The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1906-06-09

% the lines of anx-
- ious care uron
her face deapened. She was aroused
at last from her reyeria by the
bleating of a lamb te,he7ed o!ose
by the door, which now cane and
pressed it's soft. moist nose in her
hand. Looking down, she patted I'll"
creatures head, gently. saying, scftly;
mo, had not forgotten you. little
lamb, but thought of you makes me
anxious for Abidan's return
And again the woman lifted her
eyes and searched the distant horizon,
but nothing was to be seen bat 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 nigh. 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 now 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 10 the doorway and look in the
hsah ho .
When the tenth day arrived and the
lamb had been chosen, her anxiety had
increased, for in four days more 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 me vital importance
Of her sons return.
What if he cores net in time?" she
asked herself over and over again,
and rs the third day since the lamb
had been chosen drew towards a close,
and still he was absent, she felt aei
heart would break with its burden OF
anxiety.
The little lamb gave plaintive bleat
as though he hal entered into sym
pathetic feeling with his mistress III
her troubles. Again the woman
looked down, and then, dropping on
the ground a. his side, she threw her
arm about the gentle creature, and,
having no one else TO talk 10, 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 10 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. ! 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
Eyes" she broke out at last, swal-
lowing hard to keep down the sob. 1--WE
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 Abidanf
The Lord has said He would pass
through the land, and il 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 O,
hope sounded in her voice, -''unles.
some other Hebrew home where tn,
blood Is sprinkled gives him shelter.
The thought brought q glimmer O.
comfort to her heart, and set her Il
thinking. If her boy was far ava,
and dependent upon some other He
brew family to give him shelter, per
haps some other mothers boy was II
her neighborhood who would need al
Invitation and sheltering roof to pro
tect him. Why had she been so wrap
| ped up in her own as to forget thos,
about herr. Had not Moses spoken ex
pressly that the lamb and the HON,
was to be shared with the family tor
small to need one lamb or too Door tC
procure one? And here for days sh,
had been so filled with the thought O
the return of her own boy that sh,
had not looked about her to see whc
there might be who would need he,
help. She blamed herself for her self
ishness and thoughtlessness and ris
ing to her feet she hustled about he,
work with a new purpose while ever,
now and then she nodded towards tn,
little lamb approvingly and said:
Yes, your precious life shall shelte
a. many as l can find who will hay,
TO other place to go. Surely God will
be pleased to have IL thus, and Der
haps some other mother will iool
after my boy, II he return not"
After her husbands return in tn
evening twilight and the simple mea
had been partaken OF, she told him q
her plans and they met his approva
Leaving the older children to loo