concealed her from the gaze of men, and her light was reflected like a
slender, glittering pillar from the motionless pool of salt-water,
enabling the watching Joshua to see what was passing below; but he
perceived nothing that resembled a human form.

Had the fugitive encountered any obstacle in the chasm? Did some
precipice or abyss hold him in its gloomy depths? Had--and at the
thought he fancied that his heart had stopped beating--Had some gulf
swallowed the lad when he was groping his way through the night?

How he longed for some noise, even the faintest, from the ravine! The
silence was terrible. But now! Oh, would that it had continued! Now
the sound of falling stones and the crash of earth sliding after echoed
loudly through the still night air. Again the moonlight burst through
the cloud-curtain, and Joshua perceived near the pool a living creature
which resembled an animal more than a human being, for it seemed to be
crawling on four feet. Now the water sent up a shower of glittering
spray. The figure below had leaped into the pool. Then the clouds again
swallowed the lamp of night, and darkness covered everything.

With a sigh of relief Joshua told himself that he had seen the flying
Ephraim and that, come what might, the escaping youth had gained a
considerable start of his pursuers.

But the latter neither remained inert nor allowed themselves to be
deceived; for though, to mislead them, he had shouted loudly: "A jackal!"
they uttered a long, shrill whistle, which roused their sleeping
comrades. A few seconds later the chief warder stood before him with a
burning torch, threw its light on his face, and sighed with relief when
he saw him. Not in vain had he bound him with double ropes; for he would