The moon was high in the heavens, and her clear and silver light fell softly on the bleak and barren scenery around, and glittered on the motionless surface of the deadly "sea of the plain." No sound of life broke the oppressive stillness of the night, save the footsteps of a solitary soldier, who slowly wandered along the margin of the lake, and gazed on the dark outline of the ruins that yet remained near the shore, a standing witness of the wrath of God on the sinful cities of the plain. The shattered remnants of walls and towers were covered over with a coating of asphaltum or bitumen, which preserved them from crumbling away; and the margin of the sea was strewed with pieces of the same bituminous substance, thrown up from the depths below, where all the wealth and all the grandeur of Sodom and Gomorrah lay engulfed in utter ruin. Who has ever looked upon the black expanse without a shudder? Marcellus felt that the scourge of God had passed over the spot, and he contemplated it with intense interest. Life was extinct around him--no animal bounded over the sterile rocks, no bird sank to rest in the small tufts of shrubs that scantily covered their surface. The low monotonous sound of the distant Jordan, forcing its way through the heavy waters, and the sighing of the wind among the reeds, only added to the gloom of the scene. Marcellus had been disgusted that day with the cruelty and bloodshed which he had witnessed. He had fought like a Roman, for glory and for victory; but he had remembered that he was a Christian soldier, and had shown mercy where mercy was possible. He had endeavoured to restrain the wanton massacre that was carried on by his comrades; and had exposed himself to the charge of cowardice and faint-heartedness for his humanity. But his conscience approved his conduct; and he rambled from the distant camp to enjoy the silence and calm of the night, and to commune with his own heart and with his God in peace. He ascended the rocky cliffs that bounded the lake to the west, and looked over the sleeping water, and the lower eminences on the eastern shore, until his eye rested on the far distant towers and fortresses of Jerusalem. The moonlight sparkled on the gilded pinnacles of the temple; and the clear blue sky threw out the summits of the lofty buildings in bold relief. Marcellus thought that Naomi was within those walls; and, oh, how his heart yearned to be permitted to join her there, to share her anxieties and her dangers, and to protect and cheer her in the coming days of trouble and of woe! But he was enrolled among tin ranks of her enemies, and he must be among those who would seek the ruin and destruction of her beloved city.