The Pillar of Fire; or, Israel in Bondage

by J. H. Ingraham

"'Silence, young man!' cried another voice, with a tone of power. 'What the mysterious oracle utters is true. Thou art not the son of Pharaoh's daughter! Thou hast no title to the throne of Egypt!'

"'Who am I, then?' I cried, impressed and awed, yet full of anger at the words.

"'Thou art the son of a Hebrew mother and a Hebrew father!' said the voice.

"I advanced sword in hand to meet these invisible persons, believing that the insult was but another of the series of tests, and this one in particular, of my patience and temper; for, O Sesostris," added Remeses to me, bitterly, "what greater insult could have been put upon a prince of Egypt than this! When I came forward, I saw the wall, as it were, open before me; and I beheld the Nile in bright sunshine; the Island of Rhoda, with its palaces and gardens; the distant towers and obelisks of On, and all the scenery adjacent, but seemingly so near, that I could lay my hand upon it all.

"At this surprising spectacle manifesting itself in the dark chambers of the pyramids, I stood amazed and arrested! I felt that it was supernatural, or produced by magic. As I gazed, perplexed, a third voice said—

"'Behold! Thou seest that the obelisk of Amense is wanting; that the palace of the governor of the Nile has only its foundations laid. The scene is, as Egypt was thirty-five years ago.'

"I looked again, and recognized the truth. I saw it was not the Nile of to-day. I saw, also, that its stream was at a height, different from its present mark upon the nilometer. I was amazed, and awaited with intense expectation. Suddenly I saw a party of spearmen enter a hut, which I perceived was one of a group that was occupied by Hebrew workmen, who were engaged upon the governor's palace. Presently they came forth, two of them, each bearing an infant aloft upon a spear, which was thrust through it, and followed by shrieking women. I could hear and see all as if I were on the spot. I impulsively advanced to slay the men, for all seemed so real, but as I did so, saw at my feet a yawning gulf. Then the men cast the infants into the Nile. I saw three others go into another hut, whence they were driven forth by two desperate Hebrews, who, armed with straw-cutters, slew two of them; but the other fled, and returning with his comrades, they set fire to the hut of rushes, and consumed the inmates within it. I now perceived that it seemed drawing towards the close of day. From a hut, near the water, a man and a young girl, both Hebrews, stole forth, and collecting bulrushes in their arms, returned to the hut. It was now night. I had seen the shades of evening fall over the scenery, and the stars come out. Yet, by a power incomprehensible to me, I could look into the closed and barred hut, and see that, by the light of a rush dipped in bitumen, three of its inmates were making, in secret haste, a large basket. I saw them finish it, and then beheld the man smear it within and without with pitch. From their conversation, I learned that they wished it to resist water, and that they were to commit some precious freight to its frail protection; what, I could not learn; as, when they spoke of it, their colloquy was in low hushed tones, and with looks of fear, especially the two females, who wept very much. One of them, I learned by their words, was the daughter of the man by a former wife. There was another child, a boy apparently of the age of three years, lying in sweet sleep upon a bed of rushes, made up in a corner of the hut. When the little ark was done, I watched with the deepest interest their further proceedings. At length the three went out together, and to my surprise I saw, by the setting moon, that it was near dawn. They bent their steps, swiftly and silently, towards the ancient temple of Isis, which was then, as now, in ruins, and deserted by every Egyptian, for the sacrilege done therein under the reign of Bnon, the Phœnician Pharaoh. I could see them steal along the tangled avenue beneath the palm-trees, and through that of the broken sphinxes, until they came to the pyramidion of the obelisk of Sesostris I. Here a deep, ancient excavation, covered with vines and rushes, showed a flight of broken steps. After carefully looking all about, to see if they were observed, they descended. In a few minutes the three came forth, the elderly woman holding in her arms an infant, upon the beautiful face of which the waning moon shone for a moment, but instantly she hid it with her mantle, and hurried to the river-side. Here the man put the basket upon the shore, and extended his arms for the child. The poor mother, as I now perceived she must be, burst into tears, and clasped it closer and closer to her heart.

"'Nay, Jochebeda,' he said, with gentle firmness, 'thy cries will attract notice. The child cannot live if we delay. Hast thou not had warning from the kind Egyptian woman, who was with thee when it was born, and who aided thee in concealing it, that its hiding-place is known, and that in the morning soldiers will be there? Bear up, heart! If we commit it to the Nile, the God of our fathers, in whom we trust, and who will yet return, to redeem us, according to His promise to our father Abraham, may guide the frail baris to some secure haven, and provide for the child a pitiful heart to save it.'

"I saw the mother give it its last nourishment at her breast, and then, with tears, lay it softly, sweetly sleeping the while, within the basket of bulrushes,—pillowing its head first upon her hand, until the daughter had placed beneath it a pillow of wild-flowers and lotus-leaves, gathered on the spot in the dawning light. The father then covered it carefully over, and kissing it, with grief shaking his strong frame, was about to commit the frail boat to the water, when the poor mother arrested his arm, implored one more look, one more embrace of her child! She was a young and beautiful woman; and, the last kiss given, kneeled by the shore praying to her God, as the father launched the ark into the stream. At this moment, I beheld, straying upon the bank, as if seeking its parents, the other child that I had seen in the house. I now saw the current take to its embrace the little ark, and upon its bosom bear it downward. In a few moments it lodged amid some rushes, which the mother seeing, she ran hastily, entered the water, passionately kissed her child, and would have offered it the breast again, but the more resolute father sent it once more upon its way. In the vision, I now saw that day had dawned, and that the stir of life on land and water was everywhere visible. The father watched the bark, until it could be no longer seen for the curve of the shore, and then drew near to his wife, and gently led her away to the hut,—her lingering looks ceaselessly stretched towards the Nile. The little maid, who was not more than twelve or thirteen years of age, having been previously instructed by her mother, followed along the shore to see what would become of the ark. But I weary you, Sesostris, with details, which to me had a sort of fascination, as they were enacted before me in the scenes I beheld."

"And they are deeply interesting to me, my dear Remeses," I said with emotion.