Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-20

Miriam. the daughter Of Aniram and
Jochebed. sends greeting 10 the son Of Nun,
of the tribe of Ephraim. Hosea, or the
Helper, is thy name, and the Lord thy God
hath chosen thee to be the helper Of His
people. And hencefortE1 thou shalt be
called JoshnaH, the helper OF Jehovah. For
the God of her fathers, who is the God Of
thy fathers also, hath spoken by Miriam,
His handmaid, commanding thee to be tbe
shield and sword of thy people. In Him il
all power, and His promise is to strengthen
/ thine arm that He may smite the enemy,"
The lad began IN low tone, but his voice
gradually grew stronger, and the last words
rang loud and solemn in the silence of the
night.
Thus had Miriam spoken to him, and had
laid her hands on his head and looked
earnestly into his eyes with her own. which
were as black as the night, and as Ephraim
repeated them he felt as though some secret
power compelled him to cry them aloud 10
Joshua, as he had heard them from the
mouth of the prophecies. Then he breathed
q sigh of relief, turned his face to the whits
canvas wall of the tent, and said quietly:
'sNow 1 will Sleep"
But Joshua laid his hand on his shoulder
and said in commanding tones: Say it
again"
The lad did his bidding, but this time he
repeated the words unheedingly and in .
low tone to himself Then he said implor-
ingly: Leave me to rest, put his hand
under his cheek and shut his eyes.
Joshua let him have his way. He gently
laid fresh wet bandage over his burning
head, put out the light and cast more logs
on the dying fire outside; but the keen,
resolnte man did it all as in dream At
last ne sat down, resting his elbows on his
knees and his head on his hand, with his
eyes fixed on vacancy or gazing at the
flames.
Who was this God who called him
through Miriam to be, BY His aid. the
sword and shield Of His people?
He was to bear new name, and TO the
Egyptians the name was the man. "Honor
to the name of Pharaohp' not ito PharaohP'
was written in every inscription and docu-s
ment, and If henceforth he was TO be called
Joshua this involved q command to cast the
old man off and to become new man. This.
which Miriam had declared to him as the
will of the God Of mis- fathers, was nothing
less than q bidding to cease TO be an Egypt
ian, as his life had made him. and become q
Hebrew again. as he had been as boy.
How could he learn to act and feel a. .
Hebrew?
And Miriam's message required him to 70
back to his own tribe. The God Of his
nation, through her, bid him to do what his
father expected of him. Instead Of the
Egyptian host, which he must make haste
to forget, henceforth he should lead the sons
of Israel when they went forth to battle;
this was the meaning of her words; and
when that high-souled maiden and prophet
ess declared that it was God himself who
spoke by her mouth, it was no vain boast;
she was certainly obeyiug the voice of the
Most High. And now the image Of the
woman whom he had dared 10 love appeared
to him as unapproachably sublime; many
things which he had heard ia his childhood
of the God Of Abraham and His promises,
recurred to his mind; and the scale which
till now had been the heavier gradually
rose. What had but Just now seemed firmly
settled was no longer sure, and once more hs
stood face to face with the fearful abyss
which he fancied he had overleaped.
How loud and mighty was the call he had
heardl The sound in his ears disturbed his
clearness and peace of mind. Instead Of
calmly weighing the matter as he had done
before, memories Of his boyhood, which he
had fancied long since buried, lifted up
their voices and disconnected flashes Of
thought confused his brain.
Sometimes he felt prompted to turn In
prayer to the God who called him, but az
often as he made the attempr he remem-
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host he must leave behind him to become
the leader, no more of well-trained, brave,
obedient troop Of brothers in arms, but Of .
miserable horde Of cowardly serfs and wdd
obstinate shepherds accustomed to the rile
of oppression.
1t was three hours past midnight. The
men on guard had been relieved, and he be-
gan to think Of giving himself few hours
rest; He would think the matter out again
By daylight win his wontsd rational de-
cisiveness, which now he felt be could not
attain to. But a. he entered the tent and
Ephraim's steady breathing tell on his ear,
in fancy he heard again the lads solemn
delivery Of his message. It startled him,
and he was about to repeat the words to him
self when he heard tumult among the out
posts, and vehement dispute broke the
stiffness Of the night.
The interruption was welcomed. he hur-
ried out to where the guards were posted
*More correctly Johoshua-
lTo BE CONTINUED NEXT sUEDAY.1