Naomi was moved at the affectionate earnestness of her aged friend; she silently embraced her, and as Judith now rose to depart she followed her from the cottage. The sun was setting as they left the village, and they hastened forward while the short twilight of an eastern climate yet remained to guide them. Their way led through groves and orchards and rocky ravines, and they regretted that they had been induced to remain so long at Bethany, for though this part of the country had hitherto been undisturbed by the bands of robbers who infested the more distant regions, yet Judith and her young companion felt alarmed at finding themselves alone, so far from home, and in the rapidly increasing darkness. They had entered a thick grove of olive-trees, and were with some difficulty tracing the narrow path that led through it, when they were startled by perceiving several lights at some distance before them, and evidently approaching towards the spot where they stood. Hastily they concealed themselves among the thickest branches of the dark olive-trees, and waited in trembling anxiety until the dreaded party should pass. The lights came nearer and nearer, and those who carried them raised loud and frequent shouts, which added to the terror of Judith, until Naomi, whose eye and ear were quicker, and whose presence of mind was greater, started from her hiding-place and exclaimed, "It is Amaziah's voice! and now I see his tall figure advancing through the bushes. No doubt he has come to meet us." "True, my child," replied Judith; "I ought first to have recognised his voice and suspected his anxious care. Let us hasten to relieve his mind of all fears on our Account." Amaziah was well pleased to see his wife and Naomi in safety. Their long absence had alarmed him, and the accounts which had reached him that day of the unsettled state of the neighbourhood, made him apprehend that danger might lurk even among the groves of Bethany, and within sight of his own dwelling. He desired that henceforth Judith and her niece should confine their rambles to the immediate vicinity of the house unless he was able to accompany them; and knowing how greatly they would both regret being deprived of the society of Mary, he kindly proposed to send a letter the following day to bring her to their own residence, where she could remain until they returned to the city.