought darted through his brain. + +Sometimes he felt impelled to turn in prayer to the God who summoned him, +but whenever he attempted to calm himself and uplift his heart and eyes +to Him, he remembered the oath he must break, the soldiers he must +abandon to lead, instead of well-disciplined, brave, obedient bands of +brothers-in-arms, a wretched rabble of cowardly slaves, and rude, +obstinate shepherds, accustomed to the heavy yoke of bondage. + +The third hour after midnight had come, the guards had been relieved, and +Hosea thought he might now permit himself a few hours repose. He would +think all these things over again by daylight with his usual clear +judgment, which he strove in vain to obtain now. But when he entered the +tent and heard Ephraim's regular breathing, he fancied that the boy's +solemn message was again echoing in his ears. Startled, he was in the +act of repeating it himself, when loud voices in violent altercation +among the sentinels disturbed the stillness of the night. + +The interruption was welcome, and he hurried to the outposts. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Hogla, the old slave's granddaughter, had come to beseech Hosea to go +with her at once to her grandfather, who had suddenly broken down, and +who feeling the approach of death could not perish without having once +more seen and blessed him. + +The warrior told her to wait and, after assuring himself that Ephraim was +sleeping quietly, ordered a trusty man to watch beside his bed and went +away with Hogla. + +The girl walked before him, carrying a small lantern, and as its light +fell on her face and figure, he saw how unlovely she was, for the hard +toil of slavery had bowed the poor thing's back before its time. Her +voice had the harsh accents frequently heard in the tones of women whose +strength has been pitilessly tasked; but her words were kind and tender, +and Hosea forgot her appearance when she told him that her lover had gone +with the departing tribes, yet she had remained with her grandparents +because she could not bring herself to leave the old couple alone. +Because she had no beauty no man had sought her for his wife till Assir +came, who did not care for her looks because he toiled industriously, +like herself, and expected her to add to his savings. He would gladly +have stayed with her, but his father had commanded him to go forth, so +there was no choice for them save to obey and part forever. + +The words were simple and the accents harsh, yet they pierced the heart +of the man who was preparing to follow his own path in opposition to his +father's will. + +As they approached the harbor and Hosea saw the embankments, and the vast +fortified storehouses built by his own people, he remembered the ragged +laborers whom he had so often beheld crouching before the Egyptian +overseers or fighting savagely among themselves. He had heard, too, +that they shrunk from no lies, no fraud to escape their toil, and how +difficult was the task of compelling them to obey and fulfil their duty. + +The most repulsive forms among these luckless hordes rose distinctly +before his vision, and the thought that it might henceforward be his +destiny to command such a wretched rabble seemed to him ignominy which +the lowest of his brave officers, the leader of but fifty men, would seek +to avoid. True, Pharaoh's armies contained many a Hebrew mercenary who +had won renown for bravery and endurance; but these men were the sons of +owners of herds or people who had once been shepherds. The toiling +slaves, whose clay huts could be upset by a kick, formed the majority of +those to whom he was required to return. + +Resolute in his purpose to remain loyal to the oath which bound him to +the Egyptian standard, yet moved to the very depths of his heart, he +entered the slave's little hut, and his anger rose when he saw old Eliab +sitting up, mixing some wine and water with his own hands. So he had +been summoned from his nephew's sick-bed, and robbed of his night's rest, +on a false pretence, in order that a slave, in his eyes scarcely entitled +to rank as a man, might have his way. Here he himself experienced a +specimen of the selfish craft of which the Egyptians accused his people, +and which certainly did not attract him, Hosea, to them. But the anger +of the just, keen sighted-man quickly subsided at the sight of the girl's +unfeigned joy in her grandfather's speedy recovery. Besides he soon +learned from the old man's aged wife that, shortly after Hogla's +departure, she remembered the wine they had, and as soon as he swallowed +the first draught her husband, whom she had believed had one foot in the +grave, grew better and better. Now he was mixing some more of God's gift +to strengthen himself occasionally by a sip. + +Here Eliab interrupted her to say that they owed this and many more +valuable things to the goodness of Nun, Hosea's father, who had given +them, besides their little hut, wine, meal for bread, a milch cow, and +also an ass, so that he could often ride out into the fresh air. He had +likewise left them their granddaughter and some pieces of silver, so that +they could look forward without fear to the end of their days, especially +as they had behind the house a bit of ground, where Hogla meant to raise +radishes, onions, and leeks for their own table. But the best gift of +all was the written document making them and the girl free forever. Ay, +Nun was a true master and father to his people, and the blessing of +Jehovah had followed his gifts; for soon after the departure of the +Hebrews, he and his wife had been brought hither unmolested by the aid of +Assir, Hogla's lover. + +"We old people shall die here," Eliab's wife added. But Assir promised +Hogla that he would come back for her when she had discharged her filial +duties to the end. + +Then, turning to her granddaughter, she said encouragingly: "And we +cannot live much longer now." + +Hogla raised her blue gown to wipe the tears from her eyes, exclaiming + +"May it be a long, long time yet. I am young and can wait." + +Hosea heard the words, and again it seemed as though the poor, forsaken, +unlovely girl was giving him a lesson. + +He had listened patiently to the freed slaves' talk, but his time was +limited and he now asked whether Eliab had summoned him for any special +purpose. + +"Ay," he replied; "I was obliged to send, not only to still the yearning +of my old heart, but because my lord Nun commanded me to do so." + +"Thou hast attained a grand and noble manhood, and hast now become the +hope of Israel. Thy father promised the slaves and freedmen of his +household that after his death, thou wouldst be heir, lord and master. +His words were full of thy praise, and great rejoicing hailed his +statement that thou wouldst follow the departing Hebrews. And my lord +deigned to command me to tell thee, if thou should'st return ere his +messenger arrived, that Nun, thy father, expected his son. Whithersoever +thy nation may wander, thou art to follow. Toward sunrise, or at latest +by the noon-tide hour, the tribes will tarry to rest at Succoth. He will +conceal in the hollow sycamore that stands in front of Amminadab's house +a letter which will inform thee whither they will next turn their steps. +His blessing and that of our God will attend thy every step." + +As Eliab uttered the last words, Hosea bowed his head as if inviting +invisible hands to be laid upon it. Then he thanked the old man and +asked, in subdued tones, whether all the Hebrews had willingly obeyed the +summons to leave house and lands. + +His aged wife clasped her hands, exclaiming: "Oh no, my lord, certainly +not. What wailing and weeping filled the air before their departure! +Many refused to go, others fled, or sought some hiding-place. But all +resistance was futile. In the house of our neighbor Deuel--you know him +--his young wife had just given birth to their first son. How was she to +fare on the journey? She wept bitterly and her husband uttered fierce +curses, but it was all in vain. She was put in a cart with her babe, and +as the arrangements went on, both submitted like all the rest--even +Phineas who crept into a pigeon-house with his wife and five children, +and crooked grave-haunting Kusaja. Do you remember her? Adonai! She +had seen father, mother, husband, and three noble sons, all that the Lord +had given her to love, borne to the tomb. They lay side by side in our +burying ground, and every morning and evening she went there and, sitting +on a log of wood which she had rolled close to the gravestones, moved her +lips constantly, not in prayer--no, I have listened often when she did +not know I was near--no; she talked to the dead, as though they could +hear her in the sepulchre, and understand her words like those who walk +alive beneath the sun. She is near seventy, and for thrice seven years +she has gone by the name of grave-haunting Kusaja. It was in sooth a +foolish thing to do; yet perhaps that was why she found it all the harder +to give it up, and go she would not, but hid herself among the bushes. +When Ahieser, the overseer, dragged her out, her wailing made one's heart +sore, yet when the time for departure came, the longing to go seized upon +her also, and she found it as hard to resist as the others." + +"What had happened to the poor creatures, what possessed them?" asked +Hosea, interrupting the old wife's speech; for in imagination he again +beheld the people he must lead, if he valued his father's blessing as the +most priceless boon the world could offer, and beheld them in all their +wretchedness. + +The startled dame, fearing that she had offended her master's first-born +son, the great and powerful chieftain, stammered: + +"What possessed them, my lord? Ah, well--I am but a poor lowly slave- +woman; yet, my lord, had you but seen it...." + +"Well, even then?" interrupted the warrior in harsh, impatient tones, +for this was the first time he had ever found himself compelled to act +against his desires and belief. + +Eliab tried to come to the assistance of the terrified woman, saying +timidly + +"Ah, my lord, no tongue can relate, no human mind can picture it. It +came from the Almighty and, if I could describe how great was its +influence on the souls of the people......" + +"Try," Hosea broke in, "but my time is brief. So they were compelled to +depart, and set forth reluctantly on their wanderings. Even the +Egyptians have long known that they obeyed the bidding of Moses and Aaron +as the sheep follow the shepherd. Have those who brought the terrible +pestilence on so many guiltless human beings also wrought the miracle of +blinding the minds of you and of your wife?" + +The old man stretched out his hands to the soldier, and answered in a +troubled voice and a tone of the most humble entreaty: + +"Oh, my lord, you are my master's first-born son, the greatest and +loftiest of your race, if it is your pleasure you can trample me into the +dust like a beetle, yet I must lift up my voice and say: 'You have heard +false tales!' You were away in foreign lands when mighty things were +done in our midst, and far from Zoan,--[The Hebrew name for Tanis]--as I +hear, when the exodus took place. Any son of our people who witnessed it +would rather his tongue should wither than mock at the marvels the Lord +permitted him to behold. Ah, if you had patience to suffer me to tell +the tale. . . ." + +"Speak on!" cried Hosea, astonished at the old man's solemn fervor. +Eliab thanked him with an ardent glance, exclaiming: + +"Oh, would that Aaron, or Eleasar, or my lord your father were here in my +stead, or would that Jehovah would bestow on me the might of their +eloquence! But be it as it is! True, I imagine I can again see and hear +everything as though it were happening once more before my eyes, but how +am I to describe it? How can such things be given in words? Yet, with +God's assistance, I will try." + +Here he paused and Hosea, noticing that the old man's hands and lips were +trembling, gave him the cup of wine, and Eliab gratefully quaffed it to +the dregs. Then, half-closing his eyes, he began his story and his +wrinkled features grew sharper as he went on: + +"My wife has already told you what occurred after the people learned the +command that had been issued. We, too, were among those who lost courage +and murmured. But last night, all who belonged to the household of Nun-- +and also the shepherds, the slaves, and the poor--were summoned to a +feast, and there was abundance of roast lamb, fresh, unleavened bread, +and wine, more than usual at the harvest festival, which began that +night, and which you, my lord, have often attended in your boyhood. We +sat rejoicing, and our lord, your father, comforted us, and told us of +the God of our fathers and the wonders He had wrought for them. It was +now His will that we should go forth from this land where we had suffered +contempt and bondage. This was no sacrifice like that of Abraham when, +at the command of the Most High, he had whetted his knife to shed the +blood of his son Isaac, though it would be hard for many of us to quit a +home that had grown dear to us and forego many a familiar custom. But it +will be a great happiness for us all. For, he said, we were not to +journey forth to an unknown country, but to a beautiful region which God +Himself had set apart for us. He had promised us, instead of this place +of bondage, a new and delightful home where we should dwell free men, +amid fruitful fields and rich pastures, which would supply food to every +man and his family and make all hearts rejoice. Just as laborers must +work hard to earn high wages, we must endure a brief period of want and +suffering to gain for ourselves and for our children the beautiful new +home which the Lord had promised. God's own land it must be, for it was +a gift of the Most High. + +"Having spoken thus, he blessed us all and promised that thou, too, +wouldst shake the dust from off thy feet, and join us to fight for our +cause with a strong arm as a trained soldier and a dutiful son. + +"Shouts of joy rang forth and, when we assembled in the market-place and +found that all the bondmen had escaped from the overseers, many gained +fresh courage. Then Aaron stepped into our midst, stood upon the +auctioneer's bench, and told us with his own lips all that we had heard +from my master Nun at the festival. The words he uttered sounded +sometimes like pealing thunder, and anon like the sweet melody of lutes, +and every one felt that the Lord our God Himself was speaking through +him; for even the most rebellious were so deeply moved that they no +longer complained and murmured. And when he finally announced to the +throng that no erring mortal, but the Lord our God Himself would be our +leader, and described the wonders of the land whose gates He would open +unto us, and where we might live, trammelled by no bondage, as free and +happy men, owing no obedience to any ruler save the God of our fathers +and those whom we ourselves chose for our leaders, every man present felt +as though he were drunk with sweet wine, and, instead of faring forth +across a barren wilderness to an unknown goal, was on the way to a great +festal banquet, prepared by the Most High Himself. Even those who had +not heard Aaron's words were inspired with wondrous faith; men and women +behaved even more joyously and noisily than usual at the harvest +festival, for every heart was overflowing with genuine gratitude. + +"The old people caught the universal spirit! Your grandfather Elishama, +bowed by the weight of his hundred years, who, as you know, has long sat +bent and silent in his corner, straightened his drooping form, and with +sparkling eyes poured forth a flood of eloquent words. The spirit of the +Lord had descended upon him and upon us all. I myself felt as though the +vigor of youth had returned to mind and body, and when I passed the +throngs who were preparing to set forth, I saw the young mother Elisheba +in her litter. Her face was as radiant as on her marriage morn, and she +was pressing her nursling to her breast, and rejoicing over his happy +fate in growing up in freedom in the Promised Land. Her spouse, Deuel, +who had poured forth such bitter imprecations, now waved his staff, +kissed his wife and child with tears of joy, and shouted with delight +like a vintager at the harvest season, when jars and wine skins are too +few to hold the blessing. Old grave-haunting Kusaja, who had been +dragged away from the sepulchre of her kindred, was sitting in a cart +with other infirm folk, waving her veil and joining in the hymn of praise +Elkanah and Abiasaph, the sons of Korah, had begun. So they went forth; +we who were left behind fell into each other's arms, uncertain whether +the tears we shed streamed from our eyes for grief or for sheer joy at +seeing the throng of our loved ones so full of hope and gladness. + +"So it came to pass. + +"As soon as the pitch torches borne at the head of the procession, which +seemed to me to shine more brightly than the lamps lighted by the +Egyptians on the gates of the temple of the great goddess Neith, had +vanished in the darkness, we set out, that we might not delay Assir too +long, and while passing through the streets, which resounded with the +wailing of the citizens, we softly sang the hymn of the sons of Korah, +and great joy and peace filled our hearts, for we knew that the Lord our +God would defend and guide His people." + +The old man paused, but his wife and Hogla, who had listened with +sparkling eyes, leaned one on the other and, without any prompting, began +the hymn of praise of the sons of Korah, the old woman's faint voice +mingling with touching fervor with the tones of the girl, whose harsh +notes thrilled with the loftiest enthusiasm. + +Hosea felt that it would be criminal to interrupt the outpouring of these +earnest hearts, but Eliab soon stopped them and gazed with evident +anxiety into the stern face of his lord's first-born son. + +Had Hosea understood him? + +Did this warrior, who served under Pharaoh's banner, realize how entirely +the Lord God Himself had ruled the souls of his people at their +departure. + +Had the life among the Egyptians so estranged him from his people and his +God, rendered him so degenerate, that he would bid defiance to the wishes +and commands of his own father? + +Was the man on whom the Hebrews' highest hopes were fixed a renegade, +forever lost to his people? + +He received no verbal answer to these mute questions, but when Hosea +grasped his callous right hand in both his own and pressed it as he would +have clasped a friend's, when he bade him farewell with tearful eyes, +murmuring: "You shall hear from me!" he felt that he knew enough and, +overwhelmed with passionate delight, he pressed kiss after kiss upon the +warrior's arms and clothing. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Hosea returned to the camp with drooping head. The conflict in his soul +was at an end. He now knew what duty required. He must obey his +father's summons. + +And the God of his race! + +The old man's tale had given new life to the memories of his childhood, +and he now knew that He was not the same God as the Seth of the Asiatics +in Lower Egypt, nor the "One" and the "Sum of All" of the adepts. + +The prayers he had uttered ere he fell asleep, the history of the +creation of the world, which he could never hear sufficiently often, +because it showed so clearly the gradual development of everything on +earth and in heaven until man came to possess and enjoy all, the story of +Abraham and Isaac, of Jacob, Esau, and his own ancestor, Joseph--how +gladly he had listened to these tales as they fell from the lips of the +gentle woman who had given him life, and from those of his nurse, and his +grandfather Elishama. Yet he imagined that they had faded from his +memory long ago. + +But in old Eliab's hovel he could have repeated the stories word for +word, and he now knew that there was indeed one invisible, omnipotent +God, who had preferred his race above all others, and had promised to +make them a mighty people. + +The truths concealed by the Egyptians under the greatest mystery were the +common property of his race. Every beggar, every slave might raise his +hands in supplication to the one invisible God who had revealed Himself +unto Abraham. + +Shrewd Egyptians, who had divined His existence and shrouded His image +with monstrous shapes, born of their own thoughts and imaginations, had +drawn a thick veil over Him, hidden Him from the masses. Among the +Hebrews alone did He really live and display His power in all its mighty, +heart-stirring grandeur. + +He was not nature, with whom the initiated in the temples confounded Him. +No, the God of his fathers was far above all created things and the whole +visible universe, far above man, His last, most perfect work, whom He had +formed in His own image; and every living creature was subject to His +will. The Mightiest of Kings, He ruled the universe with stern justice, +and though He withdrew Himself from the sight and understanding of man, +His image, He was nevertheless a living, thinking, moving Being, though +His span of existence was eternity, His mind omniscience, His sphere of +sovereignty infinitude. + +And this God had made Himself the leader of His people! There was no +warrior who could venture to cope with His might. If the spirit of +prophecy had not deceived Miriam, and the Lord had indeed commanded +Hosea to wield His sword, how dared he resist, what higher position +could earth offer? And his people? The rabble of whom he had thought +so scornfully, what a transformation seemed to have been wrought in them +by the power of the Most High, since he had listened to old Eliab's tale! +Now he longed to be their leader, and midway to the camp he paused on +a sand-hill, whence he could see the limitless expanse of the sea +shimmering under the sheen of the twinkling stars of heaven, and for the +first time in many a long, long year, he raised his arms and eyes to the +God whom he had found once more. + +He began with a little prayer his mother had taught him; then he cried +out to the Almighty as to a powerful counselor, imploring him with +fervent zeal to point out the way in which he should walk without being +disobedient to Him or to his father, or breaking the oath he had sworn to +Pharaoh and becoming a dishonored man in the eyes of those to whom he +owed so great a debt of gratitude. + +"Thy chosen people praise Thee as the God of Truth, Who dost punish those +who forswear their oaths," he prayed. "How canst Thou command me to be +faithless and break the vow that I have made. Whatever I am, whatever I +may accomplish, belongs to Thee, Oh Mighty Lord, and I am ready to devote +my blood, my life to my people. But rather than render me a dishonored +and perjured man, take me away from earth and commit the work which Thou +hast chosen Thy servant to perform, to the hands of one who is bound by +no solemn oath." + +So he prayed, and it seemed as if he clasped in his embrace a long-lost +friend. Then he walked on in silence through the vanishing dusk, and +when the first grey light of morning dawned, the flood of feeling ebbed, +and the clear-headed warrior regained his calmness of thought. + +He had vowed to do nothing against the will of his father or his God, but +he was no less firmly resolved to be neither perjurer nor renegade. His +duty was clear and plain. He must leave Pharaoh's service, first telling +his superiors that, as a dutiful son, he must obey his father's commands, +and share his fate and that of his people. + +Yet he did not conceal from himself that his request might be refused, +that he might be detained by force, nay, perchance, if he insisted on +carrying out his purpose with unshaken will, he might be menaced with +death, or if the worst should come, even delivered over to the +executioner. But if this should be his doom, if his purpose cost him his +life, he would still have done what was right, and his comrades, whose +esteem he valued, could still think of him as a brave brother-in-arms. +Nor would his father and Miriam be angry with him, nay, they would mourn +the faithful son, the upright man, who chose death rather than dishonor. + +Calm and resolute, he gave the pass-word with haughty bearing to the +sentinel and entered his tent. Ephraim was still lying on his couch, +smiling as if under the thrall of pleasant dreams. Hosea threw himself +on a mat beside him to seek strength for the hard duties of the coming +day. Soon his eyes closed, too, and, after an hour's sound sleep, he +woke without being roused and called for his holiday attire, his helmet, +and the gilt coat-of-mail he wore at great festivals or in the presence +of Egypt's king. + +Meantime Ephraim, too, awoke, looked with mingled curiosity and delight +at his uncle, who stood before him in all the splendor of his manhood and +glittering panoply of war, and exclaimed: + +"It must be a proud feeling to wear such garments and lead thousands to +battle." + +Hosea shrugged his shoulders and replied: + +"Obey thy God, 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." + +"But you have done great deeds among the Egyptians," Ephraim continued. +"They hold you in high regard; even captain Homecht and his daughter, +Kasana." + +"Do they?" asked the soldier smiling, and then bid his nephew keep +quiet; for his brow, though less fevered than the night before, was still +burning. + +"Don't go into the open air until the leech has seen you," Hosea added, +"and wait here till my return." + +"Shall you be absent long?" asked the lad. + +Hosea paused for a moment, lost in thought then, with a kindly glance at +him answered, gravely "Whoever serves a master knows not how long he may +be detained." Then, changing his tone, he continued less earnestly. +"To-day--this morning--perchance I may finish my business speedily and +return in a few hours. If not, if I do not come back to you this evening +or early to-morrow morning, then......" he laid his hand on the lad's +shoulder as he spoke "then go home at your utmost speed. When you reach +Succoth, if the people have gone before your coming, you will find in the +hollow sycamore before Amminadab's house a letter which will tell you +whither they have turned their steps. When you overtake them, give my +greetings to my father, to my grandfather Elishama, and to Miriam. Tell +them that Hosea will be mindful of the commands of his God and of his +father. In future he will call himself Joshua--Joshua, do you hear? +Tell this to Miriam first. Finally, tell them that if I remain behind +and am not suffered to follow them, as I would like to, that the Most +High has made a different disposal of His servant and has broken the +sword which He had chosen, ere He used it. Do you understand me, boy?" + +Ephraim nodded, and answered: + +"You mean that death alone can stay you from obeying the summons of God, +and your father's command." + +"Ay, that was my meaning," replied the chief. "If they ask why I did +not slip away from Pharaoh and escape his power, say that Hosea desired +to enter on his new office as a true man, unstained by perjury or, if it +is the will of God, to die one. Now repeat the message." + +Ephraim obeyed; his uncle's remarks must have sunk deep into his soul; +for he neither forgot nor altered a single word. But scarcely had he +performed the task of repetition when, with impetuous earnestness, he +grasped Hosea's hand and besought him to tell him whether he had any +cause to fear for his life. + +The warrior clasped him affectionately in his arms and answered that he +hoped he had entrusted this message to him only to have it forgotten. +"Perhaps," he added, "they will strive to keep me by force, but by God's +help I shall soon be with you again, and we will ride to Succoth +together." + +With these words he hurried out, unheeding the questions his nephew +called after him; for he had heard the rattle of wheels outside. Two +chariots, drawn by mettled steeds, rapidly approached the tent and +stopped directly before the entrance. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +The men who stepped from the chariots were old acquaintances of Hosea. +They were the head chamberlain and one of the king's chief scribes, come +to summon him to the Sublime Porte. + + [Palace of the king. The name of Pharaoh means "the Sublime + Porte."] + +No hesitation nor escape was possible, and Hosea, feeling more surprise +than anxiety, entered the second chariot with the chief scribe. Both +officials wore mourning robes, and instead of the white ostrich plume, +the insignia of office, black ones waved over the temples of both. The +horses and runners of the two-wheeled chariots were also decked with all +the emblems of the deepest woe. And yet the monarch's messengers seemed +cheerful rather than depressed; for the eagle they were to bear to +Pharaoh was ready to obey his behest, and they had feared that they would +find his eyrie abandoned. + +Swift as the wind the long-limbed bays of royal breed bore the light +vehicles over the uneven sandy road and the smooth highway toward the +palace. + +Ephraim, with the curiosity of youth, had gone out of the tent to view a +scene so novel to his eyes. The soldiers were pleased by the Pharaoh's +sending his own carriage for their commander, and the lad's vanity was +flattered to see his uncle drive away in such state. But he was not +permitted the pleasure of watching him long; dense clouds of dust soon +hid the vehicles. + +The scorching desert wind which, during the Spring months, so often blows +through the valley of the Nile, had risen, and though the bright blue sky +which had been visible by night and day was still cloudless, it was +veiled by a whitish mist. + +The sun, a motionless ball, glared down on the heads of men like a blind +man's eye. The burning heat it diffused seemed to have consumed its +rays, which to-day were invisible. The eye protected by the mist could +gaze at it undazzled, yet its scorching power was undiminished. The +light breeze, which usually fanned the brow in the morning, touched it +now like the hot breath of a ravening beast of prey. Loaded with the +fine scorching sand borne from the desert, it transformed the pleasure of +breathing into a painful torture. The air of an Egyptian March morning, +which was wont to be so balmy, now oppressed both man and beast, choking +their lungs and seeming to weigh upon them like a burden destroying all +joy in life. + +The higher the pale rayless globe mounted into the sky, the greyer became +the fog, the more densely and swiftly blew the sand-clouds from the +desert. + +Ephraim was still standing in front of the tent, gazing at the spot where +Pharaoh's chariots had disappeared. His knees trembled, but he +attributed it to the wind sent by Seth-Typhon, at whose blowing even the +strongest felt an invisible burden clinging to their feet. + +Hosea had gone, but he might come back in a few hours, then he, Ephraim, +would be obliged to go with him to Succoth, and the bright dreams and +hopes which yesterday had bestowed and whose magical charms were +heightened by his fevered brain, would be lost to him forever. + +During the night he had firmly resolved to enter Pharaoh's army, that he +might remain near Tanis and Kasana; but though he had only half +comprehended Hosea's message, he could plainly discern that he intended +to turn his back upon Egypt and his high position and meant to take +Ephraim with him, should he make his escape. So he must renounce his +longing to see Kasana once more. But this thought was unbearable and +an inward voice whispered that, having neither father nor mother, he was +free to act according to his own will. His guardian, his dead father's +brother, in whose household he had grown up, had died not long before, +and no new guardian had been named because the lad was now past +childhood. He was destined at some future day to be one of the chiefs of +his proud tribe and until yesterday he had desired no better fate. + +He had obeyed the impulse of his heart when, with the pride of a shepherd +prince, he had refused the priest's suggestion that he should become one +of Pharaoh's soldiers, but he now told himself that he had been childish +and foolish to reject a thing of which he was ignorant, nay, which had +ever been intentionally represented to him in a false and hateful light +in order to bind him more firmly to his own people. + +The Egyptians had always been described as detestable enemies and +oppressors, yet how enchanting everything seemed in the house of the +first Egyptian warrior he had entered. + +And Kasana! + +What must she think of him, if he left Tanis without a word of greeting, +of farewell. Must it not grieve and wound him to remain in her memory a +clumsy peasant shepherd? Nay, it would be positively dishonest not to +return the costly raiment she had lent him. Gratitude was reckoned among +the Hebrews also as the first duty of noble hearts. He would be worthy +of hate his whole life long, if he did not seek her once more! + +But there was need of haste. When Hosea returned, he must find him ready +for departure. + +He at once began to bind his sandals on his feet, but he did it slowly, +and could not understand why the task seemed so hard to-day. + +He passed through the camp unmolested. The pylons and obelisks before +the temples, which appeared to quiver in the heated air, marked the +direction he was to pursue, and he soon reached the broad road which led +to the market-place--a panting merchant whose ass was bearing skins of +wine to the troops, told him the way. + +Dense clouds of dust lay on the road and whirled around him, the sun beat +fiercely down on his bare head, his wound began to ache again, the fine +sand which filled the air entered his eyes and mouth and stung his face +and bare limbs like burning needles. He was tortured by thirst and was +often compelled to stop, his feet grew so heavy. At last he reached a +well dug for travelers by a pious Egyptian, and though it was adorned +with the image of a god and Miriam had taught him that this was an +abomination from which he should turn aside, he drank again and again, +thinking he had never tasted aught so refreshing. + +The fear of losing consciousness, as he had done the day before, passed +away and, though his feet were still heavy, he walked rapidly toward the +alluring goal. But soon his strength again deserted him, the sweat +poured from his brow, his wound began to throb and beat, and he felt as +though his skull was compressed by an iron circle. His keen eyes, too, +failed, for the objects he tried to see blended with the dust of the +road, the horizon reeled up and down before his eyes, and he felt as +though the hard pavement had turned to a yielding bog under his feet. + +Yet he took little heed of all these things, for never before had such +bright visions filled his mind. His thoughts grew marvellously vivid, +and image after image rose before the wide eyes of his soul, not at his +own behest, but as if summoned by a secret will outside of his +consciousness. Now he fancied that he was lying at Kasana's feet, +resting his head on her lap while he gazed upward into her lovely face-- +anon he saw Hosea standing before him in his glittering armor, as he had +beheld him a short time ago, only his garb was still more gorgeous and, +instead of the dim light in the tent, a ruddy glow like that of fire +surrounded him. Then the finest oxen and rams in his herds passed before +him and sentences from the messages he had learned darted through his +mind; nay he sometimes imagined that they were being shouted to him +aloud. But ere he could grasp their import, some new dazzling vision or +loud rushing noise seemed to fill his mental eye and ear. + +He pressed onward, staggering like a drunken man, with drops of sweat +standing on his brow and with parched mouth. Sometimes he unconsciously +raised his hand to wipe the dust from his burning eyes, but he cared +little that he saw very indistinctly what was passing around him, for +there could be nothing more beautiful than what he beheld with his inward +vision. + +True, he was often aware that he was suffering intensely, and he longed +to throw himself exhausted on the ground, but a strange sense of +happiness sustained him. At last he was seized with the delusion that +his head was swelling and growing till it attained the size of the head +of the colossus he had seen the day before in front of a temple gate, +then it rose to the height of the palm-trees by the road-side, and +finally it reached the mist shrouding the firmament, then far above it. +Then it suddenly seemed as though this head of his was as large as the +whole world, and he pressed his hands on his temples to clasp his brow; +for his neck and shoulders were too weak to support the weight of so +enormous a head and, mastered by this strange delusion, he shrieked +aloud, his shaking knees gave way, and he fell unconscious in the dust. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Hate, though never sated, can yet be gratified +Omnipotent God, who had preferred his race above all others +When hate and revenge speak, gratitude shrinks timidly +Who can prop another's house when his own is falling + + + + + + +JOSHUA + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 2. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +At the same hour a chamberlain was ushering Hosea into the audience +chamber. + +Usually subjects summoned to the presence of the king were kept waiting +for hours, but the Hebrew's patience was not tried long. During this +period of the deepest mourning the spacious rooms of the palace, commonly +tenanted by a gay and noisy multitude, were hushed to the stillness of +death; for not only the slaves and warders, but many men and women in +close attendance on the royal couple had fled from the pestilence, +quitting the palace without leave. + +Here and there a solitary priest, official, or courtier leaned against a +pillar or crouched on the floor, hiding his face in his hands, while +awaiting some order. Sentries paced to and fro with lowered weapons, +lost in melancholy thoughts. Now and then a few young priests in +mourning robes glided through the infected rooms, silently swinging +silver censers which diffused a pungent scent of resin and juniper. + +A nightmare seemed to weigh upon the palace and its occupants; for in +addition to grief for their beloved prince, which saddened many a heart, +the dread of death and the desert wind paralyzed alike the energy of mind +and body. + +Here in the immediate vicinity of the throne where, in former days, all +eyes had sparkled with hope, ambition, gratitude, fear, loyalty, or hate, +Hosea now encountered only drooping heads and downcast looks. + +Bai, the second prophet of Amon, alone seemed untouched alike by sorrow, +anxiety, or the enervating atmosphere of the day; he greeted the warrior +in the ante-room as vigorously and cheerily as ever, and assured him-- +though in the lowest whisper--that no one thought of holding him +responsible for the misdeeds of his people. But when Hosea volunteered +the acknowledgment that, at the moment of his summons to the king, he had +been in the act of going to the commander-in-chief to beg a release from +military service, the priest interrupted him to remind him of the debt of +gratitude he, Bai, owed to him as the preserver of his life. Then he +added that he would make every effort in his power to keep him in the +army and show that the Egyptians--even against Pharaoh's will, or which +he would speak farther with him privately--knew how to honor genuine +merit without distinction of person or birth. + +The Hebrew had little time to repeat his resolve; the head chamberlain +interrupted them to lead Hosea into the presence of the "good god." + +The sovereign awaited Hosea in the smaller audience-room adjoining the +royal apartments. + +It was a stately chamber, and to-day looked more spacious than when, as +of yore, it was filled with obsequious throngs. Only a few courtiers and +priests, with some of the queen's ladies-in-waiting, all clad in deep +mourning, stood in groups near the throne. Opposite to Pharaoh, +squatting in a circle on the floor, were the king's councillors and +interpreters, each adorned with an ostrich plume. + +All wore tokens of mourning, and the monotonous, piteous plaint of the +wailing women, which ever and anon rose into a loud, shrill, tremulous +shriek, echoed through the silent rooms within to this hall, announcing +that death had claimed a victim even in the royal dwelling. + +The king and queen sat on a gold and ivory couch, heavily draped with +black. Instead of their usual splendid attire, both wore dark robes, and +the royal consort and mother, who mourned her first-born son, leaned +motionless, with drooping head, against her kingly husband's shoulder. + +Pharaoh, too, gazed fixedly into space, as though lost in a dream. The +sceptre had slipped from his hand and lay in his lap. + +The queen had been torn away from the corpse of her son, which was now +delivered to the embalmers, and it was not until she reached the entrance +of the audience-chamber that she had succeeded in checking her tears. +She had no thought of resistance; the inexorable ceremonial of court +etiquette required the queen to be present at any audience of importance. +To-day she would gladly have shunned the task, but Pharaoh had commanded +her presence, and she knew and approved the course to be pursued; for she +was full of dread of the power of the Hebrew Mesu, called by his own +people Moses, and of his God, who had brought such terrible woe on the +Egyptians. She had other children to lose, and she had known Mesu from +her childhood, and was well aware how highly the great Rameses, her +husband's father and predecessor, had prized the wisdom of this stranger +who had been reared with his own sons. + +Ah, if it were only possible to conciliate this man. But Mesu had +departed with the Israelites, and she knew his iron will and had learned +that the terrible prophet was armed, not alone against Pharaoh's threats, +but also against her own fervent entreaties. + +She was now expecting Hosea. He, the son of Nun, the foremost man of all +the Hebrews in Tanis, would succeed, if any one could, in carrying out +the plan which she and her royal husband deemed best for all parties,--a +plan supported also by Rui, the hoary high-priest and first prophet of +Amon, the head of the whole Egyptian priesthood, who held the offices of +chief judge, chief treasurer, and viceroy of the kingdom, and had +followed the court from Thebes to Tanis. + +Ere going to the audience hall, she had been twining wreaths for her +loved dead and the lotus flowers, larkspurs, mallow and willow-leaves, +from which she was to weave them, had been brought there by her desire. +They were lying on a small table and in her lap; but she felt paralyzed, +and the hand she stretched toward them refused to obey her will. + +Rui, the first prophet of Amon, an aged man long past his ninetieth +birthday, squatted on a mat at Pharaoh's left hand. A pair of bright +eyes, shaded by bushy white brows, glittered in his brown face--seamed +and wrinkled like the bark of a gnarled oaklike gay flowers amid withered +leaves, forming a strange contrast to his lean, bowed, and shrivelled +form. + +The old man had long since resigned the management of business affairs to +the second prophet, Bai, but he held firmly to his honors, his seat at +Pharaoh's side, and his place in the council, where, though he said +little, his opinion was more frequently followed than that of the +eloquent, ardent second prophet, who was many years his junior. + +The old man had not quitted Pharaoh's side since the plague entered the +palace, yet to-day he felt more vigorous than usual; the hot desert wind, +which weakened others, refreshed him. He was constantly shivering, +despite the panther-skin which hung over his back and shoulders, and the +heat of the day warmed his chilly old blood. + +Moses, the Hebrew, had been his pupil, and never had he instructed a +nobler nature, a youth more richly endowed with all the gifts of +intellect. He had initiated the Israelite into all the highest +mysteries, anticipating the greatest results for Egypt and the +priesthood, and when the Hebrew one day slew an overseer who had +mercilessly beaten one of his race, and then fled into the desert, Rui +had secretly mourned the evil deed as if his own son had committed it and +must suffer the consequences. His intercession had secured Mesu's +pardon; but when the latter returned to Egypt and the change had occurred +which other priests termed his "apostasy," the old man had grieved even +more keenly than over his flight. Had he, Rui, been younger, he would +have hated the man who had thus robbed him of his fairest hopes; but the +aged priest, who read men's hearts like an open book and could judge the +souls of his fellow-mortals with the calm impartiality of an unclouded +mind, confessed that he had been to blame in failing to foresee his +pupil's change of thought. + +Education and precept had made Mesu an Egyptian priest according to his +own heart and that of the divinity; but after having once raised his hand +in the defence of his own people against those to whom he had been bound +only by human craft and human will, he was lost to the Egyptians and +became once more a true son of his race. And where this man of the +strong will and lofty soul led the way, others could not fail to follow. + +Rui knew likewise full well what the renegade meant to give to his race; +he had confessed it himself to the priest-faith in the one God. Mesu had +rejected the accusation of perjury, declaring that he would never betray +the mysteries to the Hebrews, his sole desire was to lead them back to +the God whom they had worshipped ere Joseph and his family came to Egypt. +True, the "One" of the initiated resembled the God of the Hebrews in many +things, but this very fact had soothed the old sage; for experience had +taught him that the masses are not content with a single invisible God, +an idea which many, even among the more advanced of his own pupils found +difficult to comprehend. The men and women of the lower classes needed +visible symbols of every important thing whose influence they perceived +in and around them, and the Egyptian religion supplied these images. +What could an invisible creative power guiding the course of the universe +be to a love-sick girl? She sought the friendly Hathor, whose gentle +hands held the cords that bound heart to heart, the beautiful mighty +representative of her sex--to her she could trustingly pour forth all the +sorrows that burdened her bosom. What was the petty grief of a mother +who sought to snatch her darling child from death, to the mighty and +incomprehensible Deity who governed the entire universe? But the good +Isis, who herself had wept her eyes red in bitter anguish, could +understand her woe. And how often in Egypt it was the wife who +determined her husband's relations to the gods! + +Rui had frequently seen Hebrew men and women praying fervently in +Egyptian temples. Even if Mesu should induce them to acknowledge his +God, the experienced sage clearly foresaw that they would speedily +turn from the invisible Spirit, who must ever remain aloof and +incomprehensible, and return by hundreds to the gods they understood. + +Now Egypt was threatened with the loss of the laborers and builders she +so greatly needed, but Rui believed that they might be won back. + +"When fair words will answer our purpose, put aside sword and bow," he +had replied to Bai, who demanded that the fugitives should be pursued and +slain. "We have already too many corpses in our country; what we want is +workers. Let us hold fast what we seem on the verge of losing." + +These mild words were in full harmony with the mood of Pharaoh, who had +had sufficient sorrow, and would have thought it wiser to venture unarmed +into a lion's cage than to again defy the wrath of the terrible Hebrew. + +So he had closed his ears to the exhortations of the second prophet, +whose steadfast, energetic will usually exercised all the greater +influence upon him on account of his own irresolution, and upheld old +Rui's suggestion that the warrior, Hosea, should be sent after his people +to deal with them in Pharaoh's name--a plan that soothed his mind and +renewed his hopes. + +The second prophet, Bai, had finally assented to the plan; for it +afforded a new chance of undermining the throne he intended to overthrow. +If the Hebrews were once more settled in the land, Prince Siptah, who +regarded no punishment too severe for the race he hated, might perhaps +seize the sceptre of the cowardly king Menephtah. + +But the fugitives must first be stopped, and Hosea was the right man to +do this. But in Bai's eyes no one would be more able to gain the +confidence of an unsuspicious soldier than Pharaoh and his royal consort. +The venerable high-priest Rui, though wholly unaware of the conspiracy, +shared this opinion, and thus the sovereigns had been persuaded to +interrupt the mourning for the dead and speak in person to the Hebrew. + +Hosea had prostrated himself before the throne and, when he rose, the +king's weary face was bent toward him, sadly, it is true, yet graciously. + +According to custom, the hair and beard of the father who had lost his +first-born son had been shaven. Formerly they had encircled his face in +a frame of glossy black, but twenty years of anxious government had made +them grey, and his figure, too, had lost its erect carriage and seemed +bent and feeble, though he had scarcely passed his fifth decade. His +regular features were still beautiful in their symmetry, and there was a +touch of pathos in their mournful gentleness, so evidently incapable of +any firm resolve, especially when a smile lent his mouth a bewitching +charm. + +The languid indolence of his movements scarcely impaired the natural +dignity of his presence, yet his musical voice was wont to have a feeble, +beseeching tone. He was no born ruler; thirteen older brothers had died +ere the throne of Pharaoh had become his heritage, and up to early +manhood he had led a careless, joyous existence--as the handsomest youth +in the whole land, the darling of women, the light-hearted favorite of +fortune. Then he succeeded his father the great Rameses, but he had +scarcely grasped the sceptre ere the Libyans, with numerous allies, +rebelled against Egypt. The trained troops and their leaders, who had +fought in his predecessor's wars, gained him victory, but during the +twenty years which had now passed since Rameses' death, the soldiers had +rarely had any rest. Insurrections constantly occurred, sometimes in the +East, anon in the West and, instead of living in Thebes, where he had +spent many years of happiness, and following the bent of his inclination +by enjoying in the splendid palace the blessing of peace and the society +of the famous scholars and poets who then made that city their home, he +was compelled sometimes to lead his armies in the field, sometimes to +live in Tanis, the capital of Lower Egypt, to settle the disturbances of +the border land. + +This was the desire of the venerable Rui, and the king willingly followed +his guidance. During the latter years of Rameses' reign, the temple at +Thebes, and with it the chief priest, had risen to power and wealth +greater than that possessed by royalty itself, and Menephtah's indolent +nature was better suited to be a tool than a guiding hand, so long as he +received all the external honors due to Pharaoh. These he guarded with a +determination which he never roused himself to display in matters of +graver import. + +The condescending graciousness of Pharaoh's reception awakened feelings +of mingled pleasure and distrust in Hosea's mind, but he summoned courage +to frankly express his desire to be relieved from his office and the oath +he had sworn to his sovereign. + +Pharaoh listened quietly. Not until Hosea confessed that he was induced +to take this step by his father's command did he beckon to the high- +priest, who began in low, almost inaudible tones: + +"The son who resigns great things to remain obedient to his father will +be the most loyal of the 'good god's' servants. Go, obey the summons of +Nun. The son of the sun, the Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt, sets you +free; but through me, the slave of his master, he imposes one condition." + +"What is that?" asked Hosea. + +Pharaoh signed to Rui a second time and, as the monarch sank back upon +his throne, the old man, fixing his keen eyes on Hosea, replied: + +"The demand which the lord of both worlds makes upon you by my lips is +easy to fulfil. You must return to be once more his servant and one of +us, as soon as your people and their leader, who have brought such +terrible woe upon this land, shall have clasped the divine hand which the +son of the sun extends to them in reconciliation, and shall have returned +to the beneficent shadow of his throne. He intends to attach them to his +person and his realm by rich tokens of his favor, as soon as they return +from the desert to which they have gone forth to sacrifice to their God. +Understand me fully! All the burdens which have oppressed the people of +your race shall be removed. The 'great god' will secure to them, by a +new law, privileges and great freedom, and whatever we promise shall be +written down and witnessed on our part and yours as a new and valid +covenant binding on our children and our children's children. When such +a compact has been made with an honest purpose on our part to keep it for +all time, and your tribes have consented to accept it, will you promise +that you will then be one of us again?" + +"Accept the office of mediator, Hosea," the queen here interrupted in a +low tone, with her sorrowful eyes fixed imploringly on Hosea's face. +"I dread the fury of Mesu, and everything in our power shall be done to +regain his old friendship. Mention my name and recall the time when he +taught little Isisnefert the names of the plants she brought to him and +explained to her and her sister their beneficial or their harmful +qualities, during his visits to the queen, his second mother, in the +women's apartments. The wounds he has dealt our hearts shall be pardoned +and forgotten. Be our envoy. Hosea, do not deny us." + +"Such words from royal lips are a strict mandate," replied the Hebrew. +"And yet they make the heart rejoice. I will accept the office of +mediator." + +The hoary high-priest nodded approvingly, exclaiming: + +"I hope a long period of blessing may arise from this brief hour. But +note this. Where potions can aid, surgery must be shunned. Where a +bridge spans the stream, beware of swimming through the whirlpool." + +"Yes, by all means shun the whirlpool," Pharaoh repeated, and the queen +uttered the same words, then once more bent her eyes on the flowers in +her lap. + +A council now began. + +Three private scribes took seats on the floor close by Rui, in order to +catch his low tones, and the scribes and councillors in the circle before +the throne seized their writing-materials and, holding the papyrus in +their left hands, wrote with reed or brush; for nothing which was debated +and determined in Pharaoh's presence was suffered to be left unrecorded. + +During the continuance of this debate no voice in the audience chamber +was raised above a whisper; the courtiers and guards stood motionless at +their posts, and the royal pair gazed mutely into vacancy as though lost +in reverie. + +Neither Pharaoh nor his queen could possibly have heard the muttered +conversation between the men; yet the Egyptians, at the close of every +sentence, glanced upward at the king as if to ensure his approbation. +Hosea, to whom the custom was perfectly familiar, did the same and, like +the rest, lowered his tones. Whenever the voices of Bai or of the chief +of the scribes waxed somewhat louder, Pharaoh raised his head and +repeated the words of Rui: "Where a bridge spans the stream, beware of +swimming through the whirlpool;" for this saying precisely expressed his +own desires and those of the queen. No strife! Let us live at peace +with the Hebrews, and escape from the anger of their awful leader and his +God, without losing the thousands of industrious workers in the departed +tribes. + +So the discussion went on, and when the murmuring of the debaters and the +scratching of the scribes' reeds had continued at least an hour the queen +remained in the same position; but Pharaoh began to move and lift up his +voice, fearing that the second prophet, who had detested the man whose +benedictions he had implored and whose enmity seemed so terrible, was +imposing on the mediator requirements impossible to fulfil. + +Yet he said nothing save to repeat the warning about the bridge, but his +questioning look caused the chief of the scribes to soothe him with the +assurance that everything was progressing as well as possible. Hosea had +only requested that, in future, the overseers of the workmen should not +be of Libyan birth, but Hebrews themselves, chosen by the elders of their +tribes with the approval of the Egyptian government. + +Pharaoh cast a glance of imploring anxiety at Bai, the second prophet, +and the other councillors; but the former shrugged his shoulders +deprecatingly and, pretending to yield his own opinion to the divine +wisdom of Pharaoh, acceded to Hosea's request. + +The divinity on the throne of the world accepted, with a grateful bend of +the head, this concession from a man whose wishes had so often opposed +his own, and after the "repeater" or herald had read aloud all the +separate conditions of the agreement, Hosea was forced to make a solemn +vow to return in any case to Tanis, and report to the Sublime Porte how +his people had received the king's proposals. + +But the wary chief, versed in the wiles and tricks with which the +government was but too well supplied, uttered the vow with great +reluctance, and only after he had received a written assurance that, +whatever might be the result of the negotiations, his liberty should not +be restricted in any respect, after he had proved that he had used his +utmost efforts to induce the leader of the Hebrews to accept the compact. + +At last Pharaoh extended his hand for the warrior to kiss, and when the +latter had also pressed his lips to the edge of the queen's garments, Rui +signed to the head-chamberlain, who made obeisance to Pharaoh, and the +sovereign knew that the hour had come when he might retire. He did so +gladly and with a lighter heart; for he believed that he had done his +best to secure his own welfare and that of his people. + +A sunny expression flitted across his handsome, worn features, and when +the queen also rose and saw his smile of satisfaction it was reflected on +her face. Pharaoh uttered a sigh of relief as he crossed the threshold +of the audience chamber and, accosting his wife, said: + +"If Hosea wins his cause, we shall cross the bridge safely." + +"And need not swim through the whirlpool," the queen answered in the same +tone. + +"And if the chief succeeds in soothing Mesu, and induces the Hebrews to +stay in the land," Pharaoh added: + +"Then you will enrol this Hosea--he looks noble and upright--among the +kindred of the king," Isisnefert interrupted. + +But upon this Pharaoh drew up his languid, drooping figure, exclaiming +eagerly: + +"How can I? A Hebrew! Were we to admit him among the 'friends' or +'fan-bearers' it would be the highest favor we could bestow! It is no +easy matter in such a case to choose between too great or too small a +recompense." + +The farther the royal pair advanced toward the interior of the palace, +the louder rose the wailing voices of the mourning women. Tears once +more filled the eyes of the queen; but Pharaoh continued to ponder over +what office at court he could bestow on Hosea, should his mission prove +successful. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +Hosea was forced to hurry in order to overtake the tribes in time; for +the farther they proceeded, the harder it would be to induce Moses and +the leaders of the people to return and accept the treaty. + +The events which had befallen him that morning seemed so strange that he +regarded them as a dispensation of the God whom he had found again; he +recollected, too, that the name "Joshua," "he who helps Jehovah," had +been received through Miriam's message. He would gladly bear it; for +though it was no easy matter to resign the name for which he had won +renown, still many of his comrades had done likewise. His new one was +attesting its truth grandly; never had God's help been more manifest to +him than this morning. He had entered Pharaoh's palace expecting to be +imprisoned or delivered over to the executioner, as soon as he insisted +upon following his people, and how speedily the bonds that held him in +the Egyptian army had been sundered. And he had been appointed to +discharge a task which seemed in his eyes so grand, so lofty, that he was +on the point of believing that the God of his fathers had summoned him to +perform it. + +He loved Egypt. It was a fair country. Where could his people find a +more delightful home? It was only the circumstances under which they had +lived there which had been intolerable. Happier times were now in store. +The tribes were given the choice between returning to Goshen, or settling +on the lake land west of the Nile, with whose fertility and ample supply +of water he was well acquainted. No one would have a right to reduce +them to bondage, and whoever gave his labor to the service of the state +was to have for overseer no stern and cruel foreigner, but a man of his +own blood. + +True, he knew that the Hebrews must remain under subjection to Pharaoh. +But had not Joseph, Ephraim, and his sons, Hosea's ancestors, been called +his subjects and lived content to be numbered among the Egyptians. + +If the covenant was made, the elders of the tribes were to direct the +private concerns of the people. Spite of Bai's opposition, Moses had +been named regent of the new territory, while he, Hosea, himself was to +command the soldiers who would defend the frontiers, and marshal fresh +troops from the Israelite mercenaries, who had already borne themselves +valiantly in many a fray. Ere he had quitted the palace, Bai had made +various mysterious allusions, which though vague in purport, betrayed +that the priest was cherishing important plans and, as soon as the +guidance of the government passed from old Rui's hands into his, a high +position, perhaps the command of the whole army, now led by a Syrian +named Aarsu, would be conferred on him, Hosea. + +But this prospect caused him more anxiety than pleasure, though great was +his satisfaction at having gained the concession that every third year +the eastern frontiers of the country should be thrown open to his people, +that they might go to the desert and there offer sacrifices to their God. +Moses had seemed to lay the utmost stress upon this privilege, and +according to the existing law, no one was permitted to cross the narrow +fortified frontier on the east without the permission of the government. +Perhaps granting this desire of the mighty leader might win him to accept +a compact so desirable for his nation. + +During these negotiations Hosea had again realized his estrangement from +his people, he was not even aware--for what purpose the sacrifice in the +desert was offered. He also frankly acknowledged to Pharaoh's +councillors that he knew neither the grievances nor the requirements of +the tribes, a course he pursued to secure to the Hebrews the right of +changing or revising in any respect the offers he was to convey. + +What better proposals could they or their leader desire? + +The future was full of fresh hopes of happiness for his people and +himself. If the compact was made, the time had arrived for him to +establish a home of his own, and Miriam's image again appeared in all +its loftiness and beauty. The thought of gaining this splendid maiden +was fairly intoxicating, and he wondered whether he was worthy of her, +and if it would not be presumptuous to aspire to the hand of the +divinely-inspired, majestic virgin and prophetess. + +He was experienced in the affairs of life and knew full well how little +reliance could be placed upon the promises of the vacillating man, who +found the sceptre too heavy for his feeble hand. But he had exercised +caution and, if the elders of the people could but be won over, the +agreement would be inscribed on metal tables, sentence by sentence, and +hung in the temple at Thebes, with the signatures of Pharaoh and the +envoys of the Hebrews, like every other binding agreement between Egypt +and a foreign nation. Such documents--he had learned this from the +treaty of peace concluded with the Cheta--assured and lengthened the +brief "eternity" of national covenants. He had certainly neglected no +precaution to secure his people from treachery and perjury. Never had he +felt more vigorous, more confident, more joyous than when he again +entered Pharaoh's chariot to take leave of his subordinates. Bai's +mysterious hints and suggestions troubled him very little; he was +accustomed to leave future anxieties to be cared for in the future. But +at the camp he encountered a grief which belonged to the present; +surprised, angry, and troubled, he learned that Ephraim had secretly left +the tent, telling no one whither he was going. A hurried investigation +drew out the information that the youth had been seen on the road to +Tanis, and Hosea hastily bade his trusty shield-bearer search the city +for the youth and, if he found him, to order him to follow his uncle to +Succoth. + +After the chief had said farewell to his men, he set off, attended only +by his old groom. He was pleased to have the adone--[Corresponding to +the rank of adjutant.]--and subaltern officers who had been with him, the +stern warriors, with whom he had shared everything in war and peace, in +want and privation, show so plainly the pain of parting. Tears streamed +down the bronzed cheeks of many a man who had grown grey in warfare, as +he clasped his hand for the last time. Many a bearded lip was pressed to +the hem of his robe, to his feet, and to the sleek skin of the noble +Libyan steed which, pressing forward with arching neck only to be curbed +by its rider's strength, bore him through the ranks. For the first time +since his mother's death his own eyes grew dim, as shouts of farewell +rang warmly and loudly from the manly breasts of his soldiers. + +Never before had he so deeply realized how firmly he was bound to these +men, and how he loved his noble profession. + +Yet the duty he was now fulfilling was also great and glorious, and the +God who had absolved him from his oath and smoothed the way for him to +obey his father's commands as a true and upright man, would perhaps bring +him back to his comrades in arms, whose cordial farewell he still fancied +he heard long after he was out of reach of their voices. + +The greatness of the work assigned to him, the enthusiasm of a man who +devotes himself with devout earnestness to the performance of a difficult +task, the rapturous joy of the lover, who with well-founded hopes of the +fulfilment of the purest and fairest desires of his heart, hastens to +meet the woman of his choice, first dawned upon him when he had left the +city behind and was dashing at a rapid trot toward the south-east across +the flat, well-watered plain with its wealth of palm-groves. + +While forcing his steed to a slower pace as he passed through the streets +of the capital, and the region near the harbor, his mind was so engrossed +by his recent experiences and his anxiety concerning the runaway youth, +that he paid little attention to the throng of vessels lying at anchor, +the motley crowd of ship owners, traders, sailors, and laborers, +representatives of all the nations of Africa and Asia, who sought a +livelihood here, and the officials, soldiers, and petitioners, who had +followed Pharaoh from Thebes to the city of Rameses. + +He had even failed to see two men of high rank, though one, Hornecht, the +captain of the archers, had waved his hand to him. + +They had retired into the deep gateway formed by the pylons at the +entrance of the temple of Seth, to escape the clouds of dust which the +desert wind was still blowing along the road. + +While Hornecht was vainly trying to arrest the horseman's attention, his +companion, Bai, the second prophet of Amon, whispered: "Let him go! He +will learn where his nephew is soon enough." + +"As you desire," replied the soldier. Then he eagerly continued the +story he had just begun. "When they brought the lad in, he looked like a +piece of clay in the potter's workshop." + +"No wonder," replied the priest; "he had lain long enough in the road in +the dust of Typhon. But what was your steward seeking among the +soldiers?" + +"We had heard from my adon, whom I sent to the camp last evening, that +the poor youth was attacked by a severe fever, so Kasana put up some wine +and her nurse's balsam, and dispatched the old creature with them to the +camp." + +"To the youth or to Hosea?" asked the prophet with a mischievous smile. + +"To the sufferer," replied Hornecht positively, a frown darkening his +brow. But, restraining himself, he added as if apologizing: "Her heart +is as soft as wax, and the Hebrew youth--you saw him yesterday......" + +"Is a splendid lad, just fitted to win a woman's heart!" replied the +priest laughing. "Besides, whoever shows kindness to the nephew does not +harm the uncle." + +"That was not in her mind," replied Hornecht bluntly. "But the invisible +God of the Hebrews is not less watchful of his children than the +Immortals whom you serve; for he led Hotepu to the youth just as he was +at the point of death. The dreamer would undoubtedly have ridden past +him; for the dust had already . . . ." + +"Transformed him into a bit of potter's clay. But then?" + +"Then the old man suddenly saw a glint of gold in the dusty heap." + +"And the stiffest neck will stoop for that." + +"Quite true. My Hotepu did so, and the broad gold circlet the lad wore +flashed in the sunlight and preserved his life a second time." + +"The luckiest thing is that we have the lad in our possession." + +"Yes, I was rejoiced to have him open his eyes once more. Then his +recovery grew more and more rapid; the doctor says he is like a kitten, +and all these mishaps will not cost him his life. But he is in a violent +fever, and in his delirium says all sorts of senseless things, which even +my daughter's nurse, a native of Ascalon, cannot clearly comprehend. +Only she thought she caught Kasana's name." + +"So it is once more a woman who is the source of the trouble." + +"Stop these jests, holy father," replied Hornecht, biting his lips. +"A modest widow, and that boy with the down still on his lips." + +"At his age," replied the unabashed priest, "fullblown roses have a +stronger attraction for young beetles than do buds; and in this +instance," he added more gravely, "it is a most fortunate accident. We +have Hosea's nephew in the snare, and it will be your part not to let him +escape." + +"Do you mean that we are to deprive him of his liberty?" cried the +warrior. + +"Even so." + +"Yet you value his uncle?" + +"Certainly. But the state has a higher claim." + +"This boy. . . ." + +"Is a desirable hostage. Hosea's sword was an extremely useful tool to +us; but if the hand that guides it is directed by the man whose power +ever greater things we know . . . ." + +"You mean the Hebrew, Mesu?" + +"Then Hosea will deal us wounds as deep as those he erst inflicted on our +foes." + +"Yet I have heard you say more than once that he was incapable of +perjury." + +"And so I say still, he has given wonderful proof of it to-day. Merely +for the sake of being released from his oath, he thrust his head into the +crocodile's jaws. But though the son of Nun is a lion, he will find his +master in Mesu. That man is the mortal foe of the Egyptians, the bare +thought of him stirs my gall." + +"The cries of the wailing women behind this door admonish us loudly +enough to hate him." + +"Yet the weakling on the throne has forgotten vengeance, and is now +sending Hosea on an errand of reconciliation." + +"With your sanction, I think?" + +"Ay," replied the priest with a mocking smile. "We send him to build a +bridge! Oh, this bridge! A grey-beard's withered brain recommends it to +be thrown across the stream, and the idea just suits this pitiful son of +a great father, who would certainly never have shunned swimming through +the wildest whirlpool, especially when revenge was to be sought. Let +Hosea essay the bridge! If it leads him back across the stream to us, I +will offer him a right warm and cordial welcome; but as soon as this one +man stands on our shores, may its supports sink under the leaders of his +people; we, the only brave souls in Egypt, must see to that." + +"So be it. Yet I fear we shall lose the chief, too, if justice overtakes +his people." + +"It might almost seem so." + +"You have greater wisdom than I" + +"Yet here you believe me in error." + +"How could I venture to . . . ." + +"As a member of the military council you are entitled to your own +opinion, and I consider myself bound to show you the end of the path +along which you have hitherto followed us with blindfold eyes. So +listen, and judge accordingly when your turn comes to speak in the +council. The chief-priest Rui is old . . . ." + +"And you now fill half his offices." + +"Would that he might soon be relieved of the last half of his burden. +Not on my own account. I love strife, but for the welfare of our native +land. It is a deep-seated feeling of our natures to regard the +utterances and mandates of age as wisdom, so there are few among the +councillors who do not follow the old man's opinions; yet his policy +limps on crutches, like himself. All good projects are swamped under his +weak, fainthearted guidance." + +"That is the very reason my vote is at your disposal," cried the warrior. +"That is why I am ready to use all my might to hurl this sleeper from the +throne and get rid of his foolish advisers." + +The prophet laid his finger on his lips to warn his companion to be more +cautious, drew nearer to him, pointed to his litter, and said in a low, +hurried tone: + +"I am expected at the Sublime Porte, so listen. If Hosea's mission is +successful his people will return--the guilty with the innocent--and the +latter will suffer. Among the former we can include the whole of Hosea's +tribe, who call themselves the sons of Ephraim, from old Nun down to the +youth in your dwelling." + +"We may spare them; but Mesu, too, is a Hebrew, and what we do to him..." + +"Will not occur in the public street, and it is child's play to sow +enmity between two men who desire to rule in the same sphere. I will +make sure that Hosea shall shut his eyes to the other's death; but +Pharaoh, whether his name is Meneptah or"--he lowered his voice--"Siptah, +must then raise him to so great a height--and he merits it--that his +giddy eyes will never discern aught we desire to conceal. There is one +dish that never palls on any man who has once tasted it." + +"And what is that?" + +"Power, Hornecht--mighty power! As ruler of a whole province, commander +of all the mercenaries in Aarsu's stead, he will take care not to break +with us. I know him. If I can succeed in making him believe Mesu has +wronged him--and the imperious man will afford some pretext for it--and +can bring him to the conviction that the law directs the punishment we +mete out to the sorcerer and the worst of his adherents, he will not only +assent but approve it." + +"And if he fails in his mission?" + +"He will return at any rate; for he would not be false to his oath. But +if Mesu, from whom we may expect anything, should detain him by force, +the boy will be of service to us; for Hosea loves him, his people value +his life, and he belongs to one of their noblest tribes. In any case +Pharaoh must threaten the lad; we will guard him, and that will unite his +uncle to us by fresh ties and lead him to join those who are angry with +the king." + +"Excellent!" + +"The surest way to attain our object will be by forging still another +chain. In short--now I beg you to be quiet, your temper is far too hot +for your grey hairs--in short, our Hebrew brother-in-arms, the saviour of +my life, the ablest man in the army, who is certain to win the highest +place, must be your son-in-law. Kasana's heart is his--my wife has told +me so." Hornecht frowned again, and struggled painfully to control his +anger. He perceived that he must overcome his objection to giving his +daughter to the man whose birth he scorned, much as he liked and esteemed +his character. He could not refrain from uttering an oath under his +breath, but his answer to the prophet was more calm and sensible than the +latter had anticipated. If Kasana was so possessed by demons that this +stranger infatuated her, let her have her will. But Hosea had not yet +sued for her. + +"By the red god Seth, and his seventy companions," he added wrathfully, +"neither you, nor any one shall induce me to offer my daughter, who has +twenty suitors, to a man who terms himself our friend, yet finds no +leisure to greet us in our own house! To keep fast hold of the lad is +another thing, I will see to that." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +The midnight heavens, decked with countless stars, spanned with their +cloudless azure vault the flat plains of the eastern Delta and the city +of Succoth, called by the Egyptians, from their sanctuary, the place of +the god Tum, or Pithom. + +The March night was drawing toward its end, pallid mists floated over the +canal, the work of Hebrew bondmen which, as far as the eye could reach, +intersected the plain, watering the fields and pastures along its course. + +Eastward and southward the sky was shrouded by dense veils of mist that +rose from the large lakes and from the narrow estuaries that ran far up +into the isthmus. The hot and dusty desert wind, which the day before +had swept over the parched grass and the tents and houses of Succoth, had +subsided at nightfall; and the cool atmosphere which in March, even in +Egypt, precedes the approach of dawn, made itself felt. + +Whoever had formerly entered, between midnight and morning, the humble +frontier hamlet with its shepherd tents, wretched hovels of Nile mud, and +by no means handsome farms and dwellings, would scarcely have recognized +it now. Even the one noticeable building in the place--besides the +stately temple of the sungod Turn--the large fortified store-house, +presented at this hour an unfamiliar aspect. Its long white-washed +walls, it is true, glimmered through the gloom as distinctly as ever, but +instead of towering--as usual at this time--mute and lifeless above the +slumbering town--the most active bustle was going on within and around +it. It was intended also as a defense against the predatory hordes of +the Shasu, + + [Bedouins, who dwelt as nomads in the desert adjacent to Egypt, now + regarded as part of Asia.] + +who had made a circuit around the fortified works on the isthmus, and its +indestructible walls contained an Egyptian garrison, who could easily +defend it against a force greatly superior in numbers. + +To-day it looked as if the sons of the desert had assailed it; but the +men and women who were bustling about below and on the broad parapet of +the gigantic building were Hebrews, not Shasu. With loud outcries and +gesticulations of delight they were seizing the thousands of measures of +wheat, barley, rye, and durra, the stores of pulse, dates, and onions +they found in the well-filled granaries, and even before sunset had begun +to empty the store-rooms and put their contents into sacks, pails, and +skins, trays, jugs, and aprons, which were let down by ropes or carried +to the ground on ladders. + +The better classes took no share in this work, but among the busy throng, +spite of the lateness of the hour, were children of all ages, carrying +away in pots, jugs, and dishes-borrowed from their mothers' cooking +utensils--as much as they could. + +Above, beside the unroofed openings of the storerooms, into which the +stars were shining, and also at the foot of the ladders, women held +torches or lanterns to light the others at their toil. + +Pans of blazing pitch were set in front of the strong locked doors of the +real fortress, and in their light armed shepherds were pacing to and fro. +When heavy stones or kicks belabored the brazen-bound door from within, +and threats were uttered in the Egyptian tongue, the Hebrews outside did +not fail to retort in words of mockery and scorn. + +On the day of the harvest festival, during the first evening watch, +runners arrived at Succoth and announced to the Israelites, whose numbers +were twenty-fold greater than those of the Egyptians, that they had +quitted Tanis in the morning and the tribes intended to leave at night; +their kindred in Succoth must be ready to go forth with them. There was +great rejoicing among the Hebrews, who like those of their blood in the +city of Rameses, had assembled in every house at a festive repast on the +night of the new moon after the vernal equinox when the harvest festival +usually began. The heads of the tribes had informed them that the day of +liberation had arrived, and the Lord would lead them into the Promised +Land. + +Here, too, as in Tanis, many had been faint-hearted and rebellious, and +others had endeavored to separate their lot from the rest and remain +behind; but here, too, they were carried away by the majority. Eleasar, +the son of Aaron, and the distinguished heads of the tribe of Judah, Hur +and Naashon, had addressed the multitude, as Aaron and Nun had done in +the city of Rameses. But Miriam, the virgin, the sister of Moses, had +gone from house to house, everywhere awakening the fire of enthusiasm in +men's hearts, and telling the women that the morrow's sun would usher in +for them and their children a new day of happiness, prosperity, and +freedom. + +Few had been deaf to the appeals of the prophetess; there was an air of +majesty, which compelled obedience, in the bearing of this maiden, whose +large black eyes, surmounted by heavy dark eye-brows, which met m the +middle, pierced the hearts of those on whom her gaze was bent and seemed +to threaten the rebellious with their gloomy radiance. + +The members of every household went to rest after the festival with +hearts uplifted and full of hope. But what a change had passed over them +during the second day, the night that followed it, and the next morning! +It seemed as though the desert wind had buried all their courage and +confidence in the dust it swept before it. The dread of going forth to +face an unknown future had stolen into every heart, and many a man who +had waved his staff full of trust and joyful enterprise was now held, as +if with clamps and fetters, to his well-tilled garden, the home of his +ancestors, and the harvest in the fields, which had just been half +gathered. + +The Egyptian garrison in the fortified store-house had not failed to +notice that the Hebrews were under some special excitement, but they +supposed it due to the harvest festival. The commander of the garrison +had learned that Moses desired to lead his people into the wilderness to +offer sacrifices to their God, and had asked for a reinforcement. But he +knew nothing more; for until the morning when the desert wind blew, no +Hebrew had disclosed the plans of his kindred. But the more sorely the +heat of the day oppressed them, the greater became the dread of the +faint-hearted of the pilgrimage through the hot, dusty, waterless desert. +The terrible day had given them a foretaste of what was impending and +when, toward noon, the dust grew thicker, the air more and more +oppressive, a Hebrew trader, from whom the Egyptian soldiers purchased +goods, stole into the store-house to ask the commander to prevent his +people from rushing to their doom. + +Even among the leaders the voices of malcontents had grown loud. Asarja +and Michael, with their sons, who grudged the power of Moses and Aaron, +had even gone from one to another to try to persuade them, ere departing, +to summon the elders again and charge then to enter into fresh +negotiations with the Egyptians. While these malcontents were +successfully gathering adherents, and the traitor had sought the +commander of the Egyptian garrison, two more messengers arrived with +tidings that the fugitives would arrive in Succoth between midnight and +morning. + +Breathless, speechless, dripping with perspiration, and with bleeding +lips, the elder messenger sank on the threshold of Amminadab's house, now +the home of Miriam also. Both the exhausted men were refreshed with wine +and food, ere the least wearied was fully capable of speech. Then, in a +hoarse voice, but from a heart overflowing with gratitude and ardent +enthusiasm, be reported the scenes which had occurred at the exodus, and +how the God of their fathers had filled every heart with His spirit, and +instilled new faith into the souls of the cowards. + +Miriam had listened to this story with sparkling eyes; at its close she +flung her veil over her head and bade the servants of the household, who +had assembled around the messengers, to summon the whole Hebrew people +under the sycamore, whose broad summit, the growth of a thousand years, +protected a wide space of earth from the scorching sunbeams. + +The desert wind was still blowing, but the glad news seemed to have +destroyed the baneful power it exerted on man, and when many hundreds of +people had flocked together under the sycamore, Miriam had given her hand +to Eleasar, the son of her brother Aaron, sprung upon the bench which +rested against the huge hollow trunk of the tree, raised her hands and +eyes toward heaven in an ecstasy, and began in a loud voice to address a +prayer to the Lord, as if she beheld him with her earthly vision. + +Then she permitted the messenger to speak, and when the latter again +described the events which had occurred in the city of Rameses, and then +announced that the fugitives from Tanis would arrive in a few hours, loud +shouts of joy burst from the throng. Eleasar, the son of Aaron, +proclaimed with glowing enthusiasm what the Lord had done for his people +and had promised to them, their children, and children's children. + +Each word from the lips of the inspired speaker fell upon the hearts of +the Hebrews like the fresh dew of morning on the parched grass. The +trusting hearers pressed around him and Miriam with shouts of joy, and +the drooping courage of the timorous appeared to put forth new wings. +Asarja, Michael, and their followers no longer murmured, nay, most of +them had been infected by the general enthusiasm, and when a Hebrew +mercenary stole out from the garrison of the store-house and disclosed +what had been betrayed to his commander, Eleasar, Naashon, Hur, and +others took counsel together, gathered all the shepherds around them, and +with glowing words urged them to show in this hour that they were men +indeed and did not fear, with their God's mighty aid, to fight for their +people and their liberty. + +There was no lack of axes, clubs, sickles, brazen spears, heavy staves, +slings, the shepherds' weapons of defence against the wild beasts of the +desert, or bows and arrows, and as soon as a goodly number of strong men +had joined him, Hur fell upon the Egyptian overseers who were watching +the labor of several hundred Hebrew slaves. Shouting: "They are coming! +Down with the oppressors! The Lord our God is our leader!" they rushed +upon the Lybian warders, put them to rout, and released their fellows who +were digging the earth, and laying bricks. As soon as the illustrious +Naashon had pressed one of the oldest of these hapless men like a brother +to his heart, the other liberated bondsmen had flung themselves into the +shepherds' arms and thus, still shouting: "They are coming!" and "The +Lord, the God of our fathers, is our leader!" they pressed forward in an +increasing multitude. When at last the little band of shepherds had +grown to a body of several thousand men, Hur led them against the +Egyptian soldiers, whom they largely outnumbered. + +The Egyptian bowmen had already discharged a shower of arrows, and stones +hurled from the slings of the powerful shepherds had dealt fatal wounds +in the front ranks of the foe, when the blast of a trumpet rang out, +summoning the garrison of the fortress behind the sloping walls and solid +door. The Hebrews seemed to the commander too superior a force to fight, +but duty required him to hold the fort until the arrival of the +reinforcements he had requested. + +Hur, however, had not been satisfied with his first victory. Success had +kindled the courage of his followers, as a sharp gust of wind fans a +smouldering fire, and wherever an Egyptian showed himself on the +battlements of the store-house, the round stone from a shepherd's sling +struck heavily upon him. At Naashon's bidding ladders had been brought +and, in the twinkling of an eye, hundreds climbed up the building from +every direction and, after a short, bloodless struggle, the granaries +fell into the Hebrews' hands, though the Egyptians had succeeded in still +retaining the fort. During the passage of these events the desert wind +had subsided. Some of the liberated bondsmen, furious with rage, had +heaped straw, wood, and faggots against the gate of the courtyard into +which the Egyptians had been forced. It would have been a light task for +the assailants to destroy every one of their foes by fire; but Hur, +Naashon, and other prudent leaders had not suffered this to be done, lest +the provisions still in the store-rooms should be burned. + +It had been no easy matter, in truth, to deter the younger of the ill- +treated bondsmen from this act of vengeance; but each one was a member of +some family, and when Hur's admonitions were supported by those of the +fathers and mothers, they not only allowed themselves to be pacified, but +aided the elders to distribute the contents of the magazines among the +heads of families and pack them on the beasts of burden and into the +carts which were to accompany the fugitives. + +The work went forward amid the broad glare of torches, and became a new +festival; for neither Hur, Naashon, nor Eleasar could prevent the men and +women from opening the wine-jars and skins. They succeeded, however, in +preserving the lion's share of the precious booty for a time of need, and +thus averted much drunkenness, though the spirit of the grape-juice and +the pleasure in obtaining so rich a prize doubtless enhanced the grateful +excitement of the throng. When Eleasar finally went among them for the +second time to tell them of the Promised Land, men and women listened +with uplifted hearts, and joined in the hymn Miriam began to sing. + +Devout enthusiasm now took possession of every heart in Succoth, as it +had done in Tanis during the hour that preceded the exodus, and when +seventy Hebrew men and women, who had concealed themselves in the temple +of Turn, heard the jubilant hymn, they came forth into the open air, +joined the others, and packed their possessions with as much glad +hopefulness and warm trust in the God of their fathers, as if they had +never shrunk from the departure. + +As the stars sank lower in the heavens, the joyous excitement increased. +Men and women thronged the road to Tanis to meet their approaching +kindred. Many a father led his boy by the hand, and many a mother +carried her child in her arms; the multitude drawing near contained +numerous beloved relatives to be greeted, and the coming dawn could not +fail to bring solemn hours of which one would wish no beloved heart to be +deprived, and which would linger in the souls of the little ones till +they themselves had children and grandchildren. + +No bed in tent, hovel, or house was occupied; for everywhere the final +packing was going on. The throng of workers at the granaries had +lessened; most of them were now supplied with as much food as they could +carry. + +Men and women equipped for travelling lay around fires hurriedly lighted +in front of many tents and houses, and in the larger farms shepherds were +driving the cattle and slaughtering the oxen and sheep which were unable +to go with the people. The blows of axes and hammers and the creaking of +saws were heard in front of many a house; for litters to transport the +sick and feeble must be made. Carts and wains were still to be loaded, +and the heads of families had a hard task with the women; for a woman's +heart often clings more closely to things apparently worthless than to +those of the greatest value. When the weaver Rebecca was more eager to +find room in the cart for the rude cradle in which her darling had died, +than for the beautiful ebony chest inlaid with ivory an Egyptian had +pawned to her husband, who could blame her? + +Light shone from all the window openings and tent doors, while from the +roofs of the largest houses the blaze of torches or lanterns greeted the +approaching Hebrews. + +At the banquet served on the night of the harvest festival, no table had +lacked a roast lamb; during this hour of waiting the housewife offered +her family what she could. + +The narrow streets of the humble little town were full of active life, +and never had the setting stars shone upon features so cheerful, eyes +sparkling so brightly with enthusiasm, and faces so transfigured by hope +and devout piety. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +When morning dawned, all who had not gone down to meet the fugitives who +were to make their first long halt here, had assembled on the roof of one +of the largest houses in Succoth. + +One after another fleet-footed man or boy, hurrying in advance of the +rest, had reached Succoth. Amminadab's house was the goal sought by the +majority. It consisted of two buildings, one occupied by Naashon, the +owner's son, and his family, the other, a larger dwelling, which +sheltered, besides the grey-haired owner and his wife, his son-in-law +Aaron with his wife, children, and grand-children, and Miriam. The aged +leader of his tribe, who had assigned the duties of his position to his +son Naashon, extended his hand to every messenger and listened to his +story with sparkling eyes, often dimmed by tears. He had induced his old +wife to sit in the armchair in which she was to be carried after the +people, that she might become accustomed to it, and for the same reason +he now occupied his own. + +When the old dame heard the messengers boast that the fair future +promised to the people was now close at hand, her eyes often sought her +husband, and she exclaimed: "Yes, Moses!" for she held her son-in-law's +brother in high esteem, and rejoiced to see his prophecy fulfilled. The +old people were proud of Aaron, too; but all their love was lavished upon +Eleasar, their grandson, whom they beheld growing up into a second Moses. +Miriam had been for some time a new and welcome member of the household. +True, the warm-hearted old couple's liking for the grave maiden had not +increased to parental tenderness, and their daughter Elisheba, Aaron's +active wife, had no greater inclination to share the cares of the large +family with the prophetess than her son Naashon's spouse, who, moreover, +dwelt with her immediate family under her own roof. Yet the old people +owed Miriam a debt of gratitude for the care she bestowed upon their +granddaughter Milcah, the daughter of Aaron and Elisheba, whom a great +misfortune had transformed from a merry-hearted child into a melancholy +woman, whose heart seemed dead to every joy. + +A few days after her marriage to a beloved husband the latter, carried +away by passion, had raised his hand against an Egyptian tax-gatherer, +who, while Pharaoh was passing through Succoth toward the east, had +attempted to drive off a herd of his finest cattle for "the kitchen of +the lord of both worlds." For this act of self-defence the hapless man +had been conveyed to the mines as a prisoner of state, and every one knew +that the convicts there perished, soul and body, from torturing labor far +beyond their strength. Through the influence of old Nun, Hosea's father, +the wife and relatives of the condemned man had been saved from sharing +his punishment, as the law prescribed. But Milcah languished under the +blow, and the only person who could rouse the pale, silent woman from +brooding over her grief was Miriam. The desolate heart clung to the +prophetess, and she accompanied her when she practised in the huts of the +poor the medical skill she had learned and took them medicines and alms. + +The last messengers Amninadab and his wife received on the roof described +the hardships of the journey and the misery they had witnessed in dark +hues; but if one, more tender-hearted than the rest, broke into +lamentations over the sufferings endured by the women and children during +the prevalence of the desert wind, and recalling the worst horrors +impressed upon his memory, uttered mournful predictions for the future, +the old man spoke cheering words, telling him of the omnipotence of God, +and how custom would inure one to hardship. His wrinkled features +expressed firm confidence, while one could read in Miriam's beautiful, +yet stern countenance, little of the courageous hope, which youth is wont +to possess in a far higher degree than age. + +During the arrival and departure of the messengers she did not quit the +old couple's side, leaving to her sister-in-law Elisheba and her servants +the duty of offering refreshments to the wearied men. She herself +listened intently, with panting breath, but what she heard seemed to +awaken her anxiety; for she knew that no one came to the house which +sheltered Aaron save those who were adherents of her brothers, the +leaders of the people. If such men's blitheness was already waning, +what must the outlook be to the lukewarm and refractory! + +She rarely added a question of her own to those asked by the old man and, +when she did so, the messengers who heard her voice for the first time +looked at her in surprise; though musical, the tones were unusually deep. + +After several messengers, in reply to her inquiries, declared that Hosea, +the son of Nun, had not come with the others, her head drooped and she +asked nothing more, till pallid Milcah, who followed her everywhere, +raised her dark eyes beseechingly and murmured the name of Reuben, her +captive husband. The prophetess kissed the poor desolate wife's +forehead, glanced at her as if she had neglected her in some way, and +then questioned the messengers with urgent eagerness concerning their +news of Reuben, who had been dragged to the mines. One only had learned +from a released prisoner that Milcah's husband was living in the copper +mines of the province of Bech, in the neighborhood of Mt. Sinai, and +Miriam seized upon these tidings to assure Milcah, with great vivacity +and warmth, that if the tribes moved eastward they would surely pass the +mines and release the Hebrews imprisoned there. + +These were welcome words, and Milcah, who nestled to her comforter's +breast, would gladly have heard more; but great restlessness had seized +upon the people gazing into the distance from the roof of Amminadab's +house; a dense cloud of dust was approaching from the north, and soon +after a strange murmur arose, then a loud uproar, and finally shouts and +cries from thousands of voices, lowing, neighing, and bleating, such as +none of the listeners had ever heard,--and then on surged the many-limbed +and many-voiced multitude, the endless stream of human beings and herds, +which the astrologer's grandson on the observatory of the temple at Tanis +had mistaken for the serpent of the nether-world. + +Now, too, in the light of early dawn, it might easily have been imagined +a host of bodiless spirits driven forth from the realms of the dead; for +a whitish-grey column of dust extending to the blue vault of heaven moved +before it, and the vast whole, with its many parts and voices, veiled by +the clouds of sand, had the appearance of a single form. Often, however, +a metal spear-head or a brazen kettle, smitten by a sunbeam, flashed +brightly, and individual voices, shouting loudly, fell upon the ear. + +The foremost billows of the flood had now reached Amminadab's house, +before which pasture lands extended as far as the eye could reach. + +Words of command rang on the air, the procession halted, dispersing as a +mountain lake overflows in spring, sending rivulets and streams hither +and thither; but the various small runlets speedily united, taking +possession of broad patches of the dewy pastures, and wherever such +portions of the torrent of human beings and animals rested, the shroud of +dust which had concealed them disappeared. + +The road remained hidden by the cloud a long time, but on the meadows the +morning sunlight shone upon men, women, and children, cattle and donkeys, +sheep and goats, and soon tent after tent was pitched on the green sward +in front of the dwellings of Amminadab and Naashon, herds were surrounded +by pens, stakes and posts were driven into the hard ground, awnings were +stretched, cows were fastened to ropes, cattle and sheep were led to +water, fires were lighted, and long lines of women, balancing jars on +their heads, with their slender, beautifully curved arms, went to the +well behind the old sycamore or to the side of the neighboring canal. + +This morning, as on every other working-day, a pied ox with a large hump +was turning the wheel that raised the water. It watered the land, though +the owner of the cattle intended to leave it on the morrow; but the slave +who drove it had no thought beyond the present and, as no one forbade +him, moistened as he was wont the grass for the foe into whose hands it +was to fall. + +Hours elapsed ere the advancing multitude reached the camp, and Miriam +who stood describing to Amminadab, whose eyes were no longer keen enough +to discern distant objects, what was passing below, witnessed many an +incident from which she would fain have averted her gaze. + +She dared not frankly tell the old man what she beheld, it would have +clouded his joyous hope. + +Relying, with all the might of an inspired soul upon the God of her +fathers and his omnipotence, she had but yesterday fully shared +Amminadab's confidence; but the Lord had bestowed upon her spirit the +fatal gift of seeing things and hearing words incomprehensible to all +other human beings. Usually she distinguished them in dreams, but they +often came to her also in solitary hours, when she was deeply absorbed by +thoughts of the past or the future. + +The words Ephraim had announced to Hosea in her name, as a message from +the Most High, had been uttered by unseen lips while she was thinking +under the sycamore of the exodus and the man whom she had loved from her +childhood--and when that day, between midnight and morning, she again sat +beneath the venerable tree and was overpowered by weariness, she had +believed she heard the same voice. The words had vanished from her +memory when she awoke, but she knew that their purport had been sorrowful +and of ill omen. + +Spite of the vagueness of the monition, it disturbed her, and the +outcries rising from the pastures certainly were not evoked by joy that +the people had joined her brothers and the first goal of their wanderings +had been successfully gained, as the old man at her side supposed; no, +they were the furious shouts of wrathful, undisciplined men, wrangling +and fighting with fierce hostility on the meadow for a good place to +pitch their tents or the best spot at the wells or on the brink of the +canals to water their cattle. + +Wrath, disappointment, despair echoed in the shouts, and when her gaze +sought the point whence they rose loudest, she saw the corpse of a woman +borne on a piece of tent-cloth by railing bondmen and a pale, death- +stricken infant held on the arm of a half naked, frantic man, its father, +who shook his disengaged hand in menace toward the spot where she saw her +brothers. + +The next moment she beheld a grey-haired old man, bowed by heavy toil, +raise his fist against Moses. He would have struck him, had he not been +dragged away by others. + +She could not bear to stay longer on the roof. Pale and panting for +breath, she hurried to the camp. Milcah followed, and wherever they +encountered people who lived in Succoth, they received respectful +greetings. + +The new comers from Zoan,--as the Hebrews called Tanis,--Pha-kos, and +Bubastis, whom they met on the way, did not know Miriam, yet the tall +figure and stately dignity of the prophetess led them also to make way +respectfully or pause to answer her questions. + +The things she learned were evil and heart-rending; for joyously as the +procession had marched forward on the first day, it dragged along sadly +and hopelessly on the second. The desert wind had robbed many of the +strong of their power of resistance and energy; others, like the +bondman's wife and nursling, had been attacked by fever on the pilgrimage +through the dust and the oppressive heat of the day, and they pointed out +to her the procession which was approaching the burial-place of the +Hebrews of Succoth. Those who were being conveyed to the bourn whence +there is no return were not only women and children, or those who had +been brought from their homes ill, that they might not be left behind, +but also men who were in robust health the day before and had broken down +under burdens too heavy for their strength, or who had recklessly exposed +themselves, while working, to the beams of the noon-day sun. + +In one tent, where a young mother was shaking with the chill of a severe +attack of fever, Miriam asked the pallid Milcah to bring her medicine +chest, and the desolate wife went on her errand with joyous alacrity. +On the way she stopped many and timidly asked about her captive husband, +but could obtain no news of him. Miriam, however, heard from Nun, +Hosea's father, that Eliab, the freedman whom he had left behind, had +informed him that his son would be ready to join his people. She also +learned that the wounded Ephraim had found shelter in his uncle's tent. + +Was the lad's illness serious, or what other cause detained Hosea in +Tanis? These questions filled Miriam's heart with fresh anxiety, yet +with rare energy she nevertheless lavished help and comfort wherever she +went. + +Old Nun's cordial greeting had cheered her, and a more vigorous, kind, +and lovable old man could not be imagined. + +The mere sight of his venerable head, with its thick snow-white hair and +beard, his regular features, and eyes sparkling with the fire of youth, +was a pleasure to her, and as, in his vivacious, winning manner, he +expressed his joy at meeting her again, as he drew her to his heart and +kissed her brow, after she had told him that, in the name of the Most +High, she had called Hosea "Joshua" and summoned him back to his people +that he might command their forces, she felt as if she had found in him +some compensation for her dead father's loss, and devoted herself with +fresh vigor to the arduous duties which everywhere demanded her +attention. + +And it was no trivial matter for the high-souled maiden to devote +herself, with sweet self-sacrifice, to those whose roughness and uncouth +manners wounded her. The women, it is true, gladly accepted her aid, but +the men, who had grown up under the rod of the overseer, knew neither +reserve nor consideration. Their natures were as rude as their persons +and when, as soon as they learned her name, they began to assail her with +harsh reproaches, asserting that her brother had lured them from an +endurable situation to plunge them into the most horrible position, when +she heard imprecations and blasphemy, and saw the furious wrath of the +black eyes that flashed in the brown faces framed by masses of tangled +hair and beards, her heart failed her. + +But she succeeded in mastering dread and aversion, and though her heart +throbbed violently, and she expected to meet the worst, she reminded +those who were repulsive to her and from whom her woman's weakness urged +her to flee, of the God of their fathers and His promises. + +She now thought she knew what the sorrowful warning voice under the +sycamore had portended, and beside the couch of the young dying mother +she raised her hands and heart to Heaven and took an oath unto the Most +High that she would exert every power of her being to battle against the +faint-hearted lack of faith and rude obstinacy, which threatened to +plunge the people into sore perils. Jehovah had promised them the +fairest future and they must not be robbed of it by the short-sightedness +and defiance of a few deluded individuals; but God himself could scarcely +be wroth with those who, content if their bodily wants were satisfied, +had unresistingly borne insults and blows like cattle. The multitude +even now did not realize that they must pass through the darkness of +misery to be worthy of the bright day that awaited them. + +The medicines administered by Miriam seemed to relieve the sufferer, and +filled with fresh confidence, she left the tent to seek her brothers. + +There had been little change in the state of affairs in the camp, and she +again beheld scenes from which she recoiled and which made her regret +that the sensitive Milcah was her companion. + +Some rascally bondmen who had seized cattle and utensils belonging to +others had been bound to a palmtree, and the ravens that followed the +procession; and had found ample sustenance on the way, now croaked +greedily around the quickly established place of execution. + +No one knew who had been judge or executioner of the sentence; but those +who took part in the swift retribution considered it well justified, and +rejoiced in the deed. + +With rapid steps and averted head Miriam drew the trembling Milcah on and +gave her to the care of her uncle Naashon to lead home. The latter had +just parted from the man who with him ruled the sons of Judah as a prince +of the tribe--Hur, who at the head of the shepherds had won the first +victory against the Egyptians, and who now led to the maiden with joyful +pride a man and a boy, his son and grandson. Both had been in the +service of the Egyptians, practising the trade of goldsmith and worker in +metals for Pharaoh at Memphis. The former's skill had won him the name +of Uri, which in Egyptian means 'great', and this artificer's son +Bezaleel, Hur's grandson, though scarcely beyond boyhood, was reputed to +surpass his father in the gifts of genius. + +Hur gazed with justifiable pride at son and grandson; for though both had +attained much consideration among the Egyptians they had followed their +father's messenger without demur, leaving behind them many who were dear +to their hearts, and the property gained in Memphis, to join their +wandering nation and share its uncertain destiny. + +Miriam greeted the new arrivals with the utmost warmth, and the men who, +representing three generations, stood before her, presented a picture on +which the eyes of any well-disposed person could not fail to rest with +pleasure. + +The grandfather was approaching his sixtieth year, and though many +threads of silver mingled with his ebon-black hair, he held himself as +erect as a youth, while his thin, sharply-cut features expressed the +unyielding determination, which explained his son's and grandson's prompt +obedience to his will. + +Uri, too, was a stately man, and Bezaleel a youth who showed that he had +industriously utilized his nineteen years and already attained an +independent position. His artist eye sparkled with special brilliancy, +and after he and his father had taken leave of Miriam to greet Caleb, +their grandfather and great-grandfather, she heartily congratulated the +man who was one of her brother's most loyal friends, upon such scions of +his noble race. + +Hur seized her hand and, with a warmth of emotion gushing from a grateful +heart that was by no means usual to the stern, imperious nature of this +chief of an unruly shepherd tribe, exclaimed: + +"Ay, they have remained good, true, and obedient. God has guarded them +and prepared this day of happiness for me. Now it depends on you to make +it the fairest of all festivals. You must have long perceived that my +eyes have followed you and that you have been dear to my heart. To work +for our people and their welfare is my highest aim as a man, yours as a +woman, and that is a strong bond. But I desired to have a still firmer +one unite us, and since your parents are dead, and I cannot go with the +bridal dower to Amram, to buy you from him, I now bring my suit to you in +person, high-souled maiden. But ere you say yes or no, you should learn +that my son and grandson are ready to pay you the same honor as head of +our household that they render me, and your brothers willingly permitted +me to approach you as a suitor." + +Miriam had listened to this offer in silent surprise. She had a high +esteem and warm regard for the man who so fervently desired her love. +Spite of his age, he stood before her in the full flush of manhood and +stately dignity, and the beseeching expression of eyes whose glance was +wont to be so imperious and steadfast stirred the inmost depths of her +soul. + +She, however, was waiting with ardent longing for another, so her sole +answer was a troubled shake of the head. + +But this man of mature years, a prince of his tribe, who was accustomed +to carry his plans persistently into execution, undeterred by her mute +refusal, continued even more warmly than before. + +"Do not destroy in one short moment the yearning repressed with so much +difficulty for years! Do you object to my age?" + +Miriam shook her head a second time, but Hur went on: + +"That was the source of my anxiety, though I can still vie with many a +younger man in vigor. But, if you can overlook your lover's grey hairs, +perhaps you may be induced to weigh the words he now utters. Of the +faith and devotion of my soul I will say nothing. No man of my years +woos a woman, unless his heart's strong impulse urges him on. But there +is something else which, meseems, is of equal import. I said that I +would lead you to my house. Yonder it stands, a building firm and +spacious enough; but from to-morrow a tent will be our home, the camp +our dwelling-place, and there will be wild work enough within its bounds. +No one is secure, not even of life, least of all a woman, however strong +she may be, who has made common cause with those against whom thousands +murmur. Your parents are dead, your brothers might protect you, but +should the people lay hands on them, the same stones on which you cross +the stream would drag you down into the depths with them." + +"And were I your wife, you also," replied Miriam, her thick eye-brows +contracting in a heavy frown. + +"I will take the risk," Hur answered. "The destinies of all are in God's +hands, my faith is as firm as yours, and behind me stands the tribe of +Judah, who follow me and Naashon as the sheep follow the shepherds. Old +Nun and the Ephraimites are with us, and should matters come to the +worst, it would mean perishing according to God's will, or in faithful +union, power, and prosperity, awaiting old age in the Promised Land." + +Miriam fearlessly gazed full into his stern eyes, laid her hand on his +arm, and answered: "Those words are worthy of the man whom I have honored +from childhood, and who has reared such sons; but I cannot be your wife." + +"You cannot?" + +"No, my lord, I cannot." + +"A hard sentence, but it must suffice," replied the other, his head +drooping in sorrow; but Miriam exclaimed: + +"Nay, Hur, you have a right to ask the cause of my refusal, and because I +honor you, I owe you the truth. Another man of our race reigns in my +heart. He met me for the first time when I was still a child. Like your +son and grandson, he has lived among the Egyptians, but the summons of +our God and of his father reached him as did the message to your sons, +and like Uri and Bezaleel, he showed himself obedient. If he still +desires to wed me, I shall become his wife, if it is the will of the God +whom I serve, and who shows me the favor of suffering me to hear his +voice. But I shall think of you with gratitude forever." + +Her large eyes had been glittering through tears as she uttered the +words, and there was a tremor in the grey-haired lover's voice as he +asked in hesitating, embarrassed tones: + +"And if the man for whom you are waiting--I do not ask his name--shuts +his ears to the call that has reached him, if he declines to share the +uncertain destiny of his people?" + +"That will never happen!" Miriam interrupted, a chill creeping through +her veins, but Hur exclaimed: + +"There is no 'never,' no 'surely,' save with God. If, spite of your firm +faith, the result should be different from your expectations, will you +resign to the Lord the wish which began to stir in your heart, when you +were still a foolish child?" + +"He who has guided me until now will show me the right way." + +"Well then," replied Hur, "put your trust in Him, and if the man of your +choice is worthy of you, and becomes your lord, my soul will rejoice +without envy when the Most High blesses your union. But if God wills +otherwise, and you need a strong arm for your support, I am here. The +tent and the heart of Hur will ever be open to you." + +With these words he turned away; but Miriam gazed thoughtfully after him +as long as the old chief's stately figure was visible. + +At last, still pondering, she moved toward her host's house, but at the +road leading to Tanis, she paused and gazed northward. The dust had +subsided, and she could see a long distance, but the one person whom it +was to lead back to her and to his people did not appear. Sighing sadly, +she moved onward with drooping head, and started violently when her +brother Moses' deep voice called to her from the old sycamore. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Aaron and Eleasar, with fiery eloquence, had reminded the murmuring, +disheartened people of the power and promises of their God. Whoever had +stretched his limbs undisturbed to comfortable rest, whoever had been +strengthened by food and drink regained the confidence that had been +lost. The liberated bondmen were told of the hard labor and dishonoring +blows which they had escaped and admonished that they must recognize as +God's dispensation, among other things, that Pharaoh had not pursued +them; but the rich booty still found in the plundered storehouse had no +small share in the revival of their drooping courage, and the bondmen and +lepers--for many of the latter had accompanied them and rested outside +the camp--in short, all for whose support Pharaoh had provided, saw +themselves safe for a long time from care and privation. Yet there was +no lack of malcontents, and here and there, though no one knew who +instigated the question, loud discussion arose whether it would not be +more advisable to return to Pharaoh and rely on his favor. Whoever +raised it, did the work secretly, and was often compelled to submit to +sharp, threatening retorts. + +Miriam had talked with her brothers and shared the heavy anxieties that +oppressed them. Why had the desert wind so speedily destroyed the +courage of the people during their brief pilgrimage? How impatient, how +weak in faith, how rebellious they had showed themselves at the first +obstacle they had encountered, how uncontrollable they had been in +following their fierce impulses. When summoned to prayer just before +sunrise during their journey, some had turned toward the day-star rising +in the east, others had taken out a small idol they had brought with +them, and others still had uplifted their eyes to the Nile acacia, which +in some provinces of Egypt was regarded as a sacred tree. What did they +know of the God who had commanded them to cast so much behind them and +take upon themselves such heavy burdens? Even now many were despairing, +though they had confronted no serious dangers; for Moses had intended to +lead the Hebrews in Succoth over the road to Philistia direct to the +Promised Land in Palestine, but the conduct of the people forced him to +resign this plan and form another. + +To reach the great highway connecting Asia and Africa it was necessary to +cross the isthmus, which rather divided than united the two continents; +for it was most thoroughly guarded from intruders and, partly by natural, +partly by artificial obstacles, barred the path of every fugitive; a +series of deep lakes rolled their waves upon its soil, and where these +did not stay the march of the travelers strong fortifications, garrisoned +by trained Egyptian troops, rose before them. + +This chain of forts was called Chetam--or in the Hebrew tongue--Etham, +and wayfarers leaving Succoth would reach the nearest and strongest of +these forts in a few hours. + +When the tribes, full of enthusiasm for their God, and ready for the most +arduous enterprises, shook off their chains and, exulting in their new +liberty, rushed forward to the Promised Land Moses, and with him the +majority of the elders, had believed that, like a mountain torrent, +bursting dams and sluices, they would destroy and overthrow everything +that ventured to oppose their progress. With these enthusiastic masses, +to whom bold advance would secure the highest good, and timid hesitation +could bring nothing save death and ruin, they had expected to rush over +the Etham line as if it were a pile of faggots. But now since a short +chain of difficulties and suffering had stifled the fire of their souls, +now that wherever the eye turned, there were two calm and five +dissatisfied or anxious individuals to one upheld by joyous anticipation, +to storm the Etham line would have cost rivers of blood and moreover +jeopardized all that had been already gained. + +The overpowering of the little garrison in the storehouse of Pithom had +occurred under specially favorable circumstances, which could hardly be +expected to happen again, so the original plan must be changed, and an +attempt made to take a circuit around the fortifications. Instead of +moving toward the northeast, the tribes must turn southward. + +But, ere carrying this plan into execution, Moses, accompanied by a few +trusty men, desired to examine the new route and ascertain whether it +would be passable for the great wandering people. + +These matters were discussed under the great sycamore in front of +Amminadab's house, and Miriam was present, a mute witness. + +Women,--even those like herself,--were forced to keep silence when men +were holding counsel; yet it was hard for her to remain speechless when +it was decided to abstain from attacking the forts, even should the +trained warrior, Hosea, whom God Himself had chosen to be his sword, +return to his people. + +"What avails the best leader, if there is no army to obey him?" Naashon, +Amminadab's son, had exclaimed, and the others shared his opinion. + +When the council finally broke up, Moses took leave of his sister with +fraternal affection. She knew that he was in the act of plunging into +fresh dangers and--in the modest manner in which she was always wont to +accost the brother who so far surpassed all others in every gift of mind +and body,--expressed her anxiety. He looked into her eyes with friendly +reproach and raised his right hand toward heaven; but she understood his +meaning, and kissing his hand with grateful warmth, replied: + +"You stand under the protection of the Most High, and I fear no longer." + +Pressing his lips upon her brow, he bade her give him a tablet, wrote a +few words on it, flung it into the hollow trunk of the sycamore, and said: + +"For Hosea, no, for Joshua, the son of Nun, if he comes while I am +absent. The Lord has great deeds for him to accomplish, when he learns +to expect loftier things from the Most High than from the mighty ones of +earth." + +With these words he left her; but Aaron who, as the oldest, was the head +of her tribe, lingered and told her that a man of worth sought her hand. +Miriam, with blanching face, replied: + +"I know it......" + +He looked at her in surprise and with earnest monition, added: + +"As you choose; yet it will be wise to consider this. Your heart belongs +to your God and to your people, and the man whom you wed must be ready, +like yourself, to serve both; for two must be one in marriage, and if the +highest aim of one is not also that of the other, they will remain two +till the end. The voice of the senses, which drew them together, will +soon be mute and nothing will be left to them save discord." + +Having said this, he went away, and she, too, was preparing to leave the +others; for on the eve of departure she might be needed in the house +whose hospitality she enjoyed. But a new incident detained her, as +though bound with fetters, under the sycamore. + +What cared she for the packing of perishable wares and providing for +bodily needs, when affairs which occupied her whole soul were under +discussion! Elisheba, Naashon's wife, any housekeeper and faithful slave +could attend to the former wants. Higher things were to be determined +here--the weal or woe of her people. + +Several men of distinction in the tribes had joined the elders under the +sycamore; but Hur had already departed with Moses. + +Uri, the son of the former, now appeared beneath the ancient tree. The +worker in metals, who had just come from Egypt, had talked in Memphis +with persons who were near to the king and learned that Pharaoh was ready +to remove great burdens from the Hebrews and grant them new favors, if +Moses would render the God whom he served propitious to him and induce +the people to return after they had offered sacrifices in the wilderness. +Therefore it would be advisable to send envoys to Tanis and enter into +negotiations with the Sublime Porte. + +These proposals, which Uri had not yet ventured to moot to his father, +he, with good intentions, brought before the assembled elders; he hoped +that their acceptance might spare the people great suffering. But +scarcely had he concluded his clear and convincing speech, when old Nun, +Hosea's father, who had with difficulty held his feelings in check, broke +in. + +The old man's face, usually so cheerful, glowed with wrath, and its fiery +hue formed a strange contrast to the thick white locks which framed it. +A few hours before he had heard Moses repel similar propositions with +harsh decision and crushing reasons; now he had heard them again brought. +forward and noted many a gesture of assent among the listeners, and saw +the whole great enterprise imperilled, the enterprise for whose success +he had himself risked and sacrificed more than any other man. + +This was too much for the active old man who, with flashing eyes and hand +upraised in menace, burst forth "What do you mean? Are we to pick up the +ends of the rope the Lord our God has severed? Do you counsel us to +fasten it anew, with a looser knot, which will hold as long as the whim +of a vacillating weakling who has broken his promises to us and to Moses +a score of times? Do you wish to lead us back to the cage whence the +Almighty released us by a miracle? Are we to treat the Lord our God like +a bad debtor and prefer the spurious gold ring we are offered to the +royal treasures He promises? Oh, messenger from the Egyptians-- +I would . . . ." + +Here the hot-blooded grey-beard raised his clenched fist in menace but, +ere he had uttered the threat that hovered on his lips, he let his arm +fall; for Gabriel, the oldest member of the tribe of Zebulun, shouted: + +"Remember your own son, who is to-day among the foes of his people." + +The words struck home; yet they only dimmed the fiery old man's glad +self-reliance a moment and, amid the voices uttering disapproval of the +malicious Gabriel and the few who upheld the Zebulunite, he cried: + +"And because I am perhaps in danger of losing, not only the ten thousand +acres of land I flung behind me, but a noble son, it is my right to speak +here." + +His broad chest heaved with his labored breathing and his eyes, shadowed +by thick white brows, rested with a milder expression on the son of Hur, +whose face had paled at his vehement words, as he continued: + +"Uri is a good and dutiful son to his father and has also been obliged to +make great sacrifices in leaving the place where his work was so much +praised and his own house in Memphis. The blessing of the Most High will +not fail him. But for the very reason that he has hitherto obeyed the +command, he must not now seek to destroy what we have commenced under the +guidance of the Most High. To you, Gabriel, I answer that my son +probably will not tarry among our foes, but obedient to my summons, +will join us, like Uri, the first-born of Hur. What still detains him is +doubtless some important matter of which Hosea will have as little cause +to be ashamed as I, his father. I know and trust him, and whoever +expects aught else will sooner or later, by my son's course of action, +be proved a liar." + +Here he paused to push his white hair back from his burning brow and, +as no one contradicted him, he turned to the worker in metals, and added +with cordial friendliness: + +"What angered me, Uri, was certainly not your purpose. That is a good +one; but you have measured the greatness and majesty of the God of our +fathers by the standard of the false gods of the Egyptians, who die and +rise again and, as Aaron has just said, represent only minor attributes +of Him who is in all and transcends everything. To serve God, until +Moses taught me a better counsel, I deemed meant to sacrifice an ox, a +lamb, or a goose upon the altar like the Egyptians; but your eyes, as +befell me through Moses, will not be opened to Him who rules the world +and has made us His people, until, like me, you, and all of us, and +probably my son also, shall each have kindled in his own breast the +sacrificial fire which never goes out and consumes everything that does +not relate to Him in love and loyalty, faith and reverence. Through +Moses, His servant, God has promised us the greatest blessings-- +deliverance from bondage, the privilege of ruling on our own land as free +men in a beautiful country, our own possession and the heritage of our +children. We are going forth to receive His gift, and whoever seeks to +stop us on our way, whoever urges us to turn and creep back into the net +whose brazen meshes we have burst, advises his people to run once more +like sheep into the fire from which they have escaped. I am not angry +with you; your face shows that you perceive how foolishly you have erred; +but all ye who are here must know that I heard only a few hours ago from +Moses' own lips these words: 'Whoever counsels return and the making of +covenants with the Egyptians, I will denounce as a scorner of Jehovah our +God, and the destroyer and worst foe of his people!'" + +Uri went to the old man, gave him his hand, and deeply convinced of the +justice of his reproaches, exclaimed: "No treaty, no covenant with the +Egyptians! I am grateful to you, Nun, for opening my eyes. To me, also, +the hour will doubtless come in which you, or some one who stands nearer +to Him than I, will teach me to know your God, who is also mine." + +As he ceased speaking, he went away with Nun, who put his arm around his +shoulders; but Miriam had listened breathlessly to Uri's last words, and +as he expressed a desire to know the God of his people, her eyes had +sparkled with the light of enthusiasm. She felt that her soul was filled +with the greatness of the Most High and that she had the gift of speech +to make another familiar with the knowledge she herself possessed. But +this time also custom required her to keep silence. Her heart ached, and +as she again moved among the multitude and convinced herself that Hosea +had not yet come, she went home, as twilight was beginning to gather, and +joined the others on the roof. + +No one there appeared to have missed her, not even poor melancholy +Milcah, and she felt unutterably lonely in this house. + +If Hosea would only come, if she might have a strong breast on which to +lean, if this sense of being a stranger in her own home, this useless +life beneath the roof she was obliged to call hers, though she never felt +thoroughly at home under it, would but cease. Moses and Aaron, too, had +gone away, taking Hur's grandson with them; but no one had deemed her, +who lived and breathed solely for her people and their welfare, worthy +to learn whither their journey led or what was its purpose. + +Why had the God to whom she devoted her whole life and being made her a +woman, yet given her the mind and soul of a man? + +She waited, as if to test whether any of the circle of kindly-natured +people to which she belonged really loved her, for some one of the elders +or the children to accost her; but Eleasar's little ones were pressing +around their grandparents, and she had never understood how to make +herself agreeable to children. Elisheba was directing the slaves who +were putting the finishing touches to the packing; Milcah sat with her +cat in her lap, gazing into vacancy. No one heeded or spoke to her. + +Bitter pain overpowered Miriam, and after she had shared the evening meal +with the others, and forced herself not to disturb by her own sorrowful +mood, the joyous excitement of the children, who looked forward to the +pilgrimage as a great pleasure, she longed to go out of doors. + +Closely veiled, she passed alone through the camp and what she beheld +there was certainly ill-suited to dispel the mood that oppressed her. +There was plenty of noise, and though sometimes devout hymns, full of joy +and hope, echoed on the air, she heard far more frequently savage +quarrelling and rebellious words. When her ear caught threats or +reproaches levelled against her noble brother, she quickened her pace, +but she could not escape her anxiety concerning what would happen at the +departure after sunrise on the morrow, should the malcontents obtain +supremacy. + +She knew that the people would be forced to press forward; but her dread +of Pharaoh's military power had never permitted her to be at peace--to +her it was as it were embodied in Hosea's heroic figure. If the Lord +Himself did not fight in the ranks of the wretched bondmen and shepherds +who were quarrelling and disputing around her, how were they to withstand +the well-trained and equipped hosts of the Egyptians, with their horses +and chariots? + +She had heard that guards had been posted in all parts of the camp, with +orders to sound the horn or strike the cymbal at the approach of the foe, +until the men had flocked to the spot whence the warning first echoed. + +She had long listened for such an alarm, yet how much more intently for +the hoof-beats of a single steed, the firm step and deep voice of the +warrior for whom she yearned. On his account she constantly returned to +the northern part of the camp which adjoined the road coming from Tanis +and where now, at Moses' bidding, the tents of most of the men capable of +bearing arms were pitched. Here she had hoped to find true confidence; +but as she listened to the talk of the armed soldiers who surrounded the +camp-fires in dense circles, she heard that Uri's proposal had reached +them also. Most of them were husbands and fathers, had left behind a +house, a bit of land, a business, or an office, and though many spoke of +the command of the Most High and the beautiful new home God had promised, +not a few were disposed to return. How gladly she would have gone among +these blinded mortals and exhorted them to obey with fresh faith and +confidence the command of the Lord and of her brother. But here, too, +she was forced to keep silence. She was permitted to listen only, and +she was most strongly attracted to the very places where she might expect +to hear rebellious words and proposals. + +There was a mysterious charm in this cruel excitement and she felt as if +she were deprived of something desirable when many a fire was +extinguished, the soldiers went to sleep, and conversation ceased. + +She now turned for the last time toward the road leading from Tanis; but +nothing was stirring there save the sentries pacing to and fro. + +She had not yet doubted Hosea's coming; for the summons she had sent to +him in the name of the Lord had undoubtedly reached him; but now that the +stars showed her it was past midnight, the thought came vividly before +her mind of the many years he had spent among the Egyptians, and that he +might perhaps deem it unworthy of a man to obey the call of a woman, +even if she uplifted her voice in the name of the Most High. She had +experienced humiliations enough that day, why should not this be decreed +also? + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Deeply disturbed and tortured by such thoughts, Miriam walked toward +Amminadab's house to seek repose; but just as she was in the act of +crossing the threshold, she paused and again listened for sounds coming +from the north. + +Hosea must arrive from that direction. + +But she heard nothing save the footsteps of a sentinel and the voice of +Hur, who was patrolling the camp with a body of armed men. + +He, too, had been unable to stay in the house. + +The night was mild and starry, the time seemed just suited for dreams +under the sycamore. Her bench beneath the venerable tree was empty, and +with drooping head she approached the beloved resting-place, which she +must leave forever on the morrow. + +But ere she had reached the spot so close at hand, she paused with her +figure drawn up to its full height and her hand pressed upon her +throbbing bosom. This time she was not mistaken, the beat of hoofs +echoed on the air, and it came from the north. + +Were Pharaoh's chariots approaching to attack the camp? Should she shout +to wake the warriors? Or could it be he whom she so longingly expected? +Yes, yes, yes! It was the tramp of a single steed, and must be a new +arrival; for there were loud voices in the tents, the dogs barked, and +shouts, questions, and answers came nearer and nearer with the rider. + +It was Hosea, she felt sure. His riding alone through the night, +released from the bonds that united him to Pharaoh and his comrades in +arms, was a sign of his obedience! Love had steeled his will and +quickened the pace of his steed, and the gratitude of answering +affection, the reward she could bestow, should be withheld no longer. +In her arms he should blissfully perceive that he had resigned great +possessions to obtain something still fairer and sweeter! She felt as +though the darkness around had suddenly brightened into broad day, as her +ear told her that the approaching horseman was riding straight toward the +house of her host Amminadab. She now knew that he was obeying her +summons, that he had come to find her. Hosea was seeking her ere he went +to his own father, who had found shelter in the big empty house of his +grandson, Ephraim. + +He would gladly have dashed toward her at the swiftest pace of his steed, +but it would not do to ride rapidly through the camp. Ah, how long the +time seemed ere she at last saw the horseman, ere he swung himself to the +ground, and his companion flung the reins of the horse to a man who +followed him. + +It was he, it was Hosea! + +But his companion--she had recognized him distinctly and shrank a little +--his companion was Hur, the man who a few hours before had sought her +for his wife. + +There stood her two suitors side by side in the starlight, illumined by +the glare of the pitch torches blazing beside the carts and household +utensils which had been packed for the morrow's journey. + +The tall figure of the elder Hebrew towered over the sinewy form of the +warrior, and the shepherd prince bore himself no whit less erect than the +Egyptian hero. Both voices sounded earnest and manly, yet her lover's +seemed to Miriam stronger and deeper. They had now advanced so near that +she could understand their conversation. + +Hur was telling the newcomer that Moses had gone on a reconnoitring +expedition, and Hosea was expressing his regret, because he had important +matters to discuss with him. + +Then he must set out with the tribes the next morning, Hur replied, for +Moses intended to join them on the way. + +Then he pointed to Amminadab's house, from which no ray of light gleamed +through the darkness, and asked Hosea to spend the remainder of the night +beneath his roof, as he probably would not wish yo disturb his aged +father at so late an hour. + +Miriam saw her friend hesitate and gaze intently up to the women's +apartments and the roof of her host's house. Knowing what he sought, she +could no longer resist the impulse of her heart, but stepped forth from +the shadow of the sycamore and gave Hosea a cordial and tender welcome. + +He, too, disdained to conceal the joy of his heart, and Hur stood beside +the reunited lovers, as they clasped each other's hands, and exchanged +greetings, at first mutely, then with warm words. + +"I knew you would come!" cried the maiden, and Hosea answered with +joyful emotion. + +"You might easily suppose so, oh Prophetess; for your own voice was among +those that summoned me here." + +Then in a calmer tone, he added: "I hoped to find your brother also; I am +the bearer of a message of grave import to him, to us, and to the people. +I see that you, too, are ready to depart and should grieve to behold the +comfort of your aged hosts destroyed by hasty acts that may yet be +needless." + +"What do you mean?" asked Hur, advancing a step nearer to the other. +"I mean," replied Hosea, "that if Moses persists in leading the tribes +eastward, much blood will flow uselessly to-morrow; for I learned at +Tanis that the garrison of Etham has been ordered to let no man pass, +still less the countless throng, whose magnitude surprised me as I rode +through the camp. I know Apu, who commands the fortifications and the +legions whom he leads. There would be a terrible, fruitless massacre of +our half-armed, untrained people, there would be--in short, I have urgent +business to discuss with Moses, urgent and immediate, to avert the +heaviest misfortune ere it is too late." + +"What you fear has not escaped our notice," replied Hur, "and it is in +order to guard against this peril that Moses has set forth on a dangerous +quest." + +"Whither?" asked Hosea. + +"That is the secret of the leaders of the tribes." + +"Of which my father is one." + +"Certainly; and I have already offered to take you to him. If he assumes +the responsibility of informing you ..." + +"Should he deem it a breach of duty, he will keep silence. Who is to +command the wandering hosts tomorrow?" + +"I." + +"You?" asked Hosea in astonishment, and Hur answered calmly: + +"You marvel at the audacity of the shepherd who ventures to lead an army; +but the Lord of all armies, to whom we trust our cause, is our leader; I +rely solely on His guidance." + +"And so do I," replied Hosea. "No one save the God through whom Miriam +summoned me to this spot, entrusted me--of that I am confident--with the +important message which brings me here. I must find Moses ere it is too +late." + +"You have already heard that he will be beyond the reach of any one, +myself included, until to-morrow, perhaps the day after. Will you speak +to Aaron?" + +"Is he in the camp?" + +"No; but we expect his return before the departure of the people, that is +in a few hours." + +"Has he the power to decide important matters in Moses' absence?" + +"No, he merely announces to the people in eloquent language what his +illustrious brother commands." + +The warrior bent his eyes with a disappointed expression on the ground, +and after a brief pause for reflection eagerly added, fixing his gaze on +Miriam: + +"It is Moses to whom the Lord our God announces his will; but to you, his +august maiden sister, the Most High also reveals himself, to you . . ." + +"Oh, Hosea!" interrupted the prophetess, extending her hands toward him +with a gesture of mingled entreaty and warning; but the chief, instead of +heeding her monition, went on: + +"The Lord our God hath commanded you to summon me, His servant, back to +the people; He hath commanded you to give me the name for which I am to +exchange the one my father and mother bestowed upon me, and which I have +borne in honor for thirty years. Obedient to your summons, I have cast +aside all that could make me great among men; but on my way through +Egypt,--bearing in my heart the image of my God and of you,--braving +death, the message I now have to deliver was entrusted to me, and I +believe that it came from the Most High Himself. It is my duty to convey +it to the leaders of the people; but as I am unable to find Moses, I can +confide it to no better one than you who, though only a woman, stand,-- +next to your brother--nearest to the Most High, so I implore you to +listen to me. The tidings I bring are not yet ripe for the ears of a +third person." + +Hur drew his figure to a still greater height and, interrupting Hosea, +asked Miriam whether she desired to hear the son of Nun without +witnesses; she answered with a quiet "yes." + +Then Hur turned haughtily and coldly to the warrior: + +"I think that Miriam knows the Lord's will, as well as her brother's, and +is aware of what beseems the women of Israel. If I am not mistaken, it +was under this tree that your own father, the worthy Nun, gave to my son +Uri the sole answer which Moses must also make to every bearer of a +message akin to yours." + +"Do you know it?" asked Hosea in a tone of curt reproof. + +"No," replied the other, "but I suspect its purport, and look here." + +While speaking he stooped with youthful agility and, raising two large +stones with his powerful arms, propped them against each other, rolled +several smaller ones to their sides, and then, with panting breath, +exclaimed: + +"Let this heap be a witness between me and thee, like the stones named +Mizpah which Jacob and Laban erected. And as the latter called upon the +Lord to watch between him and the other, so do I likewise. I point to +this heap that you may remember it, when we are parted one from the +other. I lay my hand upon these stones and bear witness that I, Hur, son +of Caleb and Ephrath, put my trust in no other than the Lord, the God of +our fathers, and am ready to obey His command, which calls us forth from +the kingdom of Pharaoh into a land which He promised to us. But of thee, +Hosea, son of Nun, I ask and the Lord our God hears thee: Dost thou, too, +expect no other help save from the God of Abraham, who has made thy race +His chosen people? And wilt thou also testify whether thou wilt ever +regard the Egyptians who oppressed us, and from whose bondage the Lord +our God delivered us, as the mortal foes of thy God and of thy race?" + +The warrior's bearded features quivered, and he longed to overthrow the +heap and answer the troublesome questioner with wrathful words, but +Miriam had laid her hand on the top of the pile of stones, and clasping +his right hand, exclaimed: + +"He is questioning you in the presence of our God and Lord, who is your +witness." + +Hosea succeeded in controlling his wrath, and pressing the maiden's hand +more closely, he answered earnestly: + +"He questions, but I may not answer; 'yea' or 'nay' will be of little +service here; but I, too, call God to witness, and before this heap you, +Miriam, but you alone, shall hear what I propose and for what purpose I +have come. Look, Hur! Like you I lay my hand upon this heap and bear +witness that I, Hosea, son of Nun, put my sole trust in the Lord and God +of our fathers. He stands as a witness between me and thee, and shall +decide whether my way is His, or that of an erring mortal. I will obey +His will, which He has made known to Moses and to this noble maiden. +This I swear by an oath whose witness is the Lord our God." + +Hur had listened intently and, impressed by the earnestness of the words, +now exclaimed: + +"The Lord our God has heard your vow and against your oath I, in the +presence of this heap, take another: If the hour comes when, mindful of +this heap of stones, you give the testimony you have refused me, there +shall henceforward be no ill-will between us, and if it is in accordance +with the will of the Most High, I will cheerfully resign to you the +office of commander, which you, trained in many wars, would be better +suited to fill than I, who hitherto have ruled only my flocks and +shepherds. But you, Miriam, I charge to remember that this heap of +stones will also be a witness of the colloquy you are to hold with this +man in the presence of God. I remind you of the reproving words you +heard beneath this tree from the lips of his father, and call God to +witness that I would have darkened the life of my son Uri, who is the joy +of my heart, with a father's curse if he had gone among the people to +induce them to favor the message he brought; for it would have turned +those of little faith from their God. Remember this, maiden, and let me +say again: + +"If you seek me you will find me, and the door I opened will remain open +to you, whatever may happen!" + +With these words Hur turned his back upon Miriam and the warrior. + +Neither knew what had befallen them, but he who during the long ride +beset by many a peril had yearned with ardent anticipations for the hour +which was to once more unite him to the object of his love, gazed on the +ground full of bewilderment and profound anxiety, while Miriam who, at +his approach, had been ready to bestow upon him the highest, sweetest +gifts with which a loving woman rewards fidelity and love, had sunk to +the earth before the ominous pile of stones close beside the tree and +pressed her forehead against its gnarled, hollow trunk. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Brief "eternity" of national covenants +Choose between too great or too small a recompense +Regard the utterances and mandates of age as wisdom +There is no 'never,' no surely +Voice of the senses, which drew them together, will soon be mute + + + + + + +JOSHUA + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 3. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +For a long time nothing was heard beneath the sycamore save Miriam's low +moans and the impatient footsteps of the warrior who, while struggling +for composure, did not venture to disturb her. + +He could not yet understand what had suddenly towered like a mountain +between him and the object of his love. + +He had learned from Hur's words that his father and Moses rejected all +mediation, yet the promises he was bearing to the people seemed to him a +merciful gift from the Most High. None of his race yet knew it and, if +Moses was the man whom he believed him to be, the Lord must open his eyes +and show him that he had chosen him, Hosea, to lead the people through +his mediation to a fairer future; nor did he doubt that He could easily +win his father over to his side. He would even have declared a second +time, with the firmest faith, that it was the Most High who had pointed +out his path, and after reflecting upon all this he approached Miriam, +who had at last risen, with fresh confidence. His loving heart prompted +him to clasp her in his arms, but she thrust him back and her voice, +usually so pure and clear, sounded harsh and muffled as she asked why +he had lingered so long and what he intended to confide to her. + +While cowering under the sycamore, she had not only struggled and prayed +for composure, but also gazed into her own soul. She loved Hosea, but +she suspected that he came with proposals similar to those of Uri, and +the wrathful words of hoary Nun rang in her ears more loudly than ever. +The fear that the man she loved was walking in mistaken paths, and the +startling act of Hur had made the towering waves of her passion subside +and her mind, now capable of calmer reflection, desired first of all to +know what had so long detained him whom she had summoned in the name of +her God, and why he came alone, without Ephraim. + +The clear sky was full of stars, and these heavenly bodies, which seem to +have been appointed to look down upon the bliss of united human lovers, +now witnessed the anxious questions of a tortured girl and the impatient +answers of a fiery, bitterly disappointed man. + +He began with the assurance of his love and that he had come to make her +his wife; but, though she permitted him to hold her hand in his clasp, +she entreated him to cease pleading his suit and first tell her what she +desired to know. + +On his way he had received various reports concerning Ephraim through a +brother-in-arms from Tanis, so he could tell her that the lad had been +disobedient and, probably from foolish curiosity, had gone, ill and +wounded, to the city, where he had found shelter and care in the house of +a friend. But this troubled Miriam, who seemed to regard it as a +reproach to know that the orphaned, inexperienced lad, who had grown up +under her own eyes and whom she herself had sent forth among strangers, +was beneath an Egyptian roof. + +But Hosea declared that he would undertake the task of bringing him back +to his people and as, nevertheless she continued to show her anxiety, +asked whether he had forfeited her confidence and love. Instead of +giving him a consoling answer, she began to put more questions, desiring +to know what had delayed his coming, and so, with a sorely troubled and +wounded heart, he was forced to make his report and, in truth, begin at +the end of his story. + +While she listened, leaning against the trunk of the sycamore, he paced +to and fro, urged by longing and impatience, sometimes pausing directly +in front of her. Naught in this hour seemed to him worthy of being +clothed in words, save the hope and passion which filled his heart. Had +he been sure that hers was estranged he would have dashed away again, +after having revealed his whole soul to his father, and risked the ride +into unknown regions to seek Moses. To win Miriam and save himself from +perjury were his only desires, and momentous as had been his experiences +and expectations, during the last few days, he answered her questions +hastily, as if they concerned the most trivial things. + +He began his narrative in hurried words, and the more frequently she +interrupted him, the more impatiently he bore it, the deeper grew the +lines in his forehead. + +Hosea, accompanied by his attendant, had ridden southward several hours +full of gladsome courage and rich in budding hopes, when just before dusk +he saw a vast multitude moving in advance of him. At first he supposed +he had encountered the rear-guard of the migrating Hebrews, and had urged +his horse to greater speed. But, ere he overtook the wayfarers, some +peasants and carters who had abandoned their wains and beasts of burden +rushed past him with loud outcries and shouts of warning which told him +that the people moving in front were lepers. And the fugitives' warning +had been but too well founded; for the first, who turned with the heart- +rending cry: "Unclean! Unclean!" bore the signs of those attacked by the +fell disease, and from their distorted faces covered with white dust and +scurf, lustreless eyes, destitute of brows, gazed at him. + +Hosea soon recognized individuals, here Egyptian priests with shaven +heads, yonder Hebrew men and women. With the stern composure of a +soldier, he questioned both and learned that they were marching from the +stone quarries opposite Memphis to their place of isolation on the +eastern shore of the Nile. Several of the Hebrews among them had heard +from their relatives that their people had left Egypt and gone to seek a +land which the Lord had promised them. Many had therefore resolved to +put their trust also in the mighty God of their fathers and follow the +wanderers; the Egyptian priests, bound to the Hebrews by the tie of a +common misfortune, had accompanied them, and fixed upon Succoth as the +goal of their journey, knowing that Moses intended to lead his people +there first. But every one who could have directed them on their way had +fled before them, so they had kept too far northward and wandered near +the fortress of Thabne. Hosea had met them a mile from this spot and +advised them to turn back, that they might not bring their misfortune +upon their fugitive brethren. + +During this conversation, a body of Egyptian soldiers had marched from +the fortress toward the lepers to drive them from the road; but their +commander, who knew Hosea, used no violence, and both men persuaded the +leaders of the lepers to accept the proposal to be guided to the +peninsula of Sinai, where in the midst of the mountains, not far from the +mines, a colony of lepers had settled. They had agreed to this plan +because Hosea promised them that, if the tribes went eastward, they would +meet them and receive everyone who was healed; but if the Hebrews +remained in Egypt, nevertheless the pure air of the desert would bring +health to many a sufferer, and every one who recovered would be free to +return home. + +These negotiations had consumed much time, and the first delay was +followed by many others; for as Hosea had been in such close contact with +the lepers, he was obliged to ride to Thabne, there with the commander of +the garrison, who had stood by his side, to be sprinkled with bird's +blood, put on new garments, and submit to certain ceremonies which he +himself considered necessary and which could be performed only in the +bright sunlight. His servant had been kept in the fortress because the +kind-hearted man had shaken hands with a relative whom he met among the +hapless wretches. + +The cause of the delay had been both sorrowful and repulsive, and not +until after Hosea had left Thabne in the afternoon and proceeded on his +way to Succoth, did hope and joy again revive at the thought of seeing +Miriam once more and bringing to his people a message that promised so +much good. + +His heart had never throbbed faster or with more joyous anticipation than +on the nocturnal ride which led him to his father and the woman he loved, +and on reaching his goal, instead of the utmost happiness, he now found +only bitter disappointment. + +He had reluctantly described in brief, disconnected sentences his meeting +with the lepers, though he believed he had done his best for the welfare +of these unfortunates. All of his warrior comrades had uttered a word of +praise; but when he paused she whose approval he valued above aught else, +pointed to a portion of the camp and said sadly: "They are of our blood, +and our God is theirs. The lepers in Zoan, Pha-kos and Phibeseth +followed the others at a certain distance, and their tents are pitched +outside the camp. Those in Succoth--there are not many--will also be +permitted to go forth with us; for when the Lord promised the people the +Land for which they long, He meant lofty and lowly, poor and humble, and +surely also the hapless ones who must now remain in the hands of the foe. +Would you not have done better to separate the Hebrews from the +Egyptians, and guide those of our own blood to us?" + +The warrior's manly pride rebelled and his answer sounded grave and +stern: "In war we must resolve to sacrifice hundreds in order to save +thousands. The shepherds separate the scabby sheep to protect the +flock." + +"True," replied Miriam eagerly; "for the shepherd is a feeble man, who +knows no remedy against contagion; but the Lord, who calls all His +people, will suffer no harm to arise from rigid obedience." + +"That is a woman's mode of thought," replied Hosea; "but what pity +dictates to her must not weigh too heavily in the balance in the councils +of men. You willingly obey the voice of the heart, which is most proper, +but you should not forget what befits you and your sex." + +A deep flush crimsoned Miriam's cheeks; for she felt the sting contained +in this speech with two-fold pain because it was Hosea who dealt the +thrust. How many pangs she had been compelled to endure that day on +account of her sex, and now he, too, made her feel that she was not his +peer because she was a woman. In the presence of the stones Hur had +gathered, and on which her hand now rested, he had appealed to her +verdict, as though she were one of the leaders of the people, and now he +abruptly thrust her, who felt herself inferior to no man in intellect and +talent, back into a woman's narrow sphere. + +But he, too, felt his dignity wounded, and her bearing showed him that +this hour would decide whether he or she would have the mastery in their +future union. He stood proudly before her, his mien stern in its +majesty--never before had he seemed so manly, so worthy of admiration. +Yet the desire to battle for her insulted womanly dignity gained +supremacy over every other feeling, and it was she who at last broke the +brief, painful silence that had followed his last words, and with a +composure won only by the exertion of all her strength of will, she +began: + +"We have both forgotten what detains us here so late at night. You +wished to confide to me what brings you to your people and to hear, not +what Miriam, the weak woman, but the confidante of the Lord decides." + +"I hoped also to hear the voice of the maiden on whose love I rely," he +answered gloomily. + +"You shall hear it," she replied quickly, taking her hand from the +stones. "Yet it may be that I cannot agree with the opinion of the man +whose strength and wisdom are so far superior to mine, yet you have just +shown that you cannot tolerate the opposition of a woman, not even mine." + +"Miriam," he interrupted reproachfully, but she continued still more +eagerly: "I have felt it, and because it would be the greatest grief of +my life to lose your heart, you must learn to understand me, ere you call +upon me to express my opinion." + +"First hear my message." + +"No, no!" she answered quickly. "The reply would die upon my lips. +Let me first tell you of the woman who has a loving heart, and yet knows +something else that stands higher than love. Do you smile? You have a +right to do so, you have so long been a stranger to the secret I mean to +confide. . . ." + +"Speak then!" he interrupted, in a tone which betrayed how difficult it +was for him to control his impatience. + +"I thank you," she answered warmly. Then leaning against the trunk of +the ancient tree, while he sank down on the bench, gazing alternately at +the ground and into her face, she began: + +"Childhood already lies behind me, and youth will soon follow. When I +was a little girl, there was not much to distinguish me from others. I +played like them and, though my mother had taught me to pray to the God +of our fathers, I was well pleased to listen to the other children's +tales of the goddess Isis. Nay, I stole into her temple, bought spices, +plundered our little garden for her, anointed her altar, and brought +flowers for offerings. I was taller and stronger than many of my +companions, and was also the daughter of Amram, so they followed me and +readily did what I suggested. When I was eight years old, we moved +hither from Zoan. Ere I again found a girl-playfellow, you came to +Gamaliel, your sister's husband, to be cured of the wound dealt by a +Libyan's lance. Do you remember that time when you, a youth, made the +little girl a companion? I brought you what you needed and prattled to +you of the things I knew, but you told me of bloody battles and +victories, of flashing armor, and the steeds and chariots of the warrior, +You showed me the ring your daring had won, and when the wound in your +breast was cured, we roved over the pastures. Isis, whom you also loved, +had a temple here, and how often I secretly slipped into the forecourt to +pray for you and offer her my holiday-cakes. I had heard so much from +you of Pharaoh and his splendor, of the Egyptians, and their wisdom, +their art, and luxurious life, that my little heart longed to live among +them in the capital; besides, it had reached my ears that my brother +Moses had received great favors in Pharaoh's palace and risen to +distinction in the priesthood. I no longer cared for our own people; +they seemed to me inferior to the Egyptians in all respects. + +"Then came the parting from you and, as my little heart was devout and +expected all good gifts from the divine power, no matter what name it +bore, I prayed for Pharaoh and his army, in whose ranks you were +fighting. + +"My mother sometimes spoke of the God of our fathers as a mighty +protector, to whom the people in former days owed much gratitude, and +told me many beautiful tales of Him; but she herself often offered +sacrifices in the temple of Seth, or carried clover blossoms to the +sacred bull of the sun-god. She, too, was kindly disposed toward the +Egyptians, among whom her pride and joy, our Moses, had attained such +high honors. + +"So in happy intercourse with the others I reached my fifteenth year. +In the evening, when the shepherds returned home, I sat with the young +people around the fire, and was pleased when the sons of the shepherd +princes preferred me to my companions and sought my love; but I refused +them all, even the Egyptian captain who commanded the garrison of the +storehouse; for I remembered you, the companion of my youth. My best +possession would not have seemed too dear a price to pay for some magic +spell that would have brought you to us when, at the festal games, I +danced and sang to the tambourine while the loudest shouts of applause +greeted me. Whenever many were listening I thought of you--then I poured +forth like the lark the feelings that filled my heart, then my song was +inspired by you and not by the fame of the Most High, to whom it was +consecrated." + +Here passion, with renewed power, seized the man, to whom the woman he +loved was confessing so many blissful memories. Suddenly starting up, he +extended his arms toward her; but she sternly repulsed him, that she +might control the yearning which threatened to overpower her also. + +Yet her deep voice had gained a new, strange tone as, at first rapidly +and softly, then in louder and firmer accents, she continued: + +"So I attained my eighteenth year and was no longer satisfied to dwell in +Succoth. An indescribable longing, and not for you only, had taken +possession of my soul. What had formerly afforded me pleasure now seemed +shallow, and the monotony of life here in the remote frontier city amid +shepherds and flocks, appeared dull and pitiful. + +"Eleasar, Aaron's son, had taught me to read and brought me books, full +of tales which could never have happened, yet which stirred the heart. +Many also contained hymns and fervent songs such as one lover sings to +another. These made a deep impression on my soul and, whenever I was +alone in the evening, or at noon-day when the shepherds and flocks were +far away in the fields, I repeated these songs or composed new ones, most +of which were hymns in praise of the deity. Sometimes they extolled Amon +with the ram's head, sometimes cow-headed Isis, and often, too, the great +and omnipotent God who revealed Himself to Abraham, and of whom my mother +spoke more and more frequently as she advanced in years. To compose such +hymns in quiet hours, wait for visions revealing God's grandeur and +splendor, or beautiful angels and horrible demons, became my favorite +occupation. The merry child had grown a dreamy maiden, who let household +affairs go as they would. And there was no one who could have warned me, +for my mother had followed my father to the grave; and I now lived alone +with my old aunt Rachel, unhappy myself, and a source of joy to no one. +Aaron, the oldest of our family, had removed to the dwelling of his +father-in-law Amminadab: the house of Amram, his heritage, had become too +small and plain for him and he left it to me. My companions avoided me; +for my mirthfulness had departed and I patronized them with wretched +arrogance because I could compose songs and beheld more in my visions +than all the other maidens. + +"Nineteen years passed and, on the evening of my birthday, which no one +remembered save Milcah, Eleasar's daughter, the Most High for the first +time sent me a messenger. He came in the guise of an angel, and bade me +set the house in order; for a guest, the person dearest to me on earth, +was on the way. + +"It was early and under this very tree; but I went home and, with old +Rachel's help, set the house in order, and provided food, wine, and all +else we offer to an honored guest. Noon came, the afternoon passed away, +evening deepened into night, and morning returned, yet I still waited for +the guest. But when the sum of that day was nearing the western horizon, +the dogs began to bark loudly, and when I went to the door a powerful +man, with tangled grey hair and beard, clad in the tattered white robes +of a priest, hurried toward me. The dogs shrank back whining; but I +recognized my brother. + +"Our meeting after so long a separation at first brought me more fear +than pleasure; for Moses was flying from the officers of the law because +he had slain the overseer. You know the story. + +"Wrath still glowed in his flashing eyes. He seemed to me like the god +Seth in his fury, and each one of his slow words was graven upon my soul +as by a hammer and chisel. Thrice seven days and nights he remained +under my roof, and as I was alone with him and deaf Rachel, and he was +compelled to remain concealed, no one came between us, and he taught me +to know Him who is the God of our fathers. + +"Trembling and despairing, I listened to his powerful words, which +seemed to fall like rocks upon my breast, when he admonished me of God's +requirements, or described the grandeur and wrath of Him whom no mind can +comprehend, and no name can describe. Ah, when he spoke of Him and of +the Egyptian gods, it seemed as if the God of my people stood before me +like a giant, whose head touched the sky, and the other gods were +creeping in the dust at his feet like whining curs. + +"He taught me also that we alone were the people whom the Lord had +chosen, we and no other. Then for the first time I was filled with pride +at being a descendant of Abraham, and every Hebrew seemed a brother, +every daughter of Israel a sister. Now, too, I perceived how cruelly my +people had been enslaved and tortured. I had been blind to their +suffering, but Moses opened my eyes and sowed in my heart hate, intense +hate of their oppressors, and from this hate sprang love for the victims. +I vowed to follow my brother and await the summons of my God. And lo, he +did not tarry and Jehovah's voice spoke to me as with tongues. + +"Old Rachel died. At Moses' bidding I gave up my solitary life and +accepted the invitation of Aaron and Amminadab. + +"So I became a guest in their household, yet led a separate life among +them all. They did not interfere with me, and the sycamore here on their +land became my special property. Beneath its shadow God commanded me to +summon you and bestow on you the name "Help of Jehovah"--and you, no +longer Hosea, but Joshua, will obey the mandate of God and His +prophetess." + +Here the warrior interrupted the maiden's words, to which he had listened +earnestly, yet with increasing disappointment: + +"Ay, I have obeyed you and the Most High. But what it cost me you +disdain to ask. Your story has reached the present time, yet you have +made no mention of the days following my mother's death, during which you +were our guest in Tanis. Have you forgotten what first your eyes and +then your lips confessed? Have the day of your departure and the evening +on the sea, when you bade me hope for and remember you, quite vanished +from your memory? Did the hatred Moses implanted in your heart kill love +as well as every other feeling?" + +"Love?" asked Miriam, raising her large eyes mournfully to his. +"Oh no. How could I forget that time, the happiest of my life! Yet from +the day Moses returned from the wilderness by God's command to release +the people from bondage--three months after my separation from you--I +have taken no note of years and months, days and nights." + +"Then you have forgotten those also?" Hosea asked harshly. + +"Not so," Miriam answered, gazing beseechingly into his face. "The love +that grew up in the child and did not wither in the maiden's heart, +cannot be killed; but whoever consecrates one's life to the Lord....." + +Here she suddenly paused, raised her hands and eyes rapturously, as if +borne out of herself, and cried imploringly: "Thou art near me, +Omnipotent One, and seest my heart! Thou knowest why Miriam took no note +of days and years, and asked nothing save to be Thy instrument until her +people, who are, also, this man's people, received what Thou didst +promise." + +During this appeal, which rose from the inmost depths of the maiden's +heart, the light wind which precedes the coming of dawn had risen, and +the foliage in the thick crown of the sycamore above Miriam's head +rustled; but Hosea fairly devoured with his eyes the tall majestic +figure, half illumined, half veiled by the faint glimmering light. What +he heard and saw seemed like a miracle. The lofty future she anticipated +for her people, and which must be realized ere she would permit herself +to yield to the desire of her own heart, he believed that he was hearing +to them as a messenger of the Lord. As if rapt by the noble enthusiasm +of her soul, he rushed toward her, seized her hand, and cried in glad +emotion: "Then the hour has come which will again permit you to +distinguish months from days and listen to the wishes of your own soul. +For to I, Joshua, no longer Hosea, but Joshua, come as the envoy of the +Lord, and my message promises to the people whom I will learn to love as +you do, new prosperity, and thus fulfils the promise of a new and better +home, bestowed by the Most High." + +Miriam's eyes sparkled brightly and, overwhelmed with grateful joy, she +exclaimed: + +"Thou hast come to lead us into the land which Jehovah promised to His +people? Oh Lord, how measureless is thy goodness! He, he comes as Thy +messenger." + +"He comes, he is here!" Joshua enthusiastically replied, and she did not +resist when he clasped her to his breast and, thrilling with joy, she +returned his kiss. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Fear of her own weakness soon made Miriam release herself from her +lover's embrace, but she listened with eager happiness, seeking some new +sign from the Most High in Joshua's brief account of everything he had +felt and experienced since her summons. + +He first described the terrible conflict he endured, then how he regained +entire faith and, obedient to the God of his people and his father's +summons, went to the palace expecting imprisonment or death, to obtain +release from his oath. + +He told her how graciously the sorrowing royal pair had received him, and +how he had at last taken upon himself the office of urging the leaders of +his nation to guide them into the wilderness for a short time only, and +then take them home to Egypt, where a new and beautiful region on the +western bank of the river should be allotted to them. There no foreign +overseer should henceforward oppress the workmen, but the affairs of the +Hebrews should be directed by their own elders, and a man chosen by +themselves appointed their head. + +Lastly he said that he, Joshua, would be placed in command of the Hebrew +forces and, as regent, mediate and settle disputes between them and the +Egyptians whenever it seemed necessary. + +United to her, a happy husband, he would care in the new land for even +the lowliest of his race. On the ride hither he had felt as men do after +a bloody battle, when the blast of trumpets proclaim victory. He had +indeed a right to regard himself as the envoy of the Most High. + +Here, however, he interrupted himself; for Miriam, who at first had +listened with open ears and sparkling eyes, now showed a more and more +anxious and troubled mien. When he at last spoke of making the people +happy as her husband, she withdrew her hand, gazed timidly at his manly +features, glowing with joyful excitement, and then as if striving to +maintain her calmness, fixed her eyes upon the ground. + +Without suspecting what was passing in her mind, Hosea drew nearer. He +supposed that her tongue was paralyzed by maidenly shame at the first +token of favor she had bestowed upon a man. But when at his last words, +designating himself as the true messenger of God, she shook her head +disapprovingly, he burst forth again, almost incapable of self-control in +his sore disappointment: + +"So you believe that the Lord has protected me by a miracle from the +wrath of the mightiest sovereign, and permitted me to obtain from his +powerful hand favors for my people, such as the stronger never grant to +the weaker, simply to trifle with the joyous confidence of a man whom he +Himself summoned to serve Him." + +Miriam, struggling to force back her tears, answered in a hollow tone: +"The stronger to the weaker! If that is your opinion, you compel me to +ask, in the words of your own father: 'Who is the more powerful, the Lord +our God or the weakling on the throne, whose first-born son withered like +grass at a sign from the Most High. Oh, Hosea! Hosea!'" + +"Joshua!" he interrupted fiercely. "Do you grudge me even the name your +God bestowed? I relied upon His help when I entered the palace of the +mighty king. I sought under God's guidance rescue and salvation for the +people, and I found them. But you, you . . . ." + +"Your father and Moses, nay, all the believing heads of the tribes, +see no salvation for us among the Egyptians," she answered, panting for +breath. "What they promise the Hebrews will be their ruin. The grass +sowed by us withers where their feet touch it! And you, whose honest +heart they deceive, are the whistler whom the bird-catcher uses to decoy +his feathered victims into the snare. They put the hammer into your hand +to rivet more firmly than before the chains which, with God's aid, we +have sundered. Before my mind's eye I perceive . . . ." + +"Too much!" replied the warrior, grinding his teeth with rage. "Hate +dims your clear intellect. If the bird-catcher really--what was your +comparison--if the bird-catcher really made me his whistler, deceived +and misled me, he might learn from you, ay, from you! Encouraged by you, +I relied upon your love and faith. From you I hoped all things--and +where is this love? As you spared me nothing that could cause me pain, +I will, pitiless to myself, confess the whole truth to you. It was not +alone because the God of my fathers called me, but because His summons +reached me through you and my father that I came. You yearn for a land +in the far uncertain distance, which the Lord has promised you; but I +opened to the people the door of a new and sure home. Not for their +sakes--what hitherto have they been to me?--but first of all to live +there in happiness with you whom I loved, and my old father. Yet you, +whose cold heart knows naught of love, with my kiss still on your lips, +disdain what I offer, from hatred of the hand to which I owe it. Your +life, your conflicts have made you masculine. What other women would +trample the highest blessings under foot?" + +Miriam could bear no more and, sobbing aloud, covered her convulsed face +with her hands. + +At the grey light of dawn the sleepers in the camp began to stir, and men +and maid servants came out of the dwellings of Amminadab and Naashon. +All whom the morning had roused were moving toward the wells and watering +places, but she did not see them. + +How her heart had expanded and rejoiced when her lover exclaimed that he +had come to lead them to the land which the Lord had promised to his +people. Gladly had she rested on his breast to enjoy one brief moment of +the greatest bliss; but how quickly had bitter disappointment expelled +joy! While the morning breeze had stirred the crown of the sycamore and +Joshua had told her what Pharaoh would grant to the Hebrews, the rustling +among the branches had seemed to her like the voice of God's wrath and +she fancied she again heard the angry words of hoary-headed Nun. The +latter's reproaches had dismayed Uri like the flash of lightning, the +roll of thunder, yet how did Joshua's proposition differ from Uri's? + +The people--she had heard it also from the lips of Moses--were lost if, +faithless to their God, they yielded to the temptations of Pharaoh. +To wed a man who came to destroy all for which she, her brothers, and his +own father lived and labored, was base treachery. Yet she loved Joshua +and, instead of harshly repulsing him, she would have again nestled ah, +how gladly, to the heart which she knew loved her so ardently. + +But the leaves in the top of the tree continued to rustle and it seemed +as if they reminded her of Aaron's warning, so she forced herself to +remain firm. + +The whispering above came from God, who had chosen her for His +prophetess, and when Joshua, in passionate excitement, owned that the +longing for her was his principal motive for toiling for the people, +who were as unknown to him as they were dear to her, her heart suddenly +seemed to stop beating and, in her mortal agony, she could not help +sobbing aloud. + +Unheeding Joshua, or the stir in the camp, she again flung herself down +with uplifted arms under the sycamore, gazing upward with dilated, +tearful eyes, as if expecting a new revelation. But the morning breeze +continued to rustle in the summit of the tree, and suddenly everything +seemed as bright as sunshine, not only within but around her, as always +happened when she, the prophetess, was to behold a vision. And in this +light she saw a figure whose face startled her, not Joshua, but another +to whom her heart did not incline. Yet there he stood before the eyes of +her soul in all his stately height, surrounded by radiance, and with a +solemn gesture he laid his hand on the stones he had piled up. + +With quickened breath, she gazed upward to the face, yet she would gladly +have closed her eyes and lost her hearing, that she might neither see it +nor catch the voices from the tree. But suddenly the figure vanished, +the voices died away, and she appeared to behold in a bright, fiery glow, +the first man her virgin lips had kissed, as with uplifted sword, leading +the shepherds of her people, he dashed toward an invisible foe. + +Swiftly as the going and coming of a flash of lightning, the vision +appeared and vanished, yet ere it had wholly disappeared she knew its +meaning. + +The man whom she called "Joshua" and who seemed fitted in every respect +to be the shield and leader of his people, must not be turned aside by +love from the lofty duty to which the Most High had summoned him. None +of the people must learn the message he brought, lest it should tempt +them to turn aside from the dangerous path they had entered. + +Her course was as plain as the vision which had just vanished. And, as +if the Most High desired to show her that she had rightly understood its +meaning, Hur's voice was heard near the sycamore--ere she had risen to +prepare her lover for the sorrow to which she must condemn herself and +him--commanding the multitude flocking from all directions to prepare for +the departure. + +The way to save him from himself lay before her; but Joshua had not yet +ventured to disturb her devotions. + +He had been wounded and angered to the inmost depths of his soul by her +denial. But as he gazed down at her and saw her tall figure shaken by a +sudden chill, and her eyes and hands raised heavenward as though, spell- +bound, he had felt that something grand and sacred dwelt within her +breast which it would be sacrilege to disturb; nay, he had been unable to +resist the feeling that it would be presumptuous to seek to wed a woman +united to the Lord by so close a tie. It must be bliss indeed to call +this exalted creature his own, yet it would be hard to see her place +another, even though it were the Almighty Himself, so far above her lover +and husband. + +Men and cattle had already passed close by the sycamore and just as he +was in the act of calling Miriam and pointing to the approaching throng, +she rose, turned toward him, and forced from her troubled breast the +words: + +"I have communed with the Lord, Joshua, and now know His will. Do you +remember the words by which God called you?" + +He bent his head in assent; but she went on: + +"Well then, you must also know what the Most High confided to your +father, to Moses, and to me. He desires to lead us out of the land of +Egypt, to a distant country where neither Pharaoh nor his viceroy shall +rule over us, and He alone shall be our king. That is His will, and if +He requires you to serve Him, you must follow us and, in case of war, +command the men of our people." + +Joshua struck his broad breast, exclaiming in violent agitation: "An oath +binds me to return to Tanis to inform Pharaoh how the leaders of the +people received the message with which I was sent forth. Though my heart +should break, I cannot perjure myself." + +"And mine shall break," gasped Miriam, "ere I will be disloyal to the +Lord our God. We have both chosen, so let what once united us be +sundered before these stones." + +He rushed frantically toward her to seize her hand; but with an imperious +gesture she waved him back, turned away, and went toward the multitude +which, with sheep and cattle, were pressing around the wells. + +Old and young respectfully made way for her as, with haughty bearing, she +approached Hur, who was giving orders to the shepherds; but he came +forward to meet her and, after hearing the promise she whispered, he laid +his hand upon her head and said with solemn earnestness: + +"Then may the Lord bless our alliance." + +Hand in hand with the grey-haired man to whom she had given herself, +Miriam approached Joshua. Nothing betrayed the deep emotion of her soul, +save the rapid rise and fall of her bosom, for though her cheeks were +pale, her eyes were tearless and her bearing was as erect as ever. + +She left to Hur to explain to the lover whom she had forever resigned +what she had granted him, and when Joshua heard it, he started back as +though a gulf yawned at his feet. + +His lips were bloodless as he stared at the unequally matched pair. A +jeering laugh seemed the only fitting answer to such a surprise, but +Miriam's grave face helped him to repress it and conceal the tumult of +his soul by trivial words. + +But he felt that he could not long succeed in maintaining a successful +display of indifference, so he took leave of Miriam. He must greet his +father, he said hastily, and induce him to summon the elders. + +Ere he finished several shepherds hurried up, disputing wrathfully and +appealed to Hur to decide what place in the procession belonged to each +tribe. He followed them, and as soon as Miriam found herself alone with +Joshua, she said softly, yet earnestly, with beseeching eyes: + +"A hasty deed was needful to sever the tie that bound us, but a loftier +hope unites us. As I sacrificed what was dearest to my heart to remain +faithful to my God and people, do you, too, renounce everything to which +your soul clings. Obey the Most High, who called you Joshua! This hour +transformed the sweetest joy to bitter grief; may it be the salvation of +our people! Remain a son of the race which gave you your father and +mother! Be what the Lord called you to become, a leader of your race! +If you insist on fulfilling your oath to Pharaoh, and tell the elders the +promises with which you came, you will win them over, I know. Few will +resist you, but of those few the first will surely be your own father. +I can hear him raise his voice loudly and angrily against his own dear +son; but if you close your ears even to his warning, the people will +follow your summons instead of God's, and you will rule the Hebrews as a +mighty man. But when the time comes that the Egyptian casts his promises +to the winds, when you see your people in still worse bondage than before +and behold them turn from the God of their fathers to again worship +animal-headed idols, your father's curse will overtake you, the wrath of +the Most High will strike the blinded man, and despair will be the lot of +him who led to ruin the weak masses for whose shield the Most High chose +him. So I, a feeble woman, yet the servant of the Most High and the +maiden who was dearer to you than life, cry in tones of warning: Fear +your father's curse and the punishment of the Lord! Beware of tempting +the people." + +Here she was interrupted by a female slave, who summoned her to her +house--and she added in low, hurried accents: "Only this one thing more. +If you do not desire to be weaker than the woman whose opposition roused +your wrath, sacrifice your own wishes for the welfare of yonder +thousands, who are of the same blood! With your hand on these stones you +must swear . . . ." + +But here her voice failed. Her hands groped vainly for some support, and +with a loud cry she sank on her knees beside Hur's token. + +Joshua's strong arms saved her from falling prostrate, and several women +who hurried up at his shout soon recalled the fainting maiden to life. + +Her eyes wandered restlessly from one to another, and not until her +glance rested on Joshua's anxious face did she become conscious where +she was and what she had done. Then she hurriedly drank the water a +shepherd's wife handed to her, wiped the tears from her eyes, sighed +painfully, and with a faint smile whispered to Joshua: "I am but a weak +woman after all." + +Then she walked toward the house, but after the first few steps turned, +beckoned to the warrior, and said softly: + +"You see how they are forming into ranks. They will soon begin to move. +Is your resolution still unshaken? There is still time to call the +elders." + +He shook his head, and as he met her tearful, grateful glance, answered +gently: + +"I shall remember these stones and this hour, wife of Hur. Greet my +father for me and tell him that I love him. Repeat to him also the +name by which his son, according to the command of the Most High, will +henceforth be called, that its promise of Jehovah's aid may give him +confidence when he hears whither I am going to keep the oath I have +sworn." + +With these words he waved his hand to Miriam and turned toward the camp, +where his horse had been fed and watered; but she called after him: "Only +one last word: Moses left a message for you in the hollow trunk of the +tree." + +Joshua turned back to the sycamore and read what the man of God had +written for him. "Be strong and steadfast" were the brief contents, and +raising his head he joyfully exclaimed: "Those words are balm to my soul. +We meet here for the last time, wife of Hur, and, if I go to my death, be +sure that I shall know how to die strong and steadfast; but show my old +father what kindness you can." + +He swung himself upon his horse and while trotting toward Tanis, faithful +to his oath, his soul was free from fear, though he did not conceal from +himself that he was going to meet great perils. His fairest hopes were +destroyed, yet deep grief struggled with glad exaltation. A new and +lofty emotion, which pervaded his whole being, had waked within him and +was but slightly dimmed, though he had experienced a sorrow bitter enough +to darken the light of any other man's existence. Naught could surpass +the noble objects to which he intended to devote his blood and life--his +God and his people. He perceived with amazement this new feeling which +had power to thrust far into the background every other emotion of his +breast--even love. + +True, his head often drooped sorrowfully when he thought of his old +father; but he had done right in repressing the eager yearning to clasp +him to his heart. The old man would scarcely have understood his +motives, and it was better for both to part without seeing each other +rather than in open strife. + +Often it seemed as though his experiences had been but a dream, and while +he felt bewildered by the excitements of the last few hours, his strong +frame was little wearied by the fatigues he had undergone. + +At a well-known hostelry on the road, where he met many soldiers and +among them several military commanders with whom he was well acquainted, +he at last allowed his horse and himself a little rest and food; and as +he rode on refreshed active life asserted its claims; for as far as the +gate of the city of Rameses he passed bands of soldiers, and learned that +they were ordered to join the cohorts he had himself brought from Libya. + +At last he rode into the capital and as he passed the temple of Amon he +heard loud lamentations, though he had learned on the way that the plague +had ceased. What many a sign told him was confirmed at last by some +passing guards--the first prophet and high-priest of Amon, the grey- +haired Rui, had died in the ninety-eighth year of his life. Bai, the +second prophet, who had so warmly protested his friendship and gratitude +to Hosea, had now become Rui's successor and was high-priest and judge, +keeper of the seals and treasurer, in short, the most powerful man in the +realm. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +"Help of Jehovah!" murmured a state-prisoner, laden with heavy chains, +five days later, smiling bitterly as, with forty companions in +misfortune, he was led through the gate of victory in Tanis toward the +east. + +The mines in the Sinai peninsula, where more convict labor was needed, +were the goal of these unfortunate men. + +The prisoner's smile lingered a short time, then drawing up his muscular +frame, his bearded lips murmured: "Strong and steadfast!" and as if he +desired to transmit the support he had himself found he whispered to the +youth marching at his side: "Courage, Ephraim, courage! Don't gaze down +at the dust, but upward, whatever may come." + +"Silence in the ranks!" shouted one of the armed Libyan guards, who +accompanied the convicts, to the older prisoner, raising his whip with a +significant gesture. The man thus threatened was Joshua, and his +companion in suffering Ephraim, who had been sentenced to share his fate. + +What this was every child in Egypt knew, for "May I be sent to the +mines!" was one of the most terrible oaths of the common people, and no +prisoner's lot was half so hard as that of the convicted state-criminals. + +A series of the most terrible humiliations and tortures awaited them. +The vigor of the robust was broken by unmitigated toil; the exhausted +were forced to execute tasks so far beyond their strength that they soon +found the eternal rest for which their tortured souls longed. To be sent +to the mines meant to be doomed to a slow, torturing death; yet life is +so dear to men that it was considered a milder punishment to be dragged +to forced labor in the mines than to be delivered up to the executioner. + +Joshua's encouraging words had little effect upon Ephraim; but when, a +few minutes later, a chariot shaded by an umbrella, passed the prisoners, +a chariot in which a slender woman of aristocratic bearing stood beside a +matron behind the driver, he turned with a hasty movement and gazed after +the equipage with sparkling eyes till it vanished in the dust of the +road. + +The younger woman had been closely veiled, but Ephraim thought he +recognized her for whose sake he had gone to his ruin, and whose lightest +sign he would still have obeyed. + +And he was right; the lady in the chariot was Kasana, the daughter of +Hornecht, captain of the archers, and the matron was her nurse. + +At a little temple by the road-side, where, in the midst of a grove of +Nile acacias, a well was maintained for travellers, she bade the matron +wait for her and, springing lightly from the chariot which had left the +prisoners some distance behind, she began to pace up and down with +drooping head in the shadow of the trees, until the whirling clouds of +dust announced the approach of the convicts. + +Taking from her robe the gold rings she had ready for this purpose, she +went to the man who was riding at its head on an ass and who led the +mournful procession. While she was talking with him and pointing to +Joshua, the guard cast a sly glance at the rings which had been slipped +into his hand, and seeing a welcome yellow glitter when his modesty had +expected only silver, his features instantly assumed an expression of +obliging good-will. + +True, his face darkened at Kasana's request, but another promise from +the young widow brightened it again, and he now turned eagerly to his +subordinates, exclaiming: "To the well with the moles, men! Let them +drink. They must be fresh and healthy under the ground!" + +Then riding up to the prisoners, he shouted to Joshua: + +"You once commanded many soldiers, and look more stiff-necked now than +beseems you and me. Watch the others, guards, I have a word or two to +say to this man alone." + +He clapped his hands as if he were driving hens out of a garden, and +while the prisoners took pails and with the guards, enjoyed the +refreshing drink, their leader drew Joshua and Ephraim away from the road +--they could not be separated on account of the chain which bound their +ancles together. + +The little temple soon hid them from the eyes of the others, and the +warder sat down on a step some distance off, first showing the two +Hebrews, with a gesture whose meaning was easily understood, the heavy +spear he carried in his hand and the hounds which lay at his feet. + +He kept his eyes open, too, during the conversation that followed. They +could say whatever they chose; he knew the duties of his office and +though, for the sake of good money he could wink at a farewell, for +twenty years, though there had been many attempts to escape, not one +of his moles--a name he was fond of giving to the future miners--had +succeeded in eluding his watchfulness. + +Yonder fair lady doubtless loved the stately man who, he had been told, +was formerly a chief in the army. But he had already numbered among his +"moles," personages even more distinguished, and if the veiled woman +managed to slip files or gold into the prisoner's hands, he would not +object, for that very evening the persons of both would be thoroughly +searched, even the youth's black locks, which would not have remained +unshorn, had not everything been in confusion prior to the departure of +the convicts, which took place just before the march of Pharaoh's army. + +The watcher could not hear the whispered words exchanged between the +degraded chief and the lady, but her humble manner and bearing led him to +suppose that it was she who had brought the proud warrior to his ruin. +Ah, these women! And the fettered youth! The looks he fixed upon the +slender figure were ardent enough to scorch her veil. But patience! +Mighty Father Amon! His moles were going to a school where people +learned modesty! + +Now the lady had removed her veil. She was a beautiful woman! It must +be hard to part from such a sweetheart. And now she was weeping. + +The rude warder's heart grew as soft as his office permitted; but he +would fain have raised his scourge against the older prisoner; for was +it not a shame to have such a sweetheart and stand there like a stone? + +At first the wretch did not even hold out his hand to the woman who +evidently loved him, while he, the watcher, would gladly have witnessed +both a kiss and an embrace. + +Or was this beauty the prisoner's wife who had betrayed him? No, no! +How kindly he was now gazing at her. That was the manner of a father +speaking to his child; but his mole was probably too young to have such a +daughter. A mystery! But he felt no anxiety concerning its solution; +during the march he had the power to make the most reserved convict an +open book. + +Yet not only the rude gaoler, but anyone would have marvelled what had +brought this beautiful, aristocratic woman, in the grey light of dawn, +out on the highway to meet the hapless man loaded with chains. + +In sooth, nothing would have induced Kasana to take this step save the +torturing dread of being scorned and execrated as a base traitress by the +man whom she loved. A terrible destiny awaited him, and her vivid +imagination had shown her Joshua in the mines, languishing, disheartened, +drooping, dying, always with a curse upon her on his lips. + +On the evening of, the day Ephraim bad been brought to the house, +shivering with the chill caused by burning fever, and half stifled with +the dust of the road, her father lead told her that in the youthful +Hebrew they possessed a hostage to compel Hosea to return to Tanis and +submit to the wishes of the prophet Bai, with whom she knew her father +was leagued in a secret conspiracy. He also confided to her that not +only great distinction and high offices, but a marriage with herself had +been arrranged to bind Hosea to the Egyptians and to a cause from which +the chief of the archers expected the greatest blessings for himself, his +house, and his whole country. + +These tidings had filled her heart with joyous hope of a long desired +happiness, and she confessed it to the prisoner with drooping head amid +floods of tears, by the little wayside temple; for he was now forever +lost to her, and though he did not return the love she had lavished on +him from his childhood, he must not hate and condemn her without having +heard her story. + +Joshua listened willingly and assured her that nothing would lighten his +heart more than to have her clear herself from the charge of having +consigned him and the youth at his side to their most terrible fate. + +Kasana sobbed aloud and was forced to struggle hard for composure ere she +succeeded in telling her tale with some degree of calmness. + +Shortly after Hosea's departure the chief-priest died and, on the same +day Bai, the second prophet, became his successor. Many changes now took +place, and the most powerful man in the kingdom filled Pharaoh with +hatred of the Hebrews and their leader, Mesu, whom he and the queen had +hitherto protected and feared. He had even persuaded the monarch to +pursue the fugitives, and an army had been instantly summoned to compel +their return. Kasana had feared that Hosea could not be induced to fight +against the men of his own blood, and that he must feel incensed at being +sent to make treaties which the Egyptians began to violate even before +they knew whether their offers had been accepted. + +When he returned--as he knew only too well--Pharaoh had had him watched +like a prisoner and would not suffer him to leave his presence until he +had sworn to again lead his troops and be a faithful servant to the king. +Bai, the new chief priest, however, had not forgotten that Hosea had +saved his life and showed himself well disposed and grateful to him; she +knew also that he hoped to involve him in a secret enterprise, with which +her father, too, was associated. It was Bai who had prevailed upon +Pharaoh, if Hosea would renew his oath of fealty, to absolve him from +fighting against his own race, put him in command of the foreign +mercenaries and raise him to the rank of a "friend of the king." All +these events, of course, were familiar to him; for the new chief priest +had himself set before him the tempting dishes which, with such strong, +manly defiance, he had thrust aside. + +Her father had also sided with him, and for the first time ceased to +reproach him with his origin. + +But, on the third day after Hosea's return, Hornecht had gone to talk +with him and since then everything had changed for the worse. He must be +best aware what had caused the man of whom she, his daughter, must think +no evil, to be changed from a friend to a mortal foe. + +She had looked enquiringly at him as she spoke, and he did not refuse to +answer--Hornecht had told him that he would be a welcome son-in-law. + +"And you?" asked Kasana, gazing anxiously into his face. + +"I," replied the prisoner, "was forced to say that though you had been +dear and precious to me from your childhood, many causes forbade me to +unite a woman's fate to mine." + +Kasana's eyes flashed, and she exclaimed: + +"Because you love another, a woman of your own people, the one who sent +Ephraim to you!" + +But Joshua shook his head and answered pleasantly: + +"You are wrong, Kasana! She of whom you speak is the wife of another." + +"Then," cried the young widow with fresh animation, gazing at him with +loving entreaty, "why were you compelled to rebuff my father so harshly?" + +"That was far from my intention, dear child," he replied warmly, laying +his hand on her head. "I thought of you with all the tenderness of which +my nature is capable. If I could not fulfil his wish, it was because +grave necessity forbids me to yearn for the peaceful happiness by my own +hearth-stone for which others strive. Had they given me my liberty, my +life would have been one of restlessness and conflict." + +"Yet how many bear sword and shield," replied Kasana, "and still, on +their return, rejoice in the love of their wives and the dear ones +sheltered beneath their roof." + +"True, true," he answered gravely; "but special duties, unknown to the +Egyptians, summon me. I am a son of my people." + +"And you intend to serve them?" asked Kasana. "Oh, I understand you. +Yet.... why then did you return to Tanis? Why did you put yourself into +Pharaoh's power?" + +"Because a sacred oath compelled me, poor child," he answered kindly. + +"An oath," she cried, "which places death and imprisonment between you +and those whom you love and still desire to serve. Oh, would that you +had never returned to this abode of injustice, treachery, and +ingratitude! To how many hearts this vow will bring grief and tears! +But what do you men care for the suffering you inflict on others? You +have spoiled all the pleasure of life for my hapless self, and among your +own people dwells a noble father whose only son you are. How often I +have seen the dear old man, the stately figure with sparkling eyes and +snow-white hair. So would you look when you, too, had reached a ripe old +age, as I said to myself, when I met him at the harbor, or in the fore- +court of the palace, directing the shepherds who were driving the cattle +and fleecy sheep to the tax-receiver's table. And now his son's +obstinacy must embitter every day of his old age." + +"Now," replied Joshua, "he has a son who is going, laden with chains, to +endure a life of misery, but who can hold his head higher than those who +betrayed him. They, and Pharaoh at their head, have forgotten that he +has shed his heart's blood for them on many a battlefield, and kept faith +with the king at every peril. Menephtah, his vice-roy and chief, whose +life I saved, and many who formerly called me friend, have abandoned and +hurled me and this guiltless boy into wretchedness, but those who have +done this, woman, who have committed this crime, may they all. . . ." + +"Do not curse them!" interrupted Kasana with glowing cheeks. + +But Joshua, unheeding her entreaty, exclaimed "Should I be a man, if I +forgot vengeance?" + +The young widow clung anxiously to his arm, gasping in beseeching +accents: + +"How could you forgive him? Only you must not curse him; for my father +became your foe through love for me. You know his hot blood, which so +easily carries him to extremes, despite his years. He concealed from me +what he regarded as an insult; for he saw many woo me, and I am his +greatest treasure. Pharaoh can pardon rebels more easily than my father +can forgive the man who disdained his jewel. He behaved like one +possessed when he returned. Every word he uttered was an invective. +He could not endure to stay at home and raged just as furiously +elsewhere. But no doubt he would have calmed himself at last, as he so +often did before, had not some one who desired to pour oil on the flames +met him in the fore-court of the palace. I learned all this from Bai's +wife; for she, too, repents what she did to injure you; her husband used +every effort to save you. She, who is as brave as any man, was ready to +aid him and open the door of your prison; for she has not forgotten that +you saved her husband's life in Libya. Ephraim's chains were to fall +with yours, and everything was ready to aid your flight." + +"I know it," Hosea interrupted gloomily, "and I will thank the God of my +fathers if those were wrong from whom I heard that you are to blame, +Kasana, for having our dungeon door locked more firmly." + +"Should I be here, if that were so!" cried the beautiful, grieving woman +with impassioned eagerness. True, resentment did stir within me as it +does in every woman whose lover scorns her; but the misfortune that +befell you speedily transformed resentment into compassion, and fanned +the old flames anew. So surely as I hope for a mild judgment before the +tribunal of the dead, I am innocent and have not ceased to hope for your +liberation. Not until yesterday evening, when all was too late, did I +learn that Bai's proposal had been futile. The chief priest can do much, +but he will not oppose the man who made himself my father's ally." + +"You mean Prince Siptah, Pharaoh's nephew!" cried Joshua in excited +tones. "They intimated to me the scheme they were weaving in his +interest; they wished to put me in the place of the Syrian Aarsu, the +commander of the mercenaries, if I would consent to let them have their +way with my people and desert those of my own blood. But I would rather +die twenty deaths than sully myself with such treachery. Aarsu is better +suited to carry out their dark plans, but he will finally betray them +all. So far as I am concerned, the prince has good reason to hate me." + +Kasana laid her hand upon his lips, pointed anxiously to Ephraim and the +guide, and said gently: + +"Spare my father! The prince--what roused his enmity......" + +"The profligate seeks to lure you into his snare and has learned that you +favor me," the warrior broke in. She bent her head with a gesture of +assent, and added blushing: + +"That is why Aarsu, whom he has won over to his cause, watches you so +strictly." + +"And the Syrian will keep his eyes sufficiently wide open," cried Joshua. +"Now let us talk no more of this. I believe you and thank you warmly for +following us hapless mortals. How fondly I used to think, while serving +in the field, of the pretty child, whom I saw blooming into maidenhood." + +"And you will think of her still with neither wrath nor rancor?" + +"Gladly, most gladly." + +The young widow, with passionate emotion, seized the prisoner's hand to +raise it to her lips, but he withdrew it; and, gazing at him with tears +in her eyes, she said mournfully: + +"You deny me the favor a benefactor does not refuse even to a beggar." +Then, suddenly drawing herself up to her full height, she exclaimed so +loudly that the warder started and glanced at the sun: "But I tell you +the time will come when you will sue for the favor of kissing this hand +in gratitude. For when the messenger arrives bringing to you and to this +youth the liberty for which you have longed, it will be Kasana to whom +you owe it." + +Rapt by the fervor of the wish that animated her, her beautiful face +glowed with a crimson flush. Joshua seized her right hand, exclaiming: + +"Ah, if you could attain what your loyal soul desires! How could I +dissuade you from mitigating the great misfortune which overtook this +youth in your house? Yet, as an honest man, I must tell you that I shall +never return to the service of the Egyptians; for, come what may, I shall +in future cleave, body and soul, to those you persecute and despise, and +to whom belonged the mother who bore me." + +Kasana's graceful head drooped; but directly after she raised it again, +saying: + +"No other man is so noble, so truthful, that I have known from my +childhood. If I can find no one among my own nation whom I can honor, +I will remember you, whose every thought is true and lofty, whose nature +is faultless. Put if poor Kasana succeeds in liberating you, do not +scorn her, if you find her worse than when you left her, for however she +may humiliate herself, whatever shame may come upon her . . . ." + +"What do you intend?" Hosea anxiously interrupted; but she had no time +to answer; for the captain of the guard had risen and, clapping his +hands, shouted: "Forward, you moles!" and "Step briskly." + +The warrior's stout heart was overwhelmed with tender sadness and, +obeying a hasty impulse, he kissed the beautiful unhappy woman on the +brow and hair, whispering: + +"Leave me in my misery, if our freedom will cost your humiliation. We +shall probably never meet again; for, whatever may happen, my life will +henceforth be nothing but battle and sacrifice. Darkness will shroud us +in deeper and deeper gloom, but however black the night may be, one star +will still shine for this boy and for me--the remembrance of you, my +faithful, beloved child." + +He pointed to Ephraim as he spoke and the youth, as if out of his senses, +pressed his lips on the hand and arm of the sobbing woman. + +"Forward!" shouted the leader again, and with a grateful smile helped +the generous lady into the chariot, marvelling at the happy, radiant gaze +with which her tearful eyes followed the convicts. + +The horses started, fresh shouts arose, blows from the whips fell on bare +shoulders, now and then a cry of pain rang on the morning air, and the +train of prisoners again moved eastward. The chain on the ancles of the +companions in suffering stirred the dust, which shrouded the little band +like the grief, hate, and fear darkening the soul of each. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +A long hour's walk beyond the little temple where the prisoners had +rested the road, leading to Succoth and the western arm of the Red Sea, +branched off from the one that ran in a southeasterly direction past the +fortifications on the isthmus to the mines. + +Shortly after the departure of the prisoners, the army which had been +gathered to pursue the Hebrews left the city of Rameses, and as the +convicts had rested some time at the well, the troops almost overtook +them. They had not proceeded far when several runners came hurrying up +to clear the road for the advancing army. They ordered the prisoners to +move aside and defer their march until the swifter baggage train, bearing +Pharaoh's tents and travelling equipments, whose chariot wheels could +already be heard, had passed them. + +The prisoners' guards were glad to stop, they were in no hurry. The day +was hot, and if they reached their destination later, it would be the +fault of the army. + +The interruption was welcome to Joshua, too; for his young companion had +been gazing into vacancy as if bewildered, and either made no answer to +his questions or gave such incoherent ones that the older man grew +anxious; he knew how many of those sentenced to forced labor went mad or +fell into melancholy. Now a portion of the army would pass them, and the +spectacle was new to Ephraim and promised to put an end to his dull +brooding. + +A sand-hill overgrown with tamarisk bushes rose beside the road, and +thither the leader guided the party of convicts. He was a stern man, +but not a cruel one, so he permitted his "moles" to lie down on the sand, +for the troops would doubtless be a long time in passing. As soon as the +convicts had thrown themselves on the ground the rattle of wheels, the +neighing of fiery steeds, shouts of command, and sometimes the +disagreeable braying of an ass were heard. + +When the first chariots appeared Ephraim asked if Pharaoh was coming; but +Joshua, smiling, informed him that when the king accompanied the troops +to the field, the camp equipage followed directly behind the vanguard, +for Pharaoh and his dignitaries wished to find the tents pitched and the +tables laid, when the day's march was over and the soldiers and officers +expected a night's repose. + +Joshua had not finished speaking when a number of empty carts and unladen +asses appeared. They were to carry the contributions of bread and meal, +animals and poultry, wine and beer, levied on every village the sovereign +passed on the march, and which had been delivered to the tax-gatherers +the day before. + +Soon after a division of chariot warriors followed. Every pair of horses +drew a small, two-wheeled chariot, cased in bronze, and in each stood a +warrior and the driver of the team. Huge quivers were fastened to the +front of the chariots, and the soldiers leaned on their lances or on +gigantic bows. Shirts covered with brazen scales, or padded coats of +mail with gay overmantle, a helmet, and the front of the chariot +protected the warrior from the missiles of the foe. This troop, which +Joshua said was the van, went by at a slow trot and was followed by a +great number of carts and wagons, drawn by horses, mules, or oxen, as +well as whole troops of heavily-laden asses. + +The uncle now pointed out to his nephew the long masts, poles, and heavy +rolls of costly stuffs intended for the royal tent, and borne by numerous +beasts of burden, as well as the asses and carts with the kitchen +utensils and field forges. Among the baggage heaped on the asses, which +were followed by nimble drivers, rode the physicians, tailors, salve- +makers, cooks, weavers of garlands, attendants, and slaves belonging to +the camp. Their departure had been so recent that they were still fresh +and inclined to jest, and whoever caught sight of the convicts, flung +them, in the Egyptian fashion, a caustic quip which many sought to +palliate by the gift of alms. Others, who said nothing, also sent by the +ass-drivers fruit and trifling gifts; for those who were free to-day +might share the fate of these hapless men to-morrow. The captain +permitted it, and when a passing slave, whom Joshua had sold for +thieving, shouted the name of Hosea, pointing to him with a malicious +gesture, the rough but kind-hearted officer offered his insulted prisoner +a sip of wine from his own flask. + +Ephraim, who had walked from Succoth to Tanis with a staff in his hand, +and a small bundle containing bread, dried lamb, radishes, and dates, +expressed his amazement at the countless people and things a single man +needed for his comfort, and then relapsed into his former melancholy +until his uncle roused him with farther explanations. + +As soon as the baggage train had passed, the commander of the band of +prisoners wished to set off, but the "openers of the way," who preceded +the archers, forbade him, because it was not seemly for convicts to +mingle with soldiers. So they remained on their hillock and continued to +watch the troops. + +The archers were followed by heavily-armed troops, bearing shields +covered with strong hide so large that they extended from the feet to +above the middle of the tallest men, and Hosea now told the youth that in +the evening they set them side by side, thus surrounding the royal tent +like a fence. Besides this weapon of defence they carried a lance, a +short dagger-like sword, or a battle-sickle, and as these thousands were +succeeded by a body of men armed with slings Ephraim for the first time +spoke without being questioned and said that the slings the shepherds +had taught him to make were far better than those of the soldiers and, +encouraged by his uncle, he described in language so eager that the +prisoners lying by his side listened, how he had succeeded in slaying not +only jackals, wolves, and panthers, but even vultures, with stones hurled +from a sling. Meanwhile he interrupted himself to ask the meaning of the +standards and the names of the separate divisions. + +Many thousands had already passed, when another troop of warriors in +chariots appeared, and the chief warder of the prisoners exclaimed: + +"The good god! The lord of two worlds! May life, happiness, and health +be his!" With these words he fell upon his knees in the attitude of +worship, while the convicts prostrated themselves to kiss the earth and +be ready to obey the captain's bidding and join at the right moment in +the cry: "Life, happiness, and health!" + +But they had a long time to wait ere the expected sovereign appeared; +for, after the warriors in the chariots had passed, the body-guard +followed, foot-soldiers of foreign birth with singular ornaments on their +helmets and huge swords, and then numerous images of the gods, a large +band of priests and wearers of plumes. They were followed by more body- +guards, and then Pharaoh appeared with his attendants. At their head +rode the chief priest Bai in a gilded battle-chariot drawn by magnificent +bay stallions. He who had formerly led troops in the field, had assumed +the command of this pursuing expedition ordered by the gods and, though +clad in priestly robes, he also wore the helmet and battle-axe of a +general. At last, directly behind his equipage, came Pharaoh himself; +but he did not go to battle like his warlike predecessors in a war- +chariot, but preferred to be carried on a throne. A magnificent canopy +protected him above, and large, thick, round ostrich feather fans, +carried by his fan-bearers, sheltered him on both sides from the +scorching rays of the sun. + +After Menephtah had left the city and the gate of victory behind him, and +the exulting acclamations of the multitude had ceased to amuse him, he +had gone to sleep and the shading fans would have concealed his face and +figure from the prisoners, had not their shouts been loud enough to rouse +him and induce him to turn his head toward them. The gracious wave of +his right hand showed that he had expected to see different people from +convicts and, ere the shouts of the hapless men had died away, his eyes +again closed. + +Ephraim's silent brooding had now yielded to the deepest interest, and as +the empty golden war-chariot of the king, before which pranced the most +superb steeds he had ever seen, rolled by, he burst into loud +exclamations of admiration. + +These noble animals, on whose intelligent heads large bunches of feathers +nodded, and whose rich harness glittered with gold and gems, were indeed +a splendid sight. The large gold quivers set with emeralds, fastened on +the sides of the chariot, were filled with arrows. + +The feeble man to whose weak hand the guidance of a great nation was +entrusted, the weakling who shrunk from every exertion, regained his lost +energy whenever hunting was in prospect; he considered this campaign a +chase on the grandest scale and as it seemed royal pastime to discharge +his arrows at the human beings he had so lately feared, instead of at +game, he had obeyed the chief priest's summons and joined the expedition. +It had been undertaken by the mandate of the great god Amon, so he had +little to dread from Mesu's terrible power. + +When he captured him he would make him atone for having caused Pharaoh +and his queen to tremble before him and shed so many tears on his +account. + +While Joshua was still telling the youth from which Phoenician city the +golden chariots came, he suddenly felt Ephraim's right hand clutch his +wrist, and heard him exclaim: "She! She! Look yonder! It is she!" The +youth had flushed crimson, and he was not mistaken; the beautiful Kasana +was passing amid Pharaoh's train in the same chariot in which she had +pursued the convicts, and with her came a considerable number of ladies +who had joined what the commander of the foot-soldiers, a brave old +warrior, who had served under the great Rameses, termed "a pleasure +party." + +On campaigns through the desert and into Syria, Libya, or Ethiopia the +sovereign was accompanied only by a chosen band of concubines in +curtained chariots, guarded by eunuchs; but this time, though the +queen had remained at home, the wife of the chief priest Bai and other +aristocratic ladies had set the example of joining the troops, and it was +doubtless tempting enough to many to enjoy the excitements of war without +peril. + +Kasana had surprised her friend by her appearance an hour before; only +yesterday the young widow could not be persuaded to accompany the troops. +Obeying an inspiration, without consulting her father, so unprepared that +she lacked the necessary traveling equipments, she had joined the +expedition, and it seemed as if a man whom she had hitherto avoided, +though he was no less a personage than Siptah, the king's nephew, had +become a magnet to her. + +When she passed the prisoners, the prince was standing in the chariot +beside the young beauty in her nurse's place, explaining in jesting tones +the significance of the flowers in a bouquet, which Kasana declared could +not possibly have been intended for her, because an hour and a quarter +before she had not thought of going with the army. + +But Siptah protested that the Hathors had revealed at sunrise the +happiness in store for him, and that the choice of each single blossom +proved his assertion. + +Several young courtiers who were walking in front of their chariots, +surrounded them and joined in the laughter and merry conversation, in +which the vivacious wife of the chief priest shared, having left her +large travelling-chariot to be carried in a litter. + +None of these things escaped Joshua's notice and, as he saw Kasana, who +a short time before had thought of the prince with aversion, now saucily +tap his hand with her fan, his brow darkened and he asked himself whether +the young widow was not carelessly trifling with his misery. + +But the prisoners' chief warder had now noticed the locks on Siptah's +temples, which marked him as a prince of the royal household and his loud +"Hail! Hall!" in which the other guards and the captives joined, was +heard by Kasana and her companions. They looked toward the tamarisk- +bushes, whence the cry proceeded, and Joshua saw the young widow turn +pale and then point with a hasty gesture to the convicts. She must +undoubtedly have given Siptah some command, for the latter at first +shrugged his shoulders disapprovingly then, after a somewhat lengthy +discussion, half grave, half jesting, he sprang from the chariot and +beckoned to the chief gaoler. + +"Have these men," he called from the road so loudly that Kasana could not +fail to hear, "seen the face of the good god, the lord of both worlds?" +And when he received a reluctant answer, he went on arrogantly: + +"No matter! At least they beheld mine and that of the fairest of women, +and if they hope for favor on that account they are right. You know who +I am. Let the chains that bind them together be removed." Then, +beckoning to the man, he whispered: + +"But keep your eyes open all the wider; I have no liking for the fellow +beside the bush, the ex-chief Hosea. After returning home, report to me +and bring news of this man. The quieter he has become, the deeper my +hand will sink in my purse. Do you understand?" + +The warder bowed, thinking: "I'll take care, my prince, and also see that +no one attempts to take the life of any of my moles. The greater the +rank of these gentlemen, the more bloody and strange are their requests! +How many have come to me with similar ones. He releases the poor +wretches' feet, and wants me to burden my soul with a shameful murder. +Siptah has tried the wrong man! Here, Heter, bring the bag of tools and +open the moles' chains." + +While the files were grating on the sand-hill by the road and the +prisoners were being released from the fetters on their ancles,--though +for the sake of security each man's arms were bound together,--Pharaoh's +host marched by. + +Kasana had commanded Prince Siptah to release from their iron burden +the unfortunates who were being dragged to a life of misery, openly +confessing that she could not bear to see a chief who had so often been +a guest of her house so cruelly humiliated. Bai's wife had supported +her wish, and the prince was obliged to yield. + +Joshua knew to whom he and Ephraim owed this favor, and received it with +grateful joy. + +Walking had been made easier for him, but his mind was more and more +sorely oppressed with anxious cares. + +The army passing yonder would have been enough to destroy down to the +last man a force ten times greater than the number of his people. His +people, and with them his father and Miriam,--who had caused him such +keen suffering, yet to whom he was indebted for having found the way +which, even in prison, he had recognized as the only right one--seemed to +him marked out for a bloody doom; for, however powerful might be the God +whose greatness the prophetess had praised in such glowing words, and to +whom he himself had learned to look up with devout admiration,--untrained +and unarmed bands of shepherds must surely and hopelessly succumb to the +assault of this army. This certainty, strengthened by each advancing +division, pierced his very soul. Never before had he felt such burning +anguish, which was terribly sharpened when he beheld the familiar faces +of his own troops, which he had so lately commanded, pass before him +under the leadership of another. This time they were taking the field +to hew down men of his own blood. This was pain indeed, and Ephraim's +conduct gave him cause for fresh anxiety; since Kasana's appearance and +interference in behalf of him and his companions in suffering, the youth +had again lapsed into silence and gazed with wandering eyes at the army +or into vacancy. + +Now he, too, was freed from the chain, and Joshua asked in a whisper if +he did not long to return to his people to help them resist so powerful a +force, but Ephraim merely answered: + +"When confronted with those hosts, they can do nothing but yield. What +did we lack before the exodus? You were a Hebrew, and yet became a +mighty chief among the Egyptians ere you obeyed Miriam's summons. In +your place, I would have pursued a different course." + +"What would you have done?" asked Joshua sternly. + +"What?" replied the youth, the fire of his young soul blazing. "What? +Only this, I would have remained where there is honor and fame and +everything beautiful. You might have been the greatest of the great, +the happiest of the happy--this I have learned, but you made a different +choice." + +"Because duty commanded it," Joshua answered gravely, "because I will no +longer serve any one save the people among whom I was born." + +"The people?" exclaimed Ephraim, contemptuously. "I know them, and you +met them at Succoth. The poor are miserable wretches who cringe under +the lash; the rich value their cattle above all else and, if they are the +heads of the tribes, quarrel with one another. No one knows aught of +what pleases the eye and the heart. They call me one of the richest of +the race and yet I shudder when I think of the house I inherited, one of +the best and largest. One who has seen more beautiful ones ceases to +long for such an abode." + +The vein on Joshua's brow swelled, and he wrathfully rebuked the youth +for denying his own blood, and being a traitor to his people. + +The guard commanded silence, for Joshua had raised his reproving voice +louder, and this order seemed welcome to the defiant youth. When, during +their march, his uncle looked sternly into his face or asked whether he +had thought of his words, he turned angrily away, and remained mute and +sullen until the first star had risen, the night camp had been made under +the open sky, and the scanty prison rations had been served. + +Joshua dug with his hands a resting place in the sand, and with care and +skill helped the youth to prepare a similar one. + +Ephraim silently accepted this help; but as they lay side by side, and +the uncle began to speak to his nephew of the God of his people on whose +aid they must rely, if they were not to fall victims to despair in the +mines, the youth interrupted him, exclaiming in low tones, but with +fierce resolution: + +"They will not take me to the mines alive! I would rather die, while +making my escape, than pine away in such wretchedness." + +Joshua whispered words of warning, and again reminded him of his duties +to his people. But Ephraim begged to be let alone; yet soon after he +touched his uncle and asked softly: + +"What are they planning with Prince Siptah?" + +"I don't know; nothing good, that is certain." + +"And where is Aarsu, the Syrian, your foe, who commands the Asiatic +mercenaries, and who was to watch us with such fierce zeal? I did not +see him with the others." + +"He remained in Tanis with his troops." + +"To guard the palace?" + +"Undoubtedly." + +"Then he commands many soldiers, and Pharaoh has confidence in him?" + +"The utmost, though he ill deserves it." + +"And he is a Syrian, and therefore of our blood." + +"And more closely allied to us than to the Egyptians, at least so far as +language and appearance are concerned." + +"I should have taken him for a man of our race, yet he is, as you were, +one of the leaders in the army." + +"Other Syrians and Libyans command large troops of mercenaries, and the +herald Ben Mazana, one of the highest dignitaries of the court--the +Egyptians call him Rameses in the sanctuary of Ra--has a Hebrew father." + +"And neither he nor the others are scorned on account of their birth?" + +"This is not quite so. But why do you ask these questions?" + +"I could not sleep." + +"And so such thoughts came to you. But you have some definite idea in +your mind and, if my inference is correct, it would cause me pain. You +wished to enter Pharaoh's service!" + +Both were silent a long time, then Ephraim spoke again and, though he +addressed Joshua, it seemed as if he were talking to himself: + +"They will destroy our people; bondage and shame await those who survive. +My house is now left to ruin, not a head of my splendid herds of cattle +remains, and the gold and silver I inherited, of which there was said to +be a goodly store, they are carrying with them, for your father has +charge of my wealth, and it will soon fall as booty into the hands of the +Egyptians. Shall I, if I obtain my liberty, return to my people and make +bricks? Shall I bow my back and suffer blows and abuse?" + +Joshua eagerly whispered: + +"You must appeal to the God of your fathers, that he may protect and +defend His people. Yet, if the Most High has willed the destruction of +our race, be a man and learn to hate with all the might of your young +soul those who trample your people under their feet. Fly to the Syrians, +offer them your strong young arm, and take no rest till you have avenged +yourself on those who have shed the blood of your people and load you, +though innocent, with chains." + +Again silence reigned for some time, nothing was heard from Ephraim's +rude couch save a dull, low moan from his oppressed breast; but at last +he answered softly: + +"The chains no longer weigh upon us, and how could I hate her who +released us from them?" + +"Remain grateful to Kasana," was the whispered reply, "but hate her +nation." + +Hosea heard the youth toss restlessly, and again sigh heavily and moan. + +It was past midnight, the waxing moon rode high in the heavens, and the +sleepless man did not cease to listen for sounds from the youth; but the +latter remained silent, though slumber had evidently fled from him also; +for a noise as if he were grinding his teeth came from his place of rest. +Or had mice wandered to this barren place, where hard brown blades of +grass grew between the crusts of salt and the bare spots, and were +gnawing the prisoners' hard bread? + +Such gnawing and grinding disturb the sleep of one who longs for slumber; +but Joshua desired to keep awake to continue to open the eyes of the +blinded youth, yet he waited in vain for any sign of life from his +nephew. + +At last he was about to lay his hand on the lad's shoulder, but paused as +by the moonlight he saw Ephraim raise one arm though, before he lay down, +both hands were tied more firmly than before. + +Joshua now knew that it was the youth's sharp teeth gnawing the rope +which had caused the noise that had just surprised him, and he +immediately stood up and looked first upward and then around him. + +Holding his breath, the older man watched every movement, and his heart +began to throb anxiously. Ephraim meant to fly, and the first step +toward escape had already succeeded! Would that the others might prosper +too! But he feared that the liberated youth might enter the wrong path. +He was the only son of his beloved sister, a fatherless and motherless +lad, so he had never enjoyed the uninterrupted succession of precepts and +lessons which only a mother can give and a defiant young spirit will +accept from her alone. The hands of strangers had bound the sapling to a +stake and it had shot straight upward, but a mother's love would have +ennobled it with carefully chosen grafts. He had grown up beside another +hearth than his parents', yet the latter is the only true home for youth. +What marvel if he felt himself a stranger among his people. + +Amid such thoughts a great sense of compassion stole over Joshua and, +with it, the consciousness that he was deeply accountable for this youth +who, for his sake, while on the way to bring him a message, had fallen +into such sore misfortune. But much as he longed to warn him once more +against treason and perjury, he refrained, fearing to imperil his +success. Any noise might attract the attention of the guards, and he +took as keen an interest in the attempt at liberation, as if Ephraim had +made it at his suggestion. + +So instead of annoying the youth with fruitless warnings, he kept watch +for him; life had taught him that good advice is more frequently unheeded +than followed, and only personal experiences possess resistless power of +instruction. + +The chief's practiced eye soon showed him the way by which Ephraim, if +fortune favored him, could escape. + +He called softly, and directly after his nephew whispered: + +"I'll loose your ropes, if you will hold up your hands to me. Mine are +free!" + +Joshua's tense features brightened. + +The defiant lad was a noble fellow, after all, and risked his own chance +in behalf of one who, if he escaped with him, threatened to bar the way +in which, in youthful blindness, he hoped to find happiness. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +Joshua gazed intently around him. The sky was still bright, but if the +north wind continued to blow, the clouds which seemed to be rising from +the sea must soon cover it. + +The air had grown sultry, but the guards kept awake and regularly +relieved one another. It was difficult to elude their attention; yet +close by Ephraim's couch, which his uncle, for greater comfort, had +helped him make on the side of a gently sloping hill, a narrow ravine ran +down to the valley. White veins of gypsum and glittering mica sparkled +in the moonlight along its bare edges. If the agile youth could reach +this cleft unseen, and crawl through as far as the pool of saltwater, +overgrown with tall grass and tangled desert shrubs, at which it ended, +he might, aided by the clouds, succeed. + +After arriving at this conviction Joshua considered, as deliberately as +if the matter concerned directing one of his soldiers on his way, whether +he himself, in case he regained the use of his hands, could succeed in +following Ephraim without endangering his project. And he was forced to +answer this question in the negative; for the guard who sometimes sat, +sometimes paced to and fro on a higher part of the crest of the hill a +few paces away, could but too easily perceive, by the moonlight, the +youth's efforts to loose the firmly-knotted bonds. The cloud approaching +the moon might perhaps darken it, ere the work was completed. Thus +Ephraim might, on his account, incur the peril of losing the one +fortunate moment which promised escape. Would it not be the basest +of crimes, merely for the sake of the uncertain chance of flight, to bar +the path to liberty of the youth whose natural protector he was? So he +whispered to Ephraim: + +"I cannot go with you. Creep through the chasm at your right to the +salt-pool. I will watch the guards. As soon as the cloud passes over +the moon and I clear my throat, start off. If you escape, join our +people. Greet my old father, assure him of my love and fidelity, and +tell him where I am being taken. Listen to his advice and Miriam's; +theirs is the best counsel. The cloud is approaching the moon,--not +another word now!" + +As Ephraim still continued to urge him in a whisper to hold up his +pinioned arms, he ordered him to keep silence and, as soon as the moon +was obscured and the guard, who was pacing to and fro above their heads +began a conversation with the man who came to relieve him, Joshua cleared +his throat and, holding his breath, listened with a throbbing heart for +some sound in the direction of the chasm. + +He first heard a faint scraping and, by the light of the fire which the +guards kept on the hill-top as a protection against wild beasts, he saw +Ephraim's empty couch. + +He uttered a sigh of relief; for the youth must have entered the ravine. +But though he strained his ears to follow the crawling or sliding of the +fugitive he heard nothing save the footsteps and voices of the warders. + +Yet he caught only the sound, not the meaning of their words, so intently +did he fix his powers of hearing upon the course taken by the fugitive. +How nimbly and cautiously the agile fellow must move! He was still in +the chasm, yet meanwhile the moon struggled victoriously with the clouds +and suddenly her silver disk pierced the heavy black curtain that +concealed her from the gaze of men, and her light was reflected like a +slender, glittering pillar from the motionless pool of salt-water, +enabling the watching Joshua to see what was passing below; but he +perceived nothing that resembled a human form. + +Had the fugitive encountered any obstacle in the chasm? Did some +precipice or abyss hold him in its gloomy depths? Had--and at the +thought he fancied that his heart had stopped beating--Had some gulf +swallowed the lad when he was groping his way through the night? + +How he longed for some noise, even the faintest, from the ravine! The +silence was terrible. But now! Oh, would that it had continued! Now +the sound of falling stones and the crash of earth sliding after echoed +loudly through the still night air. Again the moonlight burst through +the cloud-curtain, and Joshua perceived near the pool a living creature +which resembled an animal more than a human being, for it seemed to be +crawling on four feet. Now the water sent up a shower of glittering +spray. The figure below had leaped into the pool. Then the clouds again +swallowed the lamp of night, and darkness covered everything. + +With a sigh of relief Joshua told himself that he had seen the flying +Ephraim and that, come what might, the escaping youth had gained a +considerable start of his pursuers. + +But the latter neither remained inert nor allowed themselves to be +deceived; for though, to mislead them, he had shouted loudly: "A jackal!" +they uttered a long, shrill whistle, which roused their sleeping +comrades. A few seconds later the chief warder stood before him with a +burning torch, threw its light on his face, and sighed with relief when +he saw him. Not in vain had he bound him with double ropes; for he would +have been called to a severe reckoning at home had this particular man +escaped. + +But while he was feeling the ropes on the prisoner's arms, the glare of +the burning torch, which lighted him, fell on the fugitive's rude, +deserted couch. There, as if in mockery, lay the gnawed rope. Taking it +up, he flung it at Joshua's feet, blew his whistle again and again, and +shouted: "Escaped! The Hebrew! Young Curly-head!" + +Paying no farther heed to Joshua, he began the pursuit. Hoarse with +fury, he issued order after order, each one sensible and eagerly obeyed. + +While some of the guards dragged the prisoners together, counted them, +and tied them with ropes, their commander, with the others and his dogs, +set off on the track of the fugitive. + +Joshua saw him make the intelligent animals smell Ephraim's gnawed bonds +and resting-place, and beheld them instantly rush to the ravine. Gasping +for breath, he also noted that they remained in it quite a long time, and +at last--the moon meanwhile scattered the clouds more and more--darted +out of the ravine, and dashed to the water. He felt that it was +fortunate Ephraim had waded through instead of passing round it; for at +its edge the dogs lost the scent, and minute after minute elapsed while +the commander of the guards walked along the shore with the eager +animals, which fairly thrust their noses into the fugitive's steps, +in order to again get on the right trail. Their loud, joyous barking at +last announced that they had found it. Yet, even if they persisted in +following the runaway, the captive warrior no longer feared the worst, +for Ephraim had gained a long advance of his pursuers. Still, his heart +beat loudly enough and time seemed to stand still until the chief-warder +returned exhausted and unsuccessful. + +The older man, it is true, could never have overtaken the swift-footed +youth, but the youngest and most active guards had been sent after the +fugitive. This statement the captain of the guards himself made with +an angry jeer. + +The kindly-natured man seemed completely transformed,--for he felt what +had occurred as a disgrace which could scarcely be overcome, nay, a +positive misfortune. + +The prisoner who had tried to deceive him by the shout of 'jackal!' was +doubtless the fugitive's accomplice. Prince Siptah, too, who had +interfered with the duties of his office, he loudly cursed. But nothing +of the sort should happen again; and he would make the whole band feel +what had fallen to his lot through Ephraim. Therefore he ordered the +prisoners to be again loaded with chains, the ex-chief fastened to a +coughing old man, and all made to stand in rank and file before the fire +till morning dawned. + +Joshua gave no answer to the questions his new companion-in-chains +addressed to him; he was waiting with an anxious heart for the return of +the pursuers. At times he strove to collect his thoughts to pray, and +commended to the God who had promised His aid, his own destiny and that +of the fugitive boy. True, he was often rudely interrupted by the +captain of the guards, who vented his rage upon him. + +Yet the man who had once commanded thousands of soldiers quietly +submitted to everything, forcing himself to accept it like the +unavoidable discomfort of hail or rain; nay, it cost him an effort to +conceal his joyful emotion when, toward sunrise, the young warders sent +in pursuit returned with tangled hair, panting for breath, and bringing +nothing save one of the dogs with a broken skull. + +The only thing left for the captain of the guards to do was to report +what had occurred at the first fortress on the Etham border, which the +prisoners were obliged in any case to pass, and toward this they were now +driven. + +Since Ephraim's flight a new and more cruel spirit had taken possession +of the warders. While yesterday they had permitted the unfortunate men +to move forward at an easy pace, they now forced them to the utmost +possible speed. Besides, the atmosphere was sultry, and the scorching +sun struggled with the thunderclouds gathering in heavy masses at the +north. + +Joshua's frame, inured to fatigues of every kind, resisted the tortures +of this hurried march; but his weaker companion, who had grown grey in a +scribe's duties, often gave way and at last lay prostrate beside him. + +The captain was obliged to have the hapless man placed on an ass and +chain another prisoner to Joshua. He was his former yoke-mate's brother, +an inspector of the king's stables, a stalwart Egyptian, condemned to the +mines solely on account of the unfortunate circumstance of being the +nearest blood relative of a state criminal. + +It was easier to walk with this vigorous companion, and Joshua listened +with deep sympathy and tried to comfort him when, in a low voice, he made +him the confidant of his yearning, and lamented the heaviness of heart +with which he had left wife and child in want and suffering. Two sons +had died of the pestilence, and it sorely oppressed his soul that he had +been unable to provide for their burial--now his darlings would be lost +to him in the other world also and forever. + +At the second halt the troubled father became franker still. An ardent +thirst for vengeance filled his soul, and he attributed the same feeling +to his stern-eyed companion, whom he saw had plunged into misfortune +from a high station in life. The ex-inspector of the stables had a +sister-in-law, who was one of Pharaoh's concubines, and through her and +his wife, her sister, he had learned that a conspiracy was brewing +against the king in the House of the Separated.--[Harem]. He even knew +whom the women desired to place in Menephtah's place. + +As Joshua looked at him, half questioning, half doubting, his companion +whispered. "Siptah, the king's nephew, and his noble mother, are at the +head of the plot. When I am once more free, I will remember you, for my +sister-in-law certainly will not forget me." Then he asked what was +taking his companion to the mines, and Joshua frankly told his name. +But when the Egyptian learned that he was fettered to a Hebrew, he tore +wildly at his chain and cursed his fate. His rage, however, soon +subsided in the presence of the strange composure with which his +companion in misfortune bore the rudest insults, and Joshua was glad to +have the other beset him less frequently with complaints and questions. + +He now walked on for hours undisturbed, free to yield to his longing to +collect his thoughts, analyze the new and lofty emotions which had ruled +his soul during the past few days, and accommodate himself to his novel +and terrible position. + +This quiet reflection and self-examination relieved him and, during the +following night, he was invigorated by a deep, refreshing sleep. + +When he awoke the setting stars were still in the sky and reminded him of +the sycamore in Succoth, and the momentous morning when his lost love had +won him for his God and his people. The glittering firmament arched over +his head, and he had never so distinctly felt the presence of the Most +High. He believed in His limitless power and, for the first time, felt a +dawning hope that the Mighty Lord who had created heaven and earth would +find ways and means to save His chosen people from the thousands of the +Egyptian hosts. + +After fervently imploring God to extend His protecting hand over the +feeble bands who, obedient to His command, had left so much behind them +and marched so confidently through an unknown and distant land, and +commended to His special charge the aged father whom he himself could not +defend, a wonderful sense of peace filled his soul. + +The shouts of the guards, the rattling of the chain, his wretched +companions in misfortune, nay, all that surrounded him, could not fail +to recall the fate awaiting him. He was to grow grey in slavish toil +within a close, hot pit, whose atmosphere choked the lungs, deprived of +the bliss of breathing the fresh air and beholding the sunlight; loaded +with chains, beaten and insulted, starving and thirsting, spending days +and nights in a monotony destructive alike to soul and body,--yet not for +one moment did he lose the confident belief that this horrible lot might +befall any one rather than himself, and something must interpose to save +him. + +On the march farther eastward, which began with the first grey dawn of +morning, he called this resolute confidence folly, yet strove to retain +it and succeeded. + +The road led through the desert, and at the end of a few hours' rapid +march they reached the first fort, called the Fortress of Seti. Long +before, they had seen it through the clear desert air, apparently within +a bowshot. + +Unrelieved by the green foliage of bush or palmtree, it rose from the +bare, stony, sandy soil, with its wooden palisades, its rampart, its +escarped walls, and its lookout, with broad, flat roof, swarming with +armed warriors. The latter had heard from Pithom that the Hebrews were +preparing to break through the chain of fortresses on the isthmus and had +at first mistaken the approaching band of prisoners for the vanguard of +the wandering Israelites. + +From the summits of the strong projections, which jutted like galleries +from every direction along the entire height of the escarped walls to +prevent the planting of scaling-ladders, soldiers looked through the +embrasures at the advancing convicts; yet the archers had replaced their +arrows in the quivers, for the watchmen in the towers perceived how few +were the numbers of the approaching troop, and a messenger had already +delivered to the commander of the garrison an order from his superior +authorizing him to permit the passage of the prisoners. + +The gate of the palisade was now opened, and the captain of the guards +allowed the prisoners to lie down on the glowing pavement within. + +No one could escape hence, even if the guards withdrew; for the high +fence was almost insurmountable, and from the battlements on the top of +the jutting walls darts could easily reach a fugitive. + +The ex-chief did not fail to note that everything was ready, as if in the +midst of war, for defence against a foe. Every man was at his post, and +beside the huge brazen disk on the tower stood sentinels, each holding in +his hand a heavy club to deal a blow at the approach of the expected +enemy; for though as far as the eye could reach, neither tree nor house +was visible, the sound of the metal plate would be heard at the next +fortress in the Etham line, and warn or summon its garrison. + +To be stationed in the solitude of this wilderness was not a punishment, +but a misfortune; and the commander of the army therefore provided that +the same troops should never remain long in the desert. + +Joshua himself, in former days, had been in command of the most southerly +of these fortresses, called the Migdol of the South; for each one of the +fortifications bore the name of Migdol, which in the Semitic tongue means +the tower of a fortress. + +His people were evidently expected here; and it was not to be supposed +that Moses had led the tribes back to Egypt. So they must have remained +in Succoth or have turned southward. But in that direction rolled the +waters of the Bitter Lakes and the Red Sea, and how could the Hebrew +hosts pass through the deep waters? + +Hosea's heart throbbed anxiously at this thought, and all his fears were +to find speedy confirmation; for he heard the commander of the fortress +tell the captain of the prisoners' guards, that the Hebrews had +approached the line of fortifications several days before, but soon +after, without assaulting the garrison, had turned southward. Since then +they seemed to have been wandering in the desert between Pithom and the +Red Sea. + +All this had been instantly reported at Tanis, but the king was forced to +delay the departure of the army for several days until the week of +general mourning for the heir to the throne had expired. The fugitives +might have turned this to account, but news had come by a carrier dove +that the blinded multitude had encamped at Pihahiroth, not far from the +Red Sea. So it would be easy for the army to drive them into the water +like a herd of cattle; there was no escape for them in any other +direction. + +The captain listened to these tidings with satisfaction; then he +whispered a few words to the commander of the fortress and pointed with +his finger to Joshua, who had long recognized him as a brother-in-arms +who had commanded a hundred men in his own cohorts and to whom he had +done many a kindness. He was reluctant to reveal his identity in this +wretched plight to his former subordinate, who was also his debtor; but +the commander flushed as he saw him, shrugged his shoulders as though he +desired to express to Joshua regret for his fate and the impossibility of +doing anything for him, and then exclaimed so loudly that he could not +fail to hear: + +"The regulations forbid any conversation with prisoners of state, but I +knew this man in better days, and will send you some wine which I beg you +to share with him." + +As he walked with the other to the gate, and the latter remarked that +Hosea deserved such favor less than the meanest of the band, because he +had connived at the escape of the fugitive of whom he had just spoken, +the commander ran his hand through his hair, and answered: + +"I would gladly have shown him some kindness, though he is much indebted +to me; but if that is the case, we will omit the wine; you have rested +long enough at any rate." + +The captain angrily gave the order for departure, and drove the hapless +band deeper into the desert toward the mines. + +This time Joshua walked with drooping head. Every fibre of his being +rebelled against the misfortune of being dragged through the wilderness +at this decisive hour, far from his people and the father whom he knew to +be in such imminent danger. Under his guidance the wanderers might +perchance have found some means of escape. His fist clenched when he +thought of the fettered limbs which forbade him to utilize the plans his +brain devised for the welfare of his people; yet he would not lose +courage, and whenever he said to himself that the Hebrews were lost and +must succumb in this struggle, he heard the new name God Himself had +bestowed upon him ring in his ears and at the same moment the flames of +hate and vengeance on all Egyptians, which had been fanned anew by the +fortress commander's base conduct, blazed up still more brightly. His +whole nature was in the most violent tumult and as the captain noted his +flushed cheeks and the gloomy light in his eyes he thought that this +strong man, too, had been seized by the fever to which so many convicts +fell victims on the march. + +When, at the approach of darkness, the wretched band sought a night's +rest in the midst of the wilderness, a terrible conflict of emotions was +seething in Joshua's soul, and the scene around him fitly harmonized with +his mood; for black clouds had again risen in the north from the sea and, +before the thunder and lightning burst forth and the rain poured in +torrents, howling, whistling winds swept masses of scorching sand upon +the recumbent prisoners. + +After these dense clouds had been their coverlet, pools and ponds were +their beds. The guards had bound them together hand and foot and, +dripping and shivering, held the ends of the ropes in their hands; for +the night was as black as the embers of their fire which the rain had +extinguished, and who could have pursued a fugitive through such darkness +and tempest. + +But Joshua had no thought of secret flight. While the Egyptians were +trembling and moaning, when they fancied they heard the wrathful voice of +Seth, and the blinding sheets of fire flamed from the clouds, he only +felt the approach of the angry God, whose fury he shared, whose hatred +was also his own. He felt himself a witness of His all-destroying +omnipotence, and his breast swelled more proudly as he told himself that +he was summoned to wield the sword in the service of this Mightiest of +the Mighty. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +A school where people learned modesty +But what do you men care for the suffering you inflict on others +Childhood already lies behind me, and youth will soon follow +Good advice is more frequently unheeded than followed +Precepts and lessons which only a mother can give +Should I be a man, if I forgot vengeance? +To the mines meant to be doomed to a slow, torturing death +What had formerly afforded me pleasure now seemed shallow + + + + + + +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 + + + + + + +JOSHUA + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 5. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +The prisoners of state who were being transported to the mines made slow +progress. Even the experienced captain of the guards had never had a +more toilsome trip or one more full of annoyances, obstacles, and +mishaps. + +One of his moles, Ephraim, had escaped; he had lost his faithful hounds, +and after his troop had been terrified and drenched by a storm such as +scarcely occurred in these desert regions once in five years, a second +had burst the next evening--the one which brought destruction on +Pharaoh's army--and this had been still more violent and lasting. + +The storm had delayed the march and, after the last cloud-burst, several +convicts and guards had been attacked by fever owing to their wet night- +quarters in the open air. The Egyptian asses, too, who were unused to +rain, had suffered and some of the best had been left on the road. + +Finally they had been obliged to bury two dead prisoners, and place three +who were dangerously ill on the remaining asses; and the other prisoners +were laden with the stores hitherto carried by the beasts of burden. +This was the first time such a thing had happened during the leader's +service of five and twenty years, and he expected severe reproofs. + +All these things exerted a baneful influence on the disposition of the +man, who was usually reputed one of the kindest-hearted of his companions +in office; and Joshua, the accomplice of the bold lad whose flight was +associated with the other vexations, suffered most sorely from his ill- +humor. + +Perhaps the irritated man would have dealt more gently with him, had he +complained like the man behind him, or burst into fierce oaths like his +yoke-mate, who made threatening allusions to the future when his sister- +in-law would be in high favor with Pharaoh and know how to repay those +who ill-treated her dear relative. + +But Hosea had resolved to bear whatever the rude fellow and his mates +chose to inflict with the same equanimity that he endured the scorching +sun which, ever since he had served in the army, had tortured him during +many a march through the desert, and his steadfast, manly character +helped him keep this determination. + +If the captain of the gang loaded him with extra heavy burdens, he +summoned all the strength of his muscles and tottered forward without a +word of complaint until his knees trembled under him; then the captain +would rush to him, throw several packages from his shoulders, and exclaim +that he understood his spite; he was only trying to be left on the road, +to get him into fresh difficulties; but he would not allow himself to be +robbed of the lives of the men who were needed in the mines. + +Once the captain inflicted a wound that bled severely; but he instantly +made every effort to cure it, gave him wine to restore his strength, and +delayed the march half a day to permit him to rest. + +He had not forgotten Prince Siptah's promise of a rich reward to any one +who brought him tidings of Hosea's death, but this was the very reason +that induced the honest-hearted man to watch carefully over his +prisoner's life; for the consciousness of having violated his duty for +the sake of reaping any advantage would have robbed him of all pleasure +in food and drink, as well as of the sound sleep which were his greatest +blessings. + +So though the Hebrew prisoner was tortured, it was never beyond the +limits of the endurable, and he had the pleasure of rendering, by his own +great strength, many a service to his weaker companions. + +He had commended his fate to the God who had summoned him to His service; +but he was well aware that he must not rest content with mere pious +confidence, and therefore thought by day and night of escape. But the +chain that bound him to his companions in suffering was too firmly +forged, and was so carefully examined and hammered every morning and +evening, that the attempt to escape would only have plunged him into +greater misery. + +The prisoners had at first marched through a hilly region, then climbed +upward, with a long mountain chain in view, and finally reached a desert +country from which truncated sandstone cones rose singly from the rocky +ground. + +On the fifth evening they encamped near a large mountain which Nature +seemed to have piled up from flat layers of stone and, as the sun of the +sixth day rose, they turned into a side valley leading to the mines in +the province of Bech. + +During the first few days they had been overtaken by a messenger from the +king's silver-house; but on the other hand they had met several little +bands bearing to Egypt malachite, turquoise, and copper, as well as the +green glass made at the mines. + +Among those whom they met at the entrance of the cross-valley into which +they turned on the last morning was a married couple on their way +homeward, after having received a pardon from the king. The captain of +the guards pointed them out to encourage his exhausted moles, but the +spectacle produced the opposite effect; for the tangled locks of the man, +who had scarcely passed his thirtieth year, were grey, his tall figure +was bowed and emaciated, and his naked back was covered with scars and +bleeding wales; the wife, who had shared his misery, was blind. She sat +cowering on an ass, in the dull torpor of insanity, and though the +passing of the convicts made a startling interruption to the silence of +the wilderness, and her hearing had remained keen, she paid no heed, but +continued to stare indifferently into vacancy. + +The sight of the hapless pair placed Hosea's own terrible future before +him as if in a mirror, and for the first time he groaned aloud and +covered his face with his hands. + +The captain of the guards perceived this and, touched by the horror of +the man whose resolution had hitherto seemed peerless, called to him: + +"They don't all come home like that, no indeed!" + +"Because they are even worse off," he thought. "But the poor wights +needn't know it beforehand. The next time I come this way I'll ask for +Hosea; I shall want to know what has become of this bull of a man. The +strongest and the most resolute succumb the most quickly." + +Then, like a driver urging an unharnessed team forward, he swung the lash +over the prisoners, but without touching them, and pointing to a column +of smoke which rose behind a cliff at the right of the road, he +exclaimed: + +"There are the smelting furnaces! We shall reach our destination at +noon. There will be no lack of fire to cook lentils, and doubtless you +may have a bit of mutton, too; for we celebrate to-day the birth of the +good god, the son of the sun; may life, health, and prosperity be his!" + +For the next half-hour their road led between lofty cliffs through the +dry bed of a river, down which, after the last rains, a deep mountain +torrent had poured to the valley; but now only a few pools still +remained. + +After the melancholy procession had passed around a steep mountain whose +summit was crowned with a small Egyptian temple of Hathor and a number of +monuments, it approached a bend in the valley which led to the ravine +where the mines were located. + +Flags, hoisted in honor of Pharaoh's birth-day, were waving from tall +masts before the gates of the little temple on the mountain; and when +loud shouts, uproar, and clashing greeted the travellers in the valley of +the mines, which was wont to be so silent, the captain of the guards +thought that the prisoners' greatest festival was being celebrated in an +unusually noisy way and communicated this conjecture to the other guards +who had paused to listen. + +Then the party pressed forward without delay, but no one raised his head; +the noon-day sun blazed so fiercely, and the dazzling walls of the ravine +sent forth a reflected glow as fierce as if they were striving to surpass +the heat of the neighboring smelting furnaces. + +Spite of the nearness of the goal the prisoners tottered forward as if +asleep, only one held his breath in the intensity of suspense. + +As the battle-charger in the plough arches his neck, and expands his +nostrils, while his eyes flash fire, so Joshua's bowed figure, spite of +the sack that burdened his shoulders, straightened itself, and his +sparkling eyes were turned toward the spot whence came the sounds the +captain of the guards had mistaken for the loud tumult of festal mirth. + +He, Joshua, knew better. Never could he mistake the roar echoing there; +it was the war-cry of Egyptian soldiers, the blast of the trumpet +summoning the warriors, the clank of weapons, and the battle-shouts of +hostile hordes. + +Ready for prompt action, he bent toward his yokemate, and whispered +imperiously: + +"The hour of deliverance is at hand. Take heed, and obey me blindly." + +Strong excitement overpowered his companion also, and Hosea had scarcely +glanced into the side-valley ere he bade him hold himself in readiness. + +The first look into the ravine had showed him, on the summit of a cliff, +a venerable face framed in snowy locks--his father's. He would have +recognized him among thousands and at a far greater distance! But from +the beloved grey head he turned a swift glance at the guide, who had +stopped in speechless horror, and supposing that a mutiny had broken out +among the prisoners, with swift presence of mind shouted hoarsely to the +other guards: + +"Keep behind the convicts and cut down every one who attempts to escape!" + +But scarcely had his subordinates hurried to the end of the train, ere +Joshua whispered to his companion: + +"At him!" + +As he spoke the Hebrew, who, with his yoke-mate, headed the procession, +attacked the astonished leader, and ere he was aware of it, Joshua seized +his right arm, the other his left. + +The strong man, whose powers were doubled by his rage, struggled +furiously to escape, but Joshua and his companion held him in an iron +grasp. + +A single rapid glance had showed the chief the path he must take to join +his people True, it led past a small band of Egyptian bow-men, who were +discharging their arrows at the Hebrews on the opposite cliff, but the +enemy would not venture to fire at him and his companion; for the +powerful figure of the captain of the guards, clearly recognizable by his +dress and weapons, shielded them both. + +"Lift the chain with your right hand," whispered Joshua, "I will hold our +living buckler. We must ascend the cliff crab-fashion." + +His companion obeyed, and as they advanced within bow-shot of the enemy +--moving sometimes backward, sometimes sideways--they held the Egyptian +before them and with the ringing shout: "The son of Nun is returning to +his father and to his people!" Joshua step by step drew nearer to the +Hebrew combatants. + +Not one of the Egyptians who knew the captain of the prisoners' guard had +ventured to send an arrow at the escaping prisoners. While the fettered +pair were ascending the cliff backward, Joshua heard his name shouted in +joyous accents, and directly after Ephraim, with a band of youthful +warriors, came rushing down the height toward him. + +To his astonishment Joshua saw the huge shield, sword, or battle-axe of +an Egyptian heavily-armed soldier in the hands of each of these sons of +his people, but the shepherd's sling and the bag of round stones also +hung from many girdles. + +Ephraim led his companions and, before greeting his uncle, formed them +into two ranks like a double wall between Joshua and the hostile bow-men. + +Then he gave himself up to the delight of meeting, and a second glad +greeting soon followed; for old Nun, protected by the tall Egyptian +shields which the sea had washed ashore, had been guided to the +projecting rock in whose shelter strong hands were filing the fetters +from Joshua and his companion, while Ephraim, with several others, bound +the captain. + +The unfortunate man had given up all attempt at resistance and submitted +to everything as if utterly crushed. He only asked permission to wipe +his eyes ere his arms were bound behind his back; for tear after tear was +falling on the grey beard of the warder who, outwitted and overpowered, +no longer felt capable of discharging the duties of his office. + +Nun clasped to his heart with passionate fervor the rescued son whom he +had already mourned as lost. Then, releasing him, he stepped back and +never wearied of feasting his eyes on him and hearing him repeat that, +faithful to his God, he had consecrated himself to the service of his +people. + +But it was for a brief period only that they gave themselves up to the +bliss of this happy meeting; the battle asserted its rights, and its +direction fell, as a matter of course, to Joshua. + +He had learned with grateful joy, yet not wholly untinged with +melancholy, of the fate which had overtaken the brave army among whose +leaders he had long proudly numbered himself, and also heard that another +body of armed shepherds, under the command of Hur, Miriam's husband, had +attacked the turquoise mines of Dophkah, which situated a little farther +toward the south, could be reached in a few hours. If they conquered, +they were to join the young followers of Ephraim before sunset. + +The latter was burning with eagerness to rush upon the Egyptians, but the +more prudent Joshua, who had scanned the foe, though he did not doubt +that they must succumb to the fiery shepherds, who were far superior to +them in numbers, was anxious to shed as little blood as possible in this +conflict, which was waged on his account, so he bade Ephraim cut a palm +from the nearest tree, ordered a shield to be handed to him and then, +waving the branch as an omen of peace, yet cautiously protecting himself, +advanced alone to meet the foe. + +The main body were drawn up in front of the mines and, familiar with the +signal which requested negotiations, asked their commander for an +interview. + +The latter was ready to grant it, but first desired to know the contents +of a letter which had just been handed to him and must contain evil +tidings. This was evident from the messenger's looks and the few words +which, though broken, were pregnant with meaning, that he had whispered +to his countryman. + +While some of Pharaoh's warriors offered refreshments to the exhausted, +dust-covered runner, and listened with every token of horror to the +tidings he hoarsely gasped, the commander of the troops read the letter. + +His features darkened and, when he had finished, he clenched the papyrus +fiercely; for it had announced tidings no less momentous than the +destruction of the army, the death of Pharaoh Menephtah, and the +coronation of his oldest surviving son as Seti II., after the attempt of +Prince Siptah to seize the throne had been frustrated. The latter had +fled to the marshy region of the Delta, and Aarsu, the Syrian, after +abandoning him and supporting the new king, had been raised to the chief +command of all the mercenaries. Bai, the high-priest and chief-judge, +had been deprived of his rank and banished by Seti II. Siptah's +confederates had been taken to the Ethiopian gold mines instead of to the +copper mines. It was also stated that many women belonging to the House +of the Separated had been strangled; and Siptah's mother had undoubtedly +met the same fate. Every soldier who could be spared from the mines was +to set off at once for Tanis, where veterans were needed for the new +legions. + +This news exerted a powerful influence; for after Joshua had told the +commander that he was aware of the destruction of the Egyptian army and +expected reinforcements which had been sent to capture Dophkah to arrive +within a few hours, the Egyptian changed his imperious tone and +endeavored merely to obtain favorable conditions for retreat. He was but +too well aware of the weakness of the garrison of the turquoise mines and +knew that he could expect no aid from home. Besides, the mediator +inspired him with confidence; therefore, after many evasions and threats, +he expressed himself satisfied with the assurance that the garrison, +accompanied by the beasts of burden and necessary provisions, should be +allowed to depart unharmed. This, however, was not to be done until +after they had laid down their arms and showed the Hebrews all the +galleries where the prisoners were at work. + +The young Hebrews, who twice outnumbered the Egyptians, at once set about +disarming them; and many an old warrior's eyes grew dim, many a man broke +his lance or snapped his arrows amid execrations and curses, while some +grey-beards who had formerly served under Joshua and recognized him, +raised their clenched fists and upbraided him as a traitor. + +The dregs of the army were sent for this duty in the wilderness and most +of the men bore in their faces the impress of corruption and brutality. +Those in authority on the Nile knew how to choose soldiers whose duty it +was to exercise pitiless severity against the defenceless. + +At last the mines were opened and Joshua himself seized a lamp and +pressed forward into the hot galleries where the naked prisoners of +state, loaded with fetters, were hewing the copper ore from the walls. + +Already he could hear in the distance the picks, whose heads were shaped +like a swallow's tail, bite the hard rock. Then he distinguished the +piteous wails of tortured men and women; for cruel overseers had followed +them into the mine and were urging the slow to greater haste. + +To-day, Pharaoh's birthday, they had been driven to the temple of Hathor +on the summit of the neighboring height, to pray for the king who had +plunged them into the deepest misery, and they would have been released +from labor until the next morning, had not the unexpected attack induced +the commander to force them back into the mines. Therefore to-day the +women, who were usually obliged merely to crush and sift the ores needed +to make glass and dyes, were compelled to labor in the galleries. + +When the convicts heard Joshua's shouts and footsteps, which echoed from +the bare cliffs, they were afraid that some fresh misfortune was +impending, and wailing and lamentations arose in all directions. But the +deliverer soon reached the first convicts, and the glad tidings that he +had come to save them from their misery speedily extended to the inmost +depths of the mines. + +Wild exultation filled the galleries which were wont to witness only +sorrowful moans and burning tears; yet loud cries for help, piteous +wailings, groans, and the death-rattle reached Joshua's ear; for a hot- +blooded man had rushed upon the overseer most hated and felled him with +his pick-axe. His example quickly inflamed the others' thirst for +vengeance and, ere it could be prevented, the same fate overtook the +other officials. But they had defended themselves and the corpse of many +a prisoner strewed the ground beside their tormentors. + +Obeying Joshua's call, the liberated multitude at last emerged into the +light of day. Savage and fierce were the outcries which blended in +sinister discord with the rattling of the chains they dragged after them. +Even the most fearless among the Hebrews shrank in horror as they beheld +the throng of hapless sufferers in the full radiance of the sunlight; for +the dazzled, reddened eyes of the unfortunate sufferers,--many of whom +had formerly enjoyed in their own homes or at the king's court every +earthly blessing; who had been tender mothers and fathers, rejoiced in +doing good, and shared all the blessings of the civilization of a richly +gifted people,--these dazzled eyes which at first glittered through tears +caused by the swift transition from the darkness of the mines to the +glare of the noon-day sun, soon sparkled as fiercely and greedily as +those of starving owls. + +At first, overwhelmed by the singular change in their destiny, they +struggled for composure and did not resist the Hebrews, who, at Joshua's +signal, began to file the fetters from their ankles; but when they +perceived the disarmed soldiers and overseers who, guarded by Ephraim and +his companions, were ranged at the base of a cliff, a strange excitement +overpowered them. Amid shrieks and yells which no name can designate, no +words describe, they broke from those who were trying to remove their +fetters and, though no glance or word had been exchanged between them, +obeyed the same terrible impulse, and unheeding the chains that burdened +them, rushed upon the defenceless Egyptians. Before the Hebrews could +prevent it, each threw himself upon the one who had inflicted the worst +suffering upon him; and here might be seen an emaciated man clutching the +throat of his stronger foe, yonder a band of nude women horribly +disfigured by want and neglect, rush upon the man who had most rudely +insulted, beaten, and abused them, and with teeth and nails wreak upon +him their long repressed fury. + +It seemed as though the flood-tide of hate had burst its dam and, +unfettered, was demanding its victims. + +There was a horrible scene of attack and defence, a ferocious, bloody +conflict on foot and amid the red sand of the desert, shrieks, yells, and +howls pierced the ear; nay, it was difficult to distinguish individuals +in this motley confusion of men and women, animated on the one side by +the wildest passion, a yearning for vengeance amounting to blood- +thirstiness, and on the other by the dread of death and the necessity +for self-defence. + +Only a few of the prisoners had succeeded in controlling themselves; but +they, too, shouted irritating words to their fellows, reviled the +Egyptians in violent excitement, and shook their clenched fists at the +disarmed foe. + +The fury with which the liberated serfs rushed upon their tormentors was +as unprecedented as the cruelties they had suffered. + +But Joshua had deprived the Egyptians of their weapons, and they were +therefore under his protection. + +So he commanded his men to separate the combatants, if possible without +bloodshed; but the task was no easy one, and many new and horrible deeds +were committed. At last, however, it was accomplished, and they now +perceived how terribly rage had increased the strength of the exhausted +and feeble sufferers; for though no weapons had been used in the conflict +a number of corpses strewed the spot, and most of the guards were +bleeding from terrible wounds. + +After quiet had been restored, Joshua asked the wounded commander for the +list of prisoners, but he pointed to the clerk of the mines, whom none of +the convicts had assailed. He had been their physician and treated them +kindly-an elderly man, he had himself undergone sore trials and, knowing +the pain of suffering, was ready to alleviate the pangs of others. + +He willingly read aloud the names of the prisoners, among which were +several Hebrew ones, and after each individual had responded, many +declared themselves ready to join the wandering tribes. + +When the disarmed soldiers and guards at last set out on their way home, +the captain of the band that had escorted Joshua and his companions left +the other Egyptians, and with drooping head and embarrassed mien +approached old Nun and his son, and begged permission to go with them; +for he could expect no favor at home and there was no God in Egypt so +mighty as theirs. It had not escaped his notice that Hosea, who had once +been a chief in the Egyptian service, had raised his hands in the sorest +straits to this God, and never had he witnessed the same degree of +resolution that he possessed. Now he also knew that this same mighty God +had buried Pharaoh's powerful army in the sea to save His people. Such a +God was acceptable to his heart, and he desired nothing better than to +remain henceforward with those who served Him. + +Joshua willingly allowed him to join the Hebrews. Then it appeared that +there were fifteen of the latter among the liberated prisoners and, to +Ephraim's special delight, Reuben, the husband of poor melancholy Milcah, +who clung so closely to Miriam. His reserved, laconic disposition had +stood him in good stead, and the arduous forced labor seemed to have +inflicted little injury on his robust frame. + +The exultation of victory, the joy of success, had taken full possession +of Ephraim and his youthful band; but when the sun set and there was +still no sign of Hur and his band, Nun and his followers were seized with +anxiety. + +Ephraim had already proposed to go with some of his companions in quest +of tidings, when a messenger announced that Hur's men had lost courage at +the sight of the well-fortified Egyptian citadel. Their leader, it is +true, had urged them to the assault, but his band had shrunk from the +peril and, unless Nun and his men brought aid, they would return with +their mission unfulfilled. + +It was therefore resolved to go to the assistance of the timorous. With +joyous confidence they marched forward and, during the journey through +the cool night, Ephraim and Nun described to Joshua how they had found +Kasana and how she had died. What she had desired to communicate to the +man she loved was now made known to him, and the warrior listened with +deep emotion and remained silent and thoughtful until they reached +Dophkah, the valley of the turquoise mines, from whose center rose the +fortress which contained the prisoners. + +Hur and his men had remained concealed in a side-valley, and after Joshua +had divided the Hebrew force into several bodies and assigned to each a +certain task, he gave at dawn the signal for the assault. + +After a brief struggle the little garrison was overpowered and the +fortress taken. The disarmed Egyptians, like their companions at the +copper mines, were sent home. The prisoners were released and the +lepers, whose quarters were in a side-valley beyond the mines--among them +were those who at Joshua's bidding had been brought here--were allowed to +follow the conquerors at a certain distance. + +What Hur, Miriam's husband, could not accomplish, Joshua had done, and +ere the young soldiers departed with Ephraim, old Nun assembled them to +offer thanks to the Lord. The men under Hur's command also joined in the +prayer and wherever Joshua appeared Ephraim's companions greeted him with +cheers. + +"Hail to our chief !" often rang on the air, as they marched forward: +"Hail to him whom the Most High Himself has chosen for His sword! We +will gladly follow him; for through him God leads us to victory." + +Hur's men also joined in these shouts, and he did not forbid them; nay, +after the storming of the fortress, he had thanked Joshua and expressed +his pleasure in his liberation. + +At the departure, the younger man had stepped back to let the older one +precede him; but Hur had entreated grey-haired Nun, who was greatly his +senior, to take the head of the procession, though after the deliverance +of the people on the shore of the Red Sea he had himself been appointed +by Moses and the elders to the chief command of the Hebrew soldiers. + +The road led first through a level mountain valley, then it crossed the +pass known as the "Sword-point ", which was the only means of +communication between the mines and the Red Sea. + +The rocky landscape was wild and desolate, and the path to be climbed +steep. Joshua's old father, who had grown up on the flat plains of +Goshen and was unaccustomed to climbing mountains, was borne amid the +joyous acclamations of the others, in the arms of his son and grandson, +to the summit of the pass; but Miriam's husband who, at the head of his +men, followed the division of Ephraim's companions, heard the shouts of +the youths yet moved with drooping head and eyes bent on the ground. + +At the summit they were to rest and wait for the people who were to be +led through the wilderness of Sin to Dophkah. + +The victors gazed from the top of the pass in search of the travellers; +but as yet no sign of them appeared. But when they looked back along the +mountain path whence they had come a different spectacle presented +itself, a scene so grand, so marvellous, that it attracted every eye as +though by a magic spell; for at their feet lay a circular valley, +surrounded by lofty cliffs, mountain ridges, peaks, and summits, which +here white as chalk, yonder raven-black, here grey and brown, yonder red +and green, appeared to grow upward from the sand toward the azure sky of +the wilderness, steeped in dazzling light, and unshadowed by the tiniest +cloudlet. + +All that the eye beheld was naked and bare, silent and lifeless. On the +slopes of the many-colored rocks, which surrounded the sandy valley, grew +no blade of grass nor smallest plant. Neither bird, worm, nor beetle +stirred in these silent tracts, hostile to all life. Here the eye +discerned no cultivation,--nothing that recalled human existence. God +seemed to have created for Himself alone these vast tracts which were of +service to no living creature. Whoever penetrated into this wilderness +entered a spot which the Most High had perchance chosen for a place of +rest and retreat, like the silent, inaccessible Holy of Holies of the +temple. + +The young men had gazed mutely at the wonderful scene at their feet. +Now they prepared to encamp and showed themselves diligent in serving +old Nun, whom they sincerely loved. Resting among them under a hastily +erected canopy he related, with sparkling eyes, the deeds his son had +performed. + +Meanwhile Joshua and Hur were still standing at the top of the pass, +the former gazing silently down into the dreary, rocky valley, which +overarched by the blue dome of the sky, surrounded by the mountain +pillars and columns from God's own workshop, opened before him as the +mightiest of temples. + +The old man had long gazed gloomily at the ground, but he suddenly +interrupted the silence and said: + +"In Succoth I erected a heap of stones and called upon the Lord to be a +witness between us. But in this spot, amid this silence, it seems to me +that without memorial or sign we are sure of His presence." Here he drew +his figure to a greater height and continued: "And I now raise mine eyes +to Thee, Adonai, and address my humble words to Thee, Jehovah, Thou God +of Abraham and of our fathers, that Thou mayst a second time be a witness +between me and this man whom Thou Thyself didst summon to Thy service, +that he might be Thy sword." + +He had uttered these words with eyes and hands uplifted, then turning to +the other, he said with solemn earnestness: + +"So I ask thee Hosea, son of Nun, dost thou remember the vow which thou +and I made before the stones in Succoth?" + +"I do," was the reply. "And in sore disaster and great peril I perceived +what the Most High desired of me, and am resolved to devote to Him all +the strength of body and soul with which He has endowed me, to Him alone, +and to His people, who are also mine. Henceforward I will be called +Joshua.... nor will I seek service with the Egyptians or any foreign +king; for the Lord our God through the lips of thy wife bestowed this +name upon me." + +Then Hur, with solemn earnestness, broke in: "That is what I expected to +hear and as, in this place also, the Most High is a witness between me +and thee and hears this conversation, let the vow I made in His presence +be here fulfilled. The heads of the tribes and Moses, the servant of the +Lord, appointed me to the command of the fighting-men of our people. But +now thou dost call thyself Joshua, and hast vowed to serve no other than +the Lord our God. I am well aware thou canst accomplish far greater +things as commander of an army than I, who have grown grey in driving +herds, or than any other Hebrew, by whatever name he is known, so I will +fulfil the vow sworn at Succoth. I will ask Moses, the servant of the +Lord, and the elders to confide to thee the office of commander. In +their hands will I place the decision and, because I feel that the Most +High beholds my heart, let me confess that I have thought of thee with +secret rancor. Yet, for the welfare of the people, I will forget what +lies between us and offer thee my hand." + +With these words he held out his hand to Joshua and the latter, grasping +it, replied with generous candor: + +"Thy words are manly and mine shall be also. For the sake of the people +and the cause we both serve, I will accept thy offer. Yet since thou +hast summoned the Most High as a witness and He hears me, I, too, will +not withhold one iota of the truth. The Lord Himself has summoned me to +the office of commander of the fighting-men which thou dost desire to +commit to me. It was done through Miriam, thy wife, and is my due. Yet +I recognize thy willingness to yield thy dignity to me as a praiseworthy +deed, since I know how hard it is for a man to resign power, especially +in favor of a younger one whom he does not love. Thou hast done this, +and I am grateful. I, too, have thought of thee with secret rancor; for +through thee I lost another possession harder for a man to renounce than +office: the love of woman." + +The hot blood mounted into Hur's cheeks, as he exclaimed: + +"Miriam! I did not force her into marriage; nay I did not even purchase +her, according to the custom of our fathers, with the bridal dowry--she +became my wife of her own free will." + +"I know it," replied Joshua quietly, "yet there was one man who had +yearned to make her his longer and more ardently than thou, and the fire +of jealousy burned fiercely in his heart. But have no anxiety; for wert +thou now to give her a letter of divorce and lead her to me that I might +open my arms and tent to receive her, I would exclaim: + +"Why hast thou done this thing to thyself and to me? For a short time +ago I learned what woman's love is, and that I was mistaken when I +believed Miriam shared the ardor of my heart. Besides, during the march +with fetters on my feet, in the heaviest misfortune, I vowed to devote +all the strength and energy of soul and body to the welfare of our +people. Nor shall the love of woman turn me from the great duty I have +taken upon myself. As for thy wife, I shall treat her as a stranger +unless, as a prophetess, she summons me to announce a new message from +the Lord." + +With these words he held out his hand to his companion and, as Hur +grasped it, loud voices were heard from the fighting-men, for messengers +were climbing the mountain, who, shouting and beckoning, pointed to the +vast cloud of dust that preceded the march of the tribes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +The Hebrews came nearer and nearer, and many of the young combatants +hastened to meet them. These were not the joyous bands, who had joined +triumphantly in Miriam's song of praise, no, they tottered toward the +mountain slowly, with drooping heads. They were obliged to scale the +pass from the steeper side, and how the bearers sighed; how piteously the +women and children wailed, how fiercely the drivers swore as they urged +the beasts of burden up the narrow, rugged path; how hoarsely sounded the +voices of the half fainting men as they braced their shoulders against +the carts to aid the beasts of burden. + +These thousands who, but a few short days before, had so gratefully felt +the saving mercy of the Lord, seemed to Joshua, who stood watching their +approach, like a defeated army. + +But the path they had followed from their last encampment, the harbor by +the Red Sea, was rugged, arid, and to them, who had grown up among the +fruitful plains of Lower Egypt, toilsome and full of terror. + +It had led through the midst of the bare rocky landscape, and their eyes, +accustomed to distant horizons and luxuriant green foliage, met narrow +boundaries and a barren wilderness. + +Since passing through the Gate of Baba, they had beheld on their way +through the valley of the same name and their subsequent pilgrimage +through the wilderness of Sin, nothing save valleys with steep precipices +on either side. A lofty mountain of the hue of death had towered, black +and terrible, above the reddish-brown slopes, which seemed to the +wanderers like the work of human hands, for the strata of stones rose at +regular intervals. One might have supposed that the giant builders whose +hands had toiled here in the service of the Sculptor of the world had +been summoned away ere they had completed the task, which in this +wilderness had no searching eye to fear and seemed destined for the +service of no living creature. Grey and brown granite cliffs and ridges +rose on both sides of the path, and in the sand which covered it lay +heaps of small bits of red porphyry and coal-black stones that seemed as +if they had been broken by the blows of a hammer and resembled the dross +from which metal had been melted. Greenish masses of rock, most peculiar +in form, surrounded the narrow, cliff circled mountain valleys, which +opened into one another. The ascending path pierced them; and often the +Hebrews, as they entered, feared that the lofty cliffs in the distance +would compel them to return. Then murmurs and lamentations arose, but +the mode of egress soon appeared and led to another rock-valley. + +On departing from the harbor at the Red Sea they had often found thorny +gum acacias and an aromatic desert plant, which the animals relished; but +the farther they entered the rocky wilderness, the more scorching and +arid the sand became, and at last the eye sought in vain for herbs and +trees. + +At Elim fresh springs and shade-giving palms were found, and at the Red +Sea there were well-filled cisterns; but here at the camp in the +wilderness of Sin nothing had been discovered to quench the thirst, and +at noon it seemed as though an army of spiteful demons had banished every +inch of shade cast by the cliffs; for every part of the valleys and +ravines blazed and glowed, and nowhere was there the slightest protection +from the scorching sun. + +The last water brought with them had been distributed among the human +beings and animals, and when the procession started in the morning not a +drop could be found to quench their increasing thirst. + +Then the old doubting rancor and rebelliousness took possession of the +multitude. Curses directed against Moses and the elders, who had led +them from the comfort of well-watered Egypt to this misery, never ceased; +but when they climbed the pass of the "Swordpoint" their parched throats +had become too dry for oaths and invectives. + +Messengers from old Nun, Ephraim, and Hur had already informed the +approaching throngs that the young men had gained a victory and liberated +Joshua and the other captives; but their discouragement had become so +great that even this good news made little change, and only a flitting +smile on the bearded lips of the men, or a sudden flash of the old light +in the dark eyes of the women appeared. + +Miriam, accompanied by melancholy Milcah, had remained with her +companions instead of, as usual, calling upon the women to thank the Most +High. + +Reuben, the husband of her sorrowful ward whom fear of disappointment +still deterred from yielding to his newly-awakened hopes, was a quiet, +reticent man, so the first messenger did not know whether he was among +the liberated prisoners. But great excitement overpowered Milcah and, +when Miriam bade her be patient, she hurried from one playmate to another +assailing them with urgent questions. When even the last could give her +no information concerning the husband she had loved and lost, she burst +into loud sobs and fled back to the prophetess. But she received little +consolation, for the woman who was expecting to greet her own husband as +a conqueror and see the rescued friend of her childhood, was absent- +minded and troubled, as if some heavy burden oppressed her soul. + +Moses had left the tribes as soon as he learned that the attack upon the +mines had succeeded and Joshua was rescued; for it had been reported that +the warlike Amalekites, who dwelt in the oasis at the foot of Mt. Sinai, +were preparing to resist the Hebrews' passage through their well-watered +tract in the wilderness with its wealth of palms. Accompanied by a few +picked men he set off across the mountains in quest of tidings, expecting +to join his people between Alush and Rephidim in the valley before the +oasis. + +Abidan, the head of the tribe of Benjamin, with Hur and Nun, the princes +of Judah and Ephraim after their return from the mines--were to represent +him and his companions. + +As the people approached the steep pass Hur, with more of the rescued +prisoners, came to meet them, and hurrying in advance of all the rest was +young Reuben, Milcah's lost husband. She had recognized him in the +distance as he rushed down the mountain and, spite of Miriam's protest, +darted into the midst of the tribe of Simeon which marched in front of +hers. + +The sight of their meeting cheered many a troubled spirit and when at +last, clinging closely to each other, they hurried to Miriam and the +latter beheld the face of her charge, it seemed as though a miracle had +been wrought; for the pale lily had become in the hue of her cheeks a +blooming rose. Her lips, too, which she had but rarely and timidly +opened for a question or an answer, were in constant motion; for how much +she desired to know, how many questions she had to ask the silent husband +who had endured such terrible suffering. + +They were a handsome, happy pair, and it seemed to them as if, instead of +passing naked rocks over barren desert paths, they were journeying +through a vernal landscape where springs were gushing and birds carolling +their songs. + +Miriam, who had done everything in her power to sustain the grieving +wife, was also cheered by the sight of her happiness. But every trace +of joyous sympathy soon vanished from her features; for while Reuben and +Milcah, as if borne on wings, seemed scarcely to touch the soil of the +wilderness, she moved forward with drooping head, oppressed by the +thought that it was her own fault that no like happiness could bloom +for her in this hour. + +She told herself that she had made a sore sacrifice, worthy of the +highest reward and pleasing in the sight of God, when she refused to obey +the voice of her heart, yet she could not banish from her memory the +dying Egyptian who had denied her right to be numbered among those who +loved Hosea, the woman who for his sake had met so early a death. + +She, Miriam, lived, yet she had killed the most fervent desire of her +soul; duty forbade her thinking with ardent longing of him who lingered +up yonder, devoted to the cause of his people and the God of his fathers, +a free, noble man, perhaps the future leader of the warriors of her race, +and if Moses so appointed, next to him the first and greatest of all the +Hebrews, but lost, forever lost to her. + +Had she on that fateful night obeyed the yearning of her woman's heart +and not the demands of the vocation which placed her far above all other +women, he would long since have clasped her in his arms, as quiet Reuben +embraced his poor, feeble Milcah, now so joyous as she walked stoutly at +his side. + +What thoughts were these? + +She must drive them back to the inmost recesses of her heart, seek to +crush them; for it was a sin for her to long so ardently to meet another. +She wished for her husband's presence, as a saviour from herself and the +forbidden desires of this terrible hour. + +Hur, the prince of the tribe of Judah, was her husband, not the former +Egyptian, the liberated captive. What had she to ask from the +Ephraimite, whom she had forever refused? + +Why should it hurt her that the liberated prisoner did not seek her; why +did she secretly cherish the foolish hope that momentous duties detained +him? + +She scarcely saw or heard what was passing around her, and Milcah's +grateful greeting to her husband first informed her that Hur was +approaching. + +He had waved his hand to her while still afar, but he came alone, without +Hosea or Joshua, she cared not what the rescued man called himself; and +it angered her to feel that this hurt her, nay, pierced her to the heart. +Yet she esteemed her elderly husband and it was not difficult for her to +give him a cordial welcome. + +He answered her greeting joyously and tenderly; but when she pointed to +the re-united pair and extolled him as victor and deliverer of Reuben and +so many hapless men, he frankly owned that he had no right to this +praise, it was the due of "Joshua," whom she herself had summoned in the +name of the Most High to command the warriors of the people. + +Miriam turned pale and, in spite of the steepness of the road, pressed +her husband with questions. When she heard that Joshua was resting on +the heights with his father and the young men and refreshing themselves +with wine, and that Hur had promised to resign voluntarily, if Moses +desired to entrust the command to him, her heavy eye-brows contracted in +a gloomy frown beneath her broad forehead and, with curt severity, she +exclaimed: + +"You are my lord, and it is not seemly for me to oppose you, not even if +you forget your own wife so far that you give place to the man who once +ventured to raise his eyes to her." + +"He no longer cares for you," Hur eagerly interrupted; "nay, were I to +give you a letter of divorce, he would no longer desire to possess you." + +"Would he not?" asked Miriam with a forced smile. "Do you owe this +information to him?" + +"He has devoted himself, body and soul, to the welfare of the people and +renounces the love of woman," replied Hur. But his wife exclaimed: + +"Renunciation is easy, where desire would bring nothing save fresh +rejection and shame. Not to him who, in the hour of the utmost peril, +sought aid from the Egyptians is the honor of the chief command of the +warriors due, but rather to you, who led the tribes to the first victory +at the store-house in Succoth and to whom the Lord Himself, through Moses +His servant, confided the command." + +Hur looked anxiously at the woman for whom a late, fervent love had fired +his heart, and seeing her glowing cheeks and hurried breathing, knew not +whether to attribute these symptoms to the steep ascent or to the +passionate ambition of her aspiring soul, which she now transferred to +him, her husband. + +That she held him in so much higher esteem than the younger hero, whose +return he had dreaded, pleased him, but he had grown grey in the strict +fulfilment of duty, and would not deviate from what he considered right. +His mere hints had been commands to the wife of his youth whom he had +borne to the grave a few years before, and as yet he had encountered no +opposition from Miriam. That Joshua was best fitted to command the +fighting-men of the people was unquestionable, so he answered, with +panting breath, for the ascent taxed his strength also: + +"Your good opinion is an honor and a pleasure to me; but even should +Moses and the elders confer the chief command upon me, remember the heap +of stones at Succoth and my vow. I have ever been mindful of and shall +keep it." + +Miriam looked angrily aside, and said nothing more till they had reached +the summit of the pass. + +The victorious youths were greeting their approaching kindred with loud +shouts. + +The joy of meeting, the provisions captured, and the drink which, though +sparingly distributed, was divided among the greatest sufferers, raised +the drooping courage of the exhausted wayfarers; and the thirsting +Hebrews shortened the rest at the summit of the pass in order to reach +Dophkah more quickly. They had heard from Joshua that they would find +there not only ruined cisterns, but also a hidden spring whose existence +had been revealed to him by the ex-captain of the prisoners' guards. + +The way led down the mountain. "Haste" was the watchword of the fainting +Hebrews on their way to a well; and thus, soon after sunset, they reached +the valley of the turquoise mines, where they encamped around the hill +crowned by the ruined fortress and burned store-houses of Dophkah. + +The spring in an acacia grove dedicated to the goddess Hathor was +speedily found, and fire after fire was quickly lighted. The wavering +hearts which, in the desert of Sin, had been on the verge of despair were +again filled with the anticipation of life, hope, and grateful faith. +The beautiful acacias, it is true, had been felled to afford easier +access to the spring whose refreshing waters had effected this wonderful +change. + +At the summit of the pass Joshua and Miriam had met again, but found time +only for a hasty greeting. In the camp they were brought into closer +relations. + +Joshua had appeared among the people with his father. The heir of the +princely old man who was held in such high esteem received joyous +greetings from all sides, and his counsel to form a vanguard of the +youthful warriors, a rear-guard of the older ones, and send out chosen +bands of the former on reconnoitering expeditions was readily adopted. + +He had a right to say that he was familiar with everything pertaining to +the guidance and defence of a large army. God Himself had entrusted him +with the chief command, and Moses, by sending him the monition to be +strong and steadfast, had confirmed the office. Hur, too, who now +possessed it, was willing to transfer it to him, and this man's promise +was inviolable, though he had omitted to repeat it in the presence of the +elders. Joshua was treated as if he held the chief command, and he +himself felt his own authority supreme. + +After the assembly dispersed, Hur had invited him, spite of the late +hour, to go to his tent and the warrior accompanied him, for he desired +to talk with Miriam. He would show her, in her husband's presence, that +he had found the path which she had so zealously pointed out to him. + +In the presence of another's wife the tender emotions of a Hebrew were +silent. Hur's consort must be made aware that he, Joshua, no longer +cherished any love for her. Even in his solitary hours, he had wholly +ceased to think of her. + +He confessed that she was a noble, a majestic woman, but the very memory +of this grandeur now sent a chill through his veins. + +Her actions, too, appeared in a new light. Nay, when at the summit of +the pass she had greeted him with a cold smile, he felt convinced that +they were utterly estranged from one another, and this feeling grew +stronger and stronger beside the blazing fire in the stately tent of the +chief, where they met a second time. + +The rescued Reuben and his wife Milcah had deserted Miriam long before +and, during her lonely waiting, many thoughts had passed through her mind +which she meant to impress upon the man to whom she had granted so much +that its memory now weighed on her heart like a crime. + +We are most ready to be angry with those to whom we have been unjust, +and this woman regarded the gift of her love as something so great, +so precious, that it behooved even the man whom she had rejected never +to cease to remember it with gratitude. But Joshua had boasted that he +no longer desired, even were she offered to him, the woman whom he had +once so fervently loved and clasped in his embrace. Nay, he had +confirmed this assertion by leisurely waiting, without seeking her. + +At last he came, and in company with her husband, who was ready to cede +his place to him. + +But she was present, ready to watch with open eyes for the welfare of the +too generous Hur. + +The elderly man, to whose fate she had linked her own, and whose faithful +devotion touched her, should be defrauded by no rival of the position +which was his due, and which he must retain, if only because she rebelled +against being the wife of a man who could no longer claim next to her +brothers the highest rank in the tribes. + +Never before had the much-courted woman, who had full faith in her gift +of prophesy, felt so bitter, sore, and irritated. She did not admit it +even to herself, yet it seemed as if the hatred of the Egyptians with +which Moses had inspired her, and which was now futile, had found a new +purpose and was directed against the only man whom she had ever loved. + +But a true woman can always show kindness to everyone whom she does not +scorn, so though she blushed deeply at the sight of the man whose kiss +she had returned, she received him cordially, and with sympathetic +questions. + +Meanwhile, however, she addressed him by his former name Hosea, and when +he perceived it was intentional, he asked if she had forgotten that it +was she herself who, as the confidante of the Most High, had commanded +him henceforward to call himself "Joshua." + +Her features grew sharper with anxiety as she replied that her memory was +good but he reminded her of a time which she would prefer to forget. He +had himself forfeited the name the Lord had given him by preferring the +favor of the Egyptians to the help which God had promised. Faithful to +the old custom, she would continue to call him "Hosea." + +The honest-hearted soldier had not expected such hostility, but he +maintained a tolerable degree of composure and answered quietly that he +would rarely afford her an opportunity to address him by this or any +other name. Those who were his friends readily adopted that of Joshua. + +Miriam replied that she, too, would be ready to do so if her husband +approved and he himself insisted upon it; for the name was only a +garment. Of course offices and honors were another matter. + +When Joshua then declared that he still believed God Himself had summoned +him, through the lips of His prophetess, to command the Hebrew soldiers +and that he would admit the right of no one save Moses to deprive him of +his claim to this office, Hur assented and held out his hand to him. + +Then Miriam dropped the restraint she had hitherto imposed on herself +and, with defiant eagerness, continued: + +"There I am of a different opinion. You did not obey the summons of the +Most High. Can you deny this? And when the Omnipresent One found you at +the feet of Pharaoh, instead of at the head of His people, He deprived +you of the office with which He had entrusted you. He, the mightiest of +generals, summoned the tempest and the waves, and they swallowed up the +foe. So perished those who were your friends till their heavy fetters +made you realize their true disposition toward you and your race. But I, +meanwhile, was extolling the mercy of the Most High, and the people +joined in my hymn of praise. On that very day the Lord summoned another +to command the fighting-men in your stead, and that other, as you know, +is my husband. If Hur has never learned the art of war, God will surely +guide his arm, and it is He and none other who bestows victory. + +"My husband--hear it again--is the sole commander of the hosts and if, +in the abundance of his generosity, he has forgotten it, he will retain +his office when he remembers whose hand chose him, and when I, his wife, +raise my voice and recall it to his memory." + +Joshua turned to go, in order to end the painful discussion, but Hur +detained him, protesting that he was deeply incensed by his wife's +unseemly interference in the affairs of men, and that he insisted on his +promise. "A woman's disapproving words were blown away by the wind. It +would be Moses' duty to declare whom Jehovah had chosen to be commander." + +While making this reply Hur had gazed at his wife with stern dignity, as +if admonishing discretion, and the look seemed to have effected its +purpose; for Miriam had alternately flushed and paled as she listened; +nay, she even detained the guest by beckoning him with a trembling hand +to approach, as though she desired to soothe him. + +"Let me say one thing more," she began, drawing a long breath, "that you +may not misunderstand my meaning. I call everyone our friend who devotes +himself to the cause of the people, and how self-sacrificingly you intend +to do this, Hur has informed me. It was your confidence in Pharaoh's +favor that parted us--therefore I know how to prize your firm and +decisive breach with the Egyptians, but I did not correctly estimate the +full grandeur of this deed until I learned that not only long custom, but +other bonds, united you to the foe." + +"What is the meaning of these words?" replied Joshua, convinced that she +had just fitted to the bowstring another shaft intended to wound him. +But Miriam, unheeding the question, calmly continued with a defiant +keenness of glance that contradicted her measured speech: + +"After the Lord's guidance had delivered us from the enemy, the Red Sea +washed ashore the most beautiful woman we have seen for a long time. I +bandaged the wound a Hebrew woman dealt her and she acknowledged that her +heart was filled with love for you, and that on her dying bed she +regarded you as the idol of her soul." + +Joshua, thoroughly incensed, exclaimed: "If this is the whole truth, wife +of Hur, my father has given me a false report; for according to what I +heard from him, the hapless woman made her last confession only in the +presence of those who love me; not in yours. And she was right to shun +you--you would never have understood her." + +Here he saw a smile of superiority hover around Miriam's lips; but he +repelled it, as he went on: + +"Ah, your intellect is tenfold keener than poor Kasana's ever was. But +your heart, which was open to the Most High, had no room for love. It +will grow old and cease to beat without having learned the feeling. And, +spite of your flashing eyes, I will tell you you are more than a woman, +you are a prophetess. I cannot boast of gifts so lofty. I am merely a +plain man, who understands the art of fighting better than that of +foretelling the future. Yet I can see what is to come. You will foster +the hatred of me that glows in your breast, and will also implant it in +your husband's heart and zealously strive to fan it there. And I know +why. The fiery ambition which consumes you will not suffer you to be the +wife of a man who is second to any other. You refuse to call me by the +name I owe to you. But if hatred and arrogance do not stifle in your +breast the one feeling that still unites us--love for our people, the day +will come when you will voluntarily approach and, unasked, by the free +impulse of your heart, call me 'Joshua.'" + +With these words he took leave of Miriam and her husband by a short wave +of the hand, and vanished in the darkness of the night. + +Hur gazed gloomily after him in silence until the footsteps of the +belated guest had died away in the sleeping camp; then the ill-repressed +wrath of the grave man, who had hitherto regarded his young wife with +tender admiration, knew no bounds. + +With two long strides he stood directly before her as she gazed with a +troubled look into the fire, her face even paler than his own. His voice +had lost its metallic harmony, and sounded shrill and sharp as he +exclaimed: + +"I had the courage to woo a maiden who supposed herself to be nearer to +God than other women, and now that she has become my wife she makes me +atone for such presumption." + +"Atone?" escaped Miriam's livid lips, and a defiant glance blazed at him +from her black eyes. But, undismayed, he continued, grasping her hand +with so firm a pressure that it hurt her: + +"Aye, you make me atone for it!--Shame on me, if I permit this +disgraceful hour to be followed by similar ones." + +Miriam strove to wrest her hand from his clasp, but he would not release +it, and went on: + +"I sought you, that you might be the pride of my house. I expected to +sow honor, and I reap disgrace; for what could be more humiliating to +a man than to have a wife who rules him, who presumes to wound with +hostile words the heart of the friend who is protected by the laws of +hospitality? A woman of different mould, a simple-hearted, upright wife, +who looked at her husband's past life, instead of planning how to +increase his greatness, that she might share it with him, need not have +had me shout into her ears that Hur has garnered honors and dignities +enough, during his long existence, to be able to spare a portion of them +without any loss of esteem. It is not the man who holds the chief +command, but the one who shows the most self-sacrificing love for the +people that is greatest in the eyes of Jehovah. You desire a high place, +you seek to be honored by the multitude as one who is summoned by the +Lord. I shall not forbid it, so long as you do not forget what the duty +of a wife commands. You owe me love also; for you vowed to give it on +your marriage day; but the human heart can bestow only what it possesses, +and Hosea is right when he says that love, which is warm itself and warms +others, is a feeling alien to your cold nature." + +With these words he turned his back upon her and went to the dark portion +of the tent, while Miriam remained standing by the fire, whose flickering +light illumined her beautiful, pallid face. + +With clenched teeth and hands pressed on her heaving bosom, she stood +gazing at the spot where he had disappeared. + +Her grey-haired husband had confronted her in the full consciousness of +his dignity, a noble man worthy of reverence, a true, princely chief of +his tribe, and infinitely her superior. His every word had pierced her +bosom like the thrust of a lance. The power of truth had given each its +full emphasis and held up to Miriam a mirror that showed her an image +from which she shrank. + +Now she longed to rush after him and beg him to restore the love with +which he had hitherto surrounded her--and which the lonely woman had +gratefully felt. + +She knew that she could reciprocate his costly gift; for how ardently she +longed to have one kind, forgiving word from his lips. + +Her soul seemed withered, parched, torpid, like a corn-field on which a +poisonous mildew has fallen; yet it had once been green and blooming. + +She thought of the tilled fields in Goshen which, after having borne an +abundant harvest, remained arid and bare till the moisture of the river +came to soften the soil and quicken the seed which it had received. So +it had been with her soul, only she had flung the ripening grain into the +fire and, with blasphemous hand, erected a dam between the fructifying +moisture and the dry earth. + +But there was still time! + +She knew that he erred in one respect; she knew she was like all other +women, capable of yearning with ardent passion for the man she loved. +It depended solely on herself to make him feel this in her arms. + +Now, it is true, he was justified in thinking her harsh and unfeeling, +for where love had once blossomed in her soul, a spring of bitterness +now gushed forth poisoning all it touched. + +Was this the vengeance of the heart whose ardent wishes she had +heroically slain? + +God had disdained her sorest sacrifice; this it was impossible to doubt; +for His majesty was no longer revealed to her in visions that exalted the +heart, and she was scarcely entitled to call herself His prophetess. +This sacrifice had led her, the truth-loving woman, into falsehood and +plunged her who, in the consciousness of seeking the right path lived at +peace with herself, into torturing unrest. Since that great and +difficult deed she, who had once been full of hope, had obtained nothing +for which she longed. She, who recognized no woman as her superior, had +been obliged to yield in shame her place to a poor dying Egyptian. She +had been kindly disposed toward all who were of her blood, and were +devoted to the sacred cause of her people, and now her hostile bitterness +had wounded one of the best and noblest. The poorest bondman's wife +rejoiced to bind more and more closely the husband who had once loved +her--she had wickedly estranged hers. + +Seeking protection she had approached his hearthstone shivering, but she +had found it warmer than she had hoped, and his generosity and love fell +upon her wounded soul like balm. True, he could not restore what she had +lost, but he could give a welcome compensation. + +Ah, he no longer believed her capable of a tender emotion, yet she needed +love in order to live, and no sacrifice seemed to her too hard to regain +his. But pride was also a condition of her very existence, and whenever +she prepared to humbly open her heart to her husband, the fear of +humiliating herself overpowered her, and she stood as though spell-bound +till the blazing wood at her feet fell into smoking embers and darkness +surrounded her. + +Then a strange anxiety stole over her. + +Two bats, which had come from the mines and circled round the fire darted +past her like ghosts. Everything urged her back to the tent, to her +husband, and with hasty resolution she entered the spacious room lighted +by a lamp. But it was empty, and the female slave who received her said +that Hur would spend the time until the departure of the people with his +son and grandson. + +A keen pang pierced her heart, and she lay down to rest with a sense of +helplessness and shame which she had not felt since her childhood. + +A few hours after the camp was astir and when her husband, in the grey +dawn of morning, entered the tent with a curt greeting, pride again +raised its head and her reply sounded cold and formal. + +He did not come alone; his son Uri was with him. + +But he looked graver than was his wont; for the men of Judah had +assembled early and adjured him not to give up the chief command to any +man who belonged to another tribe. + +This had been unexpected. He had referred them to Moses' decision, and +his desire that it might be adverse to him was intensified, as his young +wife's self-reliant glance stirred fresh wrath in his soul. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +Early the following morning the people resumed their march with fresh +vigor and renewed courage; but the little spring which, by digging, had +at last been forced to flow was completely exhausted. + +However, its refusal to bestow a supply of water to take with them was of +no consequence; they expected to find another well at Alush. + +The sun had risen in radiant majesty in a cloudless sky. The light +showed its awakening power on the hearts of men, and the rocks and the +yellow sand of the road sparkled like the blue vault above. The pure, +light, spicy air of the desert, cooled by the freshness of the night, +expanded the breasts of the wayfarers, and walking became a pleasure. + +The men showed greater confidence, and the eyes of the women sparkled +more brightly than they had done for a long time; for the Lord had again +showed the people that He remembered them in their need; and fathers and +mothers gazed proudly at the sons who had conquered the foe. Most of the +tribes had greeted in the band of prisoners some one who had long been +given up as lost, and it was a welcome duty to make amends for the +injuries the terrible forced labor had inflicted. There was special +rejoicing, not only among the Ephraimites, but everywhere, over the +return of Joshua, as all, save the men of the tribe of Judah, now called +him, remembering the cheering promise the name conveyed. + +The youths who under his command had put the Egyptians to rout, told +their relatives what manner of man the son of Nun was, how he thought of +everything and assigned to each one the place for which he was best +suited. His eye kindled the battle spirit in every one on whom it fell, +and the foe retreated at his mere war-cry. + +Those who spoke of old Nun and his grandson also did so with sparkling +eyes. The tribe of Ephraim, whose lofty pretensions had been a source of +much vexation, was willingly allowed precedence on this march, and only +the men of Judah were heard to grumble. Doubtless there was reason for +dissatisfaction; for Hur, the prince of their tribe, and his young wife +walked as if oppressed by a heavy burden; whoever asked them anything +would have been wiser to have chosen another hour. + +So long as the sun's rays were oblique, there was still a little shade at +the edge of the sandstone rocks which bordered the road on both sides or +towered aloft in the center; and as the sons of Korah began a song of +praise, young and old joined in, and most gladly and gratefully of all +Milcah, now no longer pale, and Reuben, her happy, liberated husband. + +The children picked up golden-yellow bitter apples, which having fallen +from the withered vines, lay by the wayside as if they had dropped from +the sky, and brought them to their parents. But they were bitter as gall +and a morose old man of the tribe of Zebulun, who nevertheless kept their +firm shells to hold ointment, said: + +"These are a symbol of to-day. It looks pleasant now; but when the sun +mounts higher and we find no water, we shall taste the bitterness." + +His prediction was verified only too soon; for as the road which, after +leaving the sandstone region, began to lead upward through a rocky +landscape which resembled walls of red brick and grey stone, grew +steeper, the sun rose higher and higher and the heat of the day hourly +increased. + +Never had the sun sent sharper arrows upon the travellers, and pitiless +was their fall upon bare heads and shoulders. + +Here an old man, yonder a younger one, sank prostrate under its scorching +blaze or, supported by his friends, staggered on raving with his hand +pressed to his brow like a drunken man. The blistered skin peeled from +the hands and faces of men and women, and there was not one whose palate +and tongue were not parched by the heat, or whose vigorous strength and +newly-awakened courage it did not impair. + +The cattle moved forward with drooping heads and dragging feet or rolled +on the ground till the shepherds' lash compelled them to summon their +failing powers. + +At noon the people were permitted to rest, but there was not a hand's +breadth of shade where they sought repose. Whoever lay down in the +noonday heat found fresh tortures instead of relief. The sufferers +themselves urged a fresh start for the spring at Alush. + +Hitherto each day, after the sun had begun its course toward the west +through the cloudless sky of the desert, the heat had diminished, and ere +the approach of twilight a fresher breeze had fanned the brow; but to-day +the rocks retained the glow of noonday for many hours, until a light cool +breeze blew from sea at the west. At the same time the vanguard which, +by Joshua's orders, preceded the travellers, halted, and the whole train +stopped. + +Men, women, and children fixed their eyes and waved hands, staves, and +crutches toward the same spot, where the gaze was spell-bound by a +wondrous spectacle never beheld before. + +A cry of astonishment and admiration echoed from the parched weary lips, +which had long since ceased to utter question or answer; and it soon rang +from rank to rank, from tribe to tribe, to the very lepers at the end of +the procession and the rear-guard which followed it. One touched +another, and whispered a name familiar to every one, that of the sacred +mountain where the Lord had promised Moses to "bring them unto a good +land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey." + +No one had told the weary travellers, yet all knew that for the first +time they beheld Horeb and the peak of Sinai, the most sacred summit of +this granite range. + +Though a mountain, it was also the throne of the omnipotent God of their +fathers. + +The holy mountain itself seemed at this hour to be on fire like the bush +whence He had spoken to His chosen servant. Its summit, divided into +seven peaks, towered majestically aloft in the distance, dominating the +heights and valleys far and near, glowing before the people like a giant +ruby, irradiated by the light of a conflagration which was consuming the +world. + +No eye had ever beheld a similar spectacle. Then the sun sank lower and +lower, till it set in the sea concealed behind the mountains. The +glowing ruby was transformed into a dark amethyst, and at last assumed +the deep hue of a violet; but the eyes of the people continued to dwell +on the sacred scenes as though spell-bound. Nay, when the day-star had +completely disappeared, and its reflection gilded a long cloud with +shining edges, their eyes dilated still more, for a man of the tribe of +Benjamin, overwhelmed by the grandeur of the spectacle, beheld in it the +floating gold-bordered mantle of Jehovah, and the neighbors to whom he +showed it, believed him, and shared his pious excitement. + +This inspiring sight had made the Hebrews for a short time forget thirst +and weariness. But the highest exaltation was soon to be transformed +into the deepest discouragement; for when night closed in and Alush was +reached after a short march it appeared that the desert tribe which dwelt +there, ere striking their tents the day before, had filled the brackish +spring with pebbles and rubbish. + +Everything fit to drink which had been brought with them had been +consumed at Dophkah, and the exhausted spring at the mines had afforded +no water to fill the skins. Thirst not only parched their palates but +began to fever their bowels. Their dry throats refused to receive the +solid food of which there was no lack. Scenes that could not fail to +rouse both ruth and anger were seen and heard on all sides. + +Here men and women raved and swore, wailed and moaned, yonder they gave +themselves up to dull despair. Others, whose crying children shrieked +for water, had gone to the choked spring and were quarrelling around a +little spot on the ground, whence they hoped to collect a few drops of +the precious fluid in a shallow dish. The cattle, too, lowed so +mournfully and beseechingly that it pierced the shepherds' hearts like a +reproach. + +Few took the trouble to pitch a tent. The night was so warm, and the +sooner they pressed forward the better, for Moses had promised to join +them a few leagues hence. He alone could aid, it was his duty to protect +man and beast from perishing. + +If the God who had promised them such splendid gifts left them to die in +the wilderness with their cattle, the man to whose guidance they had +committed themselves was a cheat; and the God whose might and mercy he +never ceased extolling was more false and powerless than the idols with +heads of human beings and animals, to whom they had prayed in Egypt. + +Threats, too, were loudly uttered amid curses and blasphemies. Wherever +Aaron, who had returned to the people, appeared and addressed them, +clenched fists were stretched toward him. + +Miriam, too, by her husband's bidding, was compelled to desist from +comforting the women with soothing words, after a mother whose infant was +expiring at her dry breast, picked up a stone and others followed her +example. + +Old Nun and his son found more attentive hearers. Both agreed that +Joshua must fight, no matter in what position Moses placed him; but Hur +himself led him to the warriors, who joyously greeted him. + +Both the old man and the younger one understood how to infuse confidence. +They told them of the well-watered oasis of the Amalekites, which was not +far distant, and pointed to the weapons in their hands, with which the +Lord Himself had furnished them. Joshua assured them that they greatly +outnumbered the warriors of the desert tribe. If the young men bore +themselves as bravely as they had done at the copper mines and at +Dophkah, with God's aid the victory would be theirs. + +After midnight Joshua, having taken counsel with the elders, ordered the +trumpets which summoned the fighting-men to be sounded. Under the bright +starry sky he reviewed them, divided them into bands, gave to each a +fitting leader, and impressed upon them the importance of the orders they +were to obey. + +They had assembled torpidly, half dead with thirst, but the new +occupation to which their sturdy commander urged them, the hope of +victory, and the great value of the prize: a piece of land at the foot of +the sacred mountain, rich in springs and palm-trees, wonderfully +strengthened their lost energy. + +Ephraim was among them animating others by his tireless vigor. But when +the ex-chief of the Egyptians--whom the Lord had already convinced that +He considered him worthy of the aid his name promised--adjured them to +rely on God's omnipotence, his words produced a very different effect +from those uttered by Aaron whose monitions they had heard daily since +their departure. + +When Joshua had spoken, many youthful lips, though parched with thirst, +shouted enthusiastically: + +"Hail to the chief! You are our captain; we will obey no other." + +But he now explained gravely and resolutely that the obedience he exacted +from them he intended to practise rigidly himself. He would willingly +take the last place in the ranks, if such was the command of Moses. + +The stars were still shining brightly in a cloudless sky when the sound +of the horns warned the people to set out on their march. Meanwhile the +vanguard had been sent forward to inform Moses of the condition of the +tribes, and after the review was over, Ephraim followed them. + +During the march Joshua kept the warriors together as closely as though +an attack might be expected; profiting meanwhile by every moment to give +the men and their captains instructions for the coming battle, to inspect +them, and range their ranks in closer order. Thus he kept them and their +attention on the alert till the stars paled. + +Opposition or complaint was rare among the warriors, but the murmurs, +curses, and threats grew all the louder among those who bore no weapons. +Even before the grey dawn of morning the thirsting men, whose knees +trembled with weakness, and who beheld close before their eyes the +suffering of their wives and children, shouted more and more frequently: + +"On to Moses! We'll stone him when we find him!" + +Many, with loud imprecations and flashing eyes, picked up bits of rock +along the road, and the fury of the multitude at last expressed itself so +fiercely and passionately that Hur took counsel with the well-disposed +among the elders, and then hurried forward with the fighting-men of Judah +to protect Moses, in case of extremity, from the rebels by force of arms. + +Joshua was commissioned to detain the bands of rioters who, amid threats +and curses, were striving to force their way past the warriors. + +When the sun at last rose with dazzling splendor, the march had become a +pitiful creeping and tottering onward. Even the soldiers moved as though +they were paralysed. Only when the rebels tried to press onward, they +did their duty and forced them back with swords and lances. + +On both sides of the valley through which the Hebrews were passing +towered lofty cliffs of grey granite, which glittered and flashed +marvellously when the slanting sunbeams struck the bits of quartz thickly +imbedded in the primeval rock. + +At noon the heat could not fail to be scorching again between the bare +precipices which in many places jutted very near one another; but the +coolness of the morning still lingered. The cattle at least found some +refreshment; for many a bush of the juicy, fragrant betharan--[Cantolina +fragrantissima]--afforded them food, and the shepherd-lads lifted their +short frocks, filled the aprons thus made with them and, spite of their +own exhaustion, held them up to the hungry mouths of the animals. + +They had passed an hour in this way, when a loud shout of joy suddenly +rang out, passing from the vanguard through rank after rank till it +reached the last roan in the rear. + +No one had heard in words to what event it was due, yet every one knew +that it meant nothing else than the discovery of fresh water. + +Ephraim now returned to confirm the glad tidings, and what an effect it +produced upon the discouraged hearts! + +They straightened their bent figures and struggled onward with redoubled +speed, as if they had already drained the water jar in long draughts. +The bands of fighting-men put no farther obstacles in their way, and +joyously greeted those who crowded past them. + +But the swiftly flowing throng was soon dammed; for the spot which +afforded refreshment detained the front ranks, which blocked the whole +procession as thoroughly as a wall or moat. + +The multitude became a mighty mob that filled the valley. At last men +and women, with joyous faces, appeared bearing full jars and pails in +their hands and on their heads, beckoning gaily to their friends, +shouting words of cheer, and trying to force their way through the crowd +to their relatives; but many had the precious liquid torn from them by +force ere they reached their destination. + +Joshua and his band had forced their way to the vicinity of the spring, +to maintain order among the greedy drawers of water. But they were +obliged to have patience for a time, for the strong men of the tribe of +Judah, with whom Hur had led the way in advance of all the rest, were +still swinging their axes and straining at the levers hastily prepared +from the trunks of the thorny acacias to move huge blocks out of the way +and widen the passage to the flow of water that was gushing from several +clefts in the rock. + +At first the spring had lost itself in a heap of moss-covered granite +blocks and afterwards in the earth; but now the overflow and trickling +away of the precious fluid had been stopped and a reservoir formed whence +the cattle also could drink. + +Whoever had already succeeded in filling a jar had obtained the water +from the overflow which had escaped through the quickly-made dam. Now +the men appointed to guard the camp were keeping every one back to give +the water in the large new reservoir into which it flowed in surprising +abundance, time to grow clear. + +In the presence of the gift of God for which they had so passionately +shouted, it was easy to be patient. They had discovered the treasure and +only needed to preserve it. No word of discontent, murmuring, or +reviling was heard; nay, many looked with shame and humiliation at the +new gift of the Most High. + +Loud, gladsome shouts and words echoed from the distance; but the man of +God, who knew better than any one else, the valleys and rocks, pastures +and springs of the Horeb region and had again obtained so great a +blessing for the people, had retired into a neighboring ravine; he was +seeking refuge from the thanks and greetings which rose with increasing +enthusiasm from ever widening circles, and above all peace and calmness +for his own deeply agitated soul. + +Soon fervent hymns of praise to the Lord sounded from the midst of the +refreshed, reinvigorated bands overflowing with ardent gratitude, who had +never encamped richer in hope and joyous confidence. + +Songs, merry laughter, jests, and glad shouts accompanied the pitching of +every tent, and the camp sprung up as quickly as if it had been conjured +from the earth by some magic spell. + +The eyes of the young men sparkled with eagerness for the fray, and many +a head of cattle was slaughtered to make the meal a festal banquet. +Mothers who had done their duty in the camp, leading their children by +the hand went to the spring and showed them the spot where Moses' staff +had pointed out to his people the water gushing from the clefts in the +granite. Many men also stood with hands and eyes uplifted around the +place where Jehovah had shown Himself so merciful to His people; among +them many a rebel who had stooped for the bit of rock with which he meant +to stone the trusted servant of God. No one doubted that a new and great +miracle had been performed. + +Old people enjoined the young never to forget this day and this drink, +and a grandmother sprinkled her grandchildren's brows at the edge of the +spring with water to secure for them divine protection throughout their +future lives. + +Hope, gratitude, and warm confidence reigned wherever the gaze was +turned, even fear of the warlike sons of Amalek had vanished; for what +evil could befall those who trusted to the favor of such an Omnipotent +Defender. + +One tent alone, the stateliest of all, that of the prince of the tribe +of Judah, did not share the joy of the others. + +Miriam sat alone among her women, after having silently served the meal +to the men who were overflowing with grateful enthusiasm; she had learned +from Reuben, Milcah's husband, that Moses had given to Joshua in the +presence of all the elders, the office of commander-in-chief. Hur, her +husband, she had heard farther, had joyfully yielded the guidance of the +warriors to the son of Nun. + +This time the prophetess had held aloof from the people's hymns of +praise. When Milcah and her women had urged her to accompany them to the +spring, she had commanded the petitioners to go alone. She was expecting +her husband and wished to greet him alone; she must show him that she +desired his forgiveness. But he did not return home; for after the +council of the elders had separated, he helped the new commander to +marshal the soldiers and did so as an assistant, subordinate to Hosea, +who owed to her his summons and the name of Joshua. + +Her servants, who had returned, were now drawing threads from the +distaff: but this humble toil was distasteful to her, and while she let +her hands rest and gazed idly into vacancy, the hours dragged slowly +along, while she felt her resolution of meekly approaching her husband +become weaker and weaker. She longed to pray for strength to bow before +the man who was her lord and master; but the prophetess, who was +accustomed to fervent pleading, could not find inspiration. Whenever she +succeeded in collecting her thoughts and uplifting her heart, she was +disturbed. Each fresh report that reached her from the camp increased +her displeasure. When evening at last closed in, a messenger arrived and +told her not to prepare the supper which, however, had long stood ready. +Hur, his son, and grandson had accepted the invitation of Nun and Joshua. + +It was a hard task for her to restrain her tears. But had she permitted +them to flow uncontrolled, they would have been those of wrath and +insulted womanly dignity, not of grief and longing. + +During the hours of the evening watch soldiers marched past, and from +troop after troop cheers for Joshua reached her. + +Even when the words "strong and steadfast!" were heard, they recalled +the man who had once been dear to her, and whom now--she freely admitted +it--she hated. The men of his own tribe only had honored her husband +with a cheer. Was this fitting gratitude for the generosity with which +he had divested himself, for the sake of the younger man, of a dignity +that belonged to him alone? To see her husband thus slighted pierced her +to the heart and caused her more pain than Hur's leaving her, his newly- +wedded wife, to solitude. + +The supper before the tent of the Ephraimites lasted a long time. +Miriam sent her women to rest before midnight, and lay down to await +Hur's return and to confess to him all that had wounded and angered her, +everything for which she longed. + +She thought it would be an easy matter to keep awake while suffering such +mental anguish. But the great fatigues and excitements of the last few +days asserted their rights, and in the midst of a prayer for humility and +her husband's love sleep overpowered her. At last, at the time of the +first morning watch, just as day was dawning, the sound of trumpets +announcing peril close at hand, startled her from sleep. + +She rose hurriedly and glancing at her husband's couch found it empty. +But it had been used, and on the sandy soil--for mats had been spread +only in the living room of the tent--she saw close beside her own bed +the prints of Hur's footsteps. + +So he had stood close by it and perhaps, while she was sleeping, gazed +yearningly into her face. + +Ay, this had really happened; her old female slave told her so unasked. +After she had roused Hur, she had seen him hold the light cautiously so +that it illumined Miriam's face and then stoop over her a long time as +if to kiss her. + +This was good news, and so rejoiced the solitary woman that she forgot +the formality which was peculiar to her and pressed her lips to the +wrinkled brow of the crooked little crone who had served her parents. +Then she had her hair arranged, donned the light-blue festal robe Hur +had given her, and hurried out to bid him farewell. + +Meanwhile the troops had formed in battle array. + +The tents were being struck and for a long time Miriam vainly sought +her husband. At last she found him; but he was engaged in earnest +conversation with Joshua, and when she saw the latter a chill ran through +the prophetess' blood, and she could not bring herself to approach the +men. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +A severe struggle was impending; for as the spies reported, the +Amalekites had been joined by other desert tribes. Nevertheless the +Hebrew troops were twice their number. But how greatly inferior in +warlike skill were Joshua's bands to the foes habituated to battle and +attack. + +The enemy was advancing from the south, from the oasis at the foot +of the sacred mountain, which was the ancient home of their race, their +supporter, the fair object of their love, their all, well worthy that +they should shed their last drop of blood in her defence. + +Joshua, now recognized by Moses and the whole Hebrew people as the +commander of the fighting-men, led his new-formed troops to the widest +portion of the valley, which permitted him to derive more advantage from +the superior number of his force. + +He ordered the camp to be broken up and again pitched in a narrower spot +on the plain of Rephidim at the northern end of the battle-field, where +it would be easier to defend the tents. The command of this camp and the +soldiers left for its protection he confided to his cautious father. + +He had wished to leave Moses and the older princes of the tribes within +the precincts of the well-guarded camp, but the great leader of the +people had anticipated him and, with Hur and Aaron, had climbed a granite +cliff from whose lofty summit the battle could be witnessed. So the +combatants saw Moses and his two companions on the peak dominating the +valley, and knew that the trusted servant of the Most High would not +cease to commend their cause to Him and pray for their success and +deliverance. + +But every private soldier in the army, every woman and old man in the +camp knew how to find the God of their fathers in this hour of peril, and +the war-cry Joshua had chosen: "Jehovah our standard!" bound the hearts +of the warriors to the Ruler of Battles, and reminded the most despairing +and untrained Hebrew that he could take no step and deal no blow which +the Lord did not guide. + +The trumpets and horns of the Hebrews sounded louder and louder; for the +Amalekites were pressing into the plain which was to be the scene of the +battle. + +It was a strange place of conflict, which the experienced soldier would +never have selected voluntarily; for it was enclosed on both sides by +lofty, steep, grey granite cliffs. If the enemy conquered, the camp +would be lost, and the aids the art of war afforded must be used within +the smallest conceivable space. + +To make a circuit round the foe or attack him unexpectedly in the flank +seemed impossible; but the rocks themselves were made to serve Joshua; +for he had commanded his skilful slingers and trained archers to climb +the precipices to a moderate height and wait for the signal when they +were to mingle in the battle. + +At the first glance Joshua perceived that he had not overestimated the +foe; for those who began the fray were bearded men with bronzed, keen, +manly features, whose black eyes blazed with the zest of battle and +fierce hatred of the enemy. + +Like their grey-haired, scarred leader, all were slenderly formed and +lithe of limb. They swung, like trained warriors, the brazen sickle- +shaped sword, the curved shield of heavy wood, or the lance decked below +its point with a bunch of camel's hair. The war-cry rang loud, fierce, +and defiant, from the steadfast breasts of these sons of the desert, who +must either conquer or lose their dearest possession. + +The first assault was met by Joshua at the head of men, whom he had armed +with the heavy shields and lances of the Egyptians; incited by their +brave leader they resisted a long time--while the narrow entrance to the +battle field prevented the savage foe from using his full strength. + +But when the foe on foot retreated, and a band of warriors mounted on +swift dromedaries dashed upon the Hebrews many were terrified by the +strange aspect of the huge unwieldy beasts, known to them only by report. + +With loud outcries they flung down their shields and fled. Wherever a +gap appeared in the ranks the rider of a dromedary urged it in, striking +downward with his long keen weapon at the foe. The shepherds, unused to +such assaults, thought only of securing their own safety, and many turned +to fly; for sudden terror seized them as they beheld the flaming eyes or +heard the shrill, fierce shriek of one of the infuriated Amalekite women, +who had entered the battle to fire the courage of their husbands and +terrify the foe. Clinging with the left hand to leather thongs that hung +from the saddles, they allowed themselves to be dragged along by the +hump-backed beasts wherever they were guided. Hatred seemed to have +steeled the weak women's hearts against the fear of death, pity, and +feminine dread; and the furious yells of these Megaerae destroyed the +courage of many of the braver Hebrews. + +But scarcely did Joshua see his men yield than, profiting by the +disaster, he commanded them to retreat still farther and give the foe +admittance to the valley; for he told himself that he could turn the +superior number of his forces to better account as soon as it was +possible to press the enemy in front and on both sides at the same time, +and allow the slingers and bowmen to take part in the fray. + +Ephraim and his bravest comrades, who surrounded him as messengers, were +now despatched to the northern end of the valley to inform the captains +of the troops stationed there of Joshua's intention and command them to +advance. + +The swift-footed shepherd lads darted off as nimbly as gazelles, and it +was soon evident that the commander had adopted the right course for, as +soon as the Amalekites reached the center of the valley, they were +attacked on all sides, and many who boldly rushed forward fell on the +sand while still waving sword or lance, struck by the round stones or +keen arrows discharged by the slingers and archers stationed on the +cliffs. + +Meanwhile Moses, with Aaron and Hur, remained on the cliff overlooking +the battle-field. + +Thence the former watched the conflict in which, grown grey in the arts +of peace, he shared only with his heart and soul. + +No movement, no uplifted or lowered sword of friend or foe escaped his +watchful gaze; but when the attack began and the commander, with wise +purpose, left the way to the heart of his army open to the enemy, Hur +exclaimed to the grey-haired man of God: + +"The lofty intellect of my wife and your sister perceived the right +course. The son of Nun is unworthy of the summons of the Most High. +What strategy! Our force is superior, yet the foe is pressing unimpeded +into the midst of the army. Our troops are dividing as the waters of the +Red Sea parted at God's command, and apparently by their leader's order." + +"To swallow up the Amalekites as the waves of the sea engulfed the +Egyptians," was Moses' answer. Then, stretching his arms toward heaven, +he cried: "Look down, Jehovah, upon Thy people who are in fresh need. +Steel the arm and sharpen the eyes of him whom Thou didst choose for Thy +sword! Lend him the help Thou didst promise, when Thou didst name him +Joshua! And if it is no longer Thy will that he who shows himself strong +and steadfast, as beseems Thy captain, should lead our forces to the +battle, place Thyself, with the hosts of Heaven, at the head of Thy +people, that they may crush their foes." + +Thus the man of God prayed with arms uplifted, never ceasing to beseech +and appeal to God, whose lofty will guided his own, and soon Aaron +whispered that their foes were sore beset and the Hebrews' courage was +showing itself in magnificent guise. + +Joshua was now here, now there, and the ranks of the enemy were already +thinning, while the numbers of the Hebrews seemed increasing. + +Hur confirmed these words, adding that the tireless zeal and heroic scorn +of death displayed by the son of Nun could not be denied. He had just +felled one of the fiercest Amalekites with his battle-axe. + +Then Moses uttered a sigh of relief, let his arms fall, and eagerly +watched the farther progress of the battle, which was surging, raging and +roaring beneath him. + +Meanwhile the sun had reached its zenith and shone with scorching fire +upon the combatants. The grey granite walls of the valley exhaled +fiercer and fiercer heat and drops of perspiration had long been pouring +from the burning brows of the three men on the cliff. How the noon-tide +heat must burden those who were fighting and struggling below; how the +bleeding wounds of those who had fallen in the dust must burn! + +Moses felt all this as if he were himself compelled to endure it; for his +immovably steadfast soul was rich in compassion, and he had taken into +his heart, as a father does his child, the people of his own blood for +whom he lived and labored, prayed and planned. + +The wounds of the Hebrews pained him, yet his heart throbbed with +joyous pride, when he beheld how those whose cowardly submission had so +powerfully stirred his wrath a short time before, had learned to act on +the defensive and offensive; and saw one youthful band after another +shouting: "Jehovah our standard!" rush upon the enemy. + +In Joshua's proud, heroic figure he beheld the descendants of his people +as he had imagined and desired them, and now he no longer doubted that +the Lord Himself had summoned the son of Nun to the chief command. His +eye had rarely beamed as brightly as in this hour. + +But what was that? + +A cry of alarm escaped the lips of Aaron, and Hur rose and gazed +northward in anxious suspense for thence, where the tents of the people +stood, fresh war-cries rose, blended with loud, piteous shrieks which +seemed to be uttered, not only by men, but by women and children. + +The camp had been attacked. + +Long before the commencement of the battle a band of Amalekites had +separated from the others and made their way to it through a path in the +mountains with which they were familiar. + +Hur thought of his young wife, while before Aaron's mind rose Elisheba, +his faithful spouse, his children and grandchildren; and both, with +imploring eyes, mutely entreated Moses to dismiss them to hasten to aid +their dear ones; but the stern leader refused and detained them. + +Then, drawing his figure to its full height, Moses again raised his hands +and eyes to Heaven, appealing to the Most High with fervent warmth, and +never ceasing in his prayers, which became more and more ardent as time +passed on, for the vantage gained by the soldiers seemed lost. Each new +glance at the battle-field, everything his companions told him, while his +soul, dwelling with the Lord, had rendered him blind to the scene at his +feet, increased the burden of his anxieties. + +Joshua, at the head of a strong detachment, had retreated from the +battle, accompanied by Bezaleel, Hur's grandson, Aholiab, his most +beloved comrade, the youthful Ephraim, and Reuben, Milcah's husband. + +Hur's eyes had followed them, while his heart was full of blessings; for +they had evidently quitted the battle to save the camp. With straining +ears he listened to the sounds from the north, as if suspecting how +nearly he was affected by the broken cries and moans borne by the wind +from the tents. + +Old Nun had defended himself against the Amalekite troop that assailed +the camp, and fought valiantly; but when he perceived that the men whom +Joshua had placed under his command could no longer hold out against the +attack of the enemy, he sent to ask for aid; Joshua instantly entrusted +the farther guidance of the battle to the second head of the tribe of +Judah, Naashon, and Uri the son of Hur, who had distinguished himself by +courage and discretion and hastened, with other picked men, to his +father's relief. + +He had not lost a moment, yet the conflict was decided when he appeared +on the scene of action; for when he approached the camp the Amalekites +had already broken through his father's troops, cut it off from them, and +rushed in. + +Joshua first saved the brave old man from the foe; then the next thing +was to drive the sons of the desert from the tents and, in so doing, +there was a fierce hand to hand struggle of man against man, and as he +himself could be in only one place he was forced to leave the young men +to shift for themselves. + +Here, too, he raised the war-cry: "Jehovah our standard!" and rushed +upon the tent of Hur,--which the enemy had seized first and where the +battle raged most fiercely. + +Many, corpses already strewed the ground at its entrance, and furious +Amalekites were still struggling with a band of Hebrews; but wild shrieks +of terror rang from within its walls. + +Joshua dashed across the threshold as if his feet were winged and beheld +a scene which filled even the fearless man with horror; for at the left +of the spacious floor Hebrews and Amalekites rolled fighting on the +blood-stained mats, while at the right he saw Miriam and several of her +women whose hands had been bound by the foe. + +The men had desired to bear them away as a costly prize; but an Amalekite +woman, frantic with rage and jealousy and thirsting for revenge, wished +to devote the foreign women to a fiery death; fanning the embers upon the +hearth she had brought them, with the help of the veil torn from Miriam's +head, to a bright blaze. + +A terrible uproar filled the spacious enclosure, when Joshua sprang into +the tent. + +Here furious men were fighting, yonder the female servants of the +prophetess were shrieking loudly or, as they saw the approaching warrior, +screaming for help and rescue. + +Their mistress, deadly pale, knelt before the hostile chief whose wife +had threatened her with death by fire. She gazed at her preserver as if +she beheld a ghost that had just risen from the earth and what now +happened remained imprinted on Miriam's memory as a series of bloody, +horrible, disconnected, yet superb visions. + +In the first place the Amalekite chieftain who had bound her was a +strangely heroic figure. + +The bronzed warrior, with his bold hooked nose, black beard, and fiery +eyes, looked like an eagle of his own mountains. But another was soon to +cope with him, and that other the man who had been dear to her heart. + +She had often compared him to a lion, but never had he seemed more akin +to the king of the wilderness. + +Both were mighty and terrible men. No one could have predicted which +would be the victor and which the vanquished; but she was permitted to +watch their conflict, and already the hot-blooded son of the desert had +raised his war-cry and rushed upon the more prudent Hebrew. + +Every child knows that life cannot continue if the heart ceases to throb +for a minute; yet Miriam felt that her own stood still as if benumbed and +turned to stone, when the lion was in danger of succumbing to the eagle, +and when the latter's glittering knife flashed, and she saw the blood +gushing from the other's shoulder. + +But the frozen heart had now begun to beat again, nay it pulsed faster +than ever; for suddenly the leonine warrior, toward whom she had just +felt such bitter hatred, had again become, as if by a miracle, the friend +of her youth. With blast of trumpets and clash of cymbals love had again +set forth to enter, with triumphant joy, the soul which had of late been +so desolate, so impoverished. All that separated her from him was +suddenly forgotten and buried, and never was a more fervent appeal +addressed to the Most High than during the brief prayer for him which +rose from her heart at that moment. And the swiftness with which the +petition was granted equalled its ardor; for the eagle had fallen and +lowered its pinions beneath the superior might of the lion. + +Then darkness veiled Miriam's eyes and she felt as if in a dream Ephraim +sever the ropes around her wrists. + +Soon after she regained her full consciousness, and now beheld at her +feet the bleeding form of the conquered chieftain; while on the other +side of the tent the floor was strewed with dead and wounded men, Hebrews +and Amalekites, among them many of her husband's slaves. But beside the +fallen men stood erect, and exulting in victory, the stalwart warriors of +her people, among them the venerable form of Nun, and Joshua, whose +father was binding up his wounds. + +To do this she felt was her duty and hers only, and a deep sense of +shame, a burning grief took possession of her as she remembered how she +had sinned against this man. + +She knew not how she who had caused him such deep suffering could atone +for it, how she could repay what she owed him. + +Her whole heart was overflowing with longing for one kind word from his +mouth, and she approached him on her knees across the blood-stained +floor; but the lips of the prophetess, usually so eloquent, seemed +paralyzed and could not find the right language till at last from her +burdened breast the cry escaped in loud imploring accents: + +"Joshua, oh, Joshua! I have sinned heavily against you and will atone +for it all my life; but do not disdain my gratitude! Do not cast it from +you and, if you can, forgive me." + +She had been unable to say more; then--never would she forget it--burning +tears had gushed from her eyes and he had raised her from the floor with +irresistible strength, yet as gently as a mother touches her fallen +child, and from his lips mild, gentle words, full of forgiveness, echoed +in her ears. The very touch of his right hand had assured her that he +was no longer angry. + +She still felt the pressure of his hand, and heard his assurance that +from no lips would he more gladly hear the name of Joshua than from hers. + +With the war-cry "Jehovah our standard!" he at last turned his back upon +her; for a long time its clear tones and the enthusiastic shouts of his +soldiers echoed in her ears. + +Finally everything around her had lapsed into silence and she only knew +that never had she shed such bitter, burning tears as in this hour. And +she made two solemn vows in the presence of the God who had summoned her +to be His prophetess. Meanwhile both the men whom they concerned were +surrounded by the tumult of battle. + +One had again led his troops from the rescued camp against the foe; the +other was watching with the leader of the people the surging to and fro +of the ever-increasing fury of the conflict. + +Joshua found his people in sore stress. Here they were yielding, yonder +they were still feebly resisting the onslaught of the sons of the desert; +but Hur gazed with increasing and redoubled anxiety at the progress of +the battle; for in the camp he beheld wife and grandson, and below his +son, in mortal peril. + +His paternal heart ached as he saw Uri retreat, then as he pressed +forward again and repelled the foe by a well-directed assault, it +throbbed joyously, and he would gladly have shouted words of praise. + +But whose ear would have been sharp enough to distinguish the voice of a +single man amid the clash of arms and war-cries, the shrieks of women, +the wails of the wounded, the discordant grunting of the camels, the +blasts of horns and trumpets mingling below? + +Now the foremost band of the Amalekites had forced itself like a wedge +into the rear ranks of the Hebrews. + +If the former succeeded in opening a way for those behind and joined the +division which was attacking the camp, the battle was lost, and the +destruction of the people sealed; for a body of Amalekites who had not +mingled in the fray were still stationed at the southern entrance of the +valley, apparently for the purpose of defending the oasis against the foe +in case of need. + +A fresh surprise followed. + +The sons of the desert had fought their way forward so far that the +missiles of the slingers and bowmen could scarcely reach them. If these +men were not to be idle, it was needful that they should be summoned to +the battle-field. + +Hur had long since shouted to Uri to remember them and use their aid +again; but now the figure of a youth suddenly appeared approaching from +the direction of the camp as nimbly as a mountain goat, by climbing and +leaping from one rock to another. + +As soon as he reached the first ones he spoke to them, and made signs to +the next, who passed the message on, and at last they all climbed down +into the valley, scaled the western cliff to the height of several men, +and suddenly vanished as though the rock had swallowed them. + +The youth whom the slingers and archers had followed was Ephraim. + +A black shadow on the cliff where he had disappeared with the others must +be the opening of a ravine, through which they were doubtless to be +guided to the men who had followed Joshua to the succor of the camp. + +Such was the belief, not only of Hur but of Aaron, and the former again +began to doubt Joshua's fitness for the Lord's call; for what benefited +those in the tents weakened the army whose command devolved upon his son +Uri and his associate in office Naashon. The battle around the camp had +already lasted for hours and Moses had not ceased to pray with hands +uplifted toward heaven, when the Amalekites succeeded in gaining a +considerable vantage. + +Then the leader of the Hebrews summoned his strength for a new and more +earnest appeal to the Most High; but the exhausted man's knees tottered +and his wearied arms fell. But his soul had retained its energy, his +heart the desire not to cease pleading to the Ruler of Battles. + +Moses was unwilling to remain inactive during this conflict and his +weapon was prayer. + +Like a child who will not cease urging its mother until she grants what +it unselfishly beseeches for its brothers and sisters, he clung imploring +to the Omnipotent One, who had hitherto proved Himself a father to him +and to his people and wonderfully preserved them from the greatest +perils. + +But his physical strength was exhausted, so he summoned his companions +who pushed forward a rock on which he seated himself, in order to assail +the heart of the Most High with fresh prayers. + +There he sat and though his wearied limbs refused their service, his soul +was obedient and rose with all its fire to the Ruler of the destinies of +men. + +But his arms grew more and more paralysed, and at last fell as if +weighted with lead; for years it had become a necessity to him to stretch +them heavenward when he appealed with all his fervor to God on high. + +This his companions knew, and they fancied they perceived that whenever +the great leader's hands fell the sons of Amalek gained a fresh +advantage. + +Therefore they eagerly supported his arms, one at the right side, the +other at the left, and though the mighty man could no longer lift his +voice in intelligible words, though his giant frame reeled to and fro, +and though more than once it seemed to him as if the stone which +supported him, the valley and the whole earth rocked, still his hands and +eyes remained uplifted. Not a moment did he cease to call upon the Most +High till suddenly loud shouts of victory, which echoed clearly from the +rocky sides of the valley, rose from the direction of the camp. + +Joshua had again appeared on the battle-field and, at the head of his +warriors, rushed with resistless energy upon the foe. + +The battle now assumed a new aspect. + +The result was still uncertain, and Moses could not cease uplifting his +heart and arms to heaven, but at last, at last this long final struggle +came to an end. The ranks of the Amalekites wavered and finally, +scattered and disheartened, dashed toward the southern entrance of the +valley whence they had come. + +There also cries were heard and from a thousand lips rang the glad shout: +"Jehovah our standard! Victory!" and again "Victory!" + +Then the man of God removed his arms from the supporting shoulders of his +companions, swung them aloft freely and with renewed and wonderfully +invigorated strength shouted: + +"I thank Thee, my God and my Lord! Jehovah our standard! The people are +saved!" + +Then darkness veiled the eyes of the exhausted man. But a little later +he again opened them and saw Ephraim, with the slingers and bowmen, +attack the body of Amalekites at the southern entrance of the valley, +while Joshua drove the main army of the sons of the desert toward their +retreating comrades. + +Joshua had heard through some captives of a ravine which enabled good +climbers to reach a defile which led to the southern end of the battle- +field; and Ephraim, obedient to his command, had gone with the slingers +and bowmen along this difficult path to assail in the rear the last band +of foemen who were still capable of offering resistance. + +Pressed, harassed from two sides, and disheartened, the sons of Amalek +gave up the conflict and now the Hebrews beheld how these sons of the +desert, who had grown up in this mountain region, understood how to use +their feet; for at a sign from their leader they spurred the dromedaries +and flew away like leaves blown by the wind. Rough mountain heights +which seemed inaccessible to human beings they scaled on their hands and +feet like nimble lizards; many others escaped through the ravine which +the captured slaves had betrayed to Joshua. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +The larger portion of the Amalekites had perished or lay wounded on the +battle-field. Joshua knew that the other desert tribes, according to +their custom, would abandon their defeated companions and return to their +own homes. + +Yet it seemed probable that despair would give the routed warriors +courage not to let their oasis fall into the hands of the Hebrews without +striking a blow. + +But Joshua's warriors were too much exhausted for it to be possible to +lead them onward at once. + +He himself was bleeding from several slight wounds, and the exertions of +the last few days were making themselves felt even on his hardened frame. + +Besides the sun, which when the battle began had just risen, was already +sinking to rest and should it prove necessary to force an entrance into +the oasis it was not advisable to fight in darkness. + +What he and still more his brave warriors needed was rest until the grey +dawn of early morning. + +He saw around him only glad faces, radiant with proud self-reliance, and +as he commanded the troops to disband, in order to celebrate the victory +in the camp with their relatives, each body that filed slowly and wearily +past him burst into cheers as fresh and resonant as though they had +forgotten the exhaustion which so short a time before had bowed every +head and burdened every foot. + +"Hail to Joshua! Hail to the victor!" still echoed from the cliffs +after the last band had disappeared from his gaze. But far more +distinctly the words with which Moses had thanked him rang in his soul. +They were: + +"Thou bast proved thyself a true sword of the Most High, strong and +steadfast. So long as the Lord is thy help and Jehovah is our standard, +we need fear no foes." + +He fancied he still felt on his brow and hair the kiss of the mighty man +of God who had clasped him to his breast in the presence of all the +people, and it was no small thing to master the excitement which the +close of this momentous day awakened in him. + +A strong desire to regain perfect self-possession ere he again mingled in +the jubilant throng and met his father, who shared every lofty emotion +that stirred his own soul, detained him on the battle-field. + +It was a scene where dread and horror reigned; for all save himself who +lingered there were held by death or severe wounds. + +The ravens which had followed the wanderers hovered above the corpses and +already ventured to swoop nearer to the richly-spread banquet. The scent +of blood had lured the beasts of prey from the mountains and dens in the +rocks and their roaring and greedy growling were heard in all directions. + +As darkness followed dusk lights began to flit over the blood-soaked +ground. These were to aid the slaves and those who missed a relative to +distinguish friend from foe, the wounded from the dead; and many a groan +from the breast of some sorely-wounded man mingled with the croaking of +the sable birds, and the howls of the hungry jackals and hyenas, foxes +and panthers. + +But Joshua was familiar with the horrors of the battle-field and did not +heed them. + +Leaning against a rock, he saw the same stars rise which had shone upon +him before the tent in the camp at Tanis, when in the sorest conflict +with himself he confronted the most difficult decision of his life. + +A month had passed since then, yet that brief span of time had witnessed +an unprecedented transformation of his whole inner and outward life. + +What had seemed to him grand, lofty, and worthy of the exertion of all +his strength on that night when he sat before the tent where lay the +delirious Ephraim, to-day lay far behind him as idle and worthless. + +He no longer cared for the honors, dignities and riches which the will of +the whimsical, weak king of a foreign people could bestow upon him. What +to him was the well-ordered and disciplined army, among whose leaders be +had numbered himself with such joyous pride? + +He could scarcely realize that there had been a time when he aspired to +nothing higher than to command more and still more thousands of +Egyptians, when his heart had swelled at the bestowal of a new title or +glittering badge of honor by those whom he held most unworthy of his +esteem. + +From the Egyptians he had expected everything, from his own people +nothing. + +That very night before his tent the great mass of the men of his own +blood had been repulsive to him as pitiful slaves languishing in +dishonorable, servile toil. Even the better classes he had arrogantly +patronized; for they were but shepherds and as such contemptible to the +Egyptians, whose opinions he shared. + +His own father was also the owner of herds and, though he held him in +high esteem, it was in spite of his position and only because his whole +character commanded reverence; because the superb old man's fiery vigor +won love from every one, and above all from him, his grateful son. + +He had never ceased to gladly acknowledge his kinship to him, but in +other respects he had striven to so bear himself among his brothers-in- +arms that they should forget his origin and regard him in everything as +one of themselves. His ancestress Asenath, the wife of Joseph, had been +an Egyptian and he had boasted of the fact. + +And now,--to-day? + +He would have made any one feel the weight of his wrath who reproached +him with being an Egyptian; and what at the last new moon he would only +too willingly have cast aside and concealed, as though it were a +disgrace, made him on the night of the next new moon whose stars were +just beginning to shine, raise his head with joyous pride. + +What a lofty emotion it was to feel himself with just complacency the man +he really was! + +His life and deeds as an Egyptian chief now seemed like a perpetual lie, +a constant desertion of his ideal. + +His truthful nature exulted in the consciousness that the base denial and +concealment of his birth was at an end. + +With joyous gratitude he felt that he was one of the people whom the Most +High preferred to all others, that he belonged to a community, whose +humblest members, nay even the children, could raise their hands in +prayer to the God whom the loftiest minds among the Egyptians surrounded +with the barriers of secrecy, because they considered their people too +feeble and dull of intellect to stand before His mighty grandeur and +comprehend it. + +And this one sole God, before whom all the whole motley world of Egyptian +divinities sank into insignificance, had chosen him, the son of Nun, from +among the thousands of his race to be the champion and defender of His +chosen people and bestowed on him a name that assured him of His aid. + +No man, he thought, had ever had a loftier aim than, obedient to his God +and under His protection, to devote his blood and life to the service of +his own people. His black eyes sparkled more brightly and joyously as he +thought of it. His heart seemed too small to contain all the love with +which he wished to make amends to his brothers for his sins against them +in former years. + +True, he had lost to another a grand and noble woman whom he had hoped to +make his own; but this did not in the least sadden the joyous enthusiasm +of his soul; for he had long ceased to desire her as his wife, high as +her image still stood in his mind. He now thought of her with quiet +gratitude only; for he willingly admitted that his new life had begun on +the decisive night when Miriam set him the example of sacrificing +everything, even the dearest object of love, to God and the people. + +Miriam's sins against him were effaced from his memory; for he was wont +to forget what he had forgiven. Now he felt only the grandeur of what he +owed her. Like a magnificent tree, towering skyward on the frontier of +two hostile countries, she stood between his past and his present life. +Though love was buried, he and Miriam could never cease to walk hand in +hand over the same road toward the same destination. + +As he again surveyed the events of the past, he could truly say that +under his leadership pitiful bondmen had speedily become brave warriors +In the field they had been willing and obedient and, after the victory, +behaved with manliness. And they could not fail to improve with each +fresh success. To-day it seemed to him not only desirable, but quite +possible, to win in battle at their head a land which they could love and +where, in freedom and prosperity, they could become the able men he +desired to make them. + +Amid the horrors of the battle-field in the moonless night joy as bright +as day entered his heart and with the low exclamation: "God and my +people!" and a grateful glance upward to the starry firmament he left the +corpse-strewn valley of death like a conqueror walking over palms and +flowers scattered by a grateful people on the path of victory. + + + + +CONCLUSION. + +There was an active stir in the camp. + +Fires surrounded by groups of happy human beings were burning in front of +the tents, and many a beast was slain, here as a thank-offering, yonder +for the festal supper. + +Wherever Joshua appeared glad cheers greeted him; but he did not find his +father, for the latter had accepted an invitation from Hur, so it was +before the prince of Judah's tent that the son embraced the old man, who +was radiant with grateful joy. + +Ere Joshua sat down Hur beckoned him aside, ordered a slave who had just +killed a calf to divide it into two pieces and pointing to it, said: + +"You have accomplished great deeds for the people and for me, son of Nun, +and my life is too short for the gratitude which is your due from my wife +and myself. If you can forget the bitter words which clouded our peace +at Dophkah--and you say you have done so--let us in future keep together +like brothers and stand by each other in joy and grief, in need and +peril. The chief command henceforth belongs to you alone, Joshua, and to +no other, and this is a source of joy to the whole people, above all to +my wife and to me. So if you share my wish to form a brotherhood, walk +with me, according to the custom of our fathers, between the halves of +this slaughtered animal." + +Joshua willingly accepted this invitation, and Miriam was the first to +join in the loud acclamations of approval commenced by the grey-haired +Nun. She did so with eager zeal; for it was she who had inspired her +husband, before whom she had humbled herself, and whose love she now once +more possessed, with the idea of inviting Joshua to the alliance both had +now concluded. + +This had not been difficult for her; for the two vows she had made after +the son of Nun, whom she now gladly called "Joshua," had saved her from +the hand of the foe were already approaching fulfilment, and she felt +that she had resolved upon them in a happy hour. + +The new and pleasant sensation of being a woman, like any other woman, +lent her whole nature a gentleness hitherto foreign to it, and this +retained the love of the husband whose full value she had learned to know +during the sad time in which he had shut his heart against her. + +In the self-same hour which made Hur and Joshua brothers, a pair of +faithful lovers who had been sundered by sacred duties were once more +united; for while the friends were still feasting before the tent of Hur, +three of the people asked permission to speak to Nun, their master. +These were the old freedwoman, who had remained in Tanis, her +granddaughter Hogla and Assir, the latter's betrothed husband, from whom +the girl had parted to nurse her grandparents. + +Hoary Eliab had soon died, and the grandmother and Hogla--the former on +the old man's ass--had followed the Hebrews amid unspeakable +difficulties. + +Nun welcomed the faithful couple with joy and gave Hogla to Assir for his +wife. + +So this blood-stained day had brought blessings to many, yet it was to +end with a shrill discord. + +While the fires in the camp were burning, loud voices were heard, and +during the whole journey not an evening had passed without strife and +sanguinary quarrels. + +Wounds and fatal blows had often been given when an offended man revenged +himself on his enemy, or a dishonest one seized the property of others or +denied the obligations he had sworn to fulfil. + +In such cases it had been difficult to restore peace and call the +criminals to account; for the refractory refused to recognize any one as +judge. Whoever felt himself injured banded with others, and strove to +obtain justice by force. + +On that festal evening Hur and his guests at first failed to notice the +uproar to which every one was accustomed. But when close at hand, amid +the fiercest yells, a bright glare of light arose, the chiefs began to +fear for the safety of the camp, and rising to put an end to the +disturbance, they became witnesses of a scene which filled some with +wrath and horror, and the others with grief. + +The rapture of victory had intoxicated the multitude. + +They longed to express their gratitude to the deity, and in vivid +remembrance of the cruel worship of their home, a band of Phoenicians +among the strangers had kindled a huge fire to their Moloch and were in +the act of hurling into the flames several Amalekite captives as the most +welcome sacrifice to their god. + +Close beside it the Israelites had erected on a tall wooden pillar a clay +image of the Egyptian god Seth, which one of his Hebrew worshippers had +brought with him to protect himself and his family. + +Directly after their return to the camp Aaron had assembled the people to +sing hymns of praise and offer prayers of thanksgiving; but to many the +necessity of beholding, in the old-fashioned way, an image of the god to +whom they were to uplift their souls, had been so strong that the mere +sight of the clay idol had sufficed to bring them to their knees, and +turn them from the true God. + +At the sight of the servants of Moloch, who were already binding the +human victims to hurl them into the flames, Joshua was seized with wrath +and, when the deluded men resisted, he ordered the trumpets to be sounded +and with his young men who blindly obeyed him and were by no means +friendly to the strangers, drove them back, without bloodshed, to their +quarters in the camp. + +The impressive warnings of old Nun, Hur, and Naashon diverted the Hebrews +from the crime which ingratitude made doubly culpable. Yet many of the +latter found it hard to control themselves when the fiery old man +shattered the idol which was dear to them, and had it not been for the +love cherished for him, his son, and his grandson, and the respect due +his snow-white hair, many a hand would doubtless have been raised against +him. + +Moses had retired to a solitary place, as was his wont after every great +danger from which the mercy of the Most High brought deliverance, and +tears filled Miriam's eyes as she thought of the grief which the tidings +of such apostasy and ingratitude would cause her noble brother. + +A gloomy shadow had also darkened Joshua's joyous confidence. He lay +sleepless on the mat in his father's tent, reviewing the past. + +His warrior-soul was elevated by the thought that a single, omnipotent, +never-erring Power guided the universe and the lives of men and exacted +implicit obedience from the whole creation. Every glance at nature and +life showed him that everything depended upon One infinitely great and +powerful Being, at whose sign all creatures rose, moved, or sank to rest. + +To him, the chief of a little army, his God was the highest and most far- +sighted of rulers, the only One, who was always certain of victory. + +What a crime it was to offend such a Lord and repay His benefits with +apostasy! + +Yet the people had committed before his eyes this heinous sin and, as he +recalled to mind the events which had compelled him to interpose, the +question arose how they were to be protected from the wrath of the Most +High, how the eyes of the dull multitude could be opened to His wonderful +grandeur, which expanded the heart and the soul. + +But he found no answer, saw no expedient, when he reflected upon the +lawlessness and rebellion in the camp, which threatened to be fatal to +his people. + +He had succeeded in making his soldiers obedient. As soon as the +trumpets summoned them, and he himself in full armor appeared at the head +of his men, they yielded their own obstinate wills to his. Was there +then nothing that could keep them, during peaceful daily life, within the +bounds which in Egypt secured the existence of the meanest and weakest +human beings and protected them from the attacks of those who were bolder +and stronger? + +Amid such reflections he remained awake until early morning; when the +stars set, he started up, ordered the trumpets to be sounded, and as on +the preceding days, the new-made troops assembled without opposition and +in full force. + +He was soon marching at their head through the narrow, rocky valley, and +after moving silently an hour through the gloom the warriors enjoyed the +refreshing coolness which precedes the young day. + +Then the grey light of early dawn glimmered in the east, the sky began to +brighten, and in the glowing splendor of the blushing morning rose +solemnly in giant majesty the form of the sacred mountain. + +Close at hand and distinctly visible it towered before the Hebrews with +its brown masses of rock, cliffs, and chasms, while above the seven peaks +of its summit hovered a pair of eagles on whose broad pinions the young +day cast a shimmering golden glow. + +A thrill of pious awe made the whole band halt as they had before Alush, +and every man, from the first rank to the last, in mute devotion raised +his hands to pray. + +Then they moved on with hearts uplifted, and one shouted joyously to +another as some pretty dark birds flew twittering toward them, a sign of +the neighborhood of fresh water. + +They had scarcely marched half an hour longer when they beheld the +bluish-green foliage of tamarisk bushes and the towering palm-trees; at +last, the most welcome of all sounds in the wilderness fell on their +listening ears--the ripple of flowing water. + + +This cheered their hearts, and the majestic spectacle of Mount Sinai, +whose heaven-touching summit was now concealed by a veil of blue mist, +filled with devout amazement the souls of the men who had grown up on the +flat plains of Goshen. + + [The mountain known at the present day as Serbal, not the Sinai of + the monks which in our opinion was first declared in the reign of + Justinian to be the mount whence the laws were given. The detailed + reasons for our opinion that Serbal is the Sinai of the Scriptures, + which Lepsius expressed before its and others share with us may be + found in our works: "Durch Gosen zum Sinai, aus dem Wanderbuch and + der Bibliothek." 2 Aufl. Leipzig. 1882. Wilh. Engelmann.] + +They pressed cautiously forward; for the remainder of the defeated +Amalekites might be lying in ambush. But no foe was seen or heard, and +the Hebrews found some tokens of the thirst for vengeance of the sons of +the wilderness in their ruined houses, the superb palm-trees felled, and +little gardens destroyed. It was necessary now to remove from the road +the slender trunks with their huge leafy crowns, that they might not +impede the progress of the people; and, when this work was done, Joshua +ascended through a ravine which led to the brook in the valley, up to the +first terrace of the mountain, that he might gaze around him far and near +for a view of the enemy. + +The steep pathway led past masses of red granite, intersected by veins of +greenish diorite, until he reached a level plateau high above the oasis, +where, beside a clear spring, green bushes and delicate mountain flowers +adorned the barren wilderness. + +Here he intended to rest and, as he gazed around him, he perceived in the +shadow of an overhanging cliff a man's tall figure. + +It was Moses. + +The flight of his thoughts had rapt him so far away from the present and +his surroundings, that he did not perceive Joshua's approach, and the +latter was restrained by respectful awe from approaching the man of God. + +He waited patiently till the latter raised his bearded face and greeted +him with friendly dignity. + +Then they gazed together at the oasis and the desolate stony valleys of +the mountain region at their feet. The emerald waters of a small portion +of the Red Sea, which washed the western slope of the mountain, also +glittered beneath them. + +Meanwhile they talked of the people and the greatness and omnipotence of +the God who had so wonderfully guided them, and as they looked northward, +they beheld the endlessly long stream of Hebrews, which, following the +curves of the rocky valley, was surging slowly toward the oasis. + +Then Joshua opened his heart to the man of God and told him the questions +he had asked himself during the past sleepless night, and to which he had +found no answer. The latter listened quietly, and in deep, faltering +tones answered in broken sentences: + +"The lawlessness in the camp--ay, it is ruining the people! But the Lord +placed the power to destroy it in our hands. Woe betide him who resists. +They must feel this power, which is as sublime as yonder mountain, as +immovable as its solid rock." + +Then Moses' wrathful words ceased. + +After both had gazed silently into vacancy a long time, Joshua broke the +silence by asking: + +"And what is the name of this power?" + +Loudly and firmly from the bearded lips of the man of God rang the words; + +"THE LAW!" + +He pointed with his staff to the summit of the mountain. + +Then, waving his hand to his companion, he left him. Joshua completed +his search for the foe and saw on the yellow sands of the valley dark +figures moving to and fro. + +They were the remnants of the defeated Amalekite bands seeking new +abodes. + +He watched them a short time and, after convincing himself that they were +quitting the oasis, he thoughtfully returned to the valley. + +"The law!" he repeated again and again. + +Ay, that was what the wandering tribes lacked. It was doubtless reserved +for its severity to transform the hordes which had escaped bondage into a +people worthy of the God who preferred them above the other nations of +the earth. + +Here the chief's reflections were interrupted; for human voices, the +lowing and bleating of herds, the barking of dogs, and the heavy blows of +hammers rose to his ears from the oasis. + +They were pitching the tents, a work of peace, for which no one needed +him. + +Lying down in the shadow of a thick tamarisk bush, above which a tall +palm towered proudly, he stretched his limbs comfortably to rest in the +assurance that the people were now provided for, in war by his good +sword, in peace by the Law. This was much, it renewed his hopes; yet, +no, no--it was not all, could not be the final goal. The longer he +reflected, the more profoundly he felt that this was not enough to +satisfy him concerning those below, whom he cherished in his heart as if +they were brothers and sisters. His broad brow again clouded, and roused +from his repose by fresh doubts, he gently shook his head. + +No, again no! The Law could not afford to those who were so dear to him +everything that he desired for them. Something else was needed to make +their future as dignified and beautiful as he had beheld it before his +mind's eye on his journey to the mines. + +But what was it, what name did this other need bear? + +He began to rack his brain to discover it, and while, with closed lids, +he permitted his thoughts to rove to the other nations whom he had known +in war and peace, in order to seek among them the one thing his own +people lacked, sleep overpowered him and a dream showed him Miriam and a +lovely girl, who looked like Kasana as she had so often rushed to meet +him when a sweet, innocent child, followed by the white lamb which Nun +had given to his favorite many years before. + +Both figures offered him a gift and asked him to choose one or the other. +Miriam's hand held a heavy gold tablet, at whose top was written in +flaming letters: "The Law!" and which she offered with stern severity. +The child extended one of the beautifully-curved palm-leaves which he had +often waved as a messenger of peace. + +The sight of the tablet filled him with pious awe, the palm-branch waved +a friendly greeting and he quickly grasped it. But scarcely was it in +his hand ere the figure of the prophetess melted into the air like mist, +which the morning breeze blows away. In painful astonishment he now +gazed at the spot where she had stood, and surprised and troubled by his +strange choice, though he felt that he had made the right one, he asked +the child what her gift imported to him and to the people. + +She waved her hand to him, pointed into the distance, and uttered three +words whose gentle musical sound sank deep into his heart. Yet hard as +he strove to catch their purport, he did not succeed, and when he asked +the child to explain them the sound of his own voice roused him and he +returned to the camp, disappointed and thoughtful. + +Afterwards he often tried to remember these words, but always in vain. +All his great powers, both mental and physical, he continued to devote to +the people; but his nephew Ephraim, as a powerful prince of his tribe, +who well deserved the high honors he enjoyed in after years, founded a +home of his own, where old Nun watched the growth of great-grand- +children, who promised a long perpetuation of his noble race. + +Everyone is familiar with Joshua's later life, so rich in action, and how +he won in battle a new home for his people. + +There in the Promised Land many centuries later was born, in Bethlehem, +another Jehoshua who bestowed on all mankind what the son of Nun had +vainly sought for the Hebrew nation. + +The three words uttered by the child's lips which the chief had been +unable to comprehend were: + +"Love, Mercy, Redemption!" + + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Asenath, the wife of Joseph, had been an Egyptian +Most ready to be angry with those to whom we have been unjust +Pleasant sensation of being a woman, like any other woman +Woman's disapproving words were blown away by the wind + + + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS FOR THE ENTIRE JOSHUA: + +A school where people learned modesty +Asenath, the wife of Joseph, had been an Egyptian +Brief "eternity" of national covenants +But what do you men care for the suffering you inflict on others +Childhood already lies behind me, and youth will soon follow +Choose between too great or too small a recompense +Good advice is more frequently unheeded than followed +Hate, though never sated, can yet be gratified +I do not like to enquire about our fate beyond the grave +Most ready to be angry with those to whom we have been unjust +Omnipotent God, who had preferred his race above all others +Pleasant sensation of being a woman, like any other woman +Precepts and lessons which only a mother can give +Regard the utterances and mandates of age as wisdom +Should I be a man, if I forgot vengeance? +Then hate came; but it did not last long +There is no 'never,' no surely +To the mines meant to be doomed to a slow, torturing death +Voice of the senses, which drew them together, will soon be mute +What had formerly afforded me pleasure now seemed shallow +When hate and revenge speak, gratitude shrinks timidly +Who can prop another's house when his own is falling +Woman's disapproving words were blown away by the wind + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSHUA, BY GEORG EBERS, COMPLETE *** + +***********This file should be named ge34v10.txt or ge34v10.zip *********** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, ge34v11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, ge34v10a.txt + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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