e longed to go out of
doors.

Closely veiled, she passed alone through the camp and what she beheld
there was certainly ill-suited to dispel the mood that oppressed her.
There was plenty of noise, and though sometimes devout hymns, full of
joy and hope, echoed on the air, she heard far more frequently savage
quarrelling and rebellious words. When her ear caught threats or
reproaches levelled against her noble brother, she quickened her pace,
but she could not escape her anxiety concerning what would happen at
the departure after sunrise on the morrow, should the malcontents obtain
supremacy.

She knew that the people would be forced to press forward; but her dread
of Pharaoh's military power had never permitted her to be at peace--to
her it was as it were embodied in Hosea's heroic figure. If the Lord
Himself did not fight in the ranks of the wretched bondmen and shepherds
who were quarrelling and disputing around her, how were they to
withstand the well-trained and equipped hosts of the Egyptians, with
their horses and chariots?

She had heard that guards had been posted in all parts of the camp, with
orders to sound the horn or strike the cymbal at the approach of the
foe, until the men had flocked to the spot whence the warning first
echoed.

She had long listened for such an alarm, yet how much more intently for
the hoof-beats of a single steed, the firm step and deep voice of the
warrior for whom she yearned. On his account she constantly returned to
the northern part of the camp which adjoined the road coming from Tanis
and where now, at Moses' bidding, the tents of most of the men
capable of bearing arms were pitched. Here she had hoped to find true
confidence; but as she listened to the talk of the armed soldiers
who surrounded the camp-fires in dense circles, she heard that Uri's
proposal had reached them also. Most of them were husbands and fathers,
had left behind a house, a bit of land, a business, or an office, and
though many spoke of the command of the Most High and the beautiful new
home God had promised, not a few were disposed to return. How gladly she
would have gone among these blinded mortals and exhorted them to obey
with fresh faith and confidence the command of the Lord and of her
brother. But here, too, she was forced to keep silence. She was
permitted to listen only, and she was most strongly attracted to
the very places where she might expect to hear rebellious words and
proposals.

Th