Now he rejoiced that he had kept silence; for whatever he might have seen
and heard, this fair creature certainly was capable of no base deed.

To the old man she had never ceased to be the lovely child whom he had
known, the apple of his eye and the joy of his heart. So he gazed with
tender anxiety at the features convulsed by pain and, when she at last
opened her eyes, smiled at her with paternal affection. Her glance showed
that she instantly recognized both him and Ephraim, but weakness baffled
her attempt to nod to them. Yet her expressive face revealed surprise and
joy, and when Miriam had given her the cordial a third time and bathed
her brow with a powerful essence, her large eyes wandered from face to
face and, noticing the troubled looks of the men, she managed to whisper:

"The wound aches--and death--must I die?" One looked enquiringly at
another, and the men would gladly have concealed the terrible truth; but
she went on:

"Oh, let me know. Ah, I pray you, tell me the truth!"

Miriam, who was kneeling beside her, found courage to answer:

"Yes, you poor young creature, the wound is deep, but whatever my skill
can accomplish shall be done to preserve your life as long as possible."

The words sounded kind and full of compassion, yet the deep voice of the
prophetess seemed to hurt Kasana; for her lips quivered painfully while
Miriam was speaking, and when she ceased, her eyes closed and one large
tear after another ran down her cheeks. Deep, anxious silence reigned
around her until she again raised her lashes and, fixing her eyes wearily
on Miriam, asked softly, as if perplexed by some strange spectacle:

"You are a woman, and yet practise the art of the leech."

"My God has commanded me to care for the suffering ones of our people,"
replied the other.

The dying girl's eyes began to glitter with a restless light, and she
gasped in louder tones, nay with a firmness that surprised the others:

"You are Miriam, the woman who sent for Hosea." And when the other
answered promptly and proudly: "It is as you say!" Kasana continued:

"And you possess striking, imperious beauty, and much influence. He
obeyed your summons, and you--you consented to wed another?"

Again the prophetess answered, this time with gloomy earnestness: "It is
as you say."

The dying girl closed her eyes once more, and a strange proud smile
hovered around her lips. But it soon vanished and a great and painful
restlessness seized