Thunder, a rising mutter, broke again, And Sergius in his saddle turned to look; But Saul, with forward face intent, replied: "Nay, but our Moses thou dost misconceive. All was to lose and naught to gain for him Then when he left the ease, the pomp, the power, Of Pharaoh's court--of Pharaoh's daughter son Esteemed, and to imperial futures heir-- This left, and loth his brethren led, slaves they, Out of the realm of Egypt to the sea-- For such a multitude impassable, Yet passed, through mighty miracle, by all-- Beyond the sea, into that wilderness Led them, where neither food nor water was, Yet food found they, and water, in the waste, Full forty years of error till they came Next to a land set thick with bristling spears Against them--though land promised them for theirs-- And land that Moses never was to see, Save as afar in prospect from the mount, Because unworthy judged to enter there, Who unadviséd words in haste let slip, Unworthy judged, and meekly by himself Recorded judged unworthy--such a man, To such a people, so long led by him, Through such straits of extremity, not once Spake words to humor or to flatter them; Thwarted them rather, balked them of their wish, Upbraided, blamed, rebuked, and punished them, Each art of selfish demagogue eschewed. To rule and leadership like his, nowhere Wilt thou find precedent or parallel; One key alone unlocks the mystery--God!" At that last word from Saul, like answer, came A deep-mouthed boom of thunder from the west, After a sword of lightning sudden drawn Then sheathed within the scabbard of the cloud, Which now, spread wide, had blotted out the sun. A vagrant breath of tempest shook the trees, And the scared birds flew homeward to their nests. Sergius remarked the stir of elements Uneasily the more that he alone Remarked it, Saul, involved in his own thought, Seeming unconscious of the outward world. The Roman, groping in his secret mind Vainly to find support of sympathy, Faltered to feel himself thus fronted sole With danger he could neither ward nor shun, In presence yet forbidding sign of fear.