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prophet in Mizraim? Let us turn our faces to the east, and go back by the way which we came.

They then filled the leathern vessels with fresh water, and watered the camel, and drank themselves, and blessed the spring which had refreshed them.

And when they arrived at home, at Damascus, Thirza, the wife of Baruch, sat with her seven children under the palm-trees, before the door of the house; and she was astonished when she beheld Baruch and his servant Malchi. But Baruch embraced his wife and his children, and wept for joy.

Thirza then raised her voice, and said: Blessed be the wise man of Mizraim, who hath so soon sent you home again; and blessed be thou, Baruch, my beloved! For behold! thy look is different, and thy face shineth upon me like that of an angel of peace, Tell me the name of the Man of God, who hath restored peace to thy soul, that I may bless him!

Then Baruch smiled, and looked at his wife, and related all that had befallen him, from first to last. Lo, said he, not a man or a prophet, but God himself hath instructed me. In the desert I have learned humility; in the fountain I have recognised the mercy and loving-kindness of the Almighty, and in

my servant I have found a friend. And now I return a new creature unto you, and in my heart dwelleth peace, which is more precious than gold and silver, and which all my riches could not purchase for me.

Thus spake Baruch, and he walked righteously until the end of his days. But with his riches he did good through the whole country round, and there was not a needy person whom he did not relieve in his distress. Then said the poor, whom he assisted: Well doth Baruch bear the name, for he is blessed of the Lord, and he himself diffuses blessing. But he said: This lesson, too, the spring hath taught me.

And when a year had elapsed, he went forth to the fountain with Malchi, his friend, and with his wife and children, and consecrated the fountain, and built a house near it for the accommodation of travellers passing through the desert.

The fountain he named Beor Refah, that is, the Fountain of Recovery, and so it is called even unto this day.

71. THE GUILTY CONSCIENCE.

WHEN Cain dwelt in the land of Nod, beyond Eden, to the east, he sat one day beneath a plantain-tree, and leaned his head on his hands, and sighed. And his wife went forth to seek him, carrying the infant Enoch in her arms. When she had found him, she stood long beside him, under the plantain-tree, and heard the sighs of Cain.

Then said she to him: Cain, why sighest thou? Wilt thou never cease thy wailing? And Cain started, lifted up his head, and said: Ha! is it thou, Zillah ?—Behold, my sin is too great to be forgiven! And when he had thus spoken, he again bowed his head, and covered his face with his hands.

Ah, Cain! said his wife, with soothing voice, the Lord is merciful and abounding in goodness.

When Cain heard these words, he again started, and said: What! must thy tongue, too, be a thorn to pierce me to the heart? But she replied: Far be that from me! But listen, Cain, and look around thee. Are not our fields thriving, and have we not already twice reaped prolific crops? Is not the Lord bountiful to us, and doth he not deal graciously with us?

Yes, Zillah, answered Cain, to thee and to thy Enoch, but not to me! In his bounty I discover only how far I was from him when I slew Abel.

Zillah then interrupted him, and said: Dost not thou then cultivate the earth, Cain, and strewest thou not the seed in the furrows? Doth not the sun rise upon thee as in Eden, and the dew glisten for thee on the flowers and the sprays?

Ah, Zillah, my poor wife, replied Cain, I see only in the radiance of the dawn the bleeding head of Abel, and the dew appears to me on each spray as a tear, and on each flower as a drop of blood. Hath not the rippling brook a voice which mourns for Abel, and is it not his breath that meets me in the cooling breeze? More terrific than the word of wrath which spake to me in thunder, and asked: Where is thy brother Abel? is to me the still small voice that every where strikes my ear. And when night arrives, it envelops me like the gloomy grave, and I am surrounded by the empire of death. Noontide alone is the hour for me, when the sun scorches my head, and my sweat trickles down into the furrows, and there is no shade to screen me from his rays.

Then said Zillah: O Cain, my beloved! behold, yonder come our sheep, white as the lilies of the field, and their udders distended with milk. See

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how they skip to their pens in the radiance of evening!

Cain looked stedfastly at them, and cried: Ah, they are Abel's sheep! Are they not stained with his blood? Their bleating is a lament for Abel. What could belong to Cain?

Zillah wept, and said: Am I not then, Zillah, thy wife, who loveth thee? He replied: How canst thou love Cain, who loveth not himself? What hast thou from me but tears and sighs? ... How couldst thou love Cain, who slew Abel?

She then presented to him Enoch, her son, and the infant smiled at his father.

Then Cain fell on his face, beneath the plantaintree, and sobbed, and said: Alas! must I still behold the smile of innocence? It is not the smile of the son of Cain-it is the smile of Abel, whom Cain slew.

Thus cried he, and lay sullenly with his face to the earth. But Zillah reclined against the plantaintree; for she trembled exceedingly, and her tears trickled upon the ground.