Bondage had sorely oppressed them, but the highest in the land had received him as an equal and held him worthy of the loftiest honor.

To repay them with treachery and desertion was foreign to his nature and, drawing a long breath, he sprang to his feet with the conviction that he had chosen aright.

A fair woman and the weak yearning of a loving heart should not make him a recreant to grave duties and the loftiest purposes of his life.
"I will stay!" cried a loud voice in his breast.

"Father is wise and kind, and when he learns the reasons for my choice he will approve them and bless, instead of cursing me.

I will write to him, and the boy Miriam sent me shall be the messenger." A call from the tent startled him and when, springing up, he glanced at the stars, he found that he had forgotten his duty to the suffering lad and hurried to his couch.
Ephraim was sitting up in his bed, watching for him, and exclaimed: "I have been waiting a long, long time to see you.