The Tupelo journal., 1905-09-22

tents nau Deen pltcned ana MS HOOKS
had fed." explained the servant, and
i found it desolate, and while / was
in doubt as to what it meant, I met q
traveller from the south who told me
of meeting with big caravan making
its way to the southwark, and from
his description it could have been
none other than that of Jacob"
Laban dropped his shears and stared
in establishment at the speaker, while
his sons jumped to their feet, exclaim
ing, fiercely:
He has escaped us. Could some
one have warned him?"
Let us pursue after him." cried La
ban, now thoroughly aroused. Surely
we can overtake him, for with his
focks and herds and wives and little
ones he cannot move swiftly"
Fastening home. speedy prepare
lions were made for the journey. The
swiftest camels were selected and
the boys stood impatiently waiting be-
| fore Laban's tent, eager for the start
A bitter exclamation of disappoint-
ment and anger drew them to the tent
door, and they found their father wav-
ing his hands wildly and crying:
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.
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"
Not SO, my sons" Laban objected,
"lest in the darkness some harm come
to the women and the children, and
the fiocks and herds be scattered and
lost in the mountains"
And that night God came to Laban
in a 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 if
they had heard anything. And then
he told them his dream How there
had come great flash 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 a 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
chided Jacob. 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 fee 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. 1t 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
A|1Ooi, anu as uC SOASluOCo Will JAC Dc
cusation of having stolen his gods his
anger flashed forth and he exclaimed:
with whomsoever thou findest thy
gods let him not live" 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 cry to Jacobs God for help, for
she felt instinctively that the gocs she
had concealed could not. help her, she
waited in terror while Laban searched
through ell the tents and at last came
to hers. and while he peered into every
nook and Granny she watched him with
nervous apprehension. But he found
them not, for they were concealed in the
camels 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:
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 l do
this day unto these my daughters, or
unto their children which they have
borne? Now therefore come thou, let
us make covenant, and thou; and let
it be for witness between me and
thee"
And Jacob took stone and set it up
for pillar, and commanded his