Naomi

by Mrs. J. B. Webb

"I never witnessed such firmness," said Zadok, and a tear glistened in his eye as he spoke. "That unhappy boy has made me love and respect him more than I ever did; even while he has grieved and angered me by his bold declaration of unshaken belief in the divinity of the Nazarene, and his determined opposition to all my arguments. Truly I believed that the sensible and feeling letter which poor Claudia addressed to him would have brought him to his senses, and shown him the folly of consigning his family to misery for the sake of his wild, unfounded notions. But no; he read it with tears, but they were tears of grief and disappointment, and not of natural sympathy. He showed me the letter; and as he put it in my hand he exclaimed, 'Here is the bitterness of death, when those who love me best prove false to the holy faith which supports me!' From that moment sorrow took possession of his countenance, and he would listen to nothing which I was prepared to urge. I was forced to leave him far more depressed than I have ever seen him; and if you, Naomi, can say ought to lighten the load on his spirit, I will join with you in requesting your brother to give you an order to visit him. He is resolved to die, but I cannot bear that his last moments should thus be clouded with fresh sorrow."

"Oh yes!" cried Naomi, "I can chase away those clouds, and make him calm again. Dear Javan, do not refuse my prayer, but grant to Theophilus the only comfort that can now avail to cheer him. If I could hope to move you to yet greater mercy, I would kneel to you, and weep till the fountain of my eyes was dried up; but I know it will be in vain."

"Speak not to me of pleading for an apostate," said Javan, "or you may lose the boon you have already asked. Were I weak enough to give way to my own feelings of compassion, my companions in the council would better know their duty to God and man than to join me. The life of Theophilus is justly forfeited; but whatever may make his doom more tolerable I will gladly consent to. Swear to me that you have no design for aiding his escape, and I will let you see him."

"I have no object, Javan, but to act as a messenger from his friends. Would to God that they also might visit him!"

"No, Naomi, I am acting contrary to the express orders of the council in permitting any of his relatives, except our revered father, to hold any intercourse with him. It would only add to their own danger to attempt it. If you wish to go to the prison this evening, you must not delay, for night is closing in, and in another hour the prison will be shut, and the gates will not be opened on any pretext until after sunrise."

Javan went to prepare the necessary order for Naomi; and she was hastening to communicate to her anxious friends the result of her errand, when Zadok recalled her.

"Here, my child," he said, "take this letter to Claudia, and tell her that Theophilus bade me say he would have written to her, but he did not possess the means. He told me to give her his most faithful love and dying benediction, and to say that he would try to forget she had written the letter which had caused him more sorrow than anything he had suffered since last he saw her. He said much more, but my own opinions forbid me to repeat the language which in his mistaken zeal he uttered. You will see him yourself; and I only pray that his present situation may act as a warning to you, Naomi, and deter you from persisting in a course which may lead to a repetition of such misery, and cause inexpressible sorrow to your dear mother and to me."

Naomi received the letter, and in silence withdrew, and hurried to the apartment where Claudia was waiting her return, with Amaziah and Judith. The agitated girl listened to the message which was sent by Theophilus, and took the ill-advised manuscript in her hand; but instantly threw it from her with abhorrence, and burst into an agony of tears.

"O Naomi!" she sobbed forth, "he does forgive me, then; but I know he despises me. Tell him my heart is breaking, and that the loss of his esteem was the last blow that was wanting to crush me to the earth."

"Dear Claudia," replied Naomi, "he will love you as sincerely and as fervently as ever when he knows how true your repentance is, and remembers that it was excess of love to him that led you to seek his preservation in a way that your own conscience condemned. I will go to him, and say all that you could wish. I strove to obtain permission for you and his parents to see him, but Javan would not hear of it. Farewell for one hour, and fear not but that Theophilus will be restored to peace by what I shall tell him."