Javan had absented himself from home nearly the whole day, to Naomi's great relief; and towards sunset she joined her uncle and his family, and all together proceeded by the well-known path up the Mount of Olives towards Bethany. As a proper precaution in case of Javan's having actually discovered their intention, Amaziah took with him several well-armed servants, and he and Theophilus were furnished with swords and daggers. They arrived at the dwelling of their friend, and entered as they were accustomed to do, without knocking, leaving the armed domestics to watch at the entrance. The first objects that met their view filled them with apprehensions that the venerable saint had already departed, and that their farewell visit was too late. Hannah was kneeling by the couch on which Mary was laid; and as the door opened, she turned, and held up her finger in token of silence. The tears were rolling down her cheeks, and sorrow was strongly depicted in her countenance. Judith and Naomi stepped lightly and quickly to the bedside, and Hannah drew aside the curtain that shaded the dying Christian from the light of a lamp that was suspended from the ceiling. Then they saw that life was not yet extinct, but was ebbing gently and swiftly away. Judith beckoned to her husband, and he with his son and Claudia advanced, with noiseless steps, and they all stood silently to gaze on that form which they perceived would ere long be seen no more on earth Mary's eyes were closed, and the pallid hue of death was on her cheek. So motionless, so calm she lay, that but for the deep and heavy breathing and a slight movement of her parted lips, it might have seemed that she was already dead. But her spirit was conscious still, and she was praying at that moment that she might yet be spared to see her expected and well-beloved friends, and bless them before her death; yet her bodily senses were deadened, and she did not perceive that her prayer was already granted. Presently she opened her eyes, and was casting anxious look towards the door, when she beheld all those she so ardently desired to see, standing around her, and in a weak and faltering voice she exclaimed, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace! My children, my beloved children in the Lord, this is a blessing that I had scarcely hoped for. The day has seemed long to me, for I knew that it must close ere my dying eyes could look on you; and I feared this heart would cease to beat before the time appointed for your coming. But the Lord who has supported and blessed me all my days, has heard my last request. Come near, that I may bless you all." They gathered closely round her, and knelt in reverential silence, while she moved her trembling hands, and laid them in succession on their heads.