St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1905-10-14

my gods! My gods! They have
taken my gods!"
AS the last act of preparation for
the journey he had stepped before his
shrine to worship and to ask the favor
Of his gods for the journey, when he
discovered that they were gone. In
CONSERVATION he had searched
through his tent, and then the truth
had flashed across him. They had
taken his gods.
Late on the afternoon of the seventh
day they came in sight of the rear por-
ton of Jacobs caravan, as it was
winding up over the rocky pathway of
Mount Gilead.
"See, there they are! Tomorrow
early we will fall upon them and re
cover our daughters and our sub
stance" Laban cried, exultantly. IA
NAY, let us not delay" urged the
sons. Ere nightfall we can gain the
outer border of their camp and then,
when darkness has come, we can fall
upon them"
mot so, my sons" Laban objected,
"lest in the darkness some harm come
to the women and the children, and
the flocks and herds be scattered and
lost in the mountains"
And that night God came to Laban
in dream, and said unto him:
''Take heed what thou doest. Speak
not to Jacob, either gold or bad"
Laban started up in terror. What
was It? Had he been dreaming? or
had some awful voice spoken to him?
He shouted to his sons, and as they
came hurrying to him he asked II
they had heard anything. And then
he told them his dream. How there
had come great fash out Of heaven
and the earth had trembled at his
feet, and voice like thunder had
spoken in his ear, saying: Take
heed what thou doest. Speak not to
Jacob, either good or bad"
ut must have been Jacobs God"
concluded Laban, in an awed voice.
And strange fear fell upon them all,
and next day when they overlook
Jacob, and came upon his camp, they
offered no violence, but instead, Laban
cn1ded COB, saying:
what has thou done that thou hast
stolen away unawares to me, and car
| ried away my daughters. as captives
taken with the sword? Wherefore didst
thou flee away secretly, and steal away
from me; and didst not tell me, that
might have sent thee away with mirth,
and with songs, with tabret, and with
harp? And hast not suffered me to
kiss my sons and my daughters? Thou
hast done foolishly In so doing. It is in
the power Of my hand to do thee hurt:
but the God Of your father spake. unto
me, saying: Take thou heed that thou
| speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
And now, though thou wouldst needs be
gone, because thou sore longedst after
/ thy fathers house, yet wherefore hast
thou stolen my gods?''
Jacob had listened in great irritation
during the vainglorious speech Of
Laban, and as he concluded with the ac-
cusation Of having stolen his gods his
anger flashed forth and he exclaimed:
with whomsoever thou fndest thy
gods, let him not i've" for Jacob knew
not that Rachel had stolen them.
Jacobs words reached the ears Of
Rachel as she sat within her tent, and
as their awful import was realized she
paled and her heart sank within her.
With a cry to Jacobs God for help. for
she felt instinctively that the gods she
had concealed could not help her, she
waited in terror while Laban searched
through all the tents and at last came
to hers, and while he peered into every
nook and Granny she watched him with
4 nervous apprehension. But he found
them not, for they were concealed In the
camers furniture upon which she was
sitting.
| And Jacob was wroth and chode with
Laban charging all the manifold wrongs
which he had suffered at his hands, and
with aggravating GOODNESS Laban re.
sponded:
Il .'These daughters are my daughters
and these children are my children. and
these cattle are my cattle, and all that
thou seest is mine; and what can dc
|, this day unto these my daughters, Of
unto their children which they have
borne? Now therefore come thou, lie,
us make covenant, I and thou; and lei
1t be for witness between me and
thee
And Jacob took stone and set It VI
j for q pillar, and commanded his
brethren to gather stones, and accord
ing to the custom Of the people they