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them. They held their infants heavenward, and amid streaming tears they cried : " For the sake of these innocent babes, hear our prayers." The young- of their stalled cattle they separated from the mother beasts, the young were left within the stable, the old were put without. So parted from one another, the young and the old began to bellow aloud. Then the Ninevites cried : " If Thou wilt not have mercy upon us, we will not have mercy upon these beasts."
The penance of the Ninevites did not stop at fasting and praying. Their deeds showed that they had determined to lead a better life. If a man had usurped another's property, he sought to make amends for his iniquity; some went so far as to destroy their palaces in order to be able to give back a single brick to the rightful owner. Of their own ac- cord others appeared before the courts of justice, and con- fessed their secret crimes and sins, known to none beside themselves, and declared themselves ready to submit to well- merited punishment, though it be death that was decreed against them.
One incident that happened at the time will illustrate the contrition of the Ninevites. A man found a treasure in the building lot he had acquired from his neighbor. Both buyer and seller refused to assume possession of the treasure. The seller insisted that the sale of the lot carried with it the sale of all it contained. The buyer held that he had bought the ground, not the treasure hidden therein. Neither rested satisfied until the judge succeeded in finding out who had hidden the treasure and who were his heirs, and the joy of the two was great when they could deliver the treasure up to its legitimate owners.35
