Nay, for then, surely, her
heart would have warned her. Still, she craved for tidings, and alas!
there were none.
At length tidings did come--the best of tidings. One day, wearying
of the house, with the permission of her grandfather, and escorted by
servants, Miriam had gone to walk in the gardens that he owned to
the north of that part of the city on the mainland, which was called
Palaetyrus. They were lovely gardens, well watered and running down to
the sea-edge, and in them grew beautiful palms and other trees, with
fruitful shrubs and flowers. Here, when they had roamed a while, Miriam
and Nehushta sat down upon the fallen column of some old temple and
rested. Suddenly they heard a footstep, and Miriam looked up to see
before her a Roman officer, clad in a cloak that showed signs of
sea-travel, and, guiding him, one of Benoni's servants.
The officer, a rough but kindly looking man of middle age, bowed to her,
asking in Greek if he spoke to the lady Miriam, the granddaughter of
Benoni the Jew, she who had been brought up among the Essenes.
"Sir, I am she," answered Miriam.
"Then, lady, I, who am named Gallus, have an errand to perform"; and
drawing from his robe a letter tied with silk and sealed, and with the
letter a package, he handed them to her.
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