As she spoke she became more and more amazed at the thought of what his self-deception must have been, for in his ever-shifting mind he knew her infidelity perfectly, and yet had persuaded himself that she would accept some fantastic position as prophetess-in-chief.

“How mad you are,” she said pityingly, “to know a thing and yet to pretend to yourself you do not know it.  Go and get your supper, Mr. Smith.  Emma will be waiting to give it to you.  And when you have thought quietly over what I have said, you are quite clever enough to see that my way of looking at it is more sensible than yours.”

She had perhaps supposed that the mention of the domestic supper would be punitive rather than soothing, but she was not prepared to find that she had displayed scarlet to the blood-shot eyes of a bull.

“Woman,” his voice, deep and hoarse, was like thunder about her ears, “woman, is it not enough that the Lord has spoken?”

She saw by his purple face and parched lip, by the hard shudder that went through his frame, that his fury was stronger than he.  She quailed inwardly.

“It is not enough for me that you say the Lord has spoken.”

His lips worked as if in the effort to form anathemas his dry throat refused to utter.  Then, regaining his loud hoarse speech, with a choking noise he lifted his hand in a gesture of sacerdotal menace.

“Woman, it is the last time.  Choose ye this day between blessing and cursing, for the Lord shall send the cursing until thou be destroyed and perish quickly, because of the wickedness of thy doings whereby thou hast forsaken me.”

She cried in answering excitement, “I choose your curse rather than your blessing under the conditions you propose.  You are mad; go and calm yourself.”

Then, having exhausted her physical courage in this last defiance, she went into her inner room, locking the door, leaving him in the manifest suffering of an almost unendurable rage.

CHAPTER III.

That night Susannah packed her possessions in the smallest possible compass.  The money she had lent to Emma would be sufficient for the journey to Carthage, which was the nearest Gentile town, and thither she was determined to go without an hour’s delay, ready now to work or beg her way on the journey farther eastward.

As soon as the business of the next day was fairly started she went to the suite of rooms inhabited by the Smiths, confident that Joseph’s excess of fury had been transient.  Emma was surrounded by her children, to whom she had just given breakfast.  The prophet was about to descend to his business office.  They both received Susannah with moderate kindness.

The March sun shone in through the large windows upon the garish furniture of the apartment, upon Emma’s gay attire, and upon the shining faces of the three children, who stood gazing upward at Susannah, quick, as children always are, to perceive signs of suppressed excitement.