And then his fellow:

"True enough! and yet,

For such young thews they give good gold--

They give good gold in Babylon!"

And, laughing thus, they left us,

To lie through hours of aching silence,

Until, at length, the cool of evening fell;

When they returned from slumber;

And loosed the ankle-cords that we might stand;

And bade our mother feed us;

And she, with tender fingers, held

The milk-bowl to our parching lips;

And thrust dried dates betwixt our teeth;

And wept, to see us standing there,

With helpless hands, before her.

Then, bringing out their mules, they saddled them;

And tied us to the girths on either hand.

They drove my weeping sisters from the cavern;

And sought to tear my mother from her home;

But she escaped them;

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