he knew of her, Miriam had never seen. He had been absent from
the village by the Jordan at the time of the flight of the sect, having
come to Tyre by leave of the Court to bid farewell to his mother, who
was on her deathbed. Hearing that the brethren had fled, and his mother
being still alive, he had remained in Tyre instead of seeking to rejoin
them at Jerusalem, thus escaping the terrors of the siege. That was
all his story. Now, having buried his mother, he desired to rejoin the
brotherhood, if any of them were left alive.

After Gallus had left the tent, since it was not lawful that she should
speak of their secrets in the presence of any man who was not of the
order, Miriam, having first satisfied herself that he was in truth
a brother, told this Samuel all she knew of the hiding-place of the
Essenes beyond the ancient quarry, and asked him if he was willing to
try to seek it out. He said yes, for he desired to find them; also he
was bound to give her what help he could, since should the brethren
discover that he had refused it, he would be expelled from their order.
Then, having pledged him to be faithful to her trust, not by oath, which
the Essenes held unlawful, but in accordance with their secret custom
which was known to her, she took from her hand the ring that Marcus had
sent her, bidding him find out the Essenes, and, if their Roman prisoner
was yet alive, and among them, to deliver it to him with a message
telling him of her fate and whither she had gone. If he was dead, or
not to be found anywhere, then he was to deliver the ring to the Libyan
woman named Nehushta, with the same message. If he could not find
her either, then to her uncle Ithiel, or, failing him, to whoever was
president of the Essenes, with the same message, praying any or all of
them to succour her in her troubles, should that be possible. At the
least they were to let her have tidings at the house of Gallus, the
captain, in Rome, where he proposed to place her in charge of his wife
until the time came for her to be handed over to Titus and to walk in
the Triumph. Moreover, in case the brother should forget, she wrote
a letter that he might deliver to any of those for whom she gave the
message. In this letter Miriam set out briefly all that had befallen her
since that night of parting in the Old Tower, and by the help of Gallus,
whom she now recalled to the tent, the particulars of her rescue and of
the judgment of Caesar upon her person