The Tupelo journal., 1906-06-08

her face d~eepened. She was aroused
at last from her reverie by the
bleating of a lamb tethered close
by the door, which now came and
pressed its soft, moist nose in her
hand. Looking down, she patted tha
creatures head, gently, saying, softly:
mo, l had not forgotten you, little
lamb, but thought Of you makes me
anxious for Abidan's return"
And again the lifted her
eyes and searched the distant horizon,
but nothing was to be seen but the
groups of low-lying huts of the He
brews and an occasional tree or bush,
which, moving in the breeze, she tried
to persuade herself was an advancing
figure, and might be Abidan, but as
her eyes watched intently and she
found it neither advanced nor receded,
she knew she was mistaken. For near
ly a week nov she had been expecting
her sons return. Word had been
sent him far down in Egypt as soon
as Moses had commanded the people to
prepare for the Passover, and when the
necessary time had elapsed for his
arrival she had watched with grow
ing anxiety, and every moment she
could steal from her work she would
slip to the doorway and look in the
direction from which he would come.
When. the tenth day arrived and the
lamb had been chosen, her anxiety had
increased. for in four days lore the
lamb was to be slain and all Of the
| household who were not behind the
sheltering blood would perish, as the
Lord had said. And that little lamb
under her eye all day long was a con-
| slant reminder of the vital importance
Of her sons return.
What if he comes not in time?" she
and as the third day since the lamb
had been chosen drew towards a close,
and still he was absent, she felt her
heart would break with it's burden of
anxiety.
The little lamb gave a plaintive bleat
as though he had entered into sym
pathetic feeling with his mistress in
her troubles. Again the woman
looked down, and then, dropping on
the ground at his side, she threw her
having no n else to talk to, for
her husband was away at his tasks and
the children were out, she poured the
thoughts of her heart into his ear, and
the little lamb listened as though he
understood all that was said to him,
and responded occasionally with an ex-
pressive bleat.
"Oh, Lamby, why don't he Gomez"
she said. "All the other absent ones
have returned. Even Sheber, neighbor
Ephah's son, has come, and he was
far to the south of where Abidan was
at service. I had hoped he would bring
some tidings of my boy, but he did
not, and now it is but one more day
and then"
She paused abruptly.
YES" she broke out at last, swal-
lowing hard to keep down the sob, eve
shall be sheltered behind thy blood"
And almost reverently she laid her
hand upon the head of the lamb. But
what of Abidan? What Of Abidan?
The Lord has said He would pass
through the land, and if Abidan, my
first born son, be not with us in the
house, he will perish, even as the Lord
has said. Uuless," and a new note of
hope sound, in her voice,-"unless
some other Hebrew home where the
blood is sprinkled gives him shelter"
The thought brought a glimmer of
comfort to her heart, and set her to
thinking. If her boy was far away
and dependent upon some other He
brew family to give him shelter. per-
haps some other mothers boy was in
her neighborhood who would need an
invitation and a sheltering roof to pro.
tect him. Why had she been so wrap
ped up in her own as to forget those
about her? Had not Moses spoken ex-
pressly that the lamb and the home
| was to be shared with the family too
small to need one lamb or too poor to
procure one? And here for days she
had been so filled with the thought Of
the return of her own boy that she
| had not looked about her to see who
there might be who would need her
help. She blamed herself for her self
ishness and thoughtlessness, and ris-
ing to her feet she hustled about her
work with a new purpose while every
now and then she nodded towards the
little lamb approvingly and said:
eyes, your precious life shall shelter
as many as l can find who will have
no other place to go. Surely God will
be pleased to have it thus, and per-
haps some other mother will look
after my boy. if he return not"
After her husbands return in the
evening twilight and the simple meal
had been partaken of, she told him OF
her plans and they met his approval.
Leaving the older children to look
after the younger ones and put them
to bed she hastened OF down the road,
for as she had studied over in her
mind what she could do there had re-
Cured to her mind that down the road
a piece there lived q family that had
had hard work in getting even the
barest necessities of life. The husband
and father had been sick and when he
had failed to turn up at his task the
supplies which Pharaoh had been met
ing out to them were Withdrawn, and
even the little lamb which they had
been able to save from the flock which
had been taken from them when mis-
! fortude overlook them. had at last