The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1906-03-02

He read through to the end and then
went back and read n reread the
mysterious passage: Until Shiloh
come; and unto him shall the gather
ing of the people De.
After ALL" he thought, "the regal
honors Of Judah are but to lead up to
the coming Of a greater one. Who is
this Shiloh unto whom all the people
are to be g~athered?"
He got no further in his reading.
He was held by this new thought. How
long he sat absorbed in the new mes
sage he did not know, but at last he
became conscious that all was darkness |
about him and the starry heavens were
visible through the open doorway.
Rising, he wandered forth.
Shiloh was coming" he softly whis-
pered to himself. "Who is He?" he
asked, and an intense yearning filled
| his heart to know. Shiloh is com-
ing" he cried in exultation, thrilled by
the thought. From whence?" he again
questioned, and gazed upward intently,
as though he would read his answer in
the stars.
But that is what the priests OF
| ESS pt llilh " w, lax Cl1Cd Will ouu-
den contrition at the thought that he
should turn to the stars for answer,
and throwing himself upon his face to
the ground he murmured: NAY, it is
God that giveth answer and it is He
who hath spoken through the words of
Jacob, saying: Shiloh is coming"
Suddenly the irresistible impulse
seized hin that he must go II find
Shiloh. He was a king somewhere,
that was sure, n He was to rule owe
the Hebrew people. Feyelishly, eager
ly, expectantly he seemed to pass from
one end of the earth to the other. He
visited kingdom after kingdom and
saw their rulers and studied each n
in turn, but always with disappoint-
ment. None of these could be the Shi-
lob unto whom was to be the gather
ing Of the people. Ages rolled by and
he saw kingdoms rise and fall. He
thought he saw his own nation bowling
before successive kings, but always
with disappointment and a looking for
ward to the coming of another and
perhaps better ruler. Discouraged and
: disheartened, at last he cried out in
, the great yearning Of his heart:
where is Shiloh? Whittier shall /
. go to find Shiloh? Surely he is not
among men! l nave searched the earth
f. but he is not found" II his voice
= broke into a great sob Of anguish.
5 1t was then that he heard a voice,
1 saying:
= "Shiloh shall come from above"
/ His hear. leaped within him at the
I %rnp co0~Iorf 1c,,rh In 1no!ynI IL
e and in the distance saw again the light
shining which had held him enrap-
l tured when he had beheld the vision
in Joseph's tomb. Toward it he sped,
and as he went it seemed that his peo-
r pie pressed forward in ever increasing
numbers, all expectant and eager. The
light grew brighter and brighter the
farther he went, until at last it seemed
to pervade everything. Filled with
e wonder at the marvellous sight, he lift
: ed his eyes upward and saw that the
heavens had opened and there, in re-
%splendent glory, was One whose bright
ness was above that of the sun. Blind
ed by the glory and overcome utterly
y he lay there as one dead, and when at
g last he came to himself he found he was
S still lying upon the ground where he had
thrown himself.
: "Yea, thou Divine One,' he whis.
pered, r~everently, unto Thee, indeed
d shall the gathering OF the people of al
e the earth be-"
So absorbed had be been that he hai
e not heard the shutting, heavy tread Of
some big animal, Or the sound O.
a voices in low conversation, and the
first he realized the presence near hin
of strangers was when, in the black
j. ness of the night there doomed up a
his side the outlines of a camel, and h.
heard the words:
If 1--WE would find Moses. Can you di
rect us to him?"
1t Almost before the words were out o
his mouth the stranger, who had beer
leaning forward and looking at him in
d tently, gave n glad cry of recogni
ID ton and, s%pringing recklessly from tn
IF high seat upon the camel's back, EN-
,e braced him.
ut The one word mother quivered on hi
to lips as he turned and responded ten
lie derby to the embrace, but he did NO
ct speak the words. He must not, if h
as were true to the hope of his peopl
lg and to the vision he had just had, TO
I'd was he not E%enceforth a Hebrew. An
the other, as though she sensed tn
1e thought that separated them as a grea
e. gulf, chung the closer to him and mul
s. INJURED:
d. Moses, l have come to tell you the
w thou hast done right. Thy God is tn
true God, as my soul Toe testify. An
cy l wanted you to now that though m
lis heart is breaking there is a sweetness
ed in giving thee up to follow the ligt
Ie which comes from Him." Her voio
broke, but at last she controlled he
emotions and continued: "And-an
:. +bo,ob 7 or, on Fovpfian and fhO11