Is he not a friend to Israel still?"
He indicated the characters on either side of the soldier. The words
were disconnected, but the sense was easily guessed. The command for
prayers to the Pantheon of Egypt was not hidden, beyond conjecture,
from the discerning. Caleb saw the meaning of the inscription, but
looked to Joshua for further enlightenment.
"He would spare us," the abler Israelite said. "Let us return the
kindness and see him not."
All this had the Egyptian heard, but his eyes, fixed so absently on the
horizon, seemed to indicate that he was not conscious of his
surroundings.
Joshua repeated his question.
"I was sent forth with Miriam," Caleb made answer. "She hath been
abroad, gathering up the scattered chosen."
His eyes brightened and he clasped his hands with the gesture of a
happy woman.
"Deliverance is at hand! Doubt it not, O Son of Nun! We go forth!" he
exclaimed.
On the camel were hung a shield, a javelin and a quiver of arrows.
Joshua jostled the arrows in their case before answering.
"Not as the moon changes," he said grimly. "The time for mild
departure is past and the word of the Lord God unto Moses must be
fulfilled."
"So we but go," Caleb assented, "I care not.
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