第27章

The vision as he thought he saw it was this, and these were the words of it as he thought he heard them--It was the middle of the night, and he was lying in his own room, when a dull red light as of dying flame crossed the foot of the bed, and a voice that was as the voice of the Lord came out of it, crying "Israel!"And Israel was sorely afraid, and answered, "Speak, Lord, Thy servant heareth."Then the Lord said, "Thou has read of the goats whereon the high priest cast lots, one lot for the sin offering and one lot for the scapegoat."And Israel answered trembling, "I have read."Then the Lord said to Israel, "Look now upon Naomi, thy child, for she is as the sin-offering for thy sins, to make atonement for thy transgressions, for thee and for thy household, and therefore she is dumb to all uses of speech, and blind to all service of sight, a soul in chains and a spirit in prison, for behold, she is as the lot that is cast for justice and for the Lord."And Israel groaned in his agony and cried, "Would that the lot had fallen upon me, O Lord, that Thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest, for I alone am guilty before Thee."Then said the Lord to Israel, "On thee, also, hath the lot fallen, even the lot of the scapegoat of the enemies of the people of God."And Israel quaked with fear, and the Lord called to him again, and said, "Israel, even as the scapegoat carries the iniquities of the people, so cost thou carry the iniquities of thy master, Ben Aboo, and of his wife, Katrina; and even as the goat bears the sins of the people into the wilderness, so, in the resurrection, shalt thou bear the sins of this man and of this woman into a land that no man knoweth."Then Israel wrestled no longer with the Lord, but sweated as it were drops of blood, and cried, "What shall I do, O Lord?"And the Lord said, "Lie unto the morning, and then arise, get thee to the country by Mequinez and to the man there whereof thou hast heard tidings, and he shall show thee what thou shalt do."Then Israel wept with gladness, and cried, saying, "Shall my soul live?

Shall the lot be lifted from off me, and from off Naomi, my daughter?"But the Lord left him, the red light died out from across the bed, and all around was darkness.

Now to the last day and hour of his life Israel would have taken oath on the Scriptures that he saw this vision, and he heard this voice, not in his sleep and as in a dream, but awake, and having plain sight of all common things about him--his room and his bed; and the canopy that covered it.And on rising in the morning, at daydawn, so actual was the sense of what he had seen and heard, and so powerful the impression of it, that he straightway set himself to carry out the injunction it had made, without question of its reality or doubt of its authority.

Therefore, committing his household to the care of Ali, who was now grown to be a stalwart black lad his constant right hand and helpmate, Israel first sent to the Governor, saying he should be ten days absent from Tetuan, and then to the Kasbah for a soldier and guide, and to the market-place for mules.

Before the sun was high everything was in readiness, and the caravan was waiting at the door.Then Israel remembered Naomi.

Where was the girl, that he had not seen her that morning?

They answered him that she had not yet left her room, and he sent the black woman Fatimah to fetch her.And when she came and he had kissed her, bidding her farewell in silence, his heart misgave him concerning her, and, after raising his foot to the stirrup, he returned to where she stood in the patio with the two bondwomen beside her.

"Is she well?" he asked.

"Oh yes, well--very well," said Fatimah, and Habeebah echoed her.

Nevertheless, Israel remembered that he had not heard the only language of her lips, her laugh, and, looking at her again, he saw that her face, which had used to be cheerful, was now sad.At that he almost repented of his purpose, and but for shame in his own eyes he might have gone no farther, for it smote him with terror that, though she were sick, nothing could she say to stay him, and even if she were dying she must let him go his ways without warning.

He kissed her again, and she clung to him, so that at last, with many words of tender protest which she did not hear, he had to break away from the beautiful arms that held him.

Ali was waiting by the mules in the streets, and the soldier and guide and muleteers and tentmen were already mounted, amid a chattering throng of idle people looking on.

"Ali, my lad," said Israel, "if anything should befall Naomi while I am away, will you watch over her and guard her with all your strength?""With all my life," said Ali stoutly.He was Naomi's playfellow no longer, but her devoted slave.

Then Israel set off on his journey.