“What do you think, Tirzah?—I am going away.”
She dropped her hands with amazement.
“Going away! When? Where? For what?”
He laughed.
“Three questions, all in a breath! What a body you are!” Next instant he became serious. “You know the law requires me to follow some occupation. Our good father set me an example. Even you would despise me if I spent in idleness the results of his industry and knowledge. I am going to Rome.”
“Oh, I will go with you.”
“You must stay with mother. If both of us leave her she will die.”
The brightness faded from her face.
“Ah, yes, yes! But—must you go? Here in Jerusalem you can learn all that is needed to be a merchant—if that is what you are thinking of.”
“But that is not what I am thinking of. The law does not require the son to be what the father was.”