“Oh, happy day!  Father is home again!  Jupheena will now be happy.  The time of thy absence seemed long and dreary; but thou art back again in our happy home!”

“Yea, my child, I am really home again, and am happy to find my sweet Jupheena as well and as sprightly as ever.”

“But my dear father has happily returned sooner than we expected; thy stay in Egypt was but short.”

“Short, indeed, my daughter.  Pharaoh-Necho, when he saw our powerful legions, soon came to terms of peace; and in this I admire his wisdom.  From Egypt, we marched into the capital of Judah, and gained an entrance without resistance.

“My stay in Jerusalem, thou knowest, was but short, and my facilities for observation were not very favorable; but owing to peculiar circumstances, I became partially acquainted with those in Judah who left deep and happy impressions on my mind.  I found a few young men of the kingly line, who, in my opinion, were far superior in mind to any I ever had the pleasure of beholding.”

“Dear father! that is saying much.  Then they must have been very different from their royal relation, of whom thou speakest.”

“Thou hast well said, my daughter.  Happy would it have been for that distracted nation if one of those youths had graced the throne of Judah, instead of the profligate Jehoiakim.”

“Then it appears, surely,” said the daughter smilingly, “that true excellence and superiority are not confined to Chaldea.  But I hear nothing in praise of Judah’s maidens.”

“The maidens of Judah are fair—­some of them exceedingly fair.  Thou wilt wonder, perhaps, to hear that the peculiar grace and artless eloquence of one of these maids of Judah so affected thy father’s heart, that he could not refrain from shedding tears.”

“And have these interesting captives arrived in the city?”

“Yea, my daughter, they are already in Babylon.”

“And shall not thy daughter have the pleasure of seeing this orphan maid of Judah?”

“Yea, verily! this day thou shalt see her; and if thou art well pleased with her and with her society, she may be an inmate of my house, and a companion for my daughter.”

“But can the young maiden converse in Chaldee?”

“She speaks our language, my daughter, with a degree of fluency that is really astonishing.  It is evident that her attainments are quite superior, and that all the advantages which Judah’s capital could afford have been lavished upon her.”

“Oh! it will be delightful to learn beautiful stories of other lands, and have such a sweet and lovely creature for my companion; I am almost impatient to see her.”

“I will have her conveyed hither without delay.  If I mistake not, the maiden will be delighted to tarry under the roof of one whom she calls her ‘bountiful benefactor.’  Thy father will now leave for a short season, to attend to some business matters of importance.  In two hours I return.”  And kissing his sweet Jupheena, the soldier hurried out of the apartment.  A chariot stood ready at his door, into which he stepped, and was hurried away to another part of the city.