Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-29

| in peaceful pursuits, could take part only
| with heart and soul. Not movement, not
/ e sword raised or dropped among friends
! or foes, escaped his keen eye; but
/ when the fray had fairly begun,
and the captain, with wise forethought,
had opened way for the enemy in the
midst Of his own fighting men, Hur ex-
| claimed to the gray-headed man Of God:
my wife, your sisters lofty spirit has in
deed discerned the truth. The sonsof Nun
bellies the call of the Most High. What is
this? We are the superior force, and yet the
/ enemy makes his way unhindered into the
| Red Sea stood aside at the word Of the Lord,
SO do our ranks,-and, as it would seem, by
/ their leaders bidding"
"Only to swallow up Amalek as the waves
of the sea swallowed up the Egyptians, +"
| was Moses reply.
Then he lifted up his hands 70 heaven
| and cried:
"Look down, Jehovah, on Thy people,
| who are in fresh straits Strengthen the
arm and give sight to the eyes of him whom
| Thou hast chosen to be Thy sword. Send
| him the suceor Thou didst promise him
| when Thou didst name him Joshua instead
| of Hoseai And if Thou dost no more suffer
him to prove himself steadfast and strong
as beseems the Captain Of Thy choice, then
! do Thou, with the hosts of heaven, set Thy
self at the head of Thy people that they may
put their enemies to fightI''
/ Thus the man Of God besought the Lord
| with hands lifted on high, and ceased not to
/ entreat Jehovah and cry to Him whose
mighty will ruled his people. and presently
Aaron whispered to him that the foe was
hard beset, and that the courage Of the
Israelites was proving itself nobly. Joshua
was now here and now there, and the ranks
of the enemy were visIbly thinner,
| while those of the Hebrews
seemed to multiply. And Hur confirmed this
report, and added that the untiring zeal and
heroic contempt of death of the son of, Nun
were beyond all praise. He had, as at that
moment, felled one OF the widest of the
| Amalekites with his battle-axe.
| At this Moses breathed more freely. His
arms fell BY his side, and he eagerly
watched the course of the fight, which was
| surging and raging, tossing and waving at
| his feet.
The sun had by this time reached its
noon, and shone down on the combatants
with scorching fres The gary granite walls
| Of the valley gIowed with intenser heat
| every hour, and the sweat had long since
stood on the brows of the three men on the
rock. What, then, must the heat be below,
adding to the labor of struggling and
wrestling? How sorely must the wounds
ache of the bleeding Wretehes lying there in
the sandl
Moses felt it all as though be himself were
suffering it, for his immoTably steadfast
soul was rich in compassion, and he bore
this people, who were of his own flesh and
blood, and for whom he lived and labored,
in his heart as father does his child. The
wounds inflicted on his brethren panied him;
yet HE heart beat high with proud gladness
as he beheld how those whose cowardly sub
lection had but short while since 50 greatly
fred his wrath had learned the arts of attack
and defense. Now one band of young He
brews after eranotherrushed on the enemy with
loud cries Of Jehovah, our Refugep'
In Joshua's proud, heroic form he saw the
posterity OF Israel as he dreamed and hoped
it might be, and he now no longer doubted
be the Captain Of his people. Rarely had
his large commanding look flashed more
brightly than at this moment.
But what was that?
A cry Of horror broke from Aaron's lips,
and Hur started to his feet and gazed
anxiously toward the north; for from the
spot where the peoples tents were pitched
came fresh battle cry, mingling with loud
and lamentable shrieks, not, as it seemed,
from the men alone, but from women and
children. The enemy had surprised the
camp.
A troop of the Amalekites mad been de-
tached from the main body and had made
their way around by mountaip defle
known only to themselves, and had fallen
upon Hur's camp with overwhelming i'm
petuosity. Hebrews and Amalekites were
rolling on the blood-stained mats, while
Miriam and her women were bound hand
and feet and were being threatened with
death by FIRE.
Joshua, with detachment o. men, rushed
to the rescue, and Miriam awoke to con-
sciousness to find Ephraim cutting the cords
which bound her and to see herself sur
rounded by the brave, fighting men of her
nation. Near her was Joshua, whose wounds
were being dressed by his father. This task
she felt should have been hers and hers
alone; and deep grief and burning shame
came over her as she remembered how great
ly she had sinned against this man. She
knew not how she could repay him, on
whom she had brought such deep sorrow, all
she owed him. Her whole heart Ionged to
hear some word Of forgiveness from his lips,
and she went toward him on her knees
across the blood-stained ground; but the
prophecies eloquent lips were dumb; she
could not find the right word, till suddenly
the imploring cry rose loud from her op-
pressed breast: "Joshual o Joshual I have
sinned against you indeed, and will repent
of it all my life long, but do not scorn
my thanks. Do dot repel me from you, and,
if you can, forgive meP'
She could not have uttered another word;
but then-and this again she never forgot
his eyes had overfoEed with scalding tears,
and he had raised her from the ground with |
-s.ks L. -
gentle as mothers when her child has had |
a fall, and from his lips came mild and |
friendly words, promising full forgiveness. |
The mere pressure of his hand was enough |
to show her that he was no longer wroth |
with her, as she heard his assurance that |
the name of Joshua could not fall more
sweetly on his ear from any lips than from
hers.
Then with the cry Jehovah. our
Refuge" he turned from her; but his clear
shout, and the enthusiastic battle-cry of his
followers rang in her ears long after.
In other parts Of the field the battle still
ragged fercely. The fight around the camp
had already lasted above an hour, and
Moses had not ceased to beseech the Lord,
with hands uplifted 70 heaven, when the
Amalekites made great rush forward. At
this the leader Of his people collected all
his strength for new appeal to the Al
mightyiJ but he was much exhausted, his
knees shook and his weary arms fell by his
sides. But his spirit had all its fire and his
heart all its ferVent desire not to cease from
Him who is the Ruler Of battles.
The leader of his people must not be idle
during the struggle, and his weapon was
prayer. Like a. child which will not cease
from beseeching its mother till she has
granted him that which it unselfshly de-
nands for its brethren, Moses importuned
,he Almighty, who had hitherto shown