read?

Such gnawing and grinding disturb the sleep of one who longs for
slumber; but Joshua desired to keep awake to continue to open the eyes
of the blinded youth, yet he waited in vain for any sign of life from
his nephew.

At last he was about to lay his hand on the lad's shoulder, but paused
as by the moonlight he saw Ephraim raise one arm though, before he lay
down, both hands were tied more firmly than before.

Joshua now knew that it was the youth's sharp teeth gnawing the
rope which had caused the noise that had just surprised him, and he
immediately stood up and looked first upward and then around him.

Holding his breath, the older man watched every movement, and his heart
began to throb anxiously. Ephraim meant to fly, and the first step
toward escape had already succeeded! Would that the others might prosper
too! But he feared that the liberated youth might enter the wrong path.
He was the only son of his beloved sister, a fatherless and motherless
lad, so he had never enjoyed the uninterrupted succession of precepts
and lessons which only a mother can give and a defiant young spirit will
accept from her alone. The hands of strangers had bound the sapling to
a stake and it had shot straight upward, but a mother's love would have
ennobled it with carefully chosen grafts. He had grown up beside another
hearth than his parents', yet the latter is the only true home for
youth. What marvel if he felt himself a stranger among his people.

Amid such thoughts a great sense of compassion stole over Joshua and,
with it, the consciousness that he was deeply accountable for this youth
who, for his sake, while on the way to bring him a message, had fallen
into such sore misfortune. But much as he longed to warn him once
more against treason and perjury, he refrained, fearing to imperil his
success. Any noise might attract the attention of the guards, and he
took as keen an interest in the attempt at liberation, as if Ephraim had
made it at his suggestion.

So instead of annoying the youth with fruitless warnings, he kept
watch for him; life had taught him that good advice is more frequently
unheeded than followed, and only personal experiences possess resistless
power of instruction.

The chief's practiced eye soon showed him the way by which Ephraim, if
fortune favored him, could escape.

He called softly, and directly after his nephew whispered:

"I'll loose your ropes, if you will hold up your hands to me. M