Naomi

by Mrs. J. B. Webb

"Where is my dear sister, and where is Naomi? Theophilus, too, I do not see him; but no doubt he is in close attendance on Claudia. He is a happy man! I wish my prospects in life were as smiling as his."

Amaziah turned away in anguish at this playful observation; and Zadok caught the hand of Marcellus, who now perceived that all was not so full of happiness as he supposed.

"Is anything the matter?" he cried. "Is Naomi safe and well?" his fears making him recur first to her who was uppermost in his thoughts and affections.

"It is not for her, my son," replied Zadok, "that your sympathy will be excited; our poor Claudia will want all your affectionate consolations."

"What has befallen my own dear sister?" interrupted Marcellus hastily, yet with a feeling of relief that his fears for Naomi were groundless.

"All her hopes and all her happiness are blighted," said Zadok. "Theophilus is no more, and Claudia's heart is widowed."

"The Lord have pity on her!" ejaculated Marcellus fervently. "What disease has carried him off so quickly? But I will go to her, poor girl! She has yet a brother to love and to cherish her, and to mourn with her over what she has lost."

He dismounted, and giving his horse to a servant, he approached the litter in which his sister and Naomi were seated. The curtains were partially withdrawn, and they had seen him conversing with Zadok, and knew that the sorrowful truth was now made known to him. Claudia sprang from the litter, and threw herself wildly into his arms, while tears of bitter grief prevented her utterance. It is needless to dwell on such a meeting. All that was kind and affectionate Marcellus expressed; and then he gently replaced his sister in the litter, and in a voice faltering with emotion of various kinds, addressed himself to Naomi. She tried to hide her feelings of deep interest, and to meet him with the easy freedom of an old friend; but she was not very successful, and Marcellus saw with secret delight the embarrassment of her manner, and the deep flush that rose on her pale cheek. He did not however forget the affliction of his friends in his own happy feelings. He hastened to Judith's litter, and greeted her with a kindness that only reminded her more forcibly of the son she had lost, and who had been a friend and companion to Marcellus when she remembered him in former happy days.

During the rest of the journey Marcellus rode by the side of his sister, and tried to cheer her with such pious suggestions as he believed she could receive and understand; but he did not utter the name of the Redeemer—of him who has promised rest to the weary and the heavy-laden, and is especially the consolation and support of His people under all their trials and all their sorrows. Both Claudia and Naomi felt how ineffectual must be every consolation that is not derived from Him, and more than ever they regretted that Marcellus should still, as they supposed, be ignorant of His mercies and His power; while both resolved to lose no opportunity of endeavouring to give him that knowledge which they found so precious to their own souls. But this was not the time for entering on such discussions; and they reached Joppa under the mutual impression that both parties were yet in ignorance of the only true way to peace, and to eternal life.

Rufus received the whole party with kindness and cordiality. His feelings were not so acute as those of his son, but he entered into the affliction of his daughter as much as he considered that the loss of a Jewish lover could demand; and endeavoured to console her with the hope of finding a more suitable husband among her own countrymen. This was not an effectual source of comfort to poor Claudia; and as it also implied that her father expected she should now return with him to the camp, who entreated Judith, when she was alone with her and Naomi, to request that she might still be permitted to remain with her; and though she could now no longer hope to become her daughter indeed, yet that she might act a daughter's part, and dwell with her, at least until her father had a home to take her to. Judith would have been deeply grieved if Claudia had been taken from her, and she hastened to make her request known to Rufus, who kindly consented that she should accompany her friends to Ephesus, and remain there until he was able to return in peace to Rome. He was delighted with the improvement which had taken place in her since he had last seen her, and with the sweetness and gentleness that was apparent in her manner, in the midst of her deep affliction. She exerted herself to please her father, and to show the pleasure which she felt at seeing him, by repressing her own grief as much as possible in his presence. But when she found herself alone with Marcellus and Naomi, she indulged the feelings of her heart by expatiating on the many virtues and amiable qualities of him who occupied all her thoughts; and then it was that her brother first learned the cause of Theophilus's death.