“Fair maid of the house of Benoni! the Lord hath [pg 147]already rewarded me abundantly, for I have much joy in thy deliverance.”
The pallor and weakness which marked her face gradually passed away, and gave place to a look of interest and curiosity.
“It all seems like a confused dream. I remember that my father lifted me to his shoulders to bear me out of the mad throng, and I knew nothing further until I found myself here.”
“He delivered thee into my hands, by his own words, and now, behold we will seek him.”
Rebecca was now able to walk, and they passed out through the Beautiful Gate in quest of Benoni. There were groups of people everywhere; many drenched by the great storm, some faint or wounded, and a few of the more helpless were being borne away by friends, or keepers of the Temple courts. But the father of Rebecca was nowhere to be found.
“Peradventure he hath been bruised or faint, and taken to the inn of Almon where we abide. I will return thither. But I am a stranger in the Holy City. May I still presume upon thy favor in that thou wouldst show me the way?”
The sky had already cleared, the air was sweet and fresh, and the sun dispensing his parting beams before sinking below the western horizon.
“Behold what a great calm follows the tempest,” said Rebecca. “The Holy City seems purified.”
“A fitting symbol of the storms and waves that rage in the soul of man,” said Serenus. “They chasten, and then in due time bring forth a harvest of peace.”
“Must peace of soul come only as the result of tempest?”