Page:The Faith as Unfolded by Many Prophets.djvu/46



It was midnight, and the voices of men were hushed in sleep. The hum of the city near which Havilah dwelt was still: the birds were hidden among the leaves, which were scarcely stirred by the night breeze; and the flocks reposed beside the dwellings. Havilah and his friend sat in the porch, sometimes watching the silent motions of the stars, sometimes listening to the fountain which cast forth its waters in the deep shade, and sometimes gazing upon the domes of the city, which upraised themselves against the clear sky.

It is sweeter, said Eber, to watch the repose of the world than to sleep, if the mind be fully awake, and the body not overwearied. Tomorrow, in the stir of the busy morning, we may think of what we now behold, and be re-