Naomi

by Mrs. J. B. Webb

"Oh, it was a blissful, but a cruel deception!"

"What was it, my child?" asked Judith. "Did you see any countenance that recalled the memory of the friends we left in Judea?"

"Yes, mother, yes; I thought I saw those features that haunt my sleeping hours, and seem to smile upon from the skies by day. They looked more like those of a living man than the angelic face that visits my dreams, and my foolish heart was startled. But ah! it is there again! Look, Judith, look at the side of the vessel;—and another form is there! O God of mercy, let not my bewildered brain thus mock me with such fancies! They come—they come on! They have stepped upon the quay! Oh, those are no forms of air. Take me, Amaziah, take me to meet them, and let me find it true, or die!"

Judith and Amaziah were hardly less agitated than their companion. They likewise saw the figures that passed from the deck to the shore, and they likewise knew not how to trust their eyes. But the breathless suspense soon terminated in a blissful reality, and they embraced the living forms of their lamented son and their beloved Naomi. It would be vain to attempt to paint the feelings of that group, whose hearts were filled to overflowing with so many and powerful emotions. It was not for some moments that the presence of Marcellus and his father was perceived, but then they were warmly and joyfully greeted; and then came the inquiries after Zadok and Salome, who were supposed to have sent away their daughter, and to have remained themselves to witness the fate of their country. Rufus quickly replied, and silenced all further questions; while the tears of Naomi plainly told that she had not abandoned her native land until she was a lonely orphan.

The house which Amaziah occupied was not far distant from the banks of the river; and when the party so unexpectedly united were assembled in the pillared verandah, many hours were passed in sweet discourse though deeply tinged with melancholy recollections, and recitals of sufferings and trials that never could be effaced from the heart. But hope, and faith, and resignation shed their happy influence over that family group, and deep gratitude was seated in every heart, for the mercies that were so bountifully mingled with their afflictions. Rufus was a heathen amid a family of Christians. Would he remain hardened in idolatry when he saw the blessed fruits of a purer religion so beautifully displayed around him?

Some weeks had elapsed since the arrival of the merchant-ship, and the bitterness of Naomi's feelings had begun in some measure to subside, when Rufus announced that he could no longer tarry at Ephesus, but must take advantage of a ship which he found was shortly to sail for Rome, and return to the capital to meet Titus, and share in the glories of his triumphant entry. Marcellus had obtained permission to absent himself, and he gladly relinquished his share in the honours of the magnificent but somewhat barbarous ceremony that was expected. He however urgently joined in the request of his father, that Naomi would consent to their marriage taking place before the departure of the latter, and that the union of Claudia and Theophilus might be celebrated at the same time. Naomi's heart was still too much oppressed with the remembrance of the sad scenes she had so recently witnessed, to enable her to feel that it was a time for the accomplishment of all her hopes of earthly happiness; but she yielded to the solicitations of all her friends, and an early day was fixed for the nuptials. The benediction was pronounced on the two young couples in the church consecrated to the service of Christ; and the hands of the venerable Christian bishop were laid on their heads as they knelt devoutly before the altar. Many of the Ephesian converts and exiled disciples from Judea were present at the sacred ceremony; and all were deeply interested in the two lovely maidens who after so much suffering and so many heavy trials, which they had borne with exemplary fortitude, at length were rewarded with as much of happiness as they could hope to possess on earth.

Rufus took leave of his children and departed for Rome, with a promise that he would return to visit them at Ephesus, when his presence was no longer required with the army. This promise he was unable to fulfil until the following spring, when once again he joined the happy family—and this time he did not come alone. He was accompanied by a man, who, though still young in years, bore the deep furrows of toil and suffering, and uncontrolled passions, on his pale cheek and lofty brow. That brow wore less of pride, and those dark eyes glanced less fiercely than they were wont to do, for captivity and disappointed hopes had humbled the heart that once burned with ambition, and beat with a thirst for vengeance. Tears of softened and natural feeling flowed down his cheeks as he clasped Naomi in his arms and extended his hand to her husband and to Theophilus. It was Javan. Rufus had found him in slavery at Rome, and with a generosity that was worthy of a Christian, he had forgotten all past injuries, and redeemed the proud young Pharisee from the servitude that galled his spirit. The chastisements of the Lord had not been altogether thrown away upon him. He never forgot his native land, or ceased to mourn her degradation; but it was not with the wrathful bitterness that once preyed on his heart; for he learned to regard her afflictions as the just retribution of her crimes, and to look for her restitution to glory when that Jesus whose name he had so often blasphemed, shall come in the clouds of heaven, with all his holy angels, to sit on the throne of David, and reign over his people for ever.

THE END.

BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.