In a private interview, the latter suggested
the expediency of concealing the truth, and of rescuing the child they had
in fact discovered from the hands of her barbarous masters. It was now too
late to practise a deception that might have availed for this object, had
the stern principles of Content permitted the artifice. But, transferring
same portion of the interest which he felt for the fortunes of his own
offspring, to that of the unknown parent, who, like himself, most probably
mourned the uncertain fate of the girl before him, he tendered the ransom
intended for Ruth, in behalf of the captive. It was rejected. Disappointed
in both their objects, the adventurers were obliged to quit the village,
with weary feet and still heavier hearts.
If any who read these pages have ever felt the agony of suspense in a
matter involving the best of human affections, they will know how to
appreciate the sufferings of the mother, during the month that her
husband was absent on this holy errand. At times, hope brightened around
her heart, until the glow of pleasure was again mantling on her cheek and
playing in her eye.
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