"Every day that dawns is long and dreary to me," he said; "but these last five days have seemed indeed the longest and dreariest of all my life. Leah, sometimes during the long, pain-racked hours of the night, my heart hath risen in bitterness against my father that he so long delayeth thy journey to Samaria."
"Nay, dear brother, speak not thus," said the little maid, gently. "Our father knoweth best."
"But, Leah," cried the lad, his eyes lighting eagerly, a faint flush staining the pallor of his cheek, "if our father had permitted thee to journey at once to Samaria, perhaps, when the fruits were ripe it would have been I who didst carry them to Samaria."
"Be patient a little longer, dear brother," said Leah. "And promise me that thou wilt not again cherish bitter thoughts against our father," she added, earnestly.
"I promise thee, sister," answered the lad. "Poor father, 'tis a heavy burden upon him that his eldest-born and only son should be a cripple; that while he toileth I lie here helpless, unable to give him a helping hand, to lighten his labor. But, oh, Leah, sister, how happy I shall be when the prophet, Elisha, hath made me whole. How proudly shall I labor by my father's side; and thou shalt journey no more to Samaria; thou shalt stay at our mother's side while I carry the fruits to the city and purchase necessities for our household. Sister! Sister! what did the woman of Shunem when Elisha raised her child from the dead?"
"She fell in gratitude at the feet of Elisha," answered the little maid.
"I shall also fall in gratitude at the feet of Elisha when he hath made me whole," said Isaac.
"Thou must not forget to offer up prayers of gratitude to the great Jehovah from whom cometh the power of Elisha," said Leah, gently.
Ezra was at work in the fields when he saw his wife, Sarah, approaching.