St. Tammany farmer., 1905-09-16

my son" said the father, when ia
cob appeared IN response to his moth
er's summons, thou shalt not take
wife Of the daughters Of Canaan
Arise. go to Padan-aram, to the hous.
OF Bethuel, thy mothers father: ant
take thee a wife from thence OF th.
daughters Of Laban, thy mother
brother. And God Almighty bles!
thee. and make thee fruitful, and mul
tiply thee, that thou mayest be nlul
titude Of people
The old man paused. As hts Sol
stood before him the consciousness.
that in him were to be realized all tht
peculiar blessings promised unto Abra
ham swept over him, and, placing boil
his hands on the young mans head
he continued, fervently:
Yea. my son, God shall give thet
the blessing of Abraham; to thee ant
to thy seed with thee; that thou may
est inherit the land wherein thou ar
stranger, which God gave unto Abra
ham,"
kAC O0OOO C0M0 Jul Ol LIS AdIACA
tent a slight rustic in the bushes t.
one side attracted his attention, ant
he caught fieeting glimpse of one
OF Esau's servants. The incident un
nerved him. Had the fellow been spy
ing upon him? Would he report te
his master? Would Esau follow him
Such were the anxious queries which
filled his heart as he made the fnal
preparations for departure.
And in the meantime, what of Esau:
The angry resolve of the morning
made under the wicked goading of his
wife, has given place to a sober sec
ond thought. What would his father
say Should he take Jacobs life now
No, he would wait until the old man
had died, then he could carry Out
his revenge without restraint. But
Judith was insistent for immediate
vengeance.
Here are your bow and arrows;
here is your knife! Now go! Don't
be a weakling. A postponed ven.
geance seldom drinks the blood Of the
enemy"
Esau pushed the excited, vehement
woman to one side and the bow and
arrows went clattering to the ground,
but the knife still remained in her
hands. Flourishing it wildly, she cried:
IF you don't do it, I'll go and do it
myself" and the angry woman turned
as though she would start off at once
to execute her threat, but at that mo
ment man burst into their midst, and
breathlessly exclaimed:
Jacob is leaving for Haran. Isaac
has blessed him and sent him to thy
mothers people, there to seek wife. y
"Ha, did not tell you that he would
escape thee?" cried the woman, taunt-
ingly. Had you sought him out this
morning, as urged, you would not
have lost your opportunity"
Esau, chafing under his wife's words.
moved uneasily. and turning to the
servant, asked:
when was Jacob going to start!"
'At once, think. To-day"
What is t. hinder thy following
him and Staying him in the wilder.
ness? Thy father need never know.
He will think some wild beast hath
slain him." again broke in the woman.
Esau hesitated. The plan appealed 10
him. Judith noted the indecision, and,
quickly picking up the bow and arrows
she thrust them into her husbands
hands, and fercely cried:
go! Avenge thy wrongs, now or
neyer!"
And without a word Esau slung bow
and arrows over his shoulder, thrust his
long knife into his belt and started forth
and was soon out of sight. Well did he
know the pathway which Jacob would
take. Experienced hunter that he was,
and used to trailing the feet antelope
over the hills and through the valleys
how could human prey escape him? Yes,
here were footprints that had passed
that way not many hours before Ere
nightfall he would come upon him. He
would note his resting place and slay
him in the darkness. Thus thinking
Esau pressed forward on Jacobs trail,
while the latter, urged on by his fears,
swiftly pursued his journey.
But father said that the blessing OF
Abraham should be given me and that
should inherit the land given to him"
Jacob said to himself as he tried to reas-
sure himself and quiet his fears. Every
rustic in the bushes as he passed made
him start uneasily. Every dark object
he saw as he cast nervous glances be-
hind him took human shape and seemed
to be relentlessly pursuing him. But the
words which his father had spoken in
blessing upon him kept ringing in his
ears, and tended to calm him.
Surely" he exclaimed, at last, "the
God Who has given these promises is
able to keep me in the present peril"
And he paused weary and breathless by
the side Of great rock He felt he
could go no farther. But what If Esau
were close behind? Dare he pause in
his fight? Dare he take one moments
rest? He started forward, and as quick
ly stopped as the thought swept over him
again that God would help him. He
leaned against the vines creeping over
the rock. They parted and be fell pre-
cipitately into narrow recess in the
rock which the vines had completely hid
den. So startled was he by the sudden
ness of it all that he did not hear the,
hurried footsteps as they passed. He
did not see Esau's tense, cruel face as he
sped by. He did not hear his muttered
oath as he exclaimed: He cannot be
much ahead of me now" But Jacob as
he lay there dazed and bruised had
strange feeling of calmness come steal
Ing into his heart Was it the answer
ing assurance of faith He hardly knew
what faith was. Was It the awakening
consciousness Of God and of Gods over