istening bread of heaven lying on
the face of the desert. The maiden's spirit was soothed and cheered,
as well as her frame refreshed; and, reclining on one of the luxurious
divans, she was able with tolerable calmness to review the exciting
events of the day.

"How thankful I am that, with all my cowardice and weakness, I was
preserved by my Lord from doing anything very wicked!" thought Zarah.
"I was not suffered either to betray my friends or to deny my God; and
yet my faith almost failed me. I could scarcely endure the terror: how
could I endure the pain? But will not He who supported me under the
one sustain me also through the other, if I must die for my faith
to-morrow before that terrible king? I will not weary myself by
thinking; I will just trust all to my God. It is so sweet to rest in
His love, like a babe on her mother's bosom."

Zarah lay perfectly still for some time, letting her overstrained
nerves regain their usual tone. It was such a comfort to be quite
alone, with no sound to disturb save the cooing of doves from a garden
which separated the palace of Epiphanes from Mount Zion.

The young captive then arose, went to the lattice, and looked forth.
Pleasant to the sight was the rich foliage of the juniper and acacia,
the terebinth and the palm, the orange, almond, and citron, watered
from marble-bordered tanks by artificial irrigation, which counteracted
the effects of a season sultry and dry. Here and there fountains threw
up their sparkling waters, transformed to diamonds in the sun. But the
eyes of the maid of Judah wandered beyond this paradise of beauty,
created for the pleasure of a tyrant, and rested on the holy Mount and
the sacred Temple on its summit. If the very stones, nay, the dust, of
Jerusalem have an interest to Gentile strangers, with what feelings
must a child of Abraham regard the spot on which the Temple was reared!
As Zarah gazed on the holy pile before her, words of Scripture came
into the mind of Hadassah's grand-daughter, which filled her with a joy
which was indeed nourished by the dew of heavenly hope, but had its
root in earthly affection. Slowly and emphatically Zarah repeated to
herself: "_Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the
Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his
servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and
taketh hold of My covenant; even them will I bring to My holy mountain,
and make them