“I felt a little nervous as they were coming on, but when it came to hand-to-hand fighting I was too excited to think anything about the danger. Besides, I was standing between Jethro and Amuba, and they have fought in great battles, and seemed so quiet and cool that I could scarcely feel otherwise. Jethro took the command of everyone, and the rest obeyed him without question. But now I must go back to my post. Jethro told me to slip away to tell you that we were all safe, but I should not like not to be in my place if they attack again.” “I have often wondered, Ruth,” Mysa said when Chebron had left them, “what we should have done if it had not been for Jethro and Amuba. If it had not been for them I should have been obliged to marry Plexo, and Chebron would have been caught and killed at Thebes. They arrange everything, and do not seem afraid in the slightest.” “I think your brother is brave, too,” Ruth said; “and they always consult with him about their plans.” “Yes; but it is all their doing,” Mysa replied. “Chebron, before they came, thought of nothing but reading, and was gentle and quiet. I heard one of the slaves say to another that he was more like a girl than a boy; but being with Amuba has quite altered him. Of course, he is not as strong as Amuba, but he can walk and run and shoot an arrow and shoot a javelin at a mark almost as well as Amuba can; still he has not so much spirit. I think Amuba always speaks decidedly, while Chebron hesitates to give an opinion.” “But your brother has a great deal more learning than Amuba, and so his opinion ought to be worth more, Mysa.” “Oh, yes, if it were about history or science; for anything of that sort of course it would, Ruth, but not about other things. Of course, it is natural that they should be different, because Amuba is the son of a king.” “The son of a king?” Ruth repeated in surprise. “Yes, I heard it when he first came; only father said it was not to be mentioned, because if it were known he would be taken away from us and kept as a royal slave at the palace. But he is really the son of a king, and as his father is dead he will be king himself when he gets back to his own country.” “And Jethro is one of the same people, is he not?” Ruth asked. “Oh, yes! they are both Rebu. I think Jethro was one of the king’s warriors.” “That accounts,” Ruth said, “for what has often puzzled me. Jethro is much the oldest of our party, and altogether the leader, and yet I have observed that he always speaks to Amuba as if the latter were the chief.” “I have not noticed that,” Mysa said, shaking her head; “but I do know, now you mention it, that he always asked Amuba’s opinion before giving his own.”