"
Down this darksome shaft hobbled Miriam, till presently it ended in a
wall, or what seemed to be a wall--for when Ithiel pressed upon a stone
it turned. Beyond it the tunnel continued for twenty or thirty paces,
leading them at length into a vast chamber with arched roof and cemented
sides and bottom, which in some bygone age had been a water-tank. Here
lights were burning, and even a charcoal fire, at which a brother was
engaged in cooking. Also the air was pure and sweet, doubtless because
of the winding water-channels that ran upwards. Nor did the place lack
inhabitants, for there, seated in groups round the tapers, or watching
the cooking over the charcoal fire, were forty or fifty men, still clad,
for the most part, in the robes of the Essenes.
"Brethren," cried Ithiel, in answer to the challenge of one who was set
to watch the entry, "I bring back to you her whom we lost a while ago,
the lady Miriam."
They heard, and seizing the tapers, ran forward.
"It is she!" they cried, "our queen and none other, and with her
Nehushta the Libyan! Welcome, welcome, a thousand times, dear lady!"
Miriam greeted them one and all, and before these greetings were
finished they brought her food to eat, rough but wholesome, also good
wine and sweet water.
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