Next morning, before it was dawn in the world above, Miriam aroused
Nehushta. She had been promised that this day she should be taken up the
Old Tower, and so great was her longing for the scent of the free air
and the sight of the blue sky that she had scarcely closed her eyes this
night.
"Have patience, lady," said Nehushta, "have patience. We cannot start
until the Essenes have finished their prayers to the sun, which, down in
this black hole, they worship more earnestly than ever."
So Miriam waited, though she would eat nothing, till at length Ithiel
came and led them past the cistern up the stairs to the store or
treasure chamber, where the trap-door stood wide, since, except in case
of some danger, they had no need to shut it. Next, they reached the door
of solid stone which Ithiel showed her how to open, and entered the base
of the massive building. There, far above her, Miriam saw the sky again,
red from the lights of morning, and at the sight of it clapped her hands
and called aloud.
"Hush!" said Ithiel. "These walls are thick, yet it is not safe to raise
a voice of joy in Jerusalem, that home of a thousand miseries, lest,
perchance, some should hear it through a cleft in the masonry, and cause
search to be made for the singer.
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