The entrance of his father aroused him from his reverie, and the family assembled to partake of the evening meal. The ablutions prescribed by Jewish superstition were duly performed; and with this form Theophilus and Naomi always complied, as it was perfectly immaterial, and in no way opposed their private feelings. Javan watched his cousin during the performance of this simple ceremony with a look of scorn. He seemed to feel that Theophilus was committing profanation by sharing in the act; and lest he himself should contract defilement from sitting at meat with an apostate, he declined joining his family at supper, on the plea of indisposition, and remained silent and abstracted until the repast was finished, and the servants had retired. Then he turned to Theophilus and said, "You promised us an interesting account of your walk this evening. I particularly wish to know in what direction you went, and whither you led my sister and Claudia. I would have joined you, but when I returned home, I found that you had left the house more than an hour before." The imperious and contemptuous tone of Javan's voice struck all the party, and they saw that he suspected something wrong; while Claudia's changing countenance and evident agitation betrayed that there was some ground for his suspicions. Naomi had made up her mind to what would probably follow; and after all she had already undergone, she felt that her brother's hatred and scorn would be an additional sorrow sent to loosen her affections from this world. Theophilus was perfectly unmoved, and replied at once:-- "I perceive, Javan, that you have other reasons for your inquiries than mere curiosity as to the direction of our walk; therefore the most manly and ingenuous course will be at once to tell you, what I am convinced you already suspect, that I have this evening been to visit a poor Christian friend; and that the interest I take in her is not merely because she is aged and infirm, and on her deathbed, but because she is a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ." "Hear him, O righteous Zadok!" exclaimed the rabbi, starting from his seat, with uplifted hands. "The demon of heresy has again found his way into your family." "Silence, Joazer," replied Zadok, who feared that in his zeal the rabbi would forget that Javan was ignorant of his sister's apostasy, and would inadvertently allude to it. "Silence, my friend, and suffer Theophilus to explain himself more fully before we condemn him." "Yes, I will explain everything," continued Theophilus calmly. "I am neither ashamed nor afraid to declare that I hold the same faith with my dying friend, and, like her, address my prayers to Jesus of Nazareth."