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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrv^te the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvint dtre film^s d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre leproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 d partsr de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 Aut JOSH UA, A BIBLICAL PICTURE. BY GEORC EBERS, Author of " Uarda,'' ''An Egyptian Princess," etc., etc. ONLY AUTHORIZED EDITION. MONTREAL : JOHN LOVELL & SON, 23 St. Nicholas Street. Bntarad according t^ Act of Parliament in the year 1889, bf Jolm LovtH 6* Son, in tht ofEce of the liiniitcr of AgriedtaM and Statisticf at OtUwa. JOSHUA. ' ^ CHAPTER I. " Go down, grandfather. I will keep watch." But the old man to whom the words were spoken shook his shaven head. •* But up here you will get no rest." " And the stars ? — or even below ; rest, in such times as these I Throw my cloak over me — rest in such a fear- ful night ! " ** You are so cold ; and your hand and the instrument shake." *' Then steady my arm." The lad willingly obeyed the request ; but after a short space he exclaimed : " It is all in vain. Star after star is swallowed up in black clouds. Ah, and the bitter cry of the city comes up. Nay, it comes from our ow n house. I am sick at heart, grandfather ; only feel how hot ray head js. Come down, perchance they need help." " They are in the hands of the gods, and my place is here. But there, there I Eternal gods ! Look to the north across the lake ! No, more to the westward. They come from the city of the dead ! " " Oh, grandfather, father, there ! " cried the youth, a priestly neophyte, who was lending his aid to an elder whose grandson he was, the chief astrologer of Amon- Ra. They were standing on the watchtower of the temple of the god at Tanis, the capital of the Pharaohs, in the north of the land of Goshen. As he spoke he drew away his shoulder on which the old man was leaning. *' There^ there I Is the sea swallowing up the land ? Have the clouds fallen on the earth to surge to and iro ? Oh, grand- father, may the immortals have mercy ! the nether world 4 yjsnr.i. is yawning ! The great serpent Apep is come forth from the city of the dead ! It comes rolling past the temple. I see it, I hear it ! The great Hebrew's threat is being fulfilled ! Our race will be cut off from the earth. The serpent ! Its head is set toward the soutlieast. It will surely swallow up the young sun when it rises in the morn- ing ! " The old man's eyes followed the dirociion of the youth's finger, and he, too, could discern IJiat a vast, black mass, whose outline was lost in the darkness, came rolling through the gloom, and he, too, heard with a shudder the creature's low roar. Both stood with eye and car alert, staring into the night, but the star-gazer's eye was fixed not upward, but down, across the city to llie distant sea and level plain. Over- head all was silent, and yet not all at rest, for the wind swept the dark clouds into shapeless masses in one i)lace, while in another it rent the gray shroud, and scattered thi m far and wide. The moon was not visible to mortal ken, but the clouds ])laycd hide and seek with the bright southern stars, now covering them, and now giving their rays free passage. And as in the firmar.ient, so on earth there was a constant change from p;illid light to blackest darkness. Now the glitter of the heavenly bodies Hashed b' ighily down on the sea and estuary, on the polished granite sides of the obelisks in the temple ])recincts and the gilt coj^per roof of the king's airy palace; and again, lake and river, the sails in the harbor, the sanctuaries and streets of the city, and the palm-strewn plain surrounding it were all lost is gloom. Objects which the eye tried to rest on vanished in am instant, and it was the same with the sounds that met the ear. For a while the silence would be as deep as though all life, far anJ near, were hushed or dead, and then a piercing sliriek of woe rent the stillness of the night. And then, broken by longer or shorter pauses, that roar was heard which the youthful priest had taken for the voice of the seri)ent of the nether world ; and to that the grand- father and grandson listened with growing excitement. The dusky shape, whose ceaseless movements could be clearly made out whenever the stars shot their beams be- tween the striving clouds, had its beginning out by the cit^ J J yosniTA, 5 of the dcnd and the strangers' quarter. A sudden i)anic luul fallen on the vold man as on the young one, Uut he was quieker to recover himself, and his keen anil practiced eye 50on discovered that it was not a single gigantic form which was rising from the necropolis to cross the ]>lnin. but a muliitude of moving creatures who seem .1 to be surging ©r swaying to and fro on the meadow lantl. Xor did the hollow hum and wailing come up from one juirticulnr si)ot, but was audible now nearer and now more remote. Anon he fancied that was risi'ig from the bosom of the earth, and then again iliat it fell from some airy height. Fresh terror came upon the old astrologer. He seized his grand-on's hand in his right hand, and poiuiting with his left to the city of the dead, he cried in a trembling voice : " The dead are too many in number. The nelher world overflows, as the river does when its bed is too narrow for the waters of the south. Mow they swarm and sway and surge on ! How they part, hither and thither ! These are the ghosts of the tliousands whom black death hath snatched away, blasted by the Hebrew's curse, and sent unburied, unprotected from corruption, to descend the rungs of the ladder which loads to the world without end." '' Yea, it is they ! " cried the other, in full belief He snatched his hand from the old man's grasp and struck his fevered and burning brow, exclaiming, though hardly able to speak for terror : " They — the damned ! The wind has blown diem lO the sea, and its waters spew them out and cast them on the land again, and the blessed earth rejects them and drives them into the air. The pure ether of Shoo flings them back to the groimd, and now — look, listen ! They are groaning as they seek the way to tlie desert." " To the fire ! " cried the elder. " Flame, purify them : (vater, cleanse them ! " The youth joined in the old priest's form of exorcism, and while they chanted it in unison, the trap door was lifted which led to this observatory on the top of tlie highest gate of the temple, and a priest of humble grade cried to the old man : "Cease thy labors. Who cares now for the stars of heaven when all that has life is being darkened on earth ? " The old priest listened speechless, till the messenger 6 JOSHUA, went on to say that it was the astrologer's wife who had S'^nt for him, and then he gasped out : " Hora? Is my son then likewise stricken? " The priest then bent his head, and both his hearers wept bitterly, for the old man was bereft of his first-born son, and the lad of a tender father. But when the boy, trembling with fear, fell sick and sorrowing on his grandfather's breast, the elder hastily freed hims I from his embrace and went to the trapdoor ; for although the priest had announced himself as the messenger of death, it needs more than the bare word of another to persuade a father to give up all hope of life for his child. The old man went quickly down the stone stairs, through the lofty halls and wide courts of the temple ; and the lad followed him, although his shaking knees could scarcely carry his fevered frame. The blow which liad fallen within his own little circle had made the old man forget the fearful portent which threatened the whole world perhaps with ruin ; but the boy could not get rid of the vision ; even when he had passed the first court, and was in sight of the outermost pylons, to his terrified and anxious soul it seemed as though the shadows of the obelisks were spinning round, while the two stone statues of King Rameses on the corner piers of the great gate beat time with the crook in his hand. At this the lad dropj)cd fever-stricken on the ground. A convulsion distorted his features and tossed his slender frame to and fro in frantic spasms ; and the old man, falling on his knees, while he guarded the curly head from striking the hard stone flags, moaned in a low voice : " Now, it has fallen on him." Suddently he collected himself and shouted aloud for help, but in vain, and again in vain. At last his voice fell ; he sought consolation in prayer. Then he heard a sound of voices from the avenue of sphinxes leading to the great gate, and new hope revived in his heart. Who could it be who was arriving at so late an hour? Mingled with cries of grief the chanting of priests fell on his ear, the tinkle and clatter of the metallic sistrum shaken by holy women in honor of the god, and the measured footfall of men praying as they marched on. A solemn procession was approachir^. The astrologer raised his eyes, and after glancing at the double line of J J granite columns, colossal statues ard obelisks in the great court, looked up, in obedience to the habits of a lifetime, at the starry heavens above, and in the midst of his woe a bitter smile parted his sunken lips, for the gods this night lacked the honors that were their due. For on this night — the first after the new moon in the month of Pharmutec — the sanctuary in former years was wont to be gay with garlands of flowers. At the dawn of day after this moonless night the high festival of the spring equinox should begin, and with it the harvest thanks- giving. At this time a grand procession marched through the city to the river and harbor, as prescribed by the Book of the Divine Birth of the Sun, in honor of the great goddess Neith, of Rennoot, who bestows the gifts of the 5(.ld, and of Horus, at whose bidding the desert blooms ; bi t to day the silence of death reigned in the sanctuary, whose r'.urt- yards should have been crowded at this hour with men, women and children, bringing offerings to place on the very spot where his grandson lay under the hand of death. A broad beam of lighc suddenly fell into the vast court, which till now had been but dimly lighted by a few lamps. Could they be so mad as to think that the glad festival might be held in spite of the nameless horrors of the past night? Only the evening before, the priests in council had determined that during this pitiless pestilence the temples were to be left unadorned and processions to be prohibited. By noon yesterday many had failed to attend because the plague had fallen on their households, and the terror had now come into this very sanctuary, while he, who could read the stars, had been watching them in their courses. Why else should it have been deserted by the watchmen and other astrologers, who had been with him at sunset, and whose duty it was to keep vigil here all night ? He turned once more to the suffering boy with tender anxiety, but instantly started to his feet, for the gates were opened wide, and the light of torches and lanterns poured into the temple court. A glance at the sky showed him that it was not long past midnight, and yet his fears were surely well grounded — these must be the priests crowding into the temple to prepare for the harvest festival. JOSHUA, Not so. For when had they come to the sanctuary for this purpose, chanting and in i)ioccssion ? Nor were these all servants of the divinity. The iJOpulacc had joined them. In that solemn litany he could hear the shrill wailing of women mingled witli wild cries of despair such as he had never bcfo.e, in the course of a long life, heard within these consecrated walls. Or did his senses deceive him ? Was it the groaning horde of unresting souls which he had seen from the observatory who were crowding into the sanctuary of the god ? Fresh horrors fell upon him ; he threw uj) his arms in interdiction, and for a few moments repeated the formula against the malice of evil spirits ; but he presently dropped his hands, for he marked among the throng some friends who yesterday, at any rate, had been in the land of the living. Foremost, the tall figure of the second prophet of the god ; then the women devoted to the service of Amon- Ra, the singers and the holy fathers ; and when at last, behind the astrologers and pastophoroi, he saw his son-in- law, whose home had till yesterday been spared by the plague, he took heart and spoke to him. But his voice was drowned by the song and cries of the coming multitude. The courtyard was now fully lighted ; but every one was so absorbed in his own sorrow that no one heeded the old astrologer. He snatched the cloak off his own shivering body to make a better pillow for the boy's tossing head, and whi!: he did so,- with fatherly care, he could hear among the chanting and wailing of the approaching crowd, first, frantic curses on the Hebrews, through whom these woes had fallen on Pharaoh and his people, and then, again and again, the name of the heir to the crown. Prince Rameses ; and the tone in which it was spoken, and the formulas of mourning which were added, announced to all who had ears to hear that the eyes of the first-born of the king on his throne were also sealed in death. As he gazed with growing anguish in his grandson's pale face, the lamentations for the prince rang out afresh and louder than ever, and a faint sense of satisfaction crept into his soul at the impartiality of Death, who spared not the sovereign on his throne any more than the beggar by the wayside. josnvA. ^, He knew now what had brought this noisy throng to tljc sanctuary. He went forward with such haste as his old limbs would allow to meet the column of mourners, but before he could join them he saw the gatekeeper and his wife come out of the gatehouse, bearing between them, on a mat, the corpse of a boy. The husband held one end, his frail, liny wife held the other ; and the stalwart man had to stooj) low to keep their stiff burden in a horizontal position that it might not slip down towards the woman. Three children closed the melancholy party, and a little girl holding a lantern led the way. No one, perhaps, would have observed them, but that the gatekeeper's wife shrieked forth her griefs so loudly and shrilly that it was impossible not to hear her cries. The second i)rophet of Anion turned to look, and then his compa- nions ; the procession came to a standstill, and, as some of the i)riests went nearer to the body, the father cried in a loud voice : " Away, away from the plague-stricken ! Our first-born is dead ! " The mother, meanwhile, had snatched the lantern from her little daughter, and, holding it so as to throw a light on the face of the dead boy, she shrieked out : *' The god hath suffered it to come to jjass. Yes, even under our own roof. But it is not his will, but the curse of the stranger in the land that has come over us and our lives. Behold, this was the first-born; and two emple servants have likewise been taken. One is dead already ; he is lying in our little room yonder ; and there — see, there lies young Kamus, the grandson of Rameri, the star- reader. We heard the old man calling and saw what was happening, but who can hold another man's house up when his own is falling about his ears? Beware while it is /-^t time, for the gods have opened even the temple gates to the abomination, and if the whole world should perish I should not be surprised, and never complain — certainly not. My lords and priests, I am but a poor and humble woman, but am I not in the right when I ask : Are our gods asleep ? Has a magic spell bound them ? Or what are they doing, and where are they, that they leave us and our children in the power of the vile Hebrew race ? " 10 JOSHUA. *' Down with them ! Down with the strangers I They are magicians. Into the sea with Mesu,* the sorcerer ! " As an echo follows a cry, so did these imprecations follow the woman's curse ; and Hornecht, the old astrologer's son-in law, captain of the archers, whose blood boiled over at the sight of his dying, fair young nephew, brandished his short sword, and cried in a frenzy of rage : " Follow me, every man who has a heart ! At them ! Life for life ! Ten Hebrews for each Egyptian whom their sorcerer has killed ! " A flock will rush into the fire if only the ram leads the way, and the crowd flocked to follow the noble warrior. The women pushed in front of the men, thronging the door- way, and as the servants of the sanctuary hesitated till they should know the opinion of the prophet of Amon, their leader drew up in his majestic figure, and said deli- berately : '* All who wear priests' robes remain to pray with me. The people are the instrument of heaven, and it is theirs to repay. We stay here to pray for success to their ven- geance." CHAPTER H. Baie, the second prophet of Amon, who acted as deputy for the now infirm old head prophet and high priest Ruie, withdrew into the holy of holies, and while the multitude of the inferior ministers of the god proceeded to their various duties, the infuriated crowd hurried through the streets of the town to the strangers' quarter. As a swollen torrent raging through a valley carries down with it everything in its way, so the throng, as they rushed to their revenge, compelled every one on tlicir road to join them. Every Egyptian from whom dcalh had snatched his nearest and dearest Wus ready to j.)i;i the swelling tide, and it grew till it numbered hundred ; of thousands. Men, women and children, slaves and free, borne on the wings of their desire to wreak ruin and death on the detested Hebrews, flew to the distant quarter wb.erc they dwelt. # Mesu is the Egyptian form of the rame of Moses. JOSHUA. fl How this artisan had laid hold of a chopper or that housewife had clutched an axe, they themselves scarcely knew. They rushed on to kill and destroy, and they had not sought the weapons they needed ; Ihe/ had found them ready to their hand. The first they hoped to fall upon in their mad fury was Nun, a venerable Hebrew, respected and beloved by manjr — a man rich in herds, who had don: much kindness to the Egyptians ; but where hatred and revenge make them- selves heard, gratitude stands shy and speechless in the background. His large estates lay, like the houses and huts of the men of his race, in the strangers' quarter, to the west of Tanis, and were the nearest oi them all to the streets inha- bited by the Egyptians themselves. At this morning hour Nun's flocks and herds were wont to be taken, first to water, and then to the pasture ; so the large yard in front of his house would be full of cattle, farm men and women, carts and field implements. The owner himself commonly ordered the going of his beasts, and he and iiis were to be the first victims of the popular rage. The swiftest runners had already reached his spacious farm, and among them Hornecht, the captain of the arch- ers. There lay the house and buildings in the first bright beams of the morning sun, and a brawny smith kicked violently at the closed door ; but there was no bolt, and it flew open so readily that he had to clutch at the door post to save himself from falling. Others pushed by him into the courtyard, among them the archer chief. But what was the meaning of this ? Had some new charm been wrought to show the power of Mcsu, who had brought such terrible plagues already on the land, and display the might of his god ? The yard was empty, absolutely empty ; only in their stalls lay a few cattle and sheep, slain because they had suflfcrcd from injury, while a lame lamb hcbbled away at the sight of the intruders. Even the carts and barrows had vanished. The groaning and bleating crowd, which the star-gazer had taken to be the spirits of the damned, was the host of the Hebrews, who had fled by night with all their herds, under the guidance of Moses. The leader dropped his sword, and it might liave been thought that the scene btibrc him was to him an agreeable 13 JOSHUA. surprise ; but his companion, a scribe from the king's treasury, looked round the deserted courtyard with the dis- appointed air of a man who has been cheated. The tide of passions and schemes which had risen high during the night, ebbed under the broad light of day. Even the soldier's easily-stirred ire had subsided to compa- rative calm. The mob might have done their worst to the other Hebrews, but not to Nun, whose son Hosea (Joshua) had been his comrade in battle, one of the most esteenud captains in the field, and a private friend of his own. If Hornecht had foreseen that Nun's farmstead would be the first spot to be attacked, he would never have led the mob to their revenge, and once more in his life he bitterly rued that he had been carried away by sudden wrath to forget the calm demeanor which beseemed his years. And now, while some of the crowd proceeded to rille and pull down Nun's deserted dwellings, men and women came running in to say that no living soul was to be found in any of the other houses near. Some had to tell of yelling cats squat- ting on vacant heartlis, of beasts pact service found slaughtered, and broken household gear, till at last the angry crowd dragged forward a Hebrew with his fam'ly, and a grey-haired, half-witted woman whom they had hunted out among some straw. Tiie old woman laughed foolishly and said that her people had called her till they were hoarse, but Mehela knew better; and as for walking, walking forever, as her people meant to do, that she could not ; her feet were too tender, and she had not even a pair of sandals. The man, a hideous Jew, whom few even of his own race would have regarded with pity, declared, first with humi- lity, bordering on servility, and then with the insolent daring that was natural to him, that he had nothing to do with the god of lies in whose name the impostor Moses had tempted away his people, but that he and his wife and child had always been friends with the Egyptians. As a matter of fact he was known to many, being an usurer, and when the rest of his tribe had taken up their staves he had hidden himself, hoping to pursue his dishonest dealings and come to no loss. But some of his debtors were among the furious mob ; and even with ut them he had not a chance for his life, for he was the fust object on which the excited multitude JOSHUA. »3 could prove that they were in earnest in their revenge. They rushed on him with yells of rage, and in a few minutes the bodies of the hapless wretch and his family lay dead on the groun J. No one knew who had done the bloody deed ; too many had fallen on the victims at once. Others who had remained behind were dragged forth from houses or hovels, and they were not a few, though many had time to escape into the country. These all fell victims to the wrath of the populace ; and while their blood was flowing, axes were heaved, and doors and walls were battered down with beams and posts to destroy the dwellings of the detested race from the face of the earth. The glowing embers which some furious women had brought with them were extinguished and trodden out, for the more prudent warned them of the danger which must threaten their own adjoining dwellings and the whole city of Tanis if the strangers' quarter were set in flames. Thus the homes of the Hebrews were spared from fire, but as the sun rose higher the site of the dwellings they had deserted was wrapped in an impenetrable cloud of white dust from the ruins, and on the spot where, but yesterday, thousands of human beings had iiad a lappy home, and where vast herds had slak-.d their thirst by fresh waters, nothing v/as now to be seen but hea[is of rubbish and stone, while broken timber and splintered woodwork strewed the scorching soil. Dogs and cats, abandoned by the fugitives, prowled among the ruins, and were presently joined by the women and children who herded in the beggars' hovels on the skirts of the neighbor- ing necropolis, and who now, with their hands over their mouths, poked among the choking dust and piles of lumber for any vessels or broken victuals which the He- brews might have left behind and the plunderers have over- looked. In the course of the afternoon Baie was borne in his litter past the scene of devastation. He had not come hither to feast his eyes on the sight of the ruins, but because they lay in the nearest way from the city of the dead to his own home. Nevertheless, a smile of satisfaction curled his grave lips as he noted how thoroughly the populace had done their work. What he himself had hoped to see had not indeed been carried out ) the leader of the fugitives had JOSHUA. I 1 CYaded their revenge; but hatred, though it is never satiated, can be easily gratified. Even the smaller woes of an enemy are joy, and the priest had just quitted the mourning Pharaoh, and though he had not yet succeeded in freeing him completely from the bonds laid upon him. by the Hebrew soothsayer, yet he had loosened them. Three words had the proud, ambitious man murmured to himself again and again — a man not wont to talk to him- self — as he sat alone in the sanctuary, meditating on what had happened and on what had to be done ; and those three words were : " Bless me also 1 " It was Pharaoh who had spoken them, addressing the petition to another ; and that other not old Ruie, the pon- tiff and high priest, nor Baie himself, the only men living whose privilege it could be to bless the king ; no, but the worst of the accursed, the stranger, the Hebrew Mesu^ whom he hated as he haled none other on earth. " Bless me also 1 " That pious entreaty, which springs so confidingly from the human soul in anguish, had pierced his soul like a dagger-thrust. He felt as though such a prayer, addressed by such lips to such a man, had broken the staff in the hand of the whole priesthood of Egypt, had wrenched the panther skin from its shoulders, and cast a stain on all the nation he loved. He knew Mesu well for one of the wisest sages ever pro- duced by the schools of Egypt ; he knew full well that Pharaoh was spell bound by this man, who had grown up in his house, and had been the friend of the great Rameses, his father. He had seen the monarch pardon misdeeds in Mesu which any other man, were he the highest in the land, must have expiated with his life ; and how dear must this Hebrew have been to Pharaoh — the sun-god on the throne of the world — when he could compel the king, standing by the death-bed of his son, to uplift his hands to him and implore him : " Bless me also." All this he had told himself and weighed with due care, and still he, Baie, could not, would not, yield to the power- ful Hebrew. He had regarded it as his most urgent and sacred duty to bring destruction on him and his whole race. To fulfil that duty he would not have hesitated to lay hands on the throne ; indeed, in his eyes, by the utterance of that blasphemous entreaty, "Bless me also," Pharaoh Menephtah had forfeited his right to the sovereignty. I yosjjUAi *s I ' I Moses was the murderer of Pharaoh's first-born, whereas^ he himself and the venerable high priest of Amon held the weal or woe of the deceased youth's soul in their hands. And this weapon was a keen and a strong one, for he knew how tender and irresolute was the king's heart. If the high-priest of Amon — the only man who stood above him —-did not contravene him in some unaccountable fit of senile caprice, it would be a small matter to reduce Pharaoh to submission, but the vacillating monarch might repent to-morrow of what he resolved to-day, if the Hebrew should again succeed in coming between him and his Egyptian counselors. Only this very day, on hearing the name of Moses spoken in his presence, the degenerate son of Rameses the Great had covered his face and quaked like a frightened gazelle, and to-morrow he might curse him and pronounce sentence of death against him. He might perhaps be persuaded to do this ; but even then by the day after he would very surely recall him and beseech his blessing once more. Away with such a monarch ! Down with the feeble reed who sat on the throne, down to the very dust ! Baie had found a fitting successor among the princes of the blood royal, and when the time should come — when Ruie, the high priest of Amon, should cross the boundary of the time of life granted to man by the gods, and close his eyes in death — then he, Baie himself, would fill his place ; a new life should begin for Egypt, and Moses and his tribes were doomed. As the prophet thus meditated a pair of ravens fluttered tround his head, and then, croaking loudly, alighted on the dusky ruins of one of the wrecked tenements. His eye involuntarily followed their flight and perceived that they had settled on the body of a dead Hebrew, half buried in rubbish ; and again a smile stole over his cunning, defiant features, a smile which the inferior priests who stood about his litter could by no means interpret. 96 yOSHUA. CHAPTER III. HoRNECHT, captain of the bowmen, had b> this time joined company with the prophet. He was, indeed, in his con fidcncc, for the warrior likewise was one of the men of high rank who had conspired to overthrow the reigning Pharaoh. As they approached the ruined dwelHng of Nun the priest pointed to the heap of destruction and said : " The man to whom this once belonged is the only Hebrew I fain would spare. He was a man of worth, and his son Joshua " " Ke will be true to us," interrupted the captain. " Few better men serve in the ranks of Pharaoh's armies, and," he added, in a lower voice, *" I count on him in the day of deliverance." " Of that we will speak before fewer witnesses," replied the other. " But I owe him a special debt of gratitude. During the Libyan war — you know of it — I was betrayed into the hands of the enemy, and Joshua, with his handful of men, cut me a way of escape from the wild robbers." TJien, dropping his voice, he went on in his didactic man- ner, as though he were making excuse for the mischief before them. " Such is life here below ! When a whole race of men incurs punishment, the evil falls on the guilt- less with the guilty. Not even the gods can in such a case divide the individual from the mob ; the visitation falls even on the innocent beasts. Look at that flock of pigeons hovering ever the ruins ; they seek the dovecote in vain. And that cat with her kittens ! Go, Bekie, and rescue them ; it is our duty to preserve the sacred animal3 from starving to death." And this man, who had contemplated the destruction of so many of his fellow-creatures with barbarous joy, took the kindly care of the unreasoning brutes so niucli to heart that he made the bearers stop, and looked on while the servants cauglit the cats. But this was not so quickly done as he had hoped, for the mother fled into the nearest cellar- opening, and the gap was so narrow as to prevent f '■% yos/fVA. »7 )med con "high raoh. \ the « The irew I is son " Few and," day of eplied titiide. jtrayed and fill bers." man- schicf whole guilt- acase falls ock of )vecote ie, and mimala :tion of took o heart lile the quickly nearest revent n the men from following lur. However, the youngest of them all, a slim Nubian, undertook to fetch her out ; but he had liardly looked down into the opening when he started l)ack and cried to his lord : ** A human being is lying there, and seems to be yet alive. Yes, he beckons with his liand. It is a boy or a youth, and certainly not a slave. His liair is long and curly, and on his arm — for a sunbeam falls straight in — I can see a broad gold band." " One of the family of Nun, perhai)s, who has been for- gotten," said the warrior, and 13aie eagerly added : " It is the guidance of the gods ! The sacred beasts have led me to the spot where I may do a service to the man to whom I owe so much. Try and make your way in, ik^kie, and fetcli the youth out." The Nubian, meanwhile, had moved away a stone, which, in its fall, had partly closed the entrance, and in a short while he held u|; to his comrades a motionless young form, which they lifted out into the open air and carried to a well. There they soon brought him back to life wilh the cool water. As he recovered consciousness he rubbed his eyes, looked about him in bewilderment as thouiih he knew not where he was, and then his head fell on his breast as if overcome by grief and horror, and it could be seen that at the back of his head the hair was matted with dark patclies of dried blood. By the prophet's care the wound, which was deep, from a stone which had fallen on the lad, was washed at the well ; and when it was bound up he bid him get into his own litter, which was screened from the sun. The youth had arrived before sunrise, after a long walk bf night from Pithom, called by the Hebrews Succoth, to bring a message to his grandfather, Nun, but finding the place deserted he had lain down in one of the empty rooms to rest awhile. Awakening at the uproar of the infuriated Egyptians, and hearing the curses on his race, which rang out on every side, he had fled to the cellar, and the falling roof, although he had been hurt, had proved his salvation, for the clouds of dust which had hidden everything as it crashed down had concealed him from tlie sight of the plunderers. The priest gazed at him attentively, and though the i8 yos/iUA, II youth was unwashed and jialc, with a blood-stained band- age around his head, he could see that the being he had restored to life was a handsome, well-grown lad, on the verge of manhood. Full of eager sympathy, he mollified the stern gravity of his eye, and questioned him kindly as lo whence he came ar.d what had brought him to Tanis, for it was impossible to tell from the youth's features even of what nation he might be. He might easily have passed himself off as an Egyptian, but he quiie frankly owned that he was the grandson of Nun. He was eighteen years of age, his name was Ephraim, like his ancestor the son of Joseph, and he had come to see his grandfather. And he spoke with an accent of steadfast self-respect and joy in his illustrious descent. When asked whethc. he had been the bearer of a message he did not forthwith reply, but after collecting his thoughts he looked fearlessly into the prophet's face and answered frankly : '* Be you who you may, I have been taught to speak the truth. You shall know, then, that I have another kinsman dwelling in Tanis — Joshua, the son of Nun, who is a captain in Pharaoh's army, and I have a message for him." "And you shall know," replied the priest, "that it was for the sake of that very Josnua that I lingered here and bid my servants rescue you alive from that ruined house. I owe him thanks ; and although the greater number of your nation have done deeds worthy of the heaviest punishment, yet for his noble sake you shall dwell among us free and unharmed." On this the boy looked up at the priest with a flash of eager pride ; but before he could speak, Bale went on with encouraging friendliness : " I read in your eyes, my boy, if I am not mistaken, that you are come to seek service under your Uncle Joshua in Pharaoh's army. Your stature should make you skillful in handling weapons, -and you certainly cannot lack for daring." A smile of flattered vanity lighted up Ephraim's face, and turning the broad gold bangle on his arm, perhaps unconsciously, he eagerly replied : " I am brave, my lord, and have proved it often in the hunting-field. But at home there are cattle and sheep in abundance, which I already call my own, and it seems to 1 JOSHUA. 19 had the ified ly as s,for en of issed 1 that ars of son of aid he joy in cssage oughts swered eak the Lin small captain it it was -icrc and d bouse, imber of heaviest 1 among flash of on with iken,tbat Joshua in skillful in lack for lim's face, L perhaps Iften in the „ sheep in It seems to me a better lot to wander free and rule the shepherds, than to do what others bid me." " So, so," replied the priest. " Well, Joshua perhaps will bring you to another and a better mind. To rule ! a noble goal indeed for a youtli ! The piiy is that we who have reached it are but servants, the more iieavily-bur- dcned in proportion to the greater number of thoso w!io obey us. You understand me, captain ; and you. boy, will understand me later, when you have become such a palm tree as your sapling growth ])romises. But time presses. Who sent you hither to Joshua? " The youth again looked down and hesitated ; but when the prophet had broken in on liis st.jnce by saying, " And that candor which you have been taught ? " he replied firmly and decidedly : " I came to do i)leasure to a woman whom you know not. Let that suffice." '• A woman ! " echoed the prophet, and he cast an in- quiring glance at Ilornccht. " When a valiant warrior and a fair woman seek each other the Hathors are wont to intervene and use the binding * cords, but it ill be- seems a minister of the divinity to play spectator to such doings, so I inquire no further. Take this boy under your protection, captain, and help him to carry his errand to Rosea. The only question is whether he is yet returned." "No," replied the soldier, " but this very day he and 10,000 men are exjjected at the armory." " Then may the Hathors, who favor lovc-mes.sages, bring these two to a meeting no later than to-morrow ! " cried the priest. But the youth broke in indignantly : '' I bear no love-message from one to the other ! " And the priest, who was well pleased by his boldness, re- plied gayly : " I had forgotten that I am speaking to a shep- herd-prince." 'i'hen he added more gravely, " When you shall have found Joshua give him greeting from me, and say to him tiiat Baie, the second prophet of Anion, whom lie saved from the hand of the Libyans, believes that he is paying some part of his debt by extending a protecting hand over you, liis ne])hcw. You, bold youth, know not, perhaps, that you were in other and greater danger than that from your wound. The furious Egyptians would no more have spared your life than would the choking dust • Tlie Hathors were the Egyptian love goddesses. They are often depicted with cords in their hands. I 20 yosiiuA. and falling houses. Bear that in mind, and tell Joshua, moreover, from me, Baie, that I am sure that as soon as he sees with his own eyes the misery wrought on ihc house of Pharoah, to which he has sworn alloiiiance, and with it on this city and on the whole land, by the magic arts of one of your race, he will cut himself >.){{ in horror from those cowards. For they have basely fled, after slaying the best and dearest of those among whom they have dwelt in peace, whose protection ihcy have enjoyed, nnd who for long years have given them work and fed them abundantly. If 1 know him at all, as an honest man he will turn his back on those who have sinned thus. And you may tell him likewise, that the Hebrew officers and fighting men under the captainship of Aarsu, the Syrian, have already done so of their own free will. This day — and Joshua will have heard the tidings from others — thoy offered sacrifice, not only to their own gods, Baal and Sei, whom you, too, many of you, were wont to serve before the vile magician, Mesu, led you astray, but also to Father Anion and the sacred nine of our eternal gods. And if he will do likewise, he and I. hand in h;)nd, will rise to great power — of that he may be assured — and he is worthy of il. The rest of the debt of gratitude I still owe him I will find other means of paying, which as yet must remain undiscovered. But you may promise your uncle from me that I will take care of Nun, his worthy father, when the vengeance oi the gods and of Pharaoh overtakes the other men of your nation. Already — tell him this likewise — is the sword set, and judgment without mercy shall be done on them. Tell him to ask himself what can fugitive shepherds do against the might of that army of which he himself is one of the captains ? I.i your father yet alive, my son ? " *' No ; he was borne out long since,' replied Ephraim in a broken voice. Was it that the fever of his wound was too much for him? That the disgrace of belonging to a race who could do such shameful deeds overpowered his young soul? Or was the youth true to his people, and was it wrath and indignation that made his cheek turn pale, then red, and stirred up such tunnoil in his soul that he could hardly speak ? No matter. But it was clear that he was no fift bearer of this message to his uncle, and the priest I JOSHUA, 31 ma, n as ihe and lagic jrror after they )ycd, dfed . man thus. •s and yrian, —and -tbry d Sci, before Father And if rise to worthy him I remain e from when es the ikewise hall be fugitive [hich he ;t alive, Iraim in luch for ice who young was it lie, then le could It he was le priest signed to the captain to come with him under the shade of a broad sycamore tree. The Hebrew must at any rate be retained with the army ; he laid his hand on iiis friend's shoulder, saying : " You know tliat it was my wife who won you over to our great scheme. She serves it better and with greater zeal than many a man, and while 1 admire your (laughter's beauty, she is full of praises of her win- ning charm." "And Kasana is to join the conspiracy?" exclaimed the soldier in displeasure. " Not as an active partner, like my wife — of course not." *'She would hardly serve that end," replied the other in a calmer tone. " for she is like a child." "And yet she may "vin over to our cause n in;',.! \.lHjse goodwi'l ai)pears lo be incsiimable." "You mean losluia? " asked Hornecht, and again his brow grew black, while the prophet went on. "And if I do? Is he not a noble Hebrew, and can you think it unworthy of the daughter of a warrior of valor to give her hand to the man who, if our undertaking prospers, will act as chief captain over all the troops of the land ? " " No, my lord," cried the archer. " But one of the causes of my wrath against Pharaoh, and of my taking part with Siptah, is that his mother was not of our nation, while Egyptian blood flows in Siptah's veins. Now, the mother determines a man's race, and Joshua's mother was a Hebrew woman. I call him my friend ; 1 know how to value his merits ; Kasana is well inclined to him " "And yet you desire a greater son-in-law?" interrupted Baie. " How can our ditticult enterprise prosper if those who risk their lives in it think the very first sacrifice too great? And your daughter, you say, is well inclined to Joshua." " She was ; yes. truly." the soldier put in. " Yes, her heart longed after him. But I brought her to obedience ; she became the wife of another ; and now that she is a widow shall I be tlie one to offer her to him whom T co!n- pelled her to give up — the gods alone know how hardly ? When was the like ever heard of in Egypt ? " " Whenever the men and women by the Nile have so far mastered themselves as to submit to necessity in opposition to their own wishes, for the sake of a great 23 JOSHUA. cause," replied tlu' prit-st. '' Think of these things. VW shall meet agaiji this evening — you know where. Mean- while will you give hospitality to Joshua's nephew and bespeak your fair daughter's care, for he seems to need it sorely." In fact, hunger, thirst, loss of blood and a long struggle against suffocation had broken Kphraim's youthful strength. On the skirts of the necropolis, where litters stood awaiting the convenience of visitors, he was ])la(;ed in one by himself and carried to his destination. CHAPTER IV. There was mourning in the house of Hornecht, as in every house in the oily. The men had shaved their hods and the women had strewn dust on their foreheads. The captain's wife was long since dead, but his daughter and her women met him with waving veils and loud wailing, for their lord's brolher-ir-law was l)cr( ft both (if his fu'st- born son and of his grandson ; and in how many houses of their circle of friends had the plague claimed its victims. However, tlie fainting youtli demanded all tlie women's care ; he was washed, and the deej) wound in his head was freshly bound \\\) ; strong wine and Ibod were set before him, and then, refreslied and strengthened, he followed at the bidding of his host's daughter. The dust-stained and exhausted lad now stood revealed as a handsome yo'.mg fellow. His scented hair flowed in long, waving locks fi(jm beneath tlie clean, while bandage, and his elastic, sunbiiriU limbs v.\ re <•< \ ered by Egyj,lian garments embroidered with gold oit cf the wardrobe of the captain's deceased son-in-law. He seemed pleased to see himself in the handsome raiment, from wliich there jiroceeded a fragrance of spikenard new to his experience, for his black eyes brightly lighted up his well-cut features. It was long since the captain's daughter had seen a b?tter-favored youth, and she herself was full of great and lovely charm. After a brief married life with a man she had never loved, Kasana, within a year, had come back a wi^ow to her father's house, where there was now no mistress j and the great wealth of which she had become yosiir.-i. *3 VVe- aiid •d it a 3 in ho lis The IX and ailing, Is firsi- iises of tims. omen's s head ere set ed, he evealed nved in andage, gyiAian irobe of jased to ch there lerience. features, seen a Teat and man she ne back now no I become possessed by her luisband's deatii cnnljlcd her to l)ring mto the warrior's modc-st home the splendor and luxury whicli to hei iuu.l become a necessity. Her laUu'r, wlio in many a content had proved himself a man of violent temper, now yielded to her will in all things. In past time ho had rulhlessly asserted hi.s own, and had forced her at the a:ie of fifieen into a marriage with a man much older than herself. This he had done because lie had observed ihal Kasana's yo^.tig heart was set on Joshua, the man of war, and he ose of her liaiid, and ilii:-. gentle yield- ing young creature would amazt^ her faihor by the abrupt decisiveness with which she made her independence felt, not alone to him and her suitors, bui likewise lo I'rince Siptnh. whose cause her father had made his own. This day Kasana expressed her satisfaction at Joshua's home-coming so frankly aiul unreservedly, that ih • hot- tempered man hastened out of tiie house lest he should be led into some ill-consid(,'red act or speech. He lel't the care of their young guest to his daughter ami licr faithful nurse : and how delightful to the lad's sensitive soul was the effeci of the warrior's home, Midi its loiiy, airy rooms, open colonnades and bright, richly-colored paintings ; its artistic vessels and ornaments, soft couches and all-j)er- yading fragrance. All this was new and htrajige to the son of a i)astoral patriarch, accrstonvd to live v/ithin the bare, grey walls of a spacious, but perfectly grace- less farm dwelling ; or^ for months at a time in canvas a^. JOSHUA. tents, amid flocks and shepherds, and more often in the open air than under a roof or shelter. He felt as though by enchantment he had been transported to soil< higher and more desirable world, and as though he becairr it well in his splendid garb, with his oiled and pci- fumcd curls and freshly-bathed limbs. Life, indeed, was everywhere fair, even out in the fields among ihe herds, or in the cool of the evening round the fire in fronl of the tent, where the shepherds sang songs, ai d the hunlcrs told tales of adventure, while the stars siione brightly overhead. But hard and haled labor had first to bo done. Here it was a joy merely to gaze and breathe; and when presently the curtain was lifted and the joung widow greeted him kindly and n;a le him sit down by her, now questioning him and now listening sympathetically to his replies, he almost fancied that he had lost iiis senses, as he had done under the ruins in the cellar, and that the sweetest of dreams was cheating him. riu: feeling wjiich now seemed to choke him, and again and aj'.ain hintlered his utterance, was surely the ex'^ess of bii..s poured down upon him by great Astarte, the partner of liaal, of wlioiu he had heard many tales from the Phoe- niciriu traders who supj^lied the shepherd settlers with various good things, and of whom he was forbidden by sle.ii Miriam ever to speak at home. His i)eople had implanted in his young soul a hatred of the Egyptians as the opi)ressors of his race ; but could they be so evil, eouid he abhor a nation among whom there were snch b ings to be found as the fair and gentle lady who looked so softly and yet so warmly into his eyes ; whose gr.ze set liis blood in such swift motion that he could hardly boar it, as he ])resse