with the murrain of beasts and the
boils and terrified at the thunder and fire and rain of hail and all
the horrors of Egypt, and like the woman of to-day, when things get
too awfully unpleasant, she made it uncomfortable for Moses, and "he
sent her back" to her father's house and she took her two sons with
her.

Afterward when Moses became famous and illustrious she returned to him
without asking his consent, or even notifying him of her intention, as
far as we can learn from the official records.

She took her father, the priest Jethro, along to look after her and
take care of her baggage I suppose, and we imagine he didn't relish
the task much, for we hear him saying, rather apologetically we think,
"I, thy father-in-law Jethro, am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her
two sons with her."

I fancy Moses knew the condition of a man who was in the clutches of a
woman, and that woman his wife, so he forgave the old man, for he had
experience himself, "and went out to meet his father-in-law, and did
obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their
welfare." But there isn't any record that he kissed his wife, or even
shook hands with her, and we infer that their domestic heaven was not
all blue and cloudless.

Miriam, although a prophetess and a sister of Aaron, was't very
angelic, at least the glimpses we catch of her don't impress us with
the fact that she was. When the seashore was strewn with the dead,
white faces of the drowned Egyptians, and the waves were flecked with
their pallor and dashed their helpless arms about, Miriam "took a
timbrel in her hand: and all the woman went out after her with
timbrels and with dances." And Miriam answered them, "Sing ye to the
Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath
he thrown into the sea."

[Illustration: (Alas, my lord, I beseech thee.)]

Now this may have been natural and all right for the times, only you
know it don't look well when compared with the action of our women of
to-day, who drop tears and roses on the graves of their enemies.

Further on we find Miriam, womanlike, talking about Moses because he
had married an Ethiopian woman, and saying seditiously to Aaron, "Hath
the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?"

And the Lord heard it and his anger "was kindled against them," and my
lady "became leprous, white as snow."

As she was the one punished for daring to talk rebellion against
Moses