ause He is good, because His mercy endureth for ever."

CHAPTER XVII.

DEPARTED.

When Zarah, trembling and pale, after her interview with Lycidas, fled
to the apartment of Hadassah, she left her water-jar behind her at the
spring. The sight of her grandmother, stretched on her low couch, with
her eyes closed, and her lips parched and dry, recalled to the
remembrance of the poor young maiden the errand for which she had
quitted her side.

"The water! the water!" exclaimed Zarah, striking her brow. "She must
have it. But oh! I dare not--I dare not go back; for nothing on earth
could I go through that terrible struggle again!"

As Zarah stood on the threshold, in a state of painful indecision, to
her great relief she heard the voice of Anna below, and called to her
to bring up the jar of water which she would find at the fountain.
Anna quickly obeyed, and came up the stairs laden, not only with the
cooling fluid, but with ripe fruit and vegetables, which she had
brought from Jerusalem--the white mulberry and the nebeb, with early
figs, cucumbers, and a melon.

Very grateful was the supply to Hadassah; but more refreshing by far
than the draught of cold water were the tidings which Anna had brought
from the city. The Jewess was full of eagerness to a impart her
glorious news.

"I saw them myself--Giorgias and his horsemen--jaded, crestfallen, as
they rode through the streets," cried Anna. "I marvel that they dared
show their faces: they had not so much as crossed weapons with our
conquering heroes!"

"Or they had not lived to tell the tale," exclaimed Hadassah, to whom
the news of the victory at Emmaus seemed to give new energy and life.

"We dared not clap our hands and shout," continued the Jewish servant;
"but there is not a Hebrew child that is not wild with joy. We blessed
the name of Maccabeus, though we could only breathe it in whispers."

"But a day is coming when the welkin shall ring with that name, and the
walls of Jerusalem echo back the sound," cried Hadassah. "Oh, my
child!" she continued, glancing joyfully at Zarah, "there will be a
thankful celebration of the Passover to-morrow. The Lord is giving
deliverance to His chosen, even as He once did from the power of the
haughty Pharaoh."

"It must be a very quiet keeping of the Feast," observed Anna, shaking
her head. "It is said that King Antiochus is raging like a bear robbed
of her whelps at the flight of Nicanor and the disgracef