"Then what is to become of this poor girl ?" Aloud once more: "That lad Manasseh must have made a little mistake--just like these young men! He probably took the longer way, instead of following my advice.

But just look out toward the entrance, and see how the sun shines in through the leaves and lights up the whole grotto like a fairy palace." Blanka, however, was feeling so heavy of heart and, in a vague way, so fearful of impending misfortune, that she was in no mood to enjoy the splendours around her.

She crossed her hands on her bosom and, in the half-light of this mysterious subterranean cathedral, yielded to the awe-inspiring influence of the place and gave utterance, in a subdued chant, to these words of the psalmist: "Hear me, O God, nor hide thy face, But answer, lest I die." Aaron could control his feelings no longer.

Throwing himself down on his face, he began to sob as only a strong man can when he is at last moved to tears, not by any selfish grief, but by the very burden of his love and anxiety for others.
But at that moment the psalm was broken off, and Aaron heard himself called three times by name.

He rose to his knees and looked toward the opening of the grotto, where a glad and unexpected sight met his eyes.
Glorified by the flood of light that poured in from without, appeared the forms of three men, the middle one being the tallest and stateliest.
They were Manasseh and his two brothers, David and Simon.
Aaron sprang up and threw himself on them with an inarticulate cry like that of a lioness recovering her lost cubs.