"We were coming to your store when we found how late it was. Then we thought it would be closed, and you on your way home. And so you were," said Esther, laughingly. By the time the children had reached their own door, they were so tired they thought only of bed and sleep. They were even too tired to care about their supper. "But you must not slight your night prayer," said their father, soberly. Esther's and Miriam's eyes winked and blinked a good many times before they got through the prayer. "It never seemed so long before, except when I was sick," Esther told her adopted sister, when they were at last stretched on their beds. "And, do you know, Miriam," she added, sleepily, "I believe Solomon doesn't always repeat it all. He says our people have so many prayers he gets tired of them sometimes. Isn't that dreadful?" But Miriam was already sound asleep, and did not answer. CHAPTER VII. THE CAVE "WHICH way did you come?" asked Levi, as he helped the two little girls down from the ass's back. Solomon had walked by their side all the way. "We passed through the Jaffa gate and then took the shortest way down here into the valley," said Esther. Jerusalem is surrounded by walls. There are seven gates through which the city may be entered or left. But the Jaffa and Damascus gates are the ones most used. "We saw a Bedouin riding a beautiful horse. He was in full dress, and looked just elegant," said Solomon. "I should like to own a horse like his." "Tell me how he was dressed," said Rebecca. "His long, wide cloak must have been quite new. I could tell, because the yellow stripes looked so clean and bright. The shawl bound around his head and hanging down over his shoulders was pure white," said Miriam. "His high red leather boots were the handsomest part of his dress. There were tassels at the sides, of course," interrupted Solomon. "But his sash! You ought to have seen the shining dagger and the pistol that were stuck in it. My! the man looked as though he were ready to meet any one. "His horse was a beauty, too. She was decked with red woollen tassels that reached clear to the ground. She snorted and stepped off with the spirit of a war-horse. You know the tassels are useful in keeping off the flies. There are such swarms of them the poor beasts suffer very much." [Illustration: A BEDOUIN.] "But come along, children, I know you want to have a romp under the trees. You need not stay here talking any longer." While Levi was speaking, Rebecca put her arm around Miriam's waist and tried to make her feel at home. She had not been to Jerusalem since the little orphan had come to live with Esther and Solomon. "She is a sweet child," she thought. "Not as strong as Esther nor as brave as Solomon. But she will be grateful for kindness. I feel sure of that when I look into her eyes." In a few minutes Rebecca and Levi were playing with their young company as though they were children themselves.