port. I said that I would
lead you to my house. Yonder it stands, a building firm and spacious
enough; but from to-morrow a tent will be our home, the camp our
dwelling-place, and there will be wild work enough within its bounds. No
one is secure, not even of life, least of all a woman, however strong she
may be, who has made common cause with those against whom thousands
murmur. Your parents are dead, your brothers might protect you, but
should the people lay hands on them, the same stones on which you cross
the stream would drag you down into the depths with them."

"And were I your wife, you also," replied Miriam, her thick eye-brows
contracting in a heavy frown.

"I will take the risk," Hur answered. "The destinies of all are in God's
hands, my faith is as firm as yours, and behind me stands the tribe of
Judah, who follow me and Naashon as the sheep follow the shepherds. Old
Nun and the Ephraimites are with us, and should matters come to the
worst, it would mean perishing according to God's will, or in faithful
union, power, and prosperity, awaiting old age in the Promised Land."

Miriam fearlessly gazed full into his stern eyes, laid her hand on his
arm, and answered: "Those words are worthy of the man whom I have honored
from childhood, and who has reared such sons; but I cannot be your wife."

"You cannot?"

"No, my lord, I cannot."

"A hard sentence, but it must suffice," replied the other, his head
drooping in sorrow; but Miriam exclaimed:

"Nay, Hur, you have a right to ask the cause of my refusal, and because I
honor you, I owe you the truth. Another man of our race reigns in my
heart. He met me for the first time when I was still a child. Like your
son and grandson, he has lived among the Egyptians, but the summons of
our God and of his father reached him as did the message to your sons,
and like Uri and Bezaleel, he showed himself obedient. If he still
desires to wed me, I shall become his wife, if it is the will of the God
whom I serve, and who shows me the favor of suffering me to hear his
voice. But I shall think of you with gratitude forever."

Her large eyes had been glittering through tears as she uttered the
words, and there was a tremor in the grey-haired lover's voice as he
asked in hesitating, embarrassed tones:

"And if the man for whom you are waiting--I do not ask his name--shuts
his ears to the call that has reached him, if he declines to share the
uncertain destiny of his people?"