"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