tunate circumstance of being the
nearest blood relative of a state criminal.

It was easier to walk with this vigorous companion, and Joshua listened
with deep sympathy and tried to comfort him when, in a low voice, he
made him the confidant of his yearning, and lamented the heaviness of
heart with which he had left wife and child in want and suffering. Two
sons had died of the pestilence, and it sorely oppressed his soul that
he had been unable to provide for their burial--now his darlings would
be lost to him in the other world also and forever.

At the second halt the troubled father became franker still. An ardent
thirst for vengeance filled his soul, and he attributed the same feeling
to his stern-eyed companion, whom he saw had plunged into misfortune
from a high station in life. The ex-inspector of the stables had a
sister-in-law, who was one of Pharaoh's concubines, and through her
and his wife, her sister, he had learned that a conspiracy was brewing
against the king in the House of the Separated.--[Harem]. He even knew
whom the women desired to place in Menephtah's place.

As Joshua looked at him, half questioning, half doubting, his companion
whispered. "Siptah, the king's nephew, and his noble mother, are at the
head of the plot. When I am once more free, I will remember you, for
my sister-in-law certainly will not forget me." Then he asked what was
taking his companion to the mines, and Joshua frankly told his name.
But when the Egyptian learned that he was fettered to a Hebrew, he
tore wildly at his chain and cursed his fate. His rage, however,
soon subsided in the presence of the strange composure with which his
companion in misfortune bore the rudest insults, and Joshua was glad to
have the other beset him less frequently with complaints and questions.

He now walked on for hours undisturbed, free to yield to his longing to
collect his thoughts, analyze the new and lofty emotions which had ruled
his soul during the past few days, and accommodate himself to his novel
and terrible position.

This quiet reflection and self-examination relieved him and, during the
following night, he was invigorated by a deep, refreshing sleep.

When he awoke the setting stars were still in the sky and reminded him
of the sycamore in Succoth, and the momentous morning when his lost love
had won him for his God and his people. The glittering firmament arched
over his head, and he had never so distinctly felt the presence