THE STORY OF JOSEPH.

FTER Jacob's meeting with Esau, he settled in the land of Canaan, he and his twelve sons. All of them were beloved by their father; but Joseph, a bright-eyed, beautiful lad, about seventeen years old, was he who had the largest share of his father's heart.

Jacob loved Joseph better than any of his other sons, because he was the son of his old age. Instead of his wearing the plain clothes worn by his brothers, a robe of brilliant colours was given to him by his father, and the sight of its gorgeous tints made his brothers jealous; they envied him, hated him, and very likely often wished that when he was out in the fields alone some wild beast would slay him.

One night Joseph was minding the sheep, and as they were all safe in the fold, he lay down under a tree to sleep; his crook was beside him, and his dog at his feet. Everything was very still, and Joseph soon fell asleep, and dreamed a curious dream. He thought it was harvesttime, and that he and his brothers were all in the field together, binding the sheaves of corn; and he fancied that the sheaf which he had bound rose up of itself and stood in the midst, and that all the other sheaves

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which his brothers had bound bowed down before his sheaf, just as servants would bow before their master.

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In the morning Joseph told his dream, and his brothers were very angry, and said to him, "Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?" And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words. Two or three nights afterwards Joseph laid down to sleep again, just as he had done before, and he dreamed

that he saw the sun and the moon and eleven stars all bow down to him, as if they were his servants. And in the morning he told his dream to his father and his brethren, and his father Jacob chided Joseph, saying"What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? shall I, and thy mother, and thy brothers, indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?"

One glowing hot day Joseph's brethren were looking after their sheep; the mid-day heat, however, had driven the shepherds under the

JOSEPH IS SOLD TO BE A SLAVE.

trees, and the sheep had crept away into cool places, and lay crowded together in the shade. In the valley there was a well, but there was not a drop of water in it, nor a rain cloud in the sky to promise a shower. As the brothers sat together talking about Joseph, they saw him coming towards them his light, graceful figure clothed in the robe of many colours; his long, bright hair hanging loosely on his shoulders; and his clear voice ringing out some pleasant song of home or heaven.

You might readily have guessed by the frown on their faces, the low, hurried words they uttered, that those brothers meant harm ; they crouched together and whispered-" Here cometh the dreamer. Come now, therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his dreams."

His brother Reuben was not so cruel. He saved his life, and said to them, "Let us not kill him. Shed no blood, but cast him into the pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him." This Reuben did that he might help Joseph to escape, and bring him back to his father. So they laid hold of him, and stripped off his coat of many colours, and cast him into a pit. Now this pit was a well, but, as it was not summer time, there was no water in it.

And so the day passed on, and evening shadows lengthened; the sheep wandered about and cropped the herbage; and the brothers sat at their evening meal; all except Reuben, who was away, planning some method of helping Joseph. As the brothers sat together in moody silence, they noticed a company of men coming towards them, mounted on camels, which were loaded with bales of spice. And they were going up to Egypt. The sight of these strangers decided the brothers what to do. They made up their minds to produce the lad, and to sell him for a slave.

A few moments sufficed to drag the poor boy from the pit. He, overjoyed at his escape, began to pour out his thanks, supposing his

"AND THEY TOOK HIM AND CAST HIM INTO A PIT."

brothers had relented; they silenced him with words, perhaps blows; bade him dream his dreams in slavery, for into slavery should he be sold. So they went to the well, and brought Joseph to the merchants, and

JACOB MOURNING FOR HIS SON.

sold him for twenty pieces of silver. And they took him with them into Egypt.

When Reuben, the waverer, returned, the brothers related what they had done, and he wept bitterly; but tears could not bring back Joseph; so they killed a kid, dipped Joseph's coat in the blood, and then, with a lie on their tongues, returned home.

Jacob was watching for his sons' return. He came out to meet them, and they bowed before him; he blessed them, but seemed anxious. Where was Joseph? They led him to a seat, and then produced the blood-stained coat, asking, "Is this thy son's coat?" With a bitter cry of anguish the old man recognised the beautiful garment. "It is my son's coat," he cried; "an evil beast hath devoured him. Joseph is, without doubt, rent in pieces."

Jacob mourned for Joseph; the light of the house was gone, the joy of his home departed. "I will go down into the grave," he said, "unto my son mourning."

The brothers saw his trouble, but dared not reveal the truth; many were the falsehoods which they had to utter in answer to their father's repeated questions, for one lie is the occasion of many others; and Jacob never, for a moment, suspected the truth.

When the slave dealers arrived in Egypt, they sold Joseph to a rich man, named Potiphar, and the poor lad thus became a servant in the house of the Egyptian. No doubt he sadly missed the comforts of his home, and often yearned after his father's blessing; but he thought of the prayers which had been presented every day to the living God, and did not neglect his duty. He tried to please his master, Potiphar, and God prospered him. Joseph had not been very long in his service before he was made chief man of the household; and if the brothers who had sold him into slavery, and often thought of him as groaning under the heavy whip of a taskmaster, had seen him handsomely clothed, with scores of servants