f Jacob and Esau; how Isaac, their father, seeing the
day of his death at hand, sent Esau for venison, that he might eat
and bless him before he died; how Jacob under the person of Esau
obtained the blessing, and how Esau vowed to slay his brother Jacob.

"And Isaac, his father, said unto him: Who art thou? And he said, I
am thy son, thy first born Esau.

"And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? Where is he that
hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before
thou camest, and have blessed him, yea, and he shall be blessed?

"And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great
and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me
also, O my father.

* * *

"And Isaac, his father, answered and said unto him, Behold, thy
dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and the dew of heaven
from above;

"And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and
it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou
shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

"And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father
blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my
father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob."

As Parson Gell at the reading-desk mumbled these words through his
toothless gums, it seemed to Jason as though he were awakening from a
long sleep--a sleep of four years, a sleep full of dreams, both sweet
and sad--and that everything was coming back upon him in a dizzy
whirl. He remembered his mother, her cruel life, her death, and his
own vow, and so vivid did these recollections grow in a moment that
he trembled with excitement.

A woman in a black crape bonnet, who sat next to him in the pew, saw
his emotions, and put a Bible into his hands. He accepted it with a
slight movement of the head, but when he tried to find the place he
turned dizzy and his hands shook. Seeing this the good woman, with a
look of pity and a thought of her runaway son who was far off, took
the Bible back, and after opening it at the chapter in Genesis,
returned it in silence. Even then he did not read, but sat with
wandering eyes, while nervous twitches crossed his face.

He was thinking that he had forgotten his great vow of vengeance,
lulled to sleep by his vain dream of love; he was telling himself
that his vow must yet be fulfilled or his mother who had urged him to
it, would foll