Her lip quivered and very unexpectedly she found herself weeping in Rachel’s arms. The cords of captivity, however entwined with love, have ever been found to cut the very heart-strings! The storm without almost drowned conversation within and very early, sleeping mats were unrolled in both sections of the tent, the lights were extinguished and silence reigned.
All day long the same rain had dripped and drizzled upon the streets of Damascus, driving its inhabitants to shelter. All day long the several courtyards of Naaman’s house had been deserted and the two young men from Israel, guests for several days under its hospitable roof, waited in isolation and impatience for the interview they had been promised with Miriam and her mistress. Instead, a servant had come with a courteous message to the effect that the maiden was on a short journey and Adah was indisposed, but it was hoped it would please them to abide there for a time, and so they had remained.
Some time during the night the wind changed and drove a fine spray through the lattice, sprinkling the sleepers below and slapping them in the face with its raw breath. Nathan sprang to his feet with an exclamation of disgust, dragged his quilt-mattress to another and dryer part of the room and was soon dreaming again that he was a soldier with a commander who looked extremely like Isaac.
Eli too arose, but with greater deliberation. Peering through the lattice into the inky blackness without, he sighed. “Rain coming with a quiet steadiness that seemeth to deluge my heart with its cold torrent. Persistence hath the power of accomplishment. Already are the roads washed out and a long winter must we remain in Syria before travel to Israel will be safe or comfortable. And the mother, old before her time, bent under the weight of misfortune like an olive tree before a storm, can she endure? So different hath been our coming from all we had planned! To find the maid well treated, even honored and beloved, how it would hearten the mother could we but send her word! And yet—what if Miriam should not wish to go?”
Others there were in the House of Naaman who felt the wind’s rough caress. Isaac, in no wise discomfited by the spray, as became a soldier, merely moved away from the lattice, but drowsiness had fled. A thought of Miriam came to him. She would be greatly disappointed that she must wait throughout the long, wet months of winter, for when she should learn that Eli had come, she would desire to start for Israel at once. Now the rain had made it impossible and his heart was filled with a great pity, even though her going meant more to him than he dared to dwell upon. Perhaps, in all that great abode, Adah, its mistress, alone felt pleased over the storm. Staring into space with wide-open eyes for hours, she had listened to the rain’s gentle patter, listened with a kind of fierce joy.
“Until spring Miriam cannot go,” she whispered to herself. “Months must she abide here. Blessed respite! But how can I spare her at all? She who hath been the sunshine, the courage, the hope in our time of darkness and distress. She who hath taught me to be happy as she said she would. Ah, empty will be the house and dreary the days without our little maid!”
For two days the storm expended its fury. The third dawned clear, and a wind which threatened to tear down the tent dried the soaked earth. The fourth found Benjamin, with his sheep, pushing forward with as much speed as the safety of his flock would permit, anxious for the welfare of his loved ones. He was surprised and delighted to greet his unexpected guests, and with a joy scarcely less restrained than Rachel’s listened to the wondrous tale his sister had traveled so many miles to bring him.
“But thou also shalt ask to go. Behold, is not the House of Naaman indebted to thee?”