"Is thy heart then so firmly set on this thing?" he asked gently.
"It is the hope that bears Israel's burdens and the balm that heals the
welt of the lash."
And in the young man's heart he said it was a vain hope, a happy
delusion that might serve to make the harsh bondage endurable till time
dispelled it. The simple words of the girl were eloquent portrayal of
Israel's plight, and Kenkenes subsided into a sorry state of helpless
sympathy. She was not long in interpreting his silence.
"Vain hope, is it?" she said. "And how shall it come to pass in the
face of the Pharaoh's denial and the might of Egypt's arms? Thou art
young and so am I, but both of us remember Rameses. There has been
none like him. He overthrew the world, did he not? And it was a hard
task and a precarious and a long one, when he but measured arms with
mortals. Is it not a problem worthy the study to ponder how he might
have fared in battle with a god?"
Kenkenes lifted his head suddenly and regarded her.
"Aye," she continued, "I have given thee food for thought. Futile
indeed were Israel's hopes if it set itself unaided against the
Pharaoh. But the God of Israel hath appointed His hour and hath
already descended into fellowship with His chosen people.
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