THE LITTLE MAID OF ISRAEL.
BY EMMA HOWARD WIGHT.
Chapter I.
In the Land of Israel, not a great distance from the city of Samaria, dwelt Ezra with his wife, Sarah, and their two children, Isaac and Leah. The sun was sinking behind the hills as Ezra and Sarah sat before the door of their humble dwelling resting after the labors of the day. On a couch in the doorway reclined a youth with a pale, sickly face and emaciated limbs. Isaac, the eldest-born of Ezra and Sarah, had been a cripple from birth. His eyes, dull and languid from constant pain, tired and sad, were fixed eagerly upon the wide white road stretching away in the distance until it was lost among the hills.
At length, with an impatient sigh, he turned his pale, wan face towards his mother and said:
"See, mother, the sun has nearly set; why tarryeth Leah so long? 'Twas but sunrise when she did set out for Samaria, surely she should have returned ere this."
"Thou dost forget, my son, that thy sister had much to do in Samaria," replied Sarah, soothingly. "First to dispose of the fruits and then to purchase necessities for our household; also the ass of our neighbor being old and stiff, can travel but slowly."
"All that thou urgeth be true, mother," exclaimed the lad, petulantly. "But my sister has ever the same tasks, still she always returned from Samaria before the setting of the sun. I fear that some ill hath befallen her," and his lip quivered with pain while his large, soft eyes dilated with fear.