Joshua completed his search for the foe and saw on the yellow sands of the valley dark figures moving to and fro.
They were the remnants of the defeated Amalekite bands seeking new abodes.
He watched them a short time and, after convincing himself that they were quitting the oasis, he thoughtfully returned to the valley.
"The law!" he repeated again and again.
Ay, that was what the wandering tribes lacked.

It was doubtless reserved for its severity to transform the hordes which had escaped bondage into a people worthy of the God who preferred them above the other nations of the earth.
Here the chief's reflections were interrupted; for human voices, the lowing and bleating of herds, the barking of dogs, and the heavy blows of hammers rose to his ears from the oasis.
They were pitching the tents, a work of peace, for which no one needed him.
Lying down in the shadow of a thick tamarisk bush, above which a tall palm towered proudly, he stretched his limbs comfortably to rest in the assurance that the people were now provided for, in war by his good sword, in peace by the Law.

This was much, it renewed his hopes; yet, no, no--it was not all, could not be the final goal.

The longer he reflected, the more profoundly he felt that this was not enough to satisfy him concerning those below, whom he cherished in his heart as if they were brothers and sisters.

His broad brow again clouded, and roused from his repose by fresh doubts, he gently shook his head.
No, again no! The Law could not afford to those who were so dear to him everything that he desired for them.