He promised fervently, and Milcah surveyed his retreating form with great satisfaction. “When I talk to Isaac,” she told herself, “always can I cause him to see the right, and no other woman hath such influence with him—so far.”

It was truly a wonderful house to which Miriam had come. In the first place it had no front door. The outside was just a blank wall of gray plaster with a few small openings, very high up, and instead of a door there was a gate: a large, highly ornamented, metal gate at which a keeper always stood. From this you will understand that none of the rooms looked out upon the street save through those little, latticed openings above everybody’s heads, the real doors and windows being on the other side (the inside), where they opened upon a wide veranda and then upon a square courtyard. You could stand in one doorway, for example, and see rows and rows of rooms facing the four sides of this courtyard but not opening into each other.

You might think you would miss seeing the street, but how could you when the courtyard had its fountain and grass and flowers and trees and even birds? All of the courtyards were pretty and peaceful, even that where the animals were kept, the word “all” being used advisedly, for while most houses had one court or two or three at most, this one had seven. You would get lost trying to find your way about. The rooms were large and high, and so clean and well furnished! On three sides were low and wide benches, where you sat in the daytime and slept at night on the soft cushions and thick mattresses which were never put away. There was nothing else in these apartments, but, of course, there was nothing else to want except the queer little pans containing lighted wood or charcoal which would be brought in when it was cold.

The portion of the building set aside for the use of the master and mistress and their guests had not more but only more elegant furniture. Here the courtyard was paved with marble and inside the apartments the low and wide benches were made of carved cedar inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl and tortoise-shell in intricate designs. Here the cushions were covered with beautifully colored silks, the mattresses with heavier material, and there were curtains of silk and linen and rugs spread down to walk upon. Miriam, surveying this magnificence surreptitiously, decided that while it was quite right and proper in such a place and for such a purpose, it was entirely unnecessary for the rest of the household. With the rooms and verandas all floored and kept so clean, who would need carpets? And there were almost no ants or mice! As for cushions, silk would not wear nearly so long, she was sure, as the sheepskin and goatskin stuffed with wool which were so plentiful in the other apartments. The master, Naaman, must be very rich to maintain such a splendid dwelling. It was awe-inspiring just to contemplate its glories.

Out of doors it was even more interesting. You could go up a stone staircase in the corner of one of the courts and come out on the roof. You need not be afraid. There was no danger. It was only one story high—although that was very high indeed—and the roof was flat. Besides, the wall built around the edge would keep you from falling. You could see so much and so far! You could look down into the narrow and crowded streets of Damascus itself, where brilliantly garbed throngs were constantly coming and going on interminable errands, and beyond that to miles of verdure and swamp land and several swift, silvery streams, offshoots of the Pharpar and the Abana, and beyond that still to the long, low-lying bluish-purple hills and the dun-colored desert. It would be just according to your mood whether or not your gaze returned to Damascus and fastened itself upon the one other building more pretentious than this: the palace where dwelt King Ben-hadad and his court, and then wandered off to the three great gates of Damascus, through which many entered and some never returned.

There were numerous people in the household of Naaman, almost as many, she was sure, as lived in a whole “city” in Israel, so it was not strange they should have different languages. How very dissimilar each individual was from the other! Odd that we should all have eyes and ears and noses and mouths and hair and yet no two look alike! The only person of the entire household whose ways and speech were the least familiar was Milcah, sister to the young soldier who had brought her hither, and Milcah was much, much older than her brother and much, much harder to please.

Isaac’s daily visits and trifling gifts of fruit or flowers, at first received listlessly, gradually acquired greater value in Miriam’s eyes until they were the only bright spots on an otherwise monotonous horizon. The marvels of her new home had no charms for her at first. They dawned upon her gradually as, day after day, with wan face and lagging footsteps, and in response to Isaac’s encouragement, she roamed through the big house, smiling wistfully upon those who were often too busy to smile in response. She was not resentful. The hurt came in the fact that they were absorbed in their own affairs, in which she had no part. And in Hannathon she had been so necessary!

CHAPTER VII
WAYFARERS

The western or southwestern gate of Damascus, that which looked toward Israel and Egypt, had seen much coming and going of late. Varied features and varied dispositions, people large and small, old and young, bond and free, soldiers and civilians, on all manner of business and pleasure they had passed, but never a couple more likely to attract attention than the maiden and the boy who now approached. There was something inexpressibly gentle and refined in her appearance which contrasted oddly with her tattered garments and the leopard’s skin drawn closely around her. The boy seemed more fitted for the wilderness and the hardships they had evidently endured.