She could hardly sit still and feed the
little one while she heard his voice shouting in vain for the child,
and all the time she was starting with the fancy that she saw her
father move, or heard a rustling in the straw where her brothers had
laid him.
And when little Ben was satisfied, she was almost rent asunder
between her unwillingness to leave unwatched all that was left of her
father, still with that vain hopeless hope that he might revive, all
could not have been over in such a moment, and her terrible anxiety
about her little sister. Could she have run back into the burning
house? Or could those dreadful soldiers have killed her too?
Steadfast presently came back, having found some of the startled
cattle and driven them in, but no Rusha. Patience was sure she could
find her, and giving the baby to Steadfast ran out in the rain and
smouldering smoke calling her; all in vain. Then she heard voices
and feet, and in a fresh fright was about to turn again, when she
knew Jephthah's call. He had the child in his arms.
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