Her hands and feet were very
slender, and her every gesture quick and agile as that of a bird. Thus
she grew up loving all things and beloved by all; for even the flowers
which she tended and the creatures that she fed, seemed in her to find a
friend.
Now of so much learning and all this system of solemn ordered hours,
Nehushta did not approve. For a while she bore with it, but when Miriam
was about eleven years of age, she spoke her mind to the Committee and
through them to the governing Court of Curators.
Was it right that a child should be brought up thus, she asked, and
turned into a grave old woman whilst, quite heedless of such things,
others of her age were occupied with youthful games? The end of it might
be that her brain would break and she would die or become crazy, and
then what good would so much wisdom do her? It was necessary that
she should have more leisure and other children with whom she could
associate.
"White-bearded hermits," she added with point, "were not suitable as
sole companions to a little maid."
Thereon followed much debate and consultation with the doctors, who
agreed that friends of her own years should be found for the child.
This, however, proved difficult, since among these Essenes were no other
girls.
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