



Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Emmy and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net










The Little Maid of Israel.

BY

Emma Howard Wight.

SECOND EDITION

    ST. LOUIS, MO., 1910
    PUBLISHED BY B. HERDER
    17 SOUTH BROADWAY
    FREIBURG (BADEN)      LONDON, W. C.
    GERMANY       68, GREAT RUSSELL ST.




    Copyright, 1900, by Jos. Gummersbach.

    -- BECKTOLD --
    PRINTING AND BOOK MFG. CO.
    ST. LOUIS, MO.




THE LITTLE MAID OF ISRAEL.

BY EMMA HOWARD WIGHT.




CHAPTER I.


In the Land of Israel, not a great distance from the city of Samaria,
dwelt Ezra with his wife, Sarah, and their two children, Isaac and
Leah. The sun was sinking behind the hills as Ezra and Sarah sat before
the door of their humble dwelling resting after the labors of the day.
On a couch in the doorway reclined a youth with a pale, sickly face and
emaciated limbs. Isaac, the eldest-born of Ezra and Sarah, had been
a <DW36> from birth. His eyes, dull and languid from constant pain,
tired and sad, were fixed eagerly upon the wide white road stretching
away in the distance until it was lost among the hills.

At length, with an impatient sigh, he turned his pale, wan face towards
his mother and said:

"See, mother, the sun has nearly set; why tarryeth Leah so long? 'Twas
but sunrise when she did set out for Samaria, surely she should have
