They will not trouble you by the way, since, with the exception
of a single guard, they camp yonder by the streamlet. Farewell for this
night, my child; we will meet to-morrow."
Then Miriam went to rest and dreamed of the Roman captain, and that
he, she, and Nehushta made a journey together and met with many great
adventures, wherein Caleb played some strange part. In that dream the
captain Marcus protected them from all these dangers, till at length
they came to a calm sea, on which floated a single white ship wherein
they must embark, having the sign of the Cross woven in its sails. Then
she awoke and found that it was morning.
Of all the arts she had been taught, Miriam was fondest of that of
modelling in clay, for which she had a natural gift. Indeed, so great
had her skill become, that these models which she made, after they had
been baked with fire, were, at her wish, sold by the Essenes to any who
took a fancy to them. As to the money which they fetched, it was paid
into a fund to be distributed among the poor.
This art Miriam carried on in a reed-thatched shed in the garden, where,
by an earthen pipe, water was delivered into a stone basin, which she
used to damp her clay and cloths. Sometimes also, with the help of
masons and the master who had taught her, now a very old man, she copied
these models in marble, which the Essenes brought to her from the ruins
of a palace near Jericho.
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