Naomi pressed her mother's hand to her lips, and bathed it with her tears, but she could not speak; and Zadok and Theophilus knelt beside her.
"Pray for me, Zadok," said Salome. "The shadows of death are gathering round me, and your voice should be the last—it has ever been the dearest—that I hear on earth."
The priest complied with his wife's request; and had his prayer been uttered in the Saviour's name, it would have been all that Salome's soul desired. The conclusion was consoling to her, and strengthened her hopes of his conversion; for he prayed that he might meet his wife in heaven, and that if there were in his own creed anything that obstructed his heavenward course, the Lord would deign to remove his error, and lead him into all truth. This was a concession which neither Salome nor her daughter had expected, and they heard it with secret thanksgiving and joy.
Salome closed her eyes, and Zadok thought she slept; but soon she opened them again, and fixed them on his countenance with a look of anxious affection.
"Remember, my beloved," she whispered, "remember your promise. Read the book of life, and believe. And I have one more request. Be very kind to our poor Naomi when I am gone, and do not suffer her to be reviled or harshly treated because she believes in Jesus."
"Were she less dear to me than she is," replied Zadok, "she should be guarded and cherished as the apple of my eye for your sake, my love. Fear not, Salome, I will be a father and a friend to her; and none shall deal unkindly with her while Zadok lives to protect her. And more than this—she shall tell me of this Jesus, whose name has become so dear to your soul; and I will listen with sincerity, remembering that it was your dying wish."
"The blessing of my Heavenly Father be upon you for these words, my dearest husband!" exclaimed Salome, with sudden energy. "Now will my soul depart in peace, for its fondest desires are granted. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me praise his holy name!"
It seemed that Salome's heart was now relieved of all its anxious cares, for her countenance beamed with a heavenly calmness; and while she held the hand of Zadok clasped within both her own, she fell asleep. For some hours she lay motionless, while her low and lengthened breathing alone declared that life was not extinct. But there was light and conscious joy in her spirit, though its earthly tabernacle seemed already stricken by the hand of death. At length her lips moved, and in a voice scarcely audible she murmured,
"O grave, where is thy sting! O death, where is thy victory!"
"Tell us, dear Salome," said Theophilus, leaning over her affectionately, "tell us, is it all peace?"