The Little Maid of Israel Read online

  CHAPTER II.

  "Sister, how many days have passed since thou didst return fromSamaria?" asked Isaac, as Leah, her morning's work completed, seatedherself beside his couch.

  "Five, brother," replied the little maid. "So but five more remain andthen I shall again journey to Samaria."

  The lad sighed deeply.

  "Every day that dawns is long and dreary to me," he said; "but theselast five days have seemed indeed the longest and dreariest of all mylife. Leah, sometimes during the long, pain-racked hours of the night,my heart hath risen in bitterness against my father that he so longdelayeth thy journey to Samaria."

  "Nay, dear brother, speak not thus," said the little maid, gently. "Ourfather knoweth best."

  "But, Leah," cried the lad, his eyes lighting eagerly, a faint flushstaining the pallor of his cheek, "if our father had permitted thee tojourney at once to Samaria, perhaps, when the fruits were ripe it wouldhave been I who didst carry them to Samaria."

  "Be patient a little longer, dear brother," said Leah. "And promise methat thou wilt not again cherish bitter thoughts against our father,"she added, earnestly.

  "I promise thee, sister," answered the lad. "Poor father, 'tis a heavyburden upon him that his eldest-born and only son should be a cripple;that while he toileth I lie here helpless, unable to give him a helpinghand, to lighten his labor. But, oh, Leah, sister, how happy I shallbe when the prophet, Elisha, hath made me whole. How proudly shall Ilabor by my father's side; and thou shalt journey no more to Samaria;thou shalt stay at our mother's side while I carry the fruits to thecity and purchase necessities for our household. Sister! Sister! whatdid the woman of Shunem when Elisha raised her child from the dead?"

  "She fell in gratitude at the feet of Elisha," answered the little maid.

  "I shall also fall in gratitude at the feet of Elisha when he hath mademe whole," said Isaac.

  "Thou must not forget to offer up prayers of gratitude to the greatJehovah from whom cometh the power of Elisha," said Leah, gently.

  Ezra was at work in the fields when he saw his wife, Sarah, approaching.

  "What seeketh thou, Sarah?" he asked, as she drew near.

  "I would speak with thee, Ezra," replied Sarah.

  "Of what wouldst thou speak, Sarah, that thou seeketh me in the fieldsat my labor?" asked Ezra. "Canst thou not wait until the day's toil beended?"

  "Nay, or I would not seek thee at thy labor," answered Sarah. "I wouldnot speak with thee of this before our children lest they think thatthy wife hold but lightly her husband's judgment. Ezra, the heartsof our children are sad that thou delayeth the maiden's journey toSamaria."

  "Our children be young and knoweth not patience," said Ezra.

  "Nay, Ezra, our son and eldest-born hath never known youth," sadlyanswered Sarah. "Youth is sturdy of body, light of limb, joyous ofheart. Isaac knoweth naught of these things. Impatient, sayeth thou,Ezra? Ay, and thou also would be impatient, even with the years ofwisdom upon thy shoulders, if thou wert crippled from birth, and whenthe light of hope shone, for the first time, across thy dark pathway,thou wert bidden to wait."

  "'Tis but a few days until the fruits shall have ripened," mutteredEzra.

  "Ay, thou art right," said Sarah, "'tis but a few days, but a littlewhile ago I did hear our son say that the five days of waiting had beenthe longest and dreariest of a life in which every day is long anddreary."

  "Thou art but a woman, Sarah, and the softness of thy heart doth stealaway thy wisdom," said Ezra.

  "'Tis not so much the woman's heart as the mother's that doth pleadwith thee, Ezra," replied Sarah, the tears filling her eyes.

  "Go back to thy children and thy work, woman," commanded Ezra. "Andwhen the day's toil be ended we will speak of this again."

  Sarah turned obediently away, but her heart was light, for her husbandhad not said her nay.

  * * * * *

  "Come hither, maiden," said Ezra.

  The evening meal was over and the night shadows were falling. Leaharose from beside her father's couch and approached Ezra.

  "Little maid," said Ezra, "maketh thyself ready, for to-morrow, at thedawning of the day, our neighbor will bring his ass and thou shalt setforth for Samaria."

  The maiden's lips parted eagerly with surprise and joy. The lad, liftedhimself upon his elbow, and gazed upon his father with radiant eyes.

  "But, father, the fruits are not yet ripe," faltered Leah.

  "That is true," replied Ezra. "But we shall not wait until the fruitshave ripened. Art thou not eager, maiden, to seek the prophet, Elisha,in Samaria that thou mayest beg of him to heal thy brother?"

  "Yes, yes, dear father," cried the little maid, with shining eyes andflushing cheeks.

  "Then make ready to start upon thy journey at the dawn of day," saidEzra.

  "I shall be ready, dear father," replied Leah.

  She turned and went back to her brother's couch. She knelt down besidehim and slipped her hand in his. He lifted the little hand to his lipsand kissed it reverently and tenderly.

  When in the gray dawn of the early morning Leah entered Isaac's chambershe found him sleeping. She pressed a kiss upon his brow and stolesoftly out again.

  "Thou didst find thy brother sleeping," said Sarah. "He passed a nightof pain and restlessness and now sleepeth from exhaustion. But it willfret him not to have bidden thee farewell."

  "'Tis well that he is resting after his night of pain," said Leah."Tell him, dear mother, that I kissed him as he slept."

  "Come, maiden," called Ezra from without.

  "Fare-thee-well, dear mother," murmured the little maid.

  Sarah kissed tenderly the sweet, upturned face.

  "Fare-thee-well, my child," she said, tremulously. "God be with thee."

  Then the little maid passed through the doorway and out into thegrayness of the breaking day. Ezra lifted her upon the ass's back andshe turned her face towards Samaria.

  When Isaac awoke he called his mother to him and said:

  "Mother, has my sister started for Samaria?"

  "Yes, my son," replied Sarah.

  His lips quivered.

  "Why didst thou not awaken me, mother, that I might bid my sisterfarewell?" he said.

  "Thou wert resting, my son, after thy night of pain," answered Sarah."Thy sister would not have thee awakened, but bid me say to thee thatshe kissed thee as thou slept. See," pointing to a golden gleam ofsunlight which forced itself through the window and lay athwart thebed, "'tis the first ray of the rising sun; ere it sets thy sister willbe again with thee."

  And the lad lay gazing, with a smile upon his lips, at the shaft ofgolden light.

  Ezra labored all day in the fields. The sun was sinking low in theheavens when he saw approaching the neighbor whose ass he had borrowed.

  "Good-evening, neighbor," said Ezra. "Thou art come too soon for thyass; the maiden hath not yet returned."

  "I come not for the ass, neighbor," replied the man, whose name wasSimeon. "I bring thee ill tidings."

  "What meaneth thou, neighbor?" asked Ezra.

  "Ill hath befallen thy little maid," was the reply.

  "Ill hath befallen my little maid," repeated Ezra, bewilderedly."Speak, man, what ill?"

  "She has been taken captive by the Syrians," answered Simeon.

  "How knoweth thou this?" asked Ezra.

  "I will tell thee," said his neighbor. "But a little while ago astranger did come to my house mounted upon my own ass. 'Be this beastthine?' he did ask me. Much astonished I replied that the ass weremine. 'And the maiden who rode it, was she thy daughter?' asked thestranger. I replied that she was not my daughter, but the little maidof my neighbor, Ezra. Then the stranger said to me, 'Go to thy neighborEzra and tell him that his little maid hath been taken captive by theSyrians; that she will be carried to Damascus and sold into slavery.'

  "It doth appear," continued Simeon, as Ezra stood pale and speechless,"that this man was traveling on foot from Samaria whe
n he sawapproaching from the direction of Damascus, a company of Syrians. Theywere evidently bent upon plunder, and the man, fearing that they wouldtake him captive, did hide himself. While in hiding he saw the Syriansfall in with a little maid mounted upon an ass. The maiden they didtake captive, leaving the ass which is old and slow. When the Syrianshad departed with the little maid, the stranger came forth and mountedthe ass, turning its face in the direction from whence it came. Andthe ass returned home. It is with sorrow in my heart, neighbor, that Ibring thee ill tidings of thy little maid."

  "Ay, ill tidings indeed!" murmured Ezra, his head sunk in sorrow uponhis breast. "The hand of the Lord hath fallen heavily upon me andmine. How shall I tell the lad, for whose sake she did journey towardsSamaria, of the ill that hath befallen his sister? Alas! alas! ourlittle maid captured by the Syrians! sold into slavery!" and Ezra renthis garments and wept bitterly.