Citation
Bible stories for children

Material Information

Title:
Bible stories for children the Bible stories from Genesis to Revelation told in a simple and attractive style : designed to interest and instruct the young in God's Holy Book : including stories of Bible heroes, the story of Jesus and the story of St. Paul
Creator:
Neil, Henry ( Editor )
Morton, G. E. ( Editor )
Brown, William Adams, 1865-1943 ( editor )
Winter, Charles T ( Editor )
Conwell, Russell H., 1843-1925 ( editor, author of introduction )
Plockhorst, B ( Illustrator )
Defregger, Franz von, 1835-1921 ( Illustrator )
Hofmann, J. M. H ( Illustrator )
Raphael, 1483-1520 ( Illustrator )
Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883 ( Illustrator )
Rubens, Peter Paul, 1577-1640 ( Illustrator )
Place of Publication:
[S.l.
Publisher:
s.n.]
Publication Date:
Language:
English
Physical Description:
372 p., [12] leaves of plates (some double) : ill. (some col.), music ; 27 cm.

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Bible stories, English ( lcsh )
Christian life -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh )
Bldn -- 1892
Target Audience:
juvenile ( marctarget )

Notes

General Note:
Colored plates by B. Plockhorst, Fr. Defregger, J.M.H. Hofmann, Raphael, Gustave Doré, Peter Paul Rubens; protective sheets have a full page description of the illustration printed in red.
Statement of Responsibility:
edited by Henry Neil ; assisted by Mrs. G.E. Morton, William A. Brown, Charles T. Winter and Russell H. Conwell ; illustrated with over two hundred magnicent full-page engravings and colored plates.

Record Information

Source Institution:
University of Florida
Rights Management:
This item is presumed to be in the public domain. The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries respect the intellectual property rights of others and do not claim any copyright interest in this item. Users of this work have responsibility for determining copyright status prior to reusing, publishing or reproducing this item for purposes other than what is allowed by fair use or other copyright exemptions. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions may require permission of the copyright holder. The Smathers Libraries would like to learn more about this item and invite individuals or organizations to contact The Department of Special and Area Studies Collections (special@uflib.ufl.edu) with any additional information they can provide.
Resource Identifier:
002469977 ( ALEPH )
AMH5488 ( NOTIS )
212375353 ( OCLC )

Downloads

This item has the following downloads:

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Full Text




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BIBLE STORIES
CHILDREN

THE BIBLE STORIES FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION TOLD IN A
SIMPLE AND ATTRACTIVE STYLE
Designed to Interest and Instruct the Young in God’s Holy Book
INCLUDING

STORIES OF BIBLE HEROES, THE STORY OF JESUS AND THE STORY OF ST. PAUL

|

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\



HEADS OF MADONNA & CHILD FROM RAPHAEL'S FAMOUS PAINTING
Edited by Henry NeI1, assisted by

Mrs. G. E. Morton, Wititiam A. Brown, CHARLES T. WINTER

RUSSELL eL CONWELL,

Pastor of The Temple, the Largest Church in America.

ILLUSTRATED WITH OVER TWO ARUNDRED

Magnificent Full-page Engravings and Colored Plates

Copyright by Henry Netz, 189)



|MTRODUCTION FOR PARENTS
INTRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN

THE FIRST GARDENER
Tan First MURDERER
Tas First Boat-BUILDER
Tyr BRICK TOWER ;
Ty Boy IN THE DESERT
Tun BANISHED MAN
Ta OBEDIENT SON

Tye WIFE SEEKER -
Tu First TwINns .
Tam DREAM . ‘ iS
‘Tag NEw Coat . .
“Sayt FOREIGN RULER .
HorRIBLE THINGS ,
A LonG JOURNEY .
Tum Boy IN A BASKET
Tue GREAT GENERAL
Wan DASHING WARRIOR
TuE SLAIN DAUGHTER
Tur MAN oF MUSCLE
Tins GENTLE GLEANER
Tyr Boy IN THE TEMPLE
Tur GIANT KILLER -
Tue WISEST OF MEN .
THE FIRE CHARIOT -
‘Te BALD-HEADED MAN
THe SicK RULER 5
Tu BEAUTIFUL QUEEN
Tue UNHAPPY MAN

Tur Lion TAMER

SWALLOWED ALIVE

«6 CONTENTS.



PAGE

cee aia. saat
. . . . AO
. . . 9
Sip ah ina ciate ele
Sacre aeg spite 14
aor eng 19
Sipetaial ; fae 2
. Cas ne A
b ; . . 29
er Uecn enactment oe
. Sars 35
° . . . aes
Pee anno ms ier ieee AS.

. . . 55
. . . . 64
. . . : . 68
. . Q 0 72
O . ‘ 0 76
. . ‘ ° - 78
. . . . . 85
. . : 88
. ces : . gl

. . 105
. 106
. 108
. 112
. . . 114
. 116



Wuy Jesus CaME . 9 ° fs
THE VIRGIN MARY . 3 ° .
THE BIRTH OF JESUS . . . .
Toe Wisk MEN . . . e °
Wuat Kinc Herop DID . 0 .
THs BoyvHooD OF JESUS . . .
THE BaPrismM OF JESUS , .
THE TEMPTATION ; ; 0 .
THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS. . .
THE First MIRACLE . : .
JESUS AT THE PASSOVER - 9 .

NICODEMUS . 5

. . . .

Tu WOMAN OF SAMARIA .- c 3
Tur NOBLEMAN’S SON : . .

Jesus DRIVEN AWAY FROM NAZARETH
Jesus CaLLs HIs DIscIpLES AGAIN .
A SABBATH AT CAPERNAUM . .
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT . F
THE LEPER HEALED .« . : .
Tai CENTURION’S FAITH . . ;
Sur Wrpow oF NAIN 0 O a
Tur PALSIED Man HEALED ; .
More MIRACLES OF HEALING ,
TuE CRIPPLE AT BETHESDA i ,
Tye PHARISEE AND THE SINNER

Tue MAN WITH THE WITHERED HAND
Jusus CHOOSES THE TwrLVE APOSTLES
A PARABLE, AND THE STORM AT SEA
Tu DEMONIAC HEALED

‘Se DEATH OF JOHN THE BAprist
FEEDING THE Fiv— THOUSAND . -

Jusus WALKING ON THE SEA. .

PAGE

. 120
5 1B

- 124

126

. 210
. 214
. 216
. 220

. 224



2 CONTENTS.

Many Disciples LEAVE JESUS .

THE WOMAN OF TYRE

PEOPLE HEALED, AND TAUGHT, AND FED

Jusus TELLS THE TWELVE OF COMING SORROWS
THE TRANSFIGURATION

THE DEMONIAC Boy . .

Jesus TEACHES THE TWELVE . é

Jusus TEACHES IN THE TEMPLE

THE MAN BORN BLIND ; . .

THE SEVENTY , . . 0 ;

THE PRODIGAL SON

THE KINDNESS OF JESUS . : 9 .
MARTHA AND Mary . 3 ; 0 5
LAZARUS RAISED TO LIFE . 0 r . 5

ON THE WAY TO JERUSALEM .

JUDAS . f . f . . .

A Day OF TRIUMPH . : . ; 2
THE Last SUPPER ; . . 5 .

IN THE GARDEN . . . a a .
PETER’S DENIAL . ; . . eS F
JESUS BEFORE PILATE . : . . :

. 280
. 286
. 292

. 298

« 302



THE DEATH OF JuDAS . . .
JESUS ON THE CRosS . . : . ;
THE DEATH OF JESUS . 0 . : .
Jesus RISEN . : : - . .

THE WALK TO EMMAUS .
Jesus SHows His HANpDS, AND FEET, AND
By THE LAKE OF GENNESARETH

THE ASCENSION . s .

THE Day oF PENTECOST .

THE STILL, SMALL Voce .

THE First MIRACLE BY THE APOSTLES
THE STORY oF St. STEPHEN. 2 .

THE CONVERSION oF St. PAu . i ‘

St. Pau, aT Lystra . . : :
St. Pau, aT ATHENS :

ST. Paul VISITS JERUSALEM 5 . °
Sr. PauL ATTACKED BY A Mop cs .
St. Paul, BEFORE AGRIPPA 5 6 7

THE TEMPEST AND ST. PAUL’S VISION .
St. PAUL’S SHIPWRECK ;

AN ANGEL DELIVERS PETER FROM PRISON



SIDE

PAGE
+ 309
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» 316

. 320

a ROH)
» 334
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. 340
» 344
- 346
- 348
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> 354
mas
- 362
- 364
. 366
- 368
- 370
- 372



8 List of Illustrations. 5°

Aoam and Eve Expelled from the Garden
Cain and Abel Offering Sacrifice
dhe Murder of Abel

The Flood
The Dove Leaving ree Ark
The Tower of Babel
The Expulsion of Hagar

Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness
Abraham Entertains Three Strangers
The Burning of Sodom
Lot Fleeing from Sodom
The Trial of Abraham’s Faith
Eliezer and Rebekah
Isaac Welcomes Rebekah
isaac Blessing Jacob
Jacob's Dream :
Joseph Sold into Egypt .
Joseph Interpreting Pharaoh’s Dream
Joseph Maketh Himself Known to his Brethren
Jacob Going Down into Egypt 5 0 9
Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh .
The Plague of Murrain .
The Plague of Darkness A
Death of the First-born in Egypt
Drowning of Pharaoh’s Army in the Red Sea
Moses Coming Down from Mt. Sinai
Korah, Dathan and Abiram Swallowed Up .
The Brazen Serpent
Baalam Stopped by an Angel .
Crossing of the Jordan by the Children of ioe ,
Finding of Moses
Water from the Smitten eee
‘The Walls of Jericho Fall Down
jesiua Commands the Sun to Stand Still
Sisera Slain by Jael
Gideon Choosing his Soldiers
Gideon Surprising the Midianites .

Jephthah’s Daughter Coming Out to Meet ihe? nee

Samson Slaying the Lion

Samson Slaying the Philistines ;
Samson Carrying off the Gates of Gaza
Samson and Delilah : . :
The Death of Samson. . : a .

PAGE

PAGE
Naomi and her Daughters-in-law . : , 86
Boaz and Ruth : 5 : f . : 87
The Return of the Ark . 5 2 89
Saul and David 3 P : ' . 92
David Sparing Saul 93
The Death of Saul 94
The Death of Absalom 95
' The Judgment of Solomon 97
' Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son 99
| Elijah Confounds the Prophets of Baal . IOI
Elijah Nourished by an Angel 102
Elijah Causes Fire from Heaven to Destroy the cor
diers of Ahaziah . 103
Elijah’s Ascent in a Chariot of Fire . 104
Elisha and the Famine in Samaria 107
Queen Vashti Refuses to Obey the Orders of ieecerss 10g
Esther Confounding Haman . Pm IeIg!
Job Informed of his Ruin manele
Daniel in the Lion’s Den . IIs
Jonah Cast Up by the Whale peeraly)
Jonah Exhorts the People of Nineveh to enearaaee a Hite
Jesus the Christ cea
The Nativity : 125,
_ The Star in the East meet
| The Flight into Egypt . 12e
The Flight into Egypt . 13]
‘The Massacre of the Innocents Paplsg a
‘The Return from Egypt . 13
The Child Jesus . 135
Jesus with the Doctors . 137
Jesus in the Midst of the Doctors . . 139
The Voice in the Wilderness . Peel
John the Baptist Preaching . 143
The Temptation » TAS
Jesus Tempted by the Dee . 147
The Lamb of God . . 149
The Calling of the Fisherman . 151
The Marriage in Cana of Galilee PERS
Jesus Cleansing the Temple . , E aS y7
Jesus and Nicodemus . : - 159
Jesus and the Woman of eens 3 fs . 161
Jesus in the Synagogue . , - . . . 166
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth . . . , . 168





4 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Jesus Preaches from a Ship

Jesus Healing the Sick

Jesus in Prayer

The Sermon on the Mount

The Leper

The Healing of the not s oon an
The Sou of the Widow of Nain
The Paralytic Healed

‘The Calling of St. Matthew
Touching the Hem of his Garment
The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter
Healing of the Impotent Man at the Pool
The Sinner and the Pharisee .
Plucking Corn on the Sabbath
The Man with the Withered Hand
The Duinb Man Healed

The Parable of the Sower

The Miracle of the Tempest

The Beheading of John the Baptist
The Daughter of Herodias

The Miracle of the Loaves
Feeding Five Thousand

Jesus Walking on the Water

The Syrophenician Woman

The Healing of a Deaf Man .
Jesus Healing the Blind

The Journey to Philippi

The Transfiguration

The Demoniac Boy Healed
Children Brought to Jesus

Jesus and the Boy 3
Jesus Teaching in the oneerie :
Servants of the Chief Priest .

The Healing of the Man Born Blind
The Man Healed on the Sabbath
The Friend of Publicans and Sinners
The Departure of the Prodigal Son
The Prodigal’s Return

The Healing of the Infirm Meee
The Ten Lepers

Children in the Arms of yecne
Jesus in the Home at Bethany
Resurrection of Lazarus ,
The Healing of Blind Bartimeus
Mary Anointing the Feet of Jesus

+ 257
- 258
+ 259
e201
. 263
. 264
» 265
. 267
5 Py
» 275
- 277

PAGE

. 171
+ 175
- 177
- 179
. ISI
. 185
LST,
. 189
. 192
» I94
. 196
» 199
- 201
. 204
. 206
» 209
5 Bui
5. Bite
. 217
. 219
5 PAIL
. 223
. 225
EERO
» 233
+ 235
+ 237
» 239
. 241
» 243
» 245
» 247
» 249

253



The Treachery of Judas , . :
For the Master’s Use

Weeping Over Jerusalem

The Entry into Jerusalem

The Triumphal Entry

The Footwashing

The Prayer of Jesus in the lunes oon
The Sleeping Disciples : "
The Agony in the Garden

Judas Guiding the Soldiers

Jesus Betrayed by Judas

The Denial of Peter

The Repentance of Peter

Jesus Insulted

Jesus Scourged

Jesus and Pilate

Jesus and the Soldiers

Jesus Crowned with Thorns

The Ascent to Calvary

Jesus Faints under the Cross .
Nailed to the Cross

Lifting up the Cross

The Death of Jesus

The Crucifixion

After the Crucifixion

Preparing for the Burial

Burial of Jesus

The Angel at the epics

Jesus Appears to Mary

The Walk to Emmaus

The Disciples at Emmaus

Doubting Thomas’s Answer

Peter and his Lord by the Sea

The Ascension

The Day of Pentecost

The Disciples Preaching

Olivet and Jerusalem

Peter and John Healing the ame ten
The Martyrdom of Stephen

Distant View of Damascus

Ruins of the Walls of Antioch
Statue of St. Paul ,

Site of the Areopagus at Athens

The Tower of Antonia, Jerusalem
An Angel Delivers Peter from Prison



PAGE

» 279
. 281
. 282
. 283

285.
287

» 291
. 293.
» 2904
- 295
. 296-
- 209
» 3Cl
- 303
» 304.
» 305
. 306.
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. 361
» 373.



UN TRO IDIUIC ION IFOIR, JPAIRUEIN US,



gee OOKS are silent; but they speak. They go where teachers and
Y guardians cannot go. They influence character far more than is
estimated in these days of haste and care. ‘The books on the
centre-table at home have decided the success or failure of un-
counted multitudes. Being deeply sensible of the great influ-
ence of stich books, I am delighted with the privilege of intro-
ducing to you this volume. I know this book will not sow any
seeds for bitter fruit. No curses will follow it; no hearts will be
broken by it. It will be a sincere Christian friend whose conversation will be fascinating,
and yet whose teaching will be pure and ennobling. No Novel more interesting, and no
moral Essay more elevating. That is a rare combination; and one to be highly prized
by the mother or father who loves his children. It brings the Bible within the clear
comprehension of the young, and wins their respect and affection for that truth which
inspires to holy character and urges on to heroic deeds. Such a volume in the house is
a forcible and permanent declaration to all who enter it, that the home is moral and
happy. It commands a continuous benediction, and will throw an influence like a search-
light out over the future path of sons and daughters. It will be a good deed to put this
book in the heart of the family-circle, and it will be a pure satisfaction in after years to
watch the development of golden fruit in the lives of those loved ones who read and
remember its beautiful and Divine narratives.

(5)



INTRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN.

ET me take you by the hand, my little friend, and introduce you
to some new acquaintances. You will be glad to have them
among your friends, too, as you come to know them better.
These stories in this book I call my little friends. Do you know
why? Well, it is because they tell the truth. ‘These stories
tell just what the Bible directs them to tell. No bad man could
hire them totella lie. No horrid old tramp could frighten them
enough to make them deceive any one. ‘They not only tell the



truth themselves, but they urge every one else todoso. You like
to hear stories, I know. But all stories are not clear illustrations of the Gospel truth. So
Iam glad to introduce you to these. For they tell us noble, good things about people
who lived in Bible times. Every boy and girl who listens to them will be brighter
and better.

Then, too, I like to place you in their company because they are good. Sometimes
even wicked folks tell the truth, but they talk about hateful, mean, bad things. These
stories don’t talk about such things as that. "They are good stories, and they want to
do good. They won’t say a word to draw young folks into quarrels, or to make any one
cross, disobedient, selfish or rude. Sometimes a little book creeps into your home,
dressed up very fine. It has a gilt top, like a new hat; gold borders, like finger rings,
and a soft, smooth binding, like rich new clothes. But it is bad company. It may be
very polite, interesting, and funny, but it is not good. You would not be seen with such
a story if you knew how bad it was. ‘They tell lots of wicked things. We dream about
- the horrid things they say and sometimes wake up and cry, “I don’t like such dreadful
story books.” But these stories, which these good people have sent into your home in
this book, are pure, nice companions, and will try hard to make you good and happy.

Perhaps you do not need an introduction to any of them. They may be all old
acquaintances. But they have on a new suit of clothes. Did you ever meet a boy or a

girl just after they had put on a new spring suit? You did not know who they were
(6)



“HEH SHALL GATHER THE LAMBS IN HIS ARMS.”
By Prof. B. Plockhorst.

THE ideal mission of the Son of God, whose holy blood has been
sacrificed for the salvation of us all, has found one of its most pow-
erful pictorial interpreters in the celebrated painter oS religious sub-
jects, Prof. B. Plockhorst, of Germany.

The masterpiece of art before us is one of the most widely known
pictures by this great painter, and reproductions of it in all forms,
from a wood-cut for school books to brilliant stained élass windows
in great churches of the metropolis, are spread throughout the realm
of Christendom. . | -

Looking at the calm, gentle features of the Heavenly Shepherd in
whose embrace and on whose bosom the helpless lamb is nestling, we
must say with the artist, Here is the symbol of our happiness, His
arms are the sheltering place we have to seek, Him we have to follow,
for His watchful eye is over us when we find ourselves entangled in
the thorns of life on this earth of sorrow, weakness and sin.

Fearless is He leading onward to eternal joy, and happy are those
belonging to His flock, for they will not be lost in the wilderness. .

The artistic composition before us is unsurpassed, and is laying
down the foremost principles of our Christianity and its everlasting
invitation to all willing to be faithful members of the flock: ‘‘Come
and follow me, for Il am the resurrection and the life ; I will make
your life endless at the cost of my blood, for such is the will of my
Father.” .

Great indeed and surely inspired is the artist whose brush can
become the means of producing a painting that will speak in such a
powerful voice to all of a Christian spirit—that can demonstrate its
beauty in such a charming form, and can assure every one of the
only way to secure its promises—by following the godly Shepherd.

The charm of this painting is also éreatly increased by the truth
of the pastoral scenery surrounding the Saviour’s figure and a highly
poetic atmosphere which is adding to the effect produced by the
wonderful-composition before us.







HE SHALL GATHER THE LAMBS IN HIS ARMS.



INTRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN. 7

until your father told you, or until you came so close te them as to look right into their
eyes. It may be that you will know all of these, as one after the other opens its eyes
to you. But the best thing about these stories is the fact that your parents love them
as much as you will. Millions of boys, girls, men and women love these stories. An-
gels that live in the Shining Land of Heaven love them, too. ‘They never can be less
beautiful or less interesting. Oh, indeed, they are good stories. They have talked to
very bad girls and boys and helped them to be clean, and polite and good. ‘They have
told old folks how to be patient, strong and true. They have made the poor richer.
They have made the sorrowful happy. ‘They have made the wicked pure. They have
made quarrelsome families peaceful. They have made hateful men loving. They have
helped millions of people to die happy. Oh, yes, we all love these good stories.

They tell of brave deeds, of narrow escapes, of wars, of flowers, of travel, of ani-
mals, of little folks, of giants, of school, of church, of good people and wicked people.
But they tell of them all in a way that is pure and true.

I know you will love them. So, when you get acquainted with them, I want you
to introduce them to your grandpa, and papa, and grandma, and mamma, and Uncle John,
and Aunt Sarah, and Cousin. Fred. They will be more glad to know them than even
you are. All cultivated persons need to know about these stories, and all really good
people want them in their homes. It is a deed of kindness to recite these stories to any
one who does not know about them. You cannot read them too often. Some little folks
learn them by heart. Perhaps you will do so. Don’t forget now that you are introduced
to them. So you are now supposed to be acquainted for always.

























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































ADAM AND EVE EXPELLED FROM THE GARDEN,



THE FIRST GARDENER.

EARLY 6000 years ago, about 6000 miles from your house, in the
far-off land of Asia, there once lived a man who never had a
father or mother, an aunt or uncle, nor even a brother or sister.
To tell the truth, he never had been a baby, and the first: little boy
he ever saw was his own son. Just think of it; he came into the
world a full-grown man, and not a tiny, red-faced, crying infant
like you and I used to be. When he first opened his eyes, he
found himself in the most beautiful garden the world has ever

is seen, All kinds of flowers and trees were there, and not a single

weed could be found. Berries and fruit grew everywhere, and he could eat just as much
as he wanted. Clear streams of water flowed through the garden, and he could sit on
the grassy banks and watch the little fishes swim over the pebbles.

But one of the strangest things about this charming place was the tame condition
of all the animals, for although there were plenty of tigers and lions and other beasts,
they were all tame and would not bite the man who lived in the garden with them. They
all liked him very much, and he gave names to them, and would pat their heads and play
with them, just like you do with your funny little dog or cat. Even the big snakes that
glided through the grass were harmless, and he could sleep among them without being
hart by them.

But though everything was bright and pleasant around him, this man was very
lonely, for he could find no one to talk to him, If he talked toa lamb or sheep, it would
say baa! to him, the dogs would say bow! bow! and would wag their tails, the cats could
only mew, and the lions give a little roar. The snakes and geese would sometimes hiss,
and the monkeys would make a chattering noise, which he could not understand, as they
jumped from branch to branch of the trees.

Oh, how he prayed to the God who had given him life to please make some one like
himself, with whom he could talk and who would be a companion to him. And God
heard his prayer and created a wife for him in the queerest way you ever heard of. I
will tell you all about it.

One night this lonely man went to sleep upon his bed of flowers and grass, and God
came to him and took a rib, which you know is a crooked bone, out of the man’s side
without hurting him, and formed that rib at once into a beautiful woman, and the next
morning when the man woke he found a sweet wife lying close by his side. Oh, but he
was happy when he saw her wake up as if from a dream, and heard her talk in his own
language. ‘The world was all new to her, for she had never seen the sun, or trees oi
flowers before, and he had so much to tell her about the beauties of the garden. ‘Then
he brought her fruit and berries, and she ate the first breakfast she had ever tasted.
After breakfast he took her hand in his, and they walked through the garden like two
children looking at the many pretty things all around them. They talked and they

fq)






10 THE FIRST GARDENER.

laughed, and sometimes they would take a little run over the grass. When they grew
tired they would sit on the edge of a stream and let the water flow over their feet, And
then she would ask him all sorts of questions about the big and the little animals that
were walking or leaping around them, and looking very curiously at their new mistress,
whom God had sent to live with their master. And after they had rested a little while
they took another walk to visit a part of the garden in the centre, which the woman had
not yet seen.

After a while they came to a tree, the fruit of which was the most beautiful of any fruit
in the garden. ‘The branches were filled with this fruit, and it looked ripe and very good
toeat. But the man told his wife that she must never touch the apples which grew
upon that tree, because God had said it was the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and
no one should pluck its fruit. Then they stood near the tree, and he told her all he
knew about the good God who had placed them in this garden, and allowed them to eat
everything they pleased except the apples which grew on that one tree. And his wife
promised him she would never touch the fruit on that tree, but as she passed it she
looked back at the tree and wondered why God would not permit her husband and her-
self just to take a little bite of one apple to see how it tasted. And these two people
lived happily in this garden for some time, and loved each other very much.

One day, however, the woman thought she would take a walk to the middle of the
garden. It was very wrong in her to do so, but she went direct to this tree, and stood
beneath it and looked up at the apples, which were hanging just over her head. You
have heard of Satan, the fallen angel, who puts bad thoughts into the heads of little
children and makes them do wrong and disobey their parents and teachers. Well, old
Satan was watching this woman, though she did not know it, and he assumed the appear-
ance of a serpent and crawled up the side of the tree opposite to where she stood. She
thought at first he was a big snake, until she saw his queer head among the branches
and heard him speak to her in her own language. She wasn’t afraid, for the snakes
were all tame and she had never seen anything in the garden to frighten her. Satan then
tempted her, and told her that if she would eat an apple from that tree, that sne should
know every thing that God himself knew, and that she would not die as God had said,
if she tasted this fruit. ‘The woman believed this bad spirit, Satan, and she pulled some
apples and ate them, and gave her husband some of the fruit, and he also ate.

That same day, after the sun had just set and the little birds were going to sleep,
God himself came into the garden; and although the man and woman could not see
Him, they heard Him calling them. And they were frightened and hid themselves,
You know that no living person ever saw God; but when we die we shall see Him, if
we lead good lives and give our hearts to Him, because he lives in heaven, where we all
wish to go. But God soon found them, and asked the man if he had eaten any of the
fruit of the forbidden tree. And the man said: “ Yes, but I did so because the woman
you gave me for a wife first ate it, and handed some to me.”



THE FIRST GARDENER. II

And the woman then said to God: “I ate it because the snake tempted me.” And
God cursed the snake, and told the man and woman that they must leave their beautiful
home forever and go outside the garden into the rough country, which was hot and dry
and covered with weeds, and must work hard to get food to eat. What a night of sor-
row they must have spent after God told them this! I guess they both cried all night
long, for they had offended God and sinned very deeply.

The next morning God sent some angels into the garden with flaming swords in
their hands, and they drove the man and woman before them out of the gates into the
wild, dreary country outside, to labor—oh, so hard !—for their daily bread.

There was no more happiness for them in this world. All they could hope for and
pray for was, that after they should labor hard for themselves and the children that
should be born unto them, God would forgive their sins and take them again to His
favor and presence in the world beyond the skies.

The man had a long time given him in this world in which to repent of his disobe-
dience to God, for he lived to be 930 years old, which is ten times as long as our oldest
men live nowadays.

I trust that this long story about Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden
of Eden has not wearied my little readers, but that they have read with interest the sad
fate of our first parents.

THE FIRST MURDERER,

age |

iy) HERE once lived two brothers, the older of whom was strong and
Pe passionate, while the other was gentle and good. They lived in
the country with their father and mother, for then there were no
cities or towns. ‘The elder brother was a farmer, and dug his land
with a rough hoe, for in those days there were no ploughs. ‘The
younger brother was a shepherd, and took charge of the flocks
aud herds, At that time, people worshipped God in a different
ZG AV). way from what they do now. They had no churches or ministers,

y AER because there were only a very few people in the world.

Hach of these brothers made a pile of big stones, and laid on them some dry leaves
and pieces of wood, which would easily burn when they should be set on fire. The elder
brother placed on the altar which he had built—for these piles of stone and wood were
called altars—some fruits and vegetables and grain, while the younger brother killed
one of his sheep and put it on his altar, "They then tried to obtain fire, in order to burn
these offerings to God. In those days they had no matches to light fires with, and they
had to strike two flint stones together to make sparks, which, falling on the dry leaves,
would raise a flame.

































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































CAIN AND ABEL OFFERING SACRIFICE.

XN







































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































THE MURDER OF ABEL.



14 THE FIRST MURDERER.

Soon both the fires were lit, and a queer thing happened. The fire on the altar of
the younger brother burned brightly, and the flame rose straight in the air; while the
fre on the other altar burned feebly, and sent out vast masses of smoke right in the
face of the elder brother, who saw that God was not pleased with him and would not re- .
ceive his offering, for he had not been a good man. He was very angry, therefore; and,
in a moment of fierce rage, he seized a club and killed his younger brother.

This was the first murder that ever occurred in the world, and nobody but God was
looking when the fearful act was done. He called from the clouds to the guilty man
and gave him His curse. He placed a mark or brand on his forehead, so that all should
know the murderer, and then drove him from his home to wander in another country.
God cursed the ground, so that it would never produce anything as the result of his
planting, and this forced him to work at something else than digging the earth. And
this wretched man hurried away without daring to see his parents, who were heartbroken
when they found the dead body of the son they had so much loved.

Oh, what a sad life was his in a far-off land, thinking often of his murdered brother,
and of his father and mother toiling alone at home at work which he should have done. And
then to know that God had stamped a scar on his face, which seemed to burn there like
fire, and which made people avoid him as a murderer.

No mother names her little boy Cain after this murderer, but I have heard of two or
three men named Abel after the innocent brother, whom God loved so much, and who
was mourned so greatly by Adam and Eve, his parents.



THE FIRST BOAT-BUILDER,

) /HE story I am now about to tell you is one of the most wonderful
in the world’s history, and it tells of an event which took place
4300 years ago, or about 1600 years after Adam was created.
There are plenty of bad people in the world now and there are
very many good people also, but at that time neatly everybody
was wicked and God determined to destroy them.

_ It seems very strange, but there was but one family in the
whole world who really loved God. ‘To be sure there were but
few people then living compared with the millions now alive, and
they probably all lived in Asia, which is a country, as you know, very far from here.
Some of these people, like Methuselah, lived to be nearly a thousand years old, and
some of them were giants, they were so tall and big. The oldest man I ever saw was
just one hundred years old, and I don’t think you ever saw a man or woman quite that
old. Just to think of old Methuselah living to be 969 years old, and his grandfather





THE FIRST BOAT-BUILDER. 15

Jared living 962 years. Methuselah’s father, whose name was Enoch, never died, but
was carried up to heaven when he was 365 years old. The only other man who was
ever taken right straight from earth to heaven without dying was Elijah.

Let me see, I was going to tell you about the great flood of water which God poured
down on the earth in order to drown the wicked people who were then living.

Many years before the rain began to fall, God called from the clouds to a good man
whom He loved, and told him to build a very large boat, in which he could save hirnself
and his wife and his three sons and their wives, all of whom worshipped God. And God
told the man to make this boat so large that two of every living thing could be also
taken in it and saved from the flood which was to come. And this righteous man be-
lieved God’s word, and he employed carpenters and other workmen to build it. It was
to be about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

The people must have thought he was crazy to commence to build this immense
boat in a place where there was no water to float it in and no prospect of any. But as
he was able to pay the workmen, they kept on with their work, although everybody in
that part of the country laughed at it, and made fun of this man and his three sons, who
were helping to build the vessel.

After a long time it was finished, and I tell you it was one of the queerest-looking
boats anybody ever made. It was three stories high, and had a big door on the side to
let the people and animals come in. It was not intended to go fast, but merely to float
on the water. It had stalls in it like those you see in a stable.

And then appeared the oddest sight the world has ever seen, and the neighboring
people looked on at first in wonder and afterwards in great terror. Two elephants came
walking together from a long distance to enter the boat, and brought their trunks with
them. They were followed by two lions, and two bears, and two tigers, and two of every
kind of animals, who came walking or running along in a hurry to get into the beat
These wild beasts acted as if they were perfectly tame, for they did not fight with each
other, nor did they try to hurt the family who owned the boat. ‘They went in their stalls
on the big vessel and were fed. And the air was filled with birds, who came from all
quarters and flew right into the door of the boat and perched on some bars that had been
placed there for them. ‘There were no cages for them nor for the animals, for God kad
sent them there, and He kept them from being hurt, or from hurting each other.

What a wonderful sight it must have been to have seen the different stories of
this great boat just filled with animals and birds, and even creeping things like worms
and snakes, no three of which were alike. And finally they were all safely in and the
great door of the vessel was shut and locked, and there was only one little window on
the side of the vessel through which the land around them could be seen by those inside
the boat.

And then the rain began to fall; and the people in the neighborhood no longer
mocked and laughed at the good man and his family, but came down to the side of the

































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































THE FLOOD.



THE FIRST BOAT-BUILDER. 17

boat and begged, oh! so hard, to be let in. But they came too late, for the door was
shut aud God would not allow it to be opened for them. And the water grew higher
and higher, and the people rushed to the hills and mountains, and climbed up rocks to
save themselves from the terrible flood which had already covered their houses; and up
the rocks wild animals also climbed, but they were frightened and were harmless.

And still the rain kept falling and the waters rising. Men and women and children
were calling on God to save them, but they had all led bad lives, and God would not listen
to their prayers, for He intended to punish them with death for their sins.

At last, after it had rained forty days and nights, the rain ceased and the brilliant
‘sttu came out; but no earth was to be seen, nothing but one great ocean of water, which
covered even the peaks of the highest mountains. And on this great ocean floated the
boat which God had ordered to be built, with its thousands of living things which were
to start the world anew. It was about five months after the rain began before the vessel
Janded on the top of Mount Ararat, and it was seven months afterwards, or one year in
all from the time the flood commenced, before the door of the ark was opened and the
animals allowed to go forth to seek their own food. It must have been a strange sight
to have seen them all come out of the boat and run or walk down the sides of the moun-
tain to seek new homes, they knew not where, for all their former dens and hiding-places
had been washed away.

After the animals were out and the birds had flown away, glad of their freedom,
then the pious family who had fed this great host for a whole year, and who were the
only men and women left in the world, erected an altar and made an offering and thanked
God for His great mercy to them.

And God loved this family very greatly, and He promised that He would never de-
stroy the people in the world by another flood, and as a seal of his promise He pointed to
a beautiful rainbow which was then spanning the sky and which He set in the clouds.
The name of the great and good man who built this boat or ark was Noah, and the
names of his three sons were Shem, Ham, and Japhet. Idon’t know the names of their
wives, but they were certainly very good women. Youand I are descended from Japhet —
and his wife, who peopled Europe. ‘The Chinese and the other people of Asia and North-
ern Africa are descended from Shem, while the inhabitants of most of Africa are the
descendants of Ham.

T once had a Noah’s ark given to me when I was a little boy. It was a queer-look-
ing box, witha bottom like a boat, and it was full of little wooden animals, which I never
could manage to make stand up straight. Idon’t think it was a bit like Noah’s real ark,
which had live animals in it, and a window through which a raven and a dove flew out
‘to find if there were any trees or bushes with green leaves on them.

2

























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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THE DOVE LEAVING THE



THE BRICK TOWER,

BOUT one hundred years after this world had been destroyed by the flood,
the people then living determined to build a big brick tower higher
than the tallest chimney you ever saw.

Some people think that they wanted to have a tall tower to
climb up into in case another terrible rainstorm should come to
drown mankind, but if that had been their object they would
probably have built it on top of a mountain, instead of starting to
build it on a plain, which you know is level ground. It might
have done very well, however, as a fort to shoot arrows and throw
stones from, if an enemy should try to capture their town, or possibly it was intended to
be merely a big monument to attract attention, just like we build tall church-steeples
nowadays.

I once went up a tower in the city of Pisa, in Italy, which leaned so far over on one
side that it looked as if every moment it was going to tumble. It is called the Leaning
Tower, and it made one feel awfully queer to go to the top of it. There is a tower in
London in which two little princes, sons of a dead king, were smothered to death by the
command of their cruel uncle, in order that he might become king,

But the tower in Asia, about which I am writing, was straighter than the tower of
Pisa and taller than the tower in London. Some people think it was intended to be
built high enough for men to climb into heaven, but we know that heaven is too far off
for any tower to reach it, and that people have to die before they can get there.

Well, they kept piling the bricks on each other, until this queer red tower could be
seen many miles off. They never have cold weather in that part of the world, and very
little rain, and hence the workmen could toil almost every day in the bright sunshine.

One day God looked down from heaven and saw this odd-looking tower growing
higher and higher, and He was very angry, and determined to stop the workmen from
wasting their time on such work. He could have killed them all in a minute, if He had
wished to have done so, or He could have just waved His hand and the tower would
have tumbled down as quickly as do the towers you build of blocks, but He chose a dif
ferent way to punish them. He changed their language all at once so they could not
understand each other. The bricklayers and their families all talked in one language,
but they couldn’t understand a word the hod-carriers spoke. The carpenters thought
the masons were crazy, they talked so strangely and made such queer sounds, which
they seemed to understand and nobody else did, while the masons thought the carpen-
ters were making fun of them by uttering odd words that seemed to have no sense in
them. It wasn’t long, however, before the people found out that God in an instant had
made them all forget their old language, and had given them a number of new lan
gvages in order to prevent them finishing this great tower.

So they formed different colonies and left that place to live elsewhere. The car
(19)











































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































THE TOWER OF BABEL.



THE BRICK TOWER. 2

penters and their families spoke one language and they went off together in one direc-
tion; the men who made mortar, with their wives and children, travelled in a different
direction, and so did the bricklayers and all the other workmen.

And that is the reason why people have never spoken the same language all over
the world since,and why you cannot understand what Germans or Frenchmen are
talking about. The tower was called Babel, which means confusion.

THE BOY IN THE DESERT,




NE hot summer day in a dreary country, far off from any houses, a boy
was placed by his mother under the shade of a bush, while she sat
some distance off, that she might not see him die. The lad had
no disease nor was he sick, but he was dying from thirst, and no
drink of water could be found to save his life. His poor mother
had tried to soothe him, and had looked everywhere for some little
spring or stream, but everything was dry and hot under the burn-
en ing sun, and at last in despair she left her boy and sat down by
| age Giger herself, and wept and prayed to God for help. God heard her
prayer and an angel showed her a well of water near by, from which she filled her
leather bottle, for they had no glass in those days. She then gave her son all the pure
fresh water he could drink. And the little fellow’s eyes grew bright again, and he told
his tnother he was no longer tired, but felt strong and ready to go on their weary foot-
journey across the wilderness. But she said that they had no home nor friends to go to,
and they must learn to live for many years in this desolate wilderness, until her boy
should grow to be a man, and then he could seek the company of other men. She
helped him to make bows and arrows, and he soon learned to shoot rabbits and squirrels
and even birds, and as he grew older and more expert, he became quite a hunter and
killed all kinds of animals that lived in this dreary country. It must have been a very
lonely life for the mother and her child, for it wasn’t often that anybody crossed over
this wilderness and stopped to talk with them.

The mother had once been the servant and afterwards the second wife of her mas
ter, for in those days some really good men had two wives at one time. Her husband
was very rich, and had hundreds of cows and sheep; but her home was not pleasant, for
the other wife did not like her, and when one day the boy I have been writing about was
making fun of his baby half-brother, the first wife, who was the mother of the infant,
urged her husband to drive his second wife and her son out of the house. And the hus-
band did it, and sent away the poor woman and her son, who was his son also, and prob-
ably never saw them again.







































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Y
























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































S
—

NS

NS

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THE EXPULSION OF HAGAR.

























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































NESS

WILDER

AND ISHMAEL IN THE

HAGAR



24 THE BOY IN THE DESERT.

Now you know how it happened that they were all alone in the wilderness, with no
water and only a little bread, and had no place to go to for shelter. I don’t think your
father would treat his little boy that way, do you? But God was kind to this poor,
fatherless lad, and when he became a man He made him head of a race of people who
afterwards lived in Arabia, a country in Asia, which borders the Red Sea. This boy
Ishmael and his mother Hagar led a hard, weary life after they left the house of Abra-
ham, with no fixed home, and none of the many comforts which God has given to you.

THE BANISHED MAN, -

7} XD you ever hear of the Dead Sea, way off in Asia? Well, I can tell
you, it is the strangest body of waterinthe world. All the animals,
insects, and birds which live near it are the color of stone.. No fish
can live in it because it is so salt. Idon’t know whether you can
swim or not, but you couldn’t drown in its waters unless you had a
heavy weight fastened to your body todrag you down. After you
had floated in it a little while, you would find your whole body cov-
ered with a thin coating of salt, and I guess your eyes would smart
terribly when the water got in them, for even the waves down at the
seashore sometimes make your eyes sting a little, although the ocean water is not very
salt.

Vast black masses of bitumen or pitch, which you know is the sticky substance used
on wooden roofs, are to be found all along the shore of the Dead Sea. I am sure that I
would not like to live in that neighborhood, would you? ‘That wonderful sea has not
always been there. Several thousand years ago it was a level plain just like the country
you visit every summer, with no water on it except where the little river Jordan flowed
through it. And men, women, and children lived there, and towns were built and goods
were bought and sold. But the people who lived in those towns were very wicked, and
God determined to destroy them. He first sent two angels to visit them, and they came
down from heaven and made themselves look just like men. They got two suits of
clothes and put them on, and the clothes were made so loose in those days, just like your
papa’s or uncle’s dressing-gown, that the angels could slip their wings underneath and
nobody could tell that they were there.

Well, these two angels called at the house of the only good man who lived in the
town, and who was very rich and was the nephew of Abraham. Abraham lived a little
distance from this place, however, in another section of the country, and the angels had
called upon him first and told him what was about to happen to the towns they were
going to visit. But Abraham had prayed to the Lord to spare the people if ten good































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































ABRAHAM ENTERTAINS THREE STRANGERS.



26 THE BANISHED MAN.

men could be found among them. And the Lord promised to do so; but, as His angels
found but one good man there, they told him to leave the place the next morning and
flee away with his wife and two daughters to save his life and theirs.

While the angels were talking to this good man, and were taking supper with him,
for they had learned to eat food as well as to talk and act like men, the people of the
town, both old and young, and I expect there were plenty of noisy boys among them,
came in front of the door of this good man’s house and called him to bring out his two
visitors to them as they wished to know them. But he thought the angels were tired
and wished to go to sleep, and he told the crowd to go away, which they wouldn’t do,
but tried to break the door down. Then the angels pulled the man inside the door of his
own house, and made all the people blind who were pressing against the door. And they .
were all frightened and went away.

And the next morning one of the angels took hold of the hands of the man and his
wife, and the other angel took hold of the hands of his two daughters and led them ont
of the town. It was so early in the day that probably the people of the town were still
in bed, or they would have thought it very strange for this family to be compelled, by
two strangers, to leave town and take no property with them. And as soon as they were
outside the town, the angels told them to walk just as fast as ever they could to another
town a few miles off, and not to look behind them, and then the angels bade those good
persons good-bye and returned to destroy the town. And then the Lord poured down fire
from heaven upon the country and towns, and destroyed every house and killed every
living thing that was there.

You have read in your geography about volcanoes, which sometimes pour forth hot
streams of lava and red-hot stones, which destroy whole villages and cities. But this
was a different storm of fire; for it came straight from above and not from a mountain,
and every house caught on fire, and babies, children, and grown people were either
smothered or burn to death. And the family who had been spared commenced to run
as fast as they could when they heard the noise of the burning wood and shrieks of
the dying people behind them. But after they had gone a long distance and felt safe
from harm, the wife forgot the command of the angels not to look back, and turned her
head just a little bit around so as to get a farewell glimpse of the burning town.

I guess some one has told you or you never would know how she was punished for
her curiosity. Why, she was turned in a minute into salt, and didn’t fall on the ground
either, but continued standing and looking just as she did before, except she was very
pale. The blood all left her body, and her flesh and bones turned into along column of
solid salt. Her husband, not hearing her steps behind him any more, called to her to
hurry, but she never answered him, and he was afraid to look back and find out what had
happened to her.

But he and his two daughters escaped, and God not only destroyed the town and the
people, and all the animals and plants, but afterwards shook the whole plain with a fea~-



























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































THE BURNING OF SODOM.





















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































THE OBEDIENT SON. 29

ful earthquake, and it sunk a great distance, and the water of the Jordan river flowed
into this large deep place and ran over the salt rocks, and in time filled it up with water
and formed the Dead Sea.

Lot was the. name of this good man who was saved from destruction, and the two prin.
cipal towns that were destroyed were named Sodom and Gomorrah.

THE OBEDIENT SON,





%,. NE bright sunny morning, a father and son started on a trip from their
country home to the mountains. There were no railroads in
those days, nor indeed did they exist when your great grandfather
was a little boy, and, although this man was very rich, I don’t be-
lieve he owned a horse or a pony, but he had hundreds of mules,
which must have looked very funny with their long ears. So the
young man and his father selected one of these animals for the
LEB" Hei father to ride on, and took two servants with them, who carried
bundles of dry wood. I don’t know why they all didn’t ride mules.

Finally, after three days they reached the mountain, and the young man, who was
twenty-five years old, and strong, picked up all the wood and carried it some distance up
the mountain, leaving the servants and mules waiting below. The father walked along-
side of his son, and had with him some fire and a sharp knife. After they had walked
a little while and were very tired, the father stopped and told his son to help him collect
a few stones together in a pile and place the dry wood upon them, as he was going to
offer a sacrifice to God.

And the youth did so, and asked his father where the lamb was to be found which
was to be sacrificed, for in those days killing a lamb and burning its body was one of
the ways in which men worshipped God. And then the father, with tears in his eyes,
told his son, whom he dearly loved, that he had heard God’s voice, which had come to
him all the way from heaven, commanding him to kill his only son and offer him as a
sacrifice upon an altar.

What a terrible order this was to give to a father to take the bright young life of
his only child, whose image was twined all around his heart, and whom he would have
saved, if he could, by giving up all his riches, or even his own life. But God had told
him to Jo it, and the father knew that he must obey, for God meant it for the good of his
soul. And the young man stood still, while his father tied his arms close to his body
with a rope, and laid him gently on the pile of wood. And I guess his father gave his
son what he believed to be a farewell kiss, and then drew aside the robe that covered the













































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































.

yy

A









































TRIAL OF ABRAHAM’S FAITH.



THE WIFE-SEEKER. 31

breast of his boy, in order that he might the more easily pierce his heart with the knife
which he had so carefully sharpened.

And just at that fearful moment, when the father raised the knife to strike the fatal
blow, an angel called out of heaven to him to stop and do no harm to his child. And
the father turned and saw a sheep caught in a bush near by, and he knew God had sent
it there to take the place of the young man on the altar.

Oh! how happy must the father and the son have been at that moment; and when
the son’s arms were untied and he was free, how they must have embraced each other in
their great joy.

Do you know why God did all this? It was because He wished to see if the father
had perfect faith and trust in Him, and whether he loved his God so much that he would
do anything in the world which God wished him to do. Andthen God blessed Abraham
and his son Isaac, and watched over Isaac very tenderly all the rest of his hfe, and took
him to heaven when he died.

THE WIFE-SEEKER,





away from this world. He wished to see his son happily married,
and was very much puzzled to know where to find him a wife, for
his son was forty years old, and had never asked any woman to
marry him. In those days fathers could force their sons to do
whatever they ordered, and if aman became a grandfather, he
was almost a king in his family. The father of this man didn’t
oN like the young women of the country in which he lived, so he de-

Ba... termined to find a wife for his son in another country in which
most of his earlier life had been spent. . The old man was too feeble to go there himself,
and he was afraid his son might make a mistake if he went, so his head-servant, who
had charge of his moneys, agreed to go, and he was sent to this distant country with
camels and rich presents of gold and silver. This was a very odd errand, to go and
hunt a wife for another man, for most men like to look around for themselves, if they
intend to marry.

Well, this old servant at last reached the edge of a city in the land he was sent to,
and he saw a large well there with cold, delicious water in it, and a number of young
women filling their leather bottles, and carrying them into the city to their homes. His
master had told him that God had sent His angel on before him to help him to select the
proper woman; and this was true, for in a few minutes after the servant’s arrival at the
well, a beautiful young woman came up to draw water, and she allowed the servant to
drink out of her bottle, and then she filled the trough with water, that all of his camels









































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Hs

HC?

LIEZER AND REB

E



THE WIFE-SEEKER. 33

might drink also. Of course you have seen a camel in the Zodlogical Garden, a large,
awkward creature, with two toes on each of his broad feet, and sometimes with one big
hump on his back and sometimes with two. These humps seem to be upper stories to
the camel’s stomach, where he can pack part of the food he has swallowed and let it fall
down into the stomach as it is needed. He has also divisions in his stomach where he
can put many quarts of water to bring out when wanted.

Hence, this useful animal, which, by the way, is never found wild, can travel for
many days over the burning sands of the desert without being fed or watered. ‘There is
no fun in riding on a camel, for he shuffles along so awkwardly that he would almost
shake you to pieces if he were to move faster than a walk. ;

After the camels had taken a good, long drink of water, the old servant asked this
kind young lady where she lived in the city, and whether her father would let him sleep
in his house, and his camels be fed in his barn. And he gave her bracelets and ear-
tings of gold, and found, to his great joy, that she was one of his master’s distant rela-
tions. And she introduced him to her brother, who questioned him as to where he came
from, and all about his old and young masters, and then invited him to the house and
treated him very kindly. When they reached the house the old servant presented the
young lady with some brilliant jewels and beautiful clothing, and told her mother and
brother that he wished her to go to the country he had come from and marry his young
“master.

I once knew a young lady who went all the way to England, from this country, to
tarry the gentleman to whom she was engaged ; but, of course, she had known him very
well before and loved him deeply ; but just think of it, the beautiful maiden about whom
I am writing said that she was willing to leave her mother and her home, and travel
tight off, without delay, to another land to marry a man she had never seen, nor had she
even heard of him until that day. God’s ange’ must have whispered something to her
to induce her to make such a singular journey. All this time the young master was
‘wondering what sort of wife was to be brought to him; and late one afternoon, as he was
taking a walk, he saw the camels returning home, and one of them had a young lady
sitting on its back, but she had veiled herself, and he could not tell what she looked like.
‘Then he took her into the tent in which his dear mother had died some years before, and
she removed her veil from her face, and he made her his wife, and they were a very
happy couple, I assure you. Soon after this, the father died and left nearly all of his
vast property to his son Isaac, whose romantic marriage to Rebekah had brought such
happiness to the home of Abrahani.

3



















































































































































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AH,

Ik

ISAAC WELCOMES REBE



THE FIRST TWINS,





<> F all the twins I have ever seen, ooth looked alike and talked alike, so
that I could hardly tell one from the other. But the first twins ever
born, so far as we know, were not a bit alike, except when they
were babies. One grew to be strong and rough, and his face, hands
and arms had a great deal of hair on them, while his brother had
a smooth face, and a hand soft and small like a woman’s. ‘The
big brother was a hunter, and the other brother was a shepherd.
Their father was blind, and though he loved both of his sons, yet
ZI, his love for the rough hunter, who brought him game and birds to
eat, was stronger than the love he felt for the more delicate son, who fed his sheep. But
their mother loved her gentle shepherd boy much more than she loved her rough hairy
son. ‘This was wrong, for parents ought to love all their children just alike, unless a
child becomes very bed.

American children don’t know what a birthright is, because all the children of a
man in this country get their father’s property equally when he dies, unless he wills it
otherwise. But it wasn’t so in olden times, nor is it so in England and other countries
now. ‘The eldest son received nearly all of his father’s property, while the other sons
got very little; hence, as the hunter brother I am writing about was just the least bit
older than the shepherd brother, the rough hunter, ou his father’s death, would obtain
most of his father’s property, and be the head of the family. But he was a reckless
young man, and never seemed to think of the future; so one afternoon on his return, tired
and very hungry from the hunt, he sold his birthright to his brother for the smallest
price ever given for anything of value. You could never guess what it was unless some-
body told you. It was sold for a plate of broth or hash called pottage, which was made
out of little pieces of meat mixed with rice. Some time after this the cunning shepherd
brother did an act which was far worse than buying his brother’s birthright. He knew
that his blind old father intended to give his blessing to the rough hunter, whom he had
"sent to shoot a deer for him, in order that he might have a dish of venison, which you
know is very excellent meat. The mother aided her younger son in deceiving his father
by telling him to bring her two little kids from his flock, which she cooked so nicely that
they tasted just like venison. She then put some of her older son’s clothes on her
favorite son, and placed hairy skins of goats upon his hands and upon his neck, and told
him to take the meat to his father and pretend that he was his elder brother. He tried
to make his voice sound like his brother’s, but he didn’t succeed very well, and his father
would not believe he was the elder brother until he had felt his hairy hands and neck.
And then the good old man blessed his son by placing his hands on his head and calling
upon God to make him ruler over his brother, and over a nation of people ; to give him
health, long life, wealth and happiness.

In a little while afterwards the other brother came back with part of a deer thrown
(35)



36 THE FIRST TWINS.

over his shoulders and his bow in his hand, and he cooked the most tender part of the
animal and brought the venison to his father. You know that when deer is cooked, it is
called venison, just like cooked sheep is called mutton, or cooked cow is called beef. His
blind father in a moment knew how the younger brother had deceived him ; and oh! how
badly he felt, for he had asked God to make his younger son ruler over his older son, and
he could not take away the blessing or the prayer. He had given almost everything he
had to his shepherd son, although he intended giving it to.the hunter; and when he
found his favorite son had parted with his birthright too, he could only embrace him, and
kiss him, and shed bitter tears.

The big brother then threatened to kill his younger brother as soon as his father
should die ; hence his father sent his younger son far away, on a journey to his uncle,
and told him to marry his cousin, and not return to his old home. And so the shepherd
lad left his home and the mother that loved him so dearly, and stayed away twenty years,
and married both of his cousins.

After all this time had passed, he came home with a large family of eleven sons and
one daughter, and great flocks of sheep and goats. His brother came out to meet him
with four hundred men, and the shepherd brother was afraid the rough hunter would
kill him.

What was his surprise when the brother whom he had so cruelly wronged came run-
ning up to him and threw his arms around his neck and told him he freely forgave him,
and loved him very greatly. And then the two brothers went to their blind father, who
was near unto death, and the old man was delighted to find that they were so fond of
each other.

I have twin sons eight years old, to whom I have read all of these stories, but I cer-
tainly would not like them to resemble Jacob and Esau, these twin sons of Isaac and
Rebekah, for Jacob was selfish and untruthful, and Esau was rough and reckless.







To













































































































































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= =>

ISAAC BLESSING JACOB. 4



THE DREAM.

chat st SS HILDREN often have pleasant dreams. I know some who dream
(f 17S AR eevery night. All sorts of queer and funny thoughts go through

femdl their minds while they are asleep, and they often make their |
RS parents and big brothers and sisters laugh at breakfast in the
morning, when they tell these odd dreams to them. In India there
are men who pretend to be able to make persons have delightful
! dreams. They give a man a kind of drug or medicine, and put
r7~\ him to sleep, and then they sit by his bedside and whisper nice
things in his ear, and tell him pleasant stories, and when the man
wakes up he states how delicious have been his dreams.

In olden times people used to believe in dreams, but no sensible person nowadays
think that they will ever come true. But in the Bible times God often spoke to good
men, and sometimes to bad men, in dreams, and I will tell you about a number of these
dreams in other stories in this book. ‘The dream I am now writing about was a very
beautiful one. A young man who had wronged his brother, and deceived his father, had
left home suddenly, fearful that his brother would kill him. One bright afternoon he
stopped to rest under the shade of a tree, and while there he fell asleep, and hada

eautiful vision or dream. He saw a ladder or staircase of little rolls of cloud, one
above the other, which seemed to be let down from heaven, and which, after swinging a
little in the air, at last touched the earth, and seemed to fasten itself to it.

Then he saw angels with their sweet, pure faces, and white closed wings, trip up
and down this ladder or staircase. They trod so lightly that they made no sound, but as
soon as they touched the earth, and looked for a moment at the sleeping man, they hur-
ried up to heaven again, and new angels came down. ;

I wonder whether there were any little children angels among them. Of course
there are plenty of them in heaven, but we cannot tell whether any of them took this
long holiday trip down tothe earth. We don’t see real angels nowadays, but I often think
that a sweet, good little child, who brings sunshine into a house, and makes everything
bright and attractive at home, is an angel without wings, and is very near to God. Some
one has written, that when a baby smiles in its sleep, it is because an angel whom we
cannot see is whispering something very pleasant in its ear.

When this young man woke up, he found that the angels and the ladder had all
faded away, and that all he had seen was a mere dream. He then continued his jour-
ney, which brought him to his uncle’s house, where he remained a longtime. His uncle
had two daughters, one of whom was very pretty, while the elder one was plain, and
seemed to be constantly troubled with weak eyes. This young man wanted to marry
his pretty cousin, and his uncle agreed to the marriage, if he would work seven years
for him. So he took charge of his uncle’s sheep and goats, and at the end of the seven

years he asked for his cousin to be given him in marriage. But the uncle told him he
(3")































JACOB’S DREAM.



4o THE NEW COAT.

must first marry the o'der daughter, and at the end of seven years more he would give
him the younger daughter also, for in those days a man could have a number of wives.
So this young man labored for seven years more, and then married his younger cousin
also. His uncle then gave him a portion of his flocks and herds, and he moved some
distance off, and was so successful that his uncle grew jealous of him, and would have
injured him if God had not prevented him.

Some time after this, as he was moving, with his two wives and his property, back
to the country in which his father still lived, and in which he had spent all the years of
his boyhood, he met an angel who looked like a man, and he wrestled all night with the
angel, and would not let him go, until he had received a blessing from this being who
had come down from heaven to walk for a little while on the earth.

Although Jacob’s life is not a pleasant one to read, for he had many faults, yet he
believed in God, and God dealt very kindly with him and his two wives, Leah and
Rachel.

THE NEW COAT,

4 CHEN her mother buys her a new dress almost every little girl is
3 pleased, and I guess that nearly every boy feels somewhat proud
when he puts on the first handsome coat he has ever owned. A
long, long while ago a big boy, who had been a very good son, was
presented by his father with a coat which looked like the dresses
some girls wear nowadays, because it had so many colors in
it. But you know that in those times, and even now, in cer-
tain Eastern countries, the boys and even the men wore, and still
/ wear, long gowns or cloaks of every variety of color; and hence
the boy I am writing about was greatly delighted at the gay coat given him by his.
father.

Now this boy had eleven brothers, only one of whom was younger than he. Not
one of his ten older brothers liked him, because their father was so partial to him, and
kept him at home leading an easy life, while they were at work day after day watchin g
the flocks of cattle and sheep. And when they saw their young brother walking around
in his new coat, I tell you they were angry, because not one of them had ever possessed
such a coat, and never expected to own one so beautiful.

A little while afterwards he had two dreams, which he told his brothers. He dreamed
that his brothers and he were binding bundles of wheat in the field, and that his sheaf
stood straight up and the other bundles stood around bowing to his sheaf. He also
dreamed that the sun, moon, and eleven of the stars, came down from the sky to shine
ou him. To be sure, these were only dreams, but it was very foolish in this lad to tell





THE NEW COAT. At

them to his big brothers, for it made them very angry to think that he should even
dream that his father, mother, and all his eleven brothers should bend to him as a kind
of ruler over them.

One day his older brothers took their flocks to feed a long distance off. Their father
became anxious about them, and sent his favorite son to find out if they were all well.
The boy put on his new coat and started off alone. When his brothers saw him coming
towards them they said: “ Here comes the dreamer, let us kill him.” The oldest brother
of all was the only one who didn’t wish this boy killed, and to please him the others
agreed to place their brother in a pit, from which this big brother intended to secretly re-
lease him after the other brothers should move onward with their flocks. So they took
off his pretty coat, and made him jump into a dark, dry pit, where I guess he shed a
great many tears. ;

After a while a caravan came up on camels. They were travelling merchants, who
were taking goods hundreds of miles to the land of Egypt. The brothers asked them
if they would like to buy a slave to take with them, and upon the merchants agreeing
to do so, they drew their poor little brother out of the pit, and sold him for twenty pieces
of silver. ‘The oldest brother wasn’t there when the boy was sold, and he was very sorry
when he heard of it, and found that the merchants had carried the boy off with them
never to return to his old home again.

Then some of the brothers took the lad’s bright coat and rubbed blood all over it,
which they got from a kid they had killed. After this they all came home with their
cattle, sheep and goats, and showed their father the bloody coat, telling him that they had
found it, and that his beloved son must have been killed by some wild beast.

And the father’s grief was very great, for he tore his clothes and put on the coarsest
kind of robe, made of sackcloth, and said that he would mourn the loss of his son until
death should also take him away to the heaven where he believed his boy had gone.

If you wish to know what became of this little boy, who was carried as a slave to
Egypt, which you know is in the north part of Africa, you must read the next story,
which tells of him in a far-off land when he became a man.





































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































THE FOREIGN RULER,

F you have ever visited a prison, you have seen bad men sitting in tiny

rooms, called cells, barred in by doors made of iron slats, and lighted
| by openings in the wall, called windows, so narrow that even a
go == very thin man could not slip through them. I have taken several
children to see the prison in the city where I live, but they didn’t
rae want to stay longer than five minutes in a cell.

Sometimes an innocent man gets into prison by mistake, or
by the wrong-doing of others, and the man I am going to write to
you about was a good man, but he spent thirteen years in a prison,
charged with a crime he never committed.

One morning two other prisoners looked very sad, for they could find no one to tell
them the meaning of the queer dreams they had had during the night, for at that time
God often spoke to men in dreams. Both of these men had been servants in the king’s
palace, one of them having been a kind of head servant, called a butler, and the other
the principal cook or baker. And they told their dreams to this innocent man, when
they found that he could tell them what the dreams meant. The butler dreamed that he
saw a grapevine with three branches, and that he pulled the grapes, and pressed the juice
into a cup, and gave it to the king. ‘The baker or cook dreamed that he was carrying
three baskets of meats on his head to give them to the king, and the birds flew down and
ate all the meat out of the top basket. And this good fellow-prisoner told the butler that
his dream meant that in three days the king would pardon him, and take him back to
the palace, while the dream of the baker meant that in three days he would be hung,
and the birds would come and pick out his eyes. And all this happened in three days
from that time.

Two long years passed, and one night Pharaoh, the king, had two dreams, which
worried him very much. He saw seven fat cows come up out of the river and eat grass
in the fields. And afterwards seven very thin, starved-looking cows came to the field
and ate up all the fat cows. Did you ever hear of such a queer dream? I don’t wonder
old Pharaoh was puzzled, for he never saw a cow eat anything but grass and grain, or a
little fruit or vegetables sometimes. And his other dream, the same night, was a funny
one too. He dreamed that seven good ears of corn grew on one stalk, and seven bad
ears of corn afterwards grew on the same stalk, and ate up all the good ears. And then
he woke up and called his servants, and also many wise men, to him, and asked what
these odd dreams meant. And the butler told him of the good man in prison, who knew
all about the meaning of dreams, and the king sent for him to come to the palace at
once. And he told the king that the seven fat cows and seven good ears of corn meant
that for seven years the farmers would have large crops of grain, and plenty of every-
thing, and that afterwards for seven more years there would be a famine in the land, and
hardly anything would grow in the fields.



(43)















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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JOSEPH INTERPRETING PHARAOH’S DREAMS.

























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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MAKETH HIMSELF KNOWN TO HIS BRETHREN.

































46 THE FOREIGN RULER.

And the king believed what this man said, and he appointed him to be one of the
highest officers of Egypt, where he lived, and gave him splendid carriages, and many
servants, and dressed him handsomely, so that the people all bowed very low to him as
he rode past, and they uever thought that a few months before that time he had been a
poor prisoner. The king gave him large sums of money to build barns all over the land
of Egypt, and to fill them with grain during the seven years of plenty, so that when the
seven years of famine came, and people could not get food in the neighboring countries,
they had to send to Egypt and buy their grain.

Now the man I am writing about had been brought to Egypt when he was a boy, all
the way from Asia, as a slave. He spent thirteen years in prison, and seven years more
in gathering the grain in the barns. He was next in power to Pharaoh, the king; but
ofttimes he would get very homesick to see his old father, from whom he had been stolen,
ana who believed him dead,

I guess you would get very homesick if you were away from your home even for
twenty weeks; but this man had been away twenty years, when one day his ten brothers,
who had sold him as a slave so very long before, came to Egypt to buy food to take home.
He found out in some way that they were there, and he had them brought into his pres-
ence; but they did not know him, and they bowed down their faces to the earth, because
he was almost aking. And he spoke roughly to them, and told them they were enemies
to Egypt, but they denied this, and said they were from Asia and wanted to buy corn.
They stated that their youngest brother was at home with their old father, and that
another brother was dead. But he wasn’t dead, for he was the rich man they were
talking to. And he said to nine of them that they could go home with their bags
full of grain, but he would keep the tenth one until they should return with their young-
est brother.

And they started sadly homeward, but on their journey they found, on opening
their sacks, all their money had been returned to them, and no charge made for all the
grain they had bought. And when they reached home and told their father all that had
taken place, and that one of his sons was in prison in Egypt until they should return
with their youngest brother, their father at first refused to allow them to go back; but
as the famine was very severe, and they all needed food, he at last consented, and gave
them twice as much money as before, and the youngest brother went with them.

_ And when they came to the palace where the brother they thought was dead was the
ruler, they were surprised to be invited to dinner; and though he did not sit at the same
table with them he sent them plates full of the most delicious food, and the food which
he sent to his youngest brother was five times as much as to any of the others. And
then he filled their sacks with grain, and put their money back in their sacks just as he
did before, and sent them towards home; but before they left he made his servant secretly
place his silver cup in the sack of his youngest brother. Just as they were a little dis-



































JACOB GOING DOWN INTO EGYPT.



48 THE FOREIGN RULER.

tance from the city a man caught up with them and charged them with stealing the
beautiful cup, and commenced to search the sacks.

Of course he found the cup in the sack of the youngest brother, where it had been
purposely placed, and again the brothers were brought before the ruler who had sold
them the grain. They were very much frightened, fearing that he would kill them.
But he could not keep the secret any longer, and he told them he was their brother —
whom they thought dead, and that he freely forgave them for the wrong they had done
him, for God had brought it to pass for the good of them all, to save them from famine.
And he gave each of them new clothes, and sent many wagon-loads of food home, and
told them to bring his father to Egypt to live, and that Pharaoh would give to him and
his sons a part of the rich lands of Goshen in Egypt; and then he cried with joy and
kissed every one of his brothers and sent them back to their father. Their father would
hardly. believe their wonderful story when they got home, until he saw the wagon-loads of
food, and then he packed up all his goods and went with his sons into Egypt, where he
met the one he loved so dearly when he was a boy.

Meanwhile the famine became worse and worse in Egypt, and the people spent all
their money in buying food from their ruler, and then they sold their cattle and their
land to the king, until Pharaoh owned almost all the land in the whole country, and the
people had to come into the cities to live. Afterwards, when the famine was ended, he
gave them grain and seed to plant, and sent them back to the farms on condition that
they should give him one-fifth part of all the crops they should raise. And after a while
the old father of all these sons was very ill, and he called his sons around him and
blessed them and made them promise to bury him in the land of Asia, in which he for-
merly lived. Soon after this he died and they embalmed his body.

Did you ever see a mummy? It is a dead body all dried up, filled with spices and
wrapped up with one linen sheet after another. The face becomes very dark, and the
skin sticks close to the bones. The Egyptians used to embalm the dead bodies of their
kings and great men, and make mummies of them, so that they need never bury them
-in the ground, but if they wished to, they could keep them in their houses. I don’t
think I should like a collection of mummies in my house, would you? ‘This story is
very long, but I couldn’t well make it any shorter. Of course you know that I have
‘been writing about Joseph and his brothers, who were the sons of Jacob. I think I will
tell you the names of the twelve sons of Jacob, but you mustn’t try to remember them,
or you will have a headache. They were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulon, Issa-
char, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin, and they were the founders of
the twelve tribes of Israel, for you know Jacob was called Israel after he became very

old.



HORRIBLE THINGS.




¢-ROUD and cruel, aking was seated on his throne in the sunny
land of Egypt, which you know is in the northern part of Africa,
when one of his servants told him that two men from another part
of his country were outside the palace, and were very anxious to
see him. And when these men saw the king, they told him they
were Hebrews, which you know are the same people as the Jews,
and that their God sent them to him to ask him to allow these
Hebrew people to leave their houses, and their hard work as
y brickmakers, and journey three days in the wilderness, and hold
‘a religious feast there, and ask God’s blessing upon them and their families. These
Hebrews, at that time, all lived in Egypt, and were treated badly by the king’s
“orders.

By the way, I must tell you, that the name “Pharaoh” was given to every Egyp-
tian king. Now these two men who called on Pharaoh were two brothers named Moses
and Aaron, and the king refused to do what they asked. And they went home feeling
very sorrowful, but God sent them back again to Pharaoh, and then some of the queer-
est things happened that the world has ever seen. Moses was eighty years old at this
time, and his brother was three years older. Aaron threw down his walking-cane before
the king and it turned into a suake. And the magicians and snake charmers said there
‘was nothing very wonderful in that, as they had some snakes trained to do the same
thing. And so they had, for they brought into the palace some little snakes which made
themselves stiff, and just looked like canes, until they were thrown on the floor, when
they hopped around lively; but what was the surprise of the magicians to see Aaron’s
‘snake eat up every one of their snakes.

And then Moses turned to the king and asked him again to let the Hebrew people
‘go into the wilderness, and Pharaoh again refused. Then Aaron took his rod, for
the snake had turned again into a cane or rod, and waved it over the great river Nile,
which flowed past the royal palace. And the river turned at once into blood, and every
‘fish in it was killed. For seven days this horrible plague lasted, and the only water that
could be found was taken from wells. But Pharaoh’s heart was very hard, and he would
not let the people of Israel go.

And Aaron stretched forth his rod again over the streams, rivers, and ponds, and
thousands of frogs came forth, until the whole ground was covered with them, and they
came hopping into the houses, and on the beds and tables of the people, jumping into
their food and water. And Pharaoh’s palace was full of them, until the king couldn’t
walk without treading on them. And the king then promised Moses that he would let
the people of Israel go, if he would pray to his God, and have this great nuisance re-
moved from the land. And Moses did so, but Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he broke

‘his promise, and would not let the Hebrews go.
4 (49)





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>

JHE PLAGUE OF MURRAIN.,



52 HORRIBLE THINGS.

And Aaron held up his rod again, and the dust was turned into lice, which were tiny
isects that bite as badly as mosquitoes. And they crept over men and beasts, aud made
them very cross, for it was awfully unpleasant to have these wretched things biting them
all the time, or crawling over their bodies.

And then the Lord sent another plague of great swarmnis of flies, which flew all over
Egypt, except that little part called Goshen, where most of the Hebrews lived. ‘The
weather was so warm that people had to keep their shutters open, and the flies were so
numerous that a man could hardly breathe without drawing some of them in his mouth.
Some people think that these were not house-flies, such as we see every summer, but big
black bettles that could sting. And Pharaoh sent for Moses, and told him to have these
flies taken away, and then take his people into the wilderness. And the flies disap-
peared, and as soon as they had gone Pharaoh changed his mind, and refused again to
let the people depart.

The next plague was a disease which killed off all the cattle of the Egyptians, but
not a single cow or calf belonging to the Hebrew people caught the disease.

This was followed by Moses and Aaron taking ashes from a furnace and throwing
them in the air, which caused frightful boils to form on the bodies of the Egyptian men,
and women, and children. Some writers say this plague was a kind of black leprosy.
And even then this cruel king would not ‘et the Hebrews go into the wilderness to
worship their God.

Then Moses pointed toward Heaven, and called upon the Lord, and He sent a terri-
ble hail-storm, and fire was mixed with the hail, so that great balls of fire ran along the
ground, and animals were killed, and every tree injured, and not a plant spared in the
whole land, except where the Hebrews lived. And Pharaoh, this time, was greatly
frightened, and told Moses he would surely let the people go, if he would only ask God
to stop the storm. And when the hail ceased to fall, Pharaoh broke his promise again,
and another plague followed. .

God sent swarms of locusts, which ate up every blade of grass, so that the land
looked as if it had been burnt by fire. And they filled the houses, just like the flies or
beetles had done.

And then came the awful plague of total darkness for three days. No sun, moon,
or stars, nothing but darkness everywhere, except in the land of Goshen. And in the
midst of this darkness, God called to Moses and told him to tell the people of Israel to
sprinkle lamb’s blood upon the door-post of their houses, for he intended at midnight to
send the angel of death through the entire land. And in the deep gloom of that terrible
night there were shrieks of terror and floods of tears in the house of every Egyptian, for
the first-born child in every family was struck dead in a moment by the hand of God,
and Pharaoh himself stood in agony by the bed on which his oldest child was struggling
in the arms of death. But the Hebrews, who were God’s own people, were passed over
by the dread angel of death, for the blood of lambs offered in sacrifice was sprink.ed











































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































OF DARKNESS.

THE PILAGU

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DEATH OF THE FIRST-BORN IN EGYPT.





A LONG JOURNEY. 55

on their door-posts. From that time to the present the Jews, every spring, keep the
Feast of the Passover. ‘Then it was that Pharaoh yielded to God’s will, and sent for
Moses and told him to take the Hebrew people far away from Egypt, and never return
again. ;

I wish you to try and remember these ten plagues in their order. They were
blood, frogs, lice, flies, cattle disease, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and death of the first-
born child.

A LONG JOURNEY.




, Se ERHAPS the story I am now writing is about the most won-

iS derful journey of the entire Hebrew nation. It took them
forty years of travel to finish it; and, although they started with
two and a half millions of people, only two men of the great crowd
of men and women who left Egypt ever reached the journey’s end.
Just think of it, in forty years the number of grown people who

A is & died in this travel through the wilderness was more than all the



people now living in the great city of New York, and I suppose a
large number of the children died also. - Little children were born
on the journey, and took their parents’ places, and when they reached the promised land
of Canaan, in Asia, where their ancestor Jacob had lived before he moved into Egypt,
only two gray-haired men over sixty years of age could be found among the multitude
of people who had grown up around them.

After Egypt had suffered from the ten plagues which God had sent, Pharaoh, the
king, told Moses to take all the Hebrews out of the country, and the Egyptians were so
glad to get rid of them, that they gave these poor people money and jewelry, and told
them to hurry away and never return.

And God went with them, and placed in the clouds by day a pillar of cloud, which
they followed, no matter where it led them, and at night He lit their camp with a pillar
of fire in the sky.

And do you know they hadn’t been gone three days before old Pharaoh, the
king, was sorry he allowed such good workmen and servants to leave his kingdom, and
he called his soldiers around him and pursued the Israelites. Sometimes I call these
people Israelites and sometimes Hebrews, and after a while they were called Jews, but
you understand who I mean.

The word Exodus, in the Bible, means departure, or going out, and refers to the
Hebrews going out of Egypt.

Pharaoh, with his chariots and horsemen, were within sight of the flying Hebrews,



56 A LONG JOURNEY.

just as the sun went down on the evening of the third day. In front of the Israelites
was an arm of the Red Sea, called the Gulf of Suez, and behind them was a portion of
the Egyptian army. If'they went forward, they would be drowned; if they stayed where
they were, they would be killed, or be driven back to Egypt as slaves on the morrow.
And they fell on their knees on the sea-shore and called upon God to come to their help.

Suddenly the pillar of fire in the sky which was in front of them changed its posi-
tion and came directly behind them, lighting them and the narrow sea or gulf before
them with the brilliancy of day, and throwing the black gloom of midnight on the Egyp-
tian camp behind them. And the wind blew very fiercely and pressed back the waters.
of the sea, so that the bottom of the shallow gulf or sea was open like the shore, and the
immense Hebrew host walked upon it, just as if it were dry land, and easily crossed over
to the opposite side. Just then Pharaoh and his army came rushing down to the shore,.
and seeing this crossing-place all open in front of them, urged their horses forward, and
when they had nearly got across, the water suddenly came together again, for the wind
had died out, and the king with his army and his horses were all drowned in the salt sea-
water. And in the early morning the Israelites saw the dead bodies of men and of horses.
washed by the waves all along the shore of the sea, by which they were standing.

And then this great host of people journeyed slowly into the wilderness. They
were led by Moses, who told them what God wished them to do. After they had eaten
all the food they had brought with them, and a great quantity of birds, called quails,
which a wind had driven into their camp, and had nothing more to eat, they grew very
hungry and cross, and said they would rather go back to Egypt and work than to starve,
and perhaps die in the wilderness.

The next morning, when they woke up, they saw something very wonderful. The
whole ground was covered with a white substance, such as they had never seen before in
all their lives. It looked like snow, but in that warm country snow never falls. And
the hungry little children tasted it, and found it very pleasant to eat, and they filled their
aprons and baskets with it, and took it into the tents to their parents, who made an
excellent breakfast upon it. And they gathered enough to last them for dinner and sup-
per, and the rest of it on the ground all melted away, as the sun grew warmer. And
Moses told them never to keep any of it over night, as it would not be good to eat the
next morning, except on Saturdays, when twice as much would fall as on any other day,
in order that they could collect enough to last them all day Sunday, because none of it
was ever seen on the ground on Sunday mornings. And for forty long years these Isra-
elites were fed in this way by this singular food, which they called manna.

I must tell you about the first battle they fought, although you never will remember
the name of the people who attacked them. ‘They were the Amalekites. That is an
odd name, isn’t it? The fight lasted all day, and I guess they used bows and arrows,
and swords and spears, for they never heard of guns and pistols in those days. While
it was going on, Moses stood on a hill and held a rod in his hand. As long as he held





THE DROWNING OF PHARAOH’S ARMY IN THE RED SEA.



58 ‘A LONG JOURNEY.

the rod high in the air, the Israelites were successful ; but when his arms grew weary,
anda fell to his side, the enemies of the Israelites were victorious. So Aaron, his brother,
and Hur, his brother-in-law, stood by him and held up his arms, until the Amalekites
were badly beaten, and had to run away, leaving their killed or badly wounded comrades
on the field of battle.

Then they came to the foot of Mount Sinai, on which mountain God gave Moses
the ten commandments, written on stone. While Moses was absent, Aaron, his brother,
at the request of the people, made a golden calf out of jewelry, which they gave him for
that purpose. This calf was like the idols which the Egyptians worshipped, and the
Hebrews actually danced around this calf, and sang to it, and, I suppose, prayed to it as
if it were a God.

And God was very angry, and sent Moses back to them, and he burnt up the calf
and pounded the gold into fine dust, and strewed it in the stream from which the people
drank. He then chose some good men and told them to take their swords and run
through the camp and kill whoever they met. And they slew three thousand men.

After this the people built a tabernacle, which was a beautiful movable tent, in
which they worshipped, for it was a kind of church for them. When the pillar of cloud
and fire rested on the roof of the tabernacle the Israelites stopped travelling, but when
it rose high in the air they packed their tents and other things together and followed
wherever it led them. Aaron and his sons were the priests. Two of these sons were
killed by fire from heaven for lighting the wood on the altar with ordinary fire, instead
of waiting for God to light it with sacred fire, which he sent direct from the clouds,

A long while after this three men, who waited upon the priests, wanted to be priests
themselves. One day they burnt incense in a sacred censer. Incense, you know, is a
fragrant gum which is burnt in some churches nowadays, and a censer is the iron or
metal vessel in which the smoking incense is burnt. And suddenly the ground opened
beneath them, and these three men, with their tents and everything they owned, were
swallowed up in this great hole, which immediately closed up again as soon as they were
out of sight. At the same moment fire from heaven killed two hundred and fifty of
their friends who were standing near.

One night twelve rods, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, were placed in the
tabernacle. Oue of these sticks had Aaron’s name upon it. In the morning the priests
were surprised at finding this rod covered with buds and blossoms and full of almonds,
while the other sticks were dry as canes.

When their long journey was nearly over, they had to travel a little distance along
a very rough road, and they complained very much. God was angry with them, and He
sent thousands of snakes among them, whose fery bites killed many people. And
Moses made a big serpent or snake out of brass, and placed it on a high pole, and told
the people who had been bitten that if they would look at this brazen serpent, which he
had made, they would be cured in a minute. And little children, as well as men and

















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































FROM THE MOUNTAIN.

MOSES COMING DOWN

































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Vi

KORAH, DATHAN, AND ABIRAM SWAI,LOWED UP.









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SERPEN

SRAZEN

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BALAAM STOPPED BY AN ANGEL,















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































64 THE BOY IN A BASKET.

women, who were almost dying from the poisonous bites of these horrible snakes, were
brought by their friends close to this serpent of brass, and told to look at it, and ina
moment after they had looked they were perfectly well.

Soon after this the Hebrews were victorious in two battles, and in the second one
they killed a giant king, who was so big that he slept in a bed thirteen and a half feet
long, which is twice as long as any bed you have in your house. The giant hada funny ©
name, but it was a very short one. He was King Og.

The king of another country near by wanted to fight the Israelites, but he was
afraid of them, so he sent for a noted prophet who lived near him, to come and curse
these people who were travelling through his country. And this prophet’s name was
Balaam, and he thought the king would give him rich presents if he would do as he
wished, and he started to ride to him on a mule or an ass, but when he reached a narrow
place in the road, he met an angel who had a sword in his hand to kill the prophet
if he went any further. Balaam, at first, did not see the angel, but the ass did, and
would not go forward, but fell on the ground. Balaam whipped the animal, and God
then put words in the mouth of the ass and made him speak to Balaam. Just think
of a mule being able to talk. Then God showed Balaam the angel in his path, and
Balaam fell on his face before him. ‘The angel then told Balaam to go to the king
and tell him that these Israelites were God’s own people, and would become a great
nation and rule all the country.

Moses being dead, the Israelites then crossed the Jordan river, and entered the
promised land of Canaan, under their two leaders, Joshua and Caleb. This has been a
very long story, and I am afraid you have grown sleepy in reading it, but I don’t see
hhow it was possible for me to make it any shorter.

THE BOY IN A BASKET,

ID you ever see a baby ina basket? The baby I am now writing
about was placed in a pretty basket, and then carried to the river
side and left among the tall reeds or rushes that grew on the
banks. I guess he didn’t get very wet, for he was wrapped up closely,
so that the waters would not reach his body.

I will tell you why the baby was placed in the river. He was

a Hebrew boy, and the cruel king of that country hated the He-
brews who lived there, and ordered his soldiers to kill every boy-
baby they could find. And the mother of this baby knew that he
would not live if she kept him in her house, so she told her daughter, who was a big
girl, to help her make a basket and place the little one in it and let it float on the river,





















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































OR

=>
CERES E A



































































































































































































































OF MOSES.

NG

FINDI



66 THE BOY IN A BASKET.

while she prayed to God to take care of her child. And that is how the basket and the
baby happened to be resting on the quiet river among the reeds and bulrushes. |

And just at that time the daughter of the king came down with her maids to the
river bank to take a bath. And they saw the basket made of bulrushes, and inside of it
they found a cunning little baby, who looked up in their faces and laughed. And king
Pharaoh’s daughter took the child in her arms back to the royal palace where she lived,
and adopted it as if he were her own child. The Hebrew nurse she employed to take
care of this babe happened to be its own mother, although the king’s daughter did not
know this, for she took the first woman who applied for the place. And the boy grew te.
be bright and strong, and was taught everything that the Egyptians could teach him,
for though he was a Hebrew or Israelite, he lived in Egypt.

But when he grew to be a man, he had to leave Egypt very suddenly for a while,.
for he killed an Egyptian, whom he saw striking a Hebrew, and he was afraid he would
be punished for it. And one day in the open wilderness, which you know is a wild
country, in which scarcely anybody lives, he saw a bush on fire, and as he came near to.
it, he heard the voice of God come from the fire, calling on him to go back to Egypt and
urge the king to let the Israelites go into the wilderness to celebrate a feast. And He
gave him a rod which could do wonderful things. And this man went to the king, and
when the king refused to let the people of Israel go, then he raised this rod and caused
the ten plagues I have written you about to injure the Egyptians.

He then led the people of Israel in their march of forty years through the wilder-
ness after they had crossed the Red Sea. “Twice he obtained water for them by merely
striking a rock with his rod, which caused the water to pour forth in a large stream, and
once, when they found a spring of bitter water, he made it sweet by throwing a small
tree into it. He made many laws to govern the two and a half millions of people whom
he ruled, but the greatest event of his life was when he received, on Mount Sinai, the Ten
Commandments from the hands of God himself, stretched towards him out of a thick
cloud, in which God was hidden.

Before this man climbed up the mountain, God surrounded it for seven days with a
dense cloud, and told him that if a man or beast stepped on the side of the mountain
during that time, he or it would die. After seven days had passed, he was allowed to.
euter this cloud and go to the top of the mountain, where he spent forty days. When
he came back to the Hebrew camp, he found that his brother Aaron had taken earrings.
and bracelets and melted them, and made a golden calf, around which the people were
worshipping, as if it were an idol. This good man was very angry, and he suddenly
dashed to pieces the long, thin stone tablets on which God had written, with his own hand,
the commandments, which you hear read in church and Sunday-school. He afterwards.
returned to the mountain with two new tablets, and wrote on them the commandments,
which God again gave him from the clouds.

But this great man, Moses, never lived to enter the promised land alive. He









































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































TCHS EAA SL ———

SSS} — SS,

WATER FROM THE SMITTEN ROCK.







68 THE GREAT GENERAL.

offended God by striking a rock in anger twice to bring water from it, when a single
touch of his wonderful rod would have brought an abundant supply. God permitted him
to go to the edge of Canaan, and look down on it from the top of a mountain, where he
died, alone with his God.

THE GREAT GENERAL.

Â¥ ARS and battles, you know, are terrible things, for thousands of
men are sometimes killed in afew hours. In olden times they had
no guns, nor pistols, nor cannons, because they did not know how
to make gunpowder; and boys couldn’t make a racket in those
days with fire-crackers like they now do in this country about the
Fourth of July. So men fought their battles with swords and
clubs and spears, and they shot arrows and hurled stones, and
sometimes they fought hand to hand with long, sharp iaites,

And now I am going to tell you how the Hebrews, or Israel-
ites, after Moses had died, took a new leader whom God chose for them, and marched into
the promised land, and fought and killed the people who lived there, and destroyed their
cities and took possession of the whole country.

You see in their forty years’ journey they had travelled some distance south of the
river Jordan and came up north on the wrong side of it, so they had to cross it in order
to reach Canaan, which was on this side. They had no boats, and the river was quite
high from rains which had fallen. But suddenly, when they were all ready to cross,
God held the waters back, just like He did when they had crossed the Red Sea, and two
millions and a half of people walked right over the pebbles and mud at the bottom of
the river without getting their clothes the least bit wet. Just think what a crowd there
were, big and little, old and young, as many as all the people numbered in the three
great cities of New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago.

I told you that all One host of men, women, and children had been fed on manna
from heaven during the forty years they were in the wilderness, but I forgot to tell you
that their clothes never wore out during all those years, and their feet never grew sore
from walking. You wouldn’t like your clothes to last that long, I know, because you
like a new dress or a new suit of clothes every now and then.

When the people who lived near by heard of the river standing still for many hours,
they were frightened, and hurried into their city, which was named Jericho, and locked
the strong gates which were fastened to the wall that surrounded the city. No town or
city ever was captured in so singular a manner as this strong city of Jericho. Instead
of attacking it with spears and arrows, the fighting men of the Hebrews marched slowly
around the outside of its walls once every day for sixdays. They marched without say-



































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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70 THE GREAT GENERAL.

ing a word to each other; and in their midst seven priests blew loudly through seven
trumpets, as they also marched alongside of the ark or holy chest of God, which other
priests carried. On the seventh day they marched around the city seven times instead
of once, to the great surprise of the people inside the town, who were looking at them
from their roofs and upper windows, which were higher than the walls. ‘Then, suddenly,
the great army stopped, and every soldier shouted as loudly as he could. In a moment
the thick stone walls fell with a crash, for God smote them, and the Hebrew army
marched into the city and killed every man and woman and child there, except the
people of one house, who had been kind to two Hebrews who had once visited that town.
‘They even killed every animal in the place, and tore down every house. The soldiers
were told to carry nothing away with them, and the only one who did so was killed by
the other soldiers for disobedience.

And afterwards five kings joined their armies together and marched against the
Hebrews. And when the battle commenced, God rained down upon these five armies
immense hailstones, which were so big, and came down so fast, that more soldiers were
killed by them than all that were killed by the Hebrew warriors. Of course these ar-
mies were beaten, and as a result the five kings ran away together and hid in a large
cave, from which they were dragged by the Hebrews and were hung upon five trees.
The Hebrews had so many men to kill, that it was nearly nighttime before they were
half through, and their great general called to the sun and moon to stand still, and,
Strange to say, their light remained in the sky until the battle was all over.

And this vast army of Israelites moved on under their great leader, capturing and
destroying city after city, until they had conquered the whole country, and had killed
thirty-one kings, and many thousands of people. And then the Israelites or Hebrews
divided the land among their twelve tribes, after they had killed or driven out most of
the people who had formerly lived there. Some few were allowed to stay, but they had
to work as servants, or pay taxes.

This wonderful leader, Joshua, and Caleb, were the only Israelites over sixty years
of age who entered the land of Canaan. The fatigue of this long march had killed all
of the old men and women except these two. Joshua’s father had a funny little name
It was ‘Nun.















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































JOSHUA COMMANDS THE SUN TO STAND STILL



THE DASHING WARRIOR,

SIA must have had a great many kings in olden times, and I guess
nearly every city had a separate one, for among the rulers whom
the Israelites captured was a cruel king, who said that during his
ey) ) + life he had cut off the thumbs and the big toes of seventy-two

kings, and had forced them to pick their food from off the floor
el under his table. It used to amuse this bad man to see these poor
fh x. kings try to catch hold, with their fingers, of crumbs of bread, or



EN pieces of meat he threw to them, just as if they were dogs. If
you wish to know how awkwardly they did it, just place a penny
on a table or chair, and try to pick it up without using your thumbs.

When the Israelites caught this king, they cut off his thumbs and big toes, and I
guess he bled to death, for he was old, and the wounds did not heal as they would have
done had he been younger and healthier.

Afterwards a general, named Sisera, was defeated by the army of Israelites, and after
the battle he took refuge, that is, he hid himself in the tent of a woman named Jael.
She gave him milk to drink, and covered him with a cloak. He was very tired, and
after he was sound asleep Jael took a hammer and a very long, sharp nail, and drove it
right through his head, until it entered the ground on which his head was resting.

You see all these people with whom the Israelites were fighting were very bad, and
worshipped idols, and God was angry with them, and determined to destroy them and
give these lands to His own people. The Israelites did not always obey God, and He
would punish them severely for worshipping idols, by allowing them to be defeated by
other nations. Once they were under the control of the Midianites for seven years, and
they were very wretched and prayed to God to deliver them.

One day a farmer, who had once been a soldier, was threshing grain in his father’s
barn, when an angel appeared to him and told him he should be the leader of the
Hebrews and save his people. And then this man offered some. flesh and cake as a
sacrifice to God, and while it was lying on a rock near by, the angel touched it with his.
rod and fire leaped from the rock to it and burnt it up in an instant. And the angei
promised that this man should witness another proof of God’s love for him. And the
man placed a woollen fleece on his barn-floor, and the next morning this fleece was wet
with dew as if rain had fallen upon it, while all around it was perfectly dry. That night
he placed it there again and the following morning the fleece was dry, while the floor
of the barn around it was soaking wet. Then this man knew that God intended that he
should lead an army and free his country.

Thirty-two thousand soldiers came to him, but he allowed all but ten thousand of
these to return home. ‘These were more than he needed, so by God’s direction he took
them all toa little stream of water, when they were very thirsty, and he watched how

they all drank. I suppose he had a number of men to help him look at this host of men,
(72)











































SISERA SLAIN BY JAEL.













































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































GIDEON CHOOSING HIS SOLDIERS.





































































































































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76 THE SLAIN DAUGHTER.

or if he did not, he had a few come at atime, so that he could see every man drink.
Nearly every man in drinking rested on his hands and knees, and placed his lips down
to the water. Three hundred soldiers took the water in their hands and drank it in that
manner without kneeling on the ground, and these men were chosen by their leader to
go with him against the enemy. The rest were sent home. I wonder how you and
I would drink if we came to a little stream in the field and were thirsty and had no
cup. ;

This leader handed each of these three hundred men a trumpet, a pitcher, and a
lamp, and at midnight they crept quietly up to the camp of the enemy and suddenly
gave a shout, broke their pitchers with a loud crash, blew their trumpets, and waved
their lamps. ‘The great army in the valley below them woke up from sleep, and seizing
their swords, rushed blindly out into the darkness and killed one another by mistake,
until thousands were dead, and the whole army that were left fled in terror from this
band of Gideon, and left the Israelites in possession of their country.

THE SLAIN DAUGHTER,



(MA GREAT victory had been won by the Hebrews, and their enemies lay dead
on the battle-field. The Hebrew general had gained this victory
after he had made a terrible vow to God that if successful he would
sacrifice the first living thing that should meet him on his return
home; that is, he would kill with his sword, and burn on an altar;
the first person or animal that should come from his house to meet

ih PK ‘a, him.
} ays And as he drew near his house, what was his horror to see a
a : 5 5 : ; ;
o) beautiful young girl approach him with some musical instrument
y oD

in her hand, on which she was joyously playing, and to find that she was his daughter,
whom he loved more tenderly than he did his own life. And this strong man burst into
tears, as his only child rushed into his arms and welcomed him home. For a long time
he was unable to tell her the promise he had made to God, and he tore his clothes in his
great sorrow, but at last he said to her: “Alas! my daughter, thou hast brought me very
low, for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back.”” And then he
told her the promise he had made, and this brave girl told her father that he must fulfil
his vow, and must sacrifice his child, and that she would be prepared to die, if he would
allow her to visit the mountains for two months in order to weep and pray.

After two months had passed, she returned home to her father, who was broken
down with grief at the thought that he must take away her young life, and sacrifice
the only object he loved on earth. But he did the act, and raised a knife and

































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































i































JEPHTHAH’S DAUGHTER COMING OUT TO MEET HER FATHER.





















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































78 THE MAN OF MUSCLE.

stabbed her to the heart, and offered her dead body on an altar to God. And the young
Hebrew women after that time mourned for this devoted girl four days in each year.
It is very fortunate for us that God does not call on our fathers to do such fearful
things, nor did he require it of Jephthah.

Some time after this a man and his wife were visiting a town of the tribe of
Benjamin, and some drunken men assaulted them, and killed the woman. Her hus-
band then cut up her dead body into twelve pieces, and sent a piece to each of the
twelve tribes, including the tribe of Levi, and asked them to make war on the tribe
of Benjamin for their crime. And all these Israelites did so, and they nearly killed
off the whole tribe; indeed there were no women of the tribe left, and the few thousand
soldiers who were hidden on the mountains after the battle had to hunt new wives
among other people outside their tribe.

I once read a beautiful poem about this leader Jephthah, which I should like
very much to show you,

THE MAN OF MUSCLE.

ITTLE boys that I know all like to visit the Zoological Garden
about the time the lions are being fed, when they are wide awake,
and hungry and fierce, and when they often roar very loudly.
Little girls are more timid usually, and prefer looking at tamer
and quieter animals.

Once there was a young man who determined to marry a
woman whom his father and mother did not like. But they were
easy and good-natured, and to please their son they took a
journey with him through the wild country and woods towards the

town where the young woman lived. He was their only child, and before he was born an

angel came down from heaven and told his father that he should have a boy baby, who
would become a wonderful man. And the father lit a fire and made a sacrifice to God, and
what was his surprise to see the angel go straight up to heaven in the blaze from the fire.

Well, while they were slowly travelling, the son walked a good distance ahead one
day, when suddenly a young lion rushed at him, intending to tear him to pieces. The

animal’s big red jaws were open, and he looked as if he could bite a man’s arm off in a

minute. But this young man was wonderfully strong, and he caught the lion by the

jaws and pulled them apart, and then twisted the lion’s head so much that he broke his
neck. On lis journey home, some weeks later, he found that a swarm of bees had en-
tered the dead body of the lion and filled it with honey.

He married the woman he went to visit, but she didn’t love him very much, for she
told her friends the answer to a riddle, which he had given them to guess, and hada bet.









































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































SAMSON SLAYING THE LION.



80 THE MAN OF MUSCLE.

with them of thirty suits of clothes, and thirty sheets, that they could never find it out.
He was foolish to tell his wife what the riddle was, but she cried seven whole days, be-
cause her husband kept the secret from her, and finally she worried the poor young man
so greatly that he told it to her. He wished to pay his bets, so one day he went to a
neighboring town and killed thirty men, in order to obtain thirty suits of clothing, which
he took from their dead bodies and brought back with him.

But he was very angry with the friends of his wife, so one day, when the wheat was
yellow and ripe for the harvest, he caught three hundred foxes and fastened their long,
bushy tails together two by two, and tied a flaming firebrand to their tails and sent
them scampering off into the wheat fields. Of course the dry wheat caught fire in every
direction, and the whole country seemed in a blaze. When the people found out who
had done this, they went to the man’s house when he was absent and burnt his wife and
her father, so that they died in great pain. When the man returned and found his wife
burned to death, he killed everybody in the neighborhood whom he could catch.

And after this he took the jawbone of an ass and ran into the army of the Philis-
tines and killed one thousand of the soldiers. Two hundred years before this time, a
strong man named Shamgar, killed six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. I think
these Philistines must have been very cowardly, or very weak, to have so many of their
men killed by a bone and a pointed club or stick.

One evening he went into a town named Gaza and went to bed. He heard the
people had locked the gates of the city, and intended to kill him the next morning. So
at midnight he rose and went out and lifted the gates right off and carried them, with
the two posts they were fastened to, outside the city and left them on top of a hill
near by.

The Philistines were very anxious to get rid of such a dangerous man; but they
were terribly afraid of him, and no one of them was brave enough to try to kill him,
even when he was asleep. If they had had guns and pistols in those days, like they
have now, I guess it wouldn’t have taken them very long to have killed him.

They were very much puzzled to know what made him so much stronger than other
men, and when they found that he was in love with a young Philistine woman, they in-
duced her to try and coax the secret from him. So the next time he called upon her she
asked him how he could lose his strength. He told her that if he were bound with
seven branches of trees, or bushes, he would become as weak as other men. And she
tied his arms fast to his body with these green branches, and in a moment he broke
them apart as if they were cotton string. And when she reproached him for telling her
a lie, he said new ropes would hold him. And she bound him very tightly with ropes,
aud he burst them apart just as he had the branches. He then told her to weave the
seven locks of his long hair together and fasten them with a large pin, and he would no
longer be strong. And she did so, but he was as strong as ever.

‘The woman then cried very bitterly, and said that he didn’t love her, or he would tell





































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































SSS ae So Pris



SS



SAMSON SLAYING THE PHILISTINES WITH THE JAWBONE OF AN ASS.

6



















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































SAMSON CARRYING OFF THE GATES OF GAZA.

































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































4 LILA,

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THE DEATH OF SAMSON.





THE GENTLE GLEANER. | 85

her the secret of his strength. At last the foolish man yielded, and told her that his
hair had never been cut; but, that if it were shaved off, then he would be just as weak
as other men. She then put this strong man in a sound sleep, and one of the Philistines
crept into the room and.cut off every bit of the hair from his head, so that he was per-
fectly bald. And his strength all left him; and when he woke up, his enemies, the
Philistines, bound his arms and placed fetters upon his ankles, and then they put out his
eyes. They then took him to prison and made him work there for several months turn-
ing a wheel. Meanwhile his hair grew long again, and his strength returned.

The Philistines were about to have a grand feast in their large temple and they
thought it would be splendid fun to bring their blind prisoner into the temple after the
feast, so that every one might see him and insult him. So the poor man was led into
the middle of the room for the crowd to look at. You may know what a big room it was,
when I tell you that three thousand men and women were standing or sitting on its roof,
looking down through different openings upon the people below. Tiwo big stone col-
umns in the centre of the room supported the roof, and this strong man asked to be al-
lowed to rest himself against them. When he was led to this spot, he suddenly placed
his arms partly around these columns and pulled with all his might. The columns com-
menced to tremble, and a moment later they came tumbling over, bringing the roof and
the entire building down on the heads of the thousands of people in the temple, so that
this man Samson and all the vast multitude around him were killed.

THE GENTLE GLEANER,

AVE you ever been very homesick, and felt almost like crying to
get back to your parents, and to your brothers and sisters? I
think even grown people have those feelings sonietimes when they
are in far off lands, even though the people they live with treat
them very kindly. But sometimes one person will love another
person so greatly that he will give up friends and family in order
to be always near the being he loves. Once there was a widow,
who had buried her husband and her two sons in a land some



old home of her childhood, where the God of Israel was worshipped. She expected to
travel alone, but, to her surprise, one of her daughters-in-law, whose home and friends
were all in this foreign land, insisted upon going with her to a country she had never
seen. The language she uttered was so beautiful that I will give it to you just out of
the Bible. She said to her mother-in-law, who, like herself, was a widow: “ Entreat me



















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































NAOMI AND HER DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW.



















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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88 THE BOY IN THE TEMPLE.

not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee, for whither thou goest I will go,
and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my
God. Where thou diest will I die and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me and
mine also, if aught but death part thee and me.” And they travelled to the land of
Israel, and when they reached it they were poor and needed bread.

When you read about corn in the Bible, it means wheat, for the Israelites never saw
in those days what is now called Indian corn. In olden times, poor people used to follow
the reapers in the harvest-field, and after the wheat was cut and harvested, they would
gather up the little heads of grain that chanced to be left in the field, and carry it home
to make bread with.

So this young widow went into the wheat-field of a rich man, named Boaz, to glean
the yellow grain which was lying on the ground. And Boaz told his reapers to let drop
whole handfuls of wheat-stalks for her to fill her apron with, and to treat her very kindly,
for he had heard the story of her love for her dead husband’s mother, who was his distant
relative. Aud after some time Boaz asked her to be his wife, for he felt certain that such
a good, dutiful daughter as she had proved herself to be would become the best of wives
to him. And Ruth married Boaz, and lived in a large house, with plenty of servants ;
but best of all she obtained a good, loving husband, who feared the Lord, and lived a
holy life.

THE BOY IN THE TEMPLE.






NCE a bright, good little boy was given by his mother to the service of
the Lord, and sent to the Jewish temple or church to wait on an old
priest, named Eli, who needed a boy to help him. One night, when
the child was sleeping in the next room to Eli, he heard some one
calling him. He ran at once into Fi’s room, and said, “ Here am
i ra J.” And Eh told the boy he did not call him, and the little fellow

ah beycde) returned to his room and went again to sleep. Ina few minutes
; ED oy he woke up on hearing some one call his name, and again went to
23° faS@ Fi, who told him to go to bed at once, as he did not speak to him.







And when this took place a third time, then Eli knew it must have been the Lord who
spoke to the lad, and he told the boy the next time his name was called to answer the
voice, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears thee.” And the boy did so, and the Lord
spoke to him in the darkness, and told him that He intended to kill the two sons of Eli,
because they had sinned against God, and that He blamed Eli for not restraining and
punishing them when young. The next morning the lad told the good old priest all

























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































THE RETURN OF THE ARK.



90 THE BOY IN THE ‘TEMPLE,

that the Lord had said, and Eli merely replied: “It is the Lord, let Him do what seems
good to Him.”

And as the boy grew to manhood, the people knew that God spoke through him, and
hence that he was a prophet, and could tell the future. We have no prophets nowadays,
and hence people who pretend that they can read the future of others, and tell what they
are going to do, are all humbugs.

A terrible affair took place about this time, which resulted in the loss of the ark or
chest of God. The Israelites were fighting with their old enemies, the Philistines, and
they brought the ark of God out of the temple in order that the soldiers might fight more
bravely to defend it. But the Philistines defeated them, and captured this holy chest or
ark, and carried it into one of their heathen temples in a city at home.

They placed it alongside of a big idol, called Dagon, and you may imagine their sur-
prise, the next morning, to find Dagon lying flat on his face before the ark of the Lord.
They thought it might have been an accident, so they stood the old idol on his feet again,
and left him there the second night. Early the next morning they came to the temple
and peeped in, and there was old Dagon lying on the floor with his head off, and both of
his hands, leaving only the trunk of his body, which was in the form of a fish. And they
moved the ark from city to city for seven months, and wherever it stopped diseases broke
_ out among the people, and the Philistines became afraid of it, and finally sent it back to
the Israelites, together with five golden mice, and other golden presents.

The Lord had forbidden any one except the priests and Levites from touching the
ark; but seventy curious Israelites looked into it and were all killed by God for disobey-
ing Him.

After this time the prophet, about whom I am writing, judged Israel for many years ;
but as he grew old the people wanted to have a king reign over them, and they asked
him to choose one for them. And the Lord guided his choice, and he selected a man
named Saul, who was the tallest man in the whole country, and he became the first king
of Israel.

A little while after this, a bad king brought an army against a Hebrew city, and the
people in the city were terribly frightened, and sent a man to ask what would be done to
them if they would surrender and not fight. And the answer was that every man must
have his right eye put out, so that he could never more be a soldier. In those days, the
soldiers carried spears or swords in their right hands and shields in their left hands, which
hid their left eyes and most of their faces and bodies, so that if they lost their right eyes
they were useless as soldiers. I guess if any of them were left-handed, they might
manage to fight without having right eyes; don’t you think so?

And the people of the city sent to Saul, the new king, to come and help them, and
he came as quickly as possible, just in time to save them and defeat the army outside of
their walls.

But Saul sometimes disobeyed the Lord, and the Lord told His prophet that He was



THE GIANT-KILLER. QI

sorry that He had made him king, and that He intended to make a young shepherd boy
the next king in Saul’s place.

After this time the prophet, who was very old, went to a small town and taught a
school of prophets, all of whom were told by God things that would come to pass in the
future. When Samuel died, all the people mourned for him, for his life had been pure
and devoted to the Lord.

THE GIANT-KILLER,



"WwAVE you ever seen a real giant? I once saw one nearly eight feet
’ high, and my head was just up to his watch-pocket. There once
lived a giant nine feet and a half high, whose helmet of brass and
coat of mail weighed one hundred and fifty pounds, and he also
carried a shield in his hand and plates of brass on his legs. He
was a soldier in an army that was about to fight the Israelites,
and for several mornings he strutted forth in front of the Hebrew
army and challenged anybody to fight him.

Saul, the Hebrew king, had promised his daughter in mar-
riage to any one who would kill this boasting giant, and a very young man, almost a lad,
who was visiting his soldier brothers, ei the king to let him fight the giant, as he
had already killed a bear, and also a lion, who had robbed his flock, for he was a shep-
herd. Saul offered him his own armor, but it was too heavy; and the young man went
towards the giant with a leather sling and five smooth stones. He didn’t wait for the
giant to get near enough to him to use his sword, but as he approached him the young
shepherd took a stone and hurled it with great force from his sling, and the stone buried
itself in the forehead of the giant and killed him. ‘Then the young man cut off the head
of his big enemy, and held it up in front of the army of the Philistines, who fled at the
horrible sight.

Saul then made a general of the shepherd, and gave him his youngest daughter as
his wife; but he soon grew jealous of the young warrior and tried to kill him, and would
have succeeded had it not been for Saul’s son Jonathan, who loved the bold shepherd,
and told him the intentions of his father. Hence he was compelied to hide in caves and
forests from the anger of the king. Twice he could have killed the king, for he found
him asleep and cut off a part of the king’s robe, and carried off his spear.

At last Saul was wounded in battle, and then fell on his sword and killed himself.
The shepherd warrior was then proclaimed king, but it was seven years later before
he ruled over the whole country. He had a number of wives and a great many

children.







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SAUL AND DAVID.















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DAVID SPARING SAUL.

































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BIBLE STORIES
CHILDREN

THE BIBLE STORIES FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION TOLD IN A
SIMPLE AND ATTRACTIVE STYLE
Designed to Interest and Instruct the Young in God’s Holy Book
INCLUDING

STORIES OF BIBLE HEROES, THE STORY OF JESUS AND THE STORY OF ST. PAUL

|

~

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\



HEADS OF MADONNA & CHILD FROM RAPHAEL'S FAMOUS PAINTING
Edited by Henry NeI1, assisted by

Mrs. G. E. Morton, Wititiam A. Brown, CHARLES T. WINTER

RUSSELL eL CONWELL,

Pastor of The Temple, the Largest Church in America.

ILLUSTRATED WITH OVER TWO ARUNDRED

Magnificent Full-page Engravings and Colored Plates

Copyright by Henry Netz, 189)
|MTRODUCTION FOR PARENTS
INTRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN

THE FIRST GARDENER
Tan First MURDERER
Tas First Boat-BUILDER
Tyr BRICK TOWER ;
Ty Boy IN THE DESERT
Tun BANISHED MAN
Ta OBEDIENT SON

Tye WIFE SEEKER -
Tu First TwINns .
Tam DREAM . ‘ iS
‘Tag NEw Coat . .
“Sayt FOREIGN RULER .
HorRIBLE THINGS ,
A LonG JOURNEY .
Tum Boy IN A BASKET
Tue GREAT GENERAL
Wan DASHING WARRIOR
TuE SLAIN DAUGHTER
Tur MAN oF MUSCLE
Tins GENTLE GLEANER
Tyr Boy IN THE TEMPLE
Tur GIANT KILLER -
Tue WISEST OF MEN .
THE FIRE CHARIOT -
‘Te BALD-HEADED MAN
THe SicK RULER 5
Tu BEAUTIFUL QUEEN
Tue UNHAPPY MAN

Tur Lion TAMER

SWALLOWED ALIVE

«6 CONTENTS.



PAGE

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. . . 9
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Sipetaial ; fae 2
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b ; . . 29
er Uecn enactment oe
. Sars 35
° . . . aes
Pee anno ms ier ieee AS.

. . . 55
. . . . 64
. . . : . 68
. . Q 0 72
O . ‘ 0 76
. . ‘ ° - 78
. . . . . 85
. . : 88
. ces : . gl

. . 105
. 106
. 108
. 112
. . . 114
. 116



Wuy Jesus CaME . 9 ° fs
THE VIRGIN MARY . 3 ° .
THE BIRTH OF JESUS . . . .
Toe Wisk MEN . . . e °
Wuat Kinc Herop DID . 0 .
THs BoyvHooD OF JESUS . . .
THE BaPrismM OF JESUS , .
THE TEMPTATION ; ; 0 .
THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS. . .
THE First MIRACLE . : .
JESUS AT THE PASSOVER - 9 .

NICODEMUS . 5

. . . .

Tu WOMAN OF SAMARIA .- c 3
Tur NOBLEMAN’S SON : . .

Jesus DRIVEN AWAY FROM NAZARETH
Jesus CaLLs HIs DIscIpLES AGAIN .
A SABBATH AT CAPERNAUM . .
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT . F
THE LEPER HEALED .« . : .
Tai CENTURION’S FAITH . . ;
Sur Wrpow oF NAIN 0 O a
Tur PALSIED Man HEALED ; .
More MIRACLES OF HEALING ,
TuE CRIPPLE AT BETHESDA i ,
Tye PHARISEE AND THE SINNER

Tue MAN WITH THE WITHERED HAND
Jusus CHOOSES THE TwrLVE APOSTLES
A PARABLE, AND THE STORM AT SEA
Tu DEMONIAC HEALED

‘Se DEATH OF JOHN THE BAprist
FEEDING THE Fiv— THOUSAND . -

Jusus WALKING ON THE SEA. .

PAGE

. 120
5 1B

- 124

126

. 210
. 214
. 216
. 220

. 224
2 CONTENTS.

Many Disciples LEAVE JESUS .

THE WOMAN OF TYRE

PEOPLE HEALED, AND TAUGHT, AND FED

Jusus TELLS THE TWELVE OF COMING SORROWS
THE TRANSFIGURATION

THE DEMONIAC Boy . .

Jesus TEACHES THE TWELVE . é

Jusus TEACHES IN THE TEMPLE

THE MAN BORN BLIND ; . .

THE SEVENTY , . . 0 ;

THE PRODIGAL SON

THE KINDNESS OF JESUS . : 9 .
MARTHA AND Mary . 3 ; 0 5
LAZARUS RAISED TO LIFE . 0 r . 5

ON THE WAY TO JERUSALEM .

JUDAS . f . f . . .

A Day OF TRIUMPH . : . ; 2
THE Last SUPPER ; . . 5 .

IN THE GARDEN . . . a a .
PETER’S DENIAL . ; . . eS F
JESUS BEFORE PILATE . : . . :

. 280
. 286
. 292

. 298

« 302



THE DEATH OF JuDAS . . .
JESUS ON THE CRosS . . : . ;
THE DEATH OF JESUS . 0 . : .
Jesus RISEN . : : - . .

THE WALK TO EMMAUS .
Jesus SHows His HANpDS, AND FEET, AND
By THE LAKE OF GENNESARETH

THE ASCENSION . s .

THE Day oF PENTECOST .

THE STILL, SMALL Voce .

THE First MIRACLE BY THE APOSTLES
THE STORY oF St. STEPHEN. 2 .

THE CONVERSION oF St. PAu . i ‘

St. Pau, aT Lystra . . : :
St. Pau, aT ATHENS :

ST. Paul VISITS JERUSALEM 5 . °
Sr. PauL ATTACKED BY A Mop cs .
St. Paul, BEFORE AGRIPPA 5 6 7

THE TEMPEST AND ST. PAUL’S VISION .
St. PAUL’S SHIPWRECK ;

AN ANGEL DELIVERS PETER FROM PRISON



SIDE

PAGE
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a ROH)
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> 354
mas
- 362
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. 366
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8 List of Illustrations. 5°

Aoam and Eve Expelled from the Garden
Cain and Abel Offering Sacrifice
dhe Murder of Abel

The Flood
The Dove Leaving ree Ark
The Tower of Babel
The Expulsion of Hagar

Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness
Abraham Entertains Three Strangers
The Burning of Sodom
Lot Fleeing from Sodom
The Trial of Abraham’s Faith
Eliezer and Rebekah
Isaac Welcomes Rebekah
isaac Blessing Jacob
Jacob's Dream :
Joseph Sold into Egypt .
Joseph Interpreting Pharaoh’s Dream
Joseph Maketh Himself Known to his Brethren
Jacob Going Down into Egypt 5 0 9
Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh .
The Plague of Murrain .
The Plague of Darkness A
Death of the First-born in Egypt
Drowning of Pharaoh’s Army in the Red Sea
Moses Coming Down from Mt. Sinai
Korah, Dathan and Abiram Swallowed Up .
The Brazen Serpent
Baalam Stopped by an Angel .
Crossing of the Jordan by the Children of ioe ,
Finding of Moses
Water from the Smitten eee
‘The Walls of Jericho Fall Down
jesiua Commands the Sun to Stand Still
Sisera Slain by Jael
Gideon Choosing his Soldiers
Gideon Surprising the Midianites .

Jephthah’s Daughter Coming Out to Meet ihe? nee

Samson Slaying the Lion

Samson Slaying the Philistines ;
Samson Carrying off the Gates of Gaza
Samson and Delilah : . :
The Death of Samson. . : a .

PAGE

PAGE
Naomi and her Daughters-in-law . : , 86
Boaz and Ruth : 5 : f . : 87
The Return of the Ark . 5 2 89
Saul and David 3 P : ' . 92
David Sparing Saul 93
The Death of Saul 94
The Death of Absalom 95
' The Judgment of Solomon 97
' Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son 99
| Elijah Confounds the Prophets of Baal . IOI
Elijah Nourished by an Angel 102
Elijah Causes Fire from Heaven to Destroy the cor
diers of Ahaziah . 103
Elijah’s Ascent in a Chariot of Fire . 104
Elisha and the Famine in Samaria 107
Queen Vashti Refuses to Obey the Orders of ieecerss 10g
Esther Confounding Haman . Pm IeIg!
Job Informed of his Ruin manele
Daniel in the Lion’s Den . IIs
Jonah Cast Up by the Whale peeraly)
Jonah Exhorts the People of Nineveh to enearaaee a Hite
Jesus the Christ cea
The Nativity : 125,
_ The Star in the East meet
| The Flight into Egypt . 12e
The Flight into Egypt . 13]
‘The Massacre of the Innocents Paplsg a
‘The Return from Egypt . 13
The Child Jesus . 135
Jesus with the Doctors . 137
Jesus in the Midst of the Doctors . . 139
The Voice in the Wilderness . Peel
John the Baptist Preaching . 143
The Temptation » TAS
Jesus Tempted by the Dee . 147
The Lamb of God . . 149
The Calling of the Fisherman . 151
The Marriage in Cana of Galilee PERS
Jesus Cleansing the Temple . , E aS y7
Jesus and Nicodemus . : - 159
Jesus and the Woman of eens 3 fs . 161
Jesus in the Synagogue . , - . . . 166
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth . . . , . 168


4 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Jesus Preaches from a Ship

Jesus Healing the Sick

Jesus in Prayer

The Sermon on the Mount

The Leper

The Healing of the not s oon an
The Sou of the Widow of Nain
The Paralytic Healed

‘The Calling of St. Matthew
Touching the Hem of his Garment
The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter
Healing of the Impotent Man at the Pool
The Sinner and the Pharisee .
Plucking Corn on the Sabbath
The Man with the Withered Hand
The Duinb Man Healed

The Parable of the Sower

The Miracle of the Tempest

The Beheading of John the Baptist
The Daughter of Herodias

The Miracle of the Loaves
Feeding Five Thousand

Jesus Walking on the Water

The Syrophenician Woman

The Healing of a Deaf Man .
Jesus Healing the Blind

The Journey to Philippi

The Transfiguration

The Demoniac Boy Healed
Children Brought to Jesus

Jesus and the Boy 3
Jesus Teaching in the oneerie :
Servants of the Chief Priest .

The Healing of the Man Born Blind
The Man Healed on the Sabbath
The Friend of Publicans and Sinners
The Departure of the Prodigal Son
The Prodigal’s Return

The Healing of the Infirm Meee
The Ten Lepers

Children in the Arms of yecne
Jesus in the Home at Bethany
Resurrection of Lazarus ,
The Healing of Blind Bartimeus
Mary Anointing the Feet of Jesus

+ 257
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+ 259
e201
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. 264
» 265
. 267
5 Py
» 275
- 277

PAGE

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+ 175
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- 179
. ISI
. 185
LST,
. 189
. 192
» I94
. 196
» 199
- 201
. 204
. 206
» 209
5 Bui
5. Bite
. 217
. 219
5 PAIL
. 223
. 225
EERO
» 233
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+ 237
» 239
. 241
» 243
» 245
» 247
» 249

253



The Treachery of Judas , . :
For the Master’s Use

Weeping Over Jerusalem

The Entry into Jerusalem

The Triumphal Entry

The Footwashing

The Prayer of Jesus in the lunes oon
The Sleeping Disciples : "
The Agony in the Garden

Judas Guiding the Soldiers

Jesus Betrayed by Judas

The Denial of Peter

The Repentance of Peter

Jesus Insulted

Jesus Scourged

Jesus and Pilate

Jesus and the Soldiers

Jesus Crowned with Thorns

The Ascent to Calvary

Jesus Faints under the Cross .
Nailed to the Cross

Lifting up the Cross

The Death of Jesus

The Crucifixion

After the Crucifixion

Preparing for the Burial

Burial of Jesus

The Angel at the epics

Jesus Appears to Mary

The Walk to Emmaus

The Disciples at Emmaus

Doubting Thomas’s Answer

Peter and his Lord by the Sea

The Ascension

The Day of Pentecost

The Disciples Preaching

Olivet and Jerusalem

Peter and John Healing the ame ten
The Martyrdom of Stephen

Distant View of Damascus

Ruins of the Walls of Antioch
Statue of St. Paul ,

Site of the Areopagus at Athens

The Tower of Antonia, Jerusalem
An Angel Delivers Peter from Prison



PAGE

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. 283

285.
287

» 291
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» 2904
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- 209
» 3Cl
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» 304.
» 305
. 306.
3 OF
» SII
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ou)
HLS
Bee Li,
. 319
. 321
S22:
ms)
meg 5)
Ori

G2 & & be
O & G
CAB AW

G2 G2 Ge
& PO

w&
Sf
So

» 349°
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+ 359:
. 361
» 373.
UN TRO IDIUIC ION IFOIR, JPAIRUEIN US,



gee OOKS are silent; but they speak. They go where teachers and
Y guardians cannot go. They influence character far more than is
estimated in these days of haste and care. ‘The books on the
centre-table at home have decided the success or failure of un-
counted multitudes. Being deeply sensible of the great influ-
ence of stich books, I am delighted with the privilege of intro-
ducing to you this volume. I know this book will not sow any
seeds for bitter fruit. No curses will follow it; no hearts will be
broken by it. It will be a sincere Christian friend whose conversation will be fascinating,
and yet whose teaching will be pure and ennobling. No Novel more interesting, and no
moral Essay more elevating. That is a rare combination; and one to be highly prized
by the mother or father who loves his children. It brings the Bible within the clear
comprehension of the young, and wins their respect and affection for that truth which
inspires to holy character and urges on to heroic deeds. Such a volume in the house is
a forcible and permanent declaration to all who enter it, that the home is moral and
happy. It commands a continuous benediction, and will throw an influence like a search-
light out over the future path of sons and daughters. It will be a good deed to put this
book in the heart of the family-circle, and it will be a pure satisfaction in after years to
watch the development of golden fruit in the lives of those loved ones who read and
remember its beautiful and Divine narratives.

(5)
INTRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN.

ET me take you by the hand, my little friend, and introduce you
to some new acquaintances. You will be glad to have them
among your friends, too, as you come to know them better.
These stories in this book I call my little friends. Do you know
why? Well, it is because they tell the truth. ‘These stories
tell just what the Bible directs them to tell. No bad man could
hire them totella lie. No horrid old tramp could frighten them
enough to make them deceive any one. ‘They not only tell the



truth themselves, but they urge every one else todoso. You like
to hear stories, I know. But all stories are not clear illustrations of the Gospel truth. So
Iam glad to introduce you to these. For they tell us noble, good things about people
who lived in Bible times. Every boy and girl who listens to them will be brighter
and better.

Then, too, I like to place you in their company because they are good. Sometimes
even wicked folks tell the truth, but they talk about hateful, mean, bad things. These
stories don’t talk about such things as that. "They are good stories, and they want to
do good. They won’t say a word to draw young folks into quarrels, or to make any one
cross, disobedient, selfish or rude. Sometimes a little book creeps into your home,
dressed up very fine. It has a gilt top, like a new hat; gold borders, like finger rings,
and a soft, smooth binding, like rich new clothes. But it is bad company. It may be
very polite, interesting, and funny, but it is not good. You would not be seen with such
a story if you knew how bad it was. ‘They tell lots of wicked things. We dream about
- the horrid things they say and sometimes wake up and cry, “I don’t like such dreadful
story books.” But these stories, which these good people have sent into your home in
this book, are pure, nice companions, and will try hard to make you good and happy.

Perhaps you do not need an introduction to any of them. They may be all old
acquaintances. But they have on a new suit of clothes. Did you ever meet a boy or a

girl just after they had put on a new spring suit? You did not know who they were
(6)
“HEH SHALL GATHER THE LAMBS IN HIS ARMS.”
By Prof. B. Plockhorst.

THE ideal mission of the Son of God, whose holy blood has been
sacrificed for the salvation of us all, has found one of its most pow-
erful pictorial interpreters in the celebrated painter oS religious sub-
jects, Prof. B. Plockhorst, of Germany.

The masterpiece of art before us is one of the most widely known
pictures by this great painter, and reproductions of it in all forms,
from a wood-cut for school books to brilliant stained élass windows
in great churches of the metropolis, are spread throughout the realm
of Christendom. . | -

Looking at the calm, gentle features of the Heavenly Shepherd in
whose embrace and on whose bosom the helpless lamb is nestling, we
must say with the artist, Here is the symbol of our happiness, His
arms are the sheltering place we have to seek, Him we have to follow,
for His watchful eye is over us when we find ourselves entangled in
the thorns of life on this earth of sorrow, weakness and sin.

Fearless is He leading onward to eternal joy, and happy are those
belonging to His flock, for they will not be lost in the wilderness. .

The artistic composition before us is unsurpassed, and is laying
down the foremost principles of our Christianity and its everlasting
invitation to all willing to be faithful members of the flock: ‘‘Come
and follow me, for Il am the resurrection and the life ; I will make
your life endless at the cost of my blood, for such is the will of my
Father.” .

Great indeed and surely inspired is the artist whose brush can
become the means of producing a painting that will speak in such a
powerful voice to all of a Christian spirit—that can demonstrate its
beauty in such a charming form, and can assure every one of the
only way to secure its promises—by following the godly Shepherd.

The charm of this painting is also éreatly increased by the truth
of the pastoral scenery surrounding the Saviour’s figure and a highly
poetic atmosphere which is adding to the effect produced by the
wonderful-composition before us.




HE SHALL GATHER THE LAMBS IN HIS ARMS.
INTRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN. 7

until your father told you, or until you came so close te them as to look right into their
eyes. It may be that you will know all of these, as one after the other opens its eyes
to you. But the best thing about these stories is the fact that your parents love them
as much as you will. Millions of boys, girls, men and women love these stories. An-
gels that live in the Shining Land of Heaven love them, too. ‘They never can be less
beautiful or less interesting. Oh, indeed, they are good stories. They have talked to
very bad girls and boys and helped them to be clean, and polite and good. ‘They have
told old folks how to be patient, strong and true. They have made the poor richer.
They have made the sorrowful happy. ‘They have made the wicked pure. They have
made quarrelsome families peaceful. They have made hateful men loving. They have
helped millions of people to die happy. Oh, yes, we all love these good stories.

They tell of brave deeds, of narrow escapes, of wars, of flowers, of travel, of ani-
mals, of little folks, of giants, of school, of church, of good people and wicked people.
But they tell of them all in a way that is pure and true.

I know you will love them. So, when you get acquainted with them, I want you
to introduce them to your grandpa, and papa, and grandma, and mamma, and Uncle John,
and Aunt Sarah, and Cousin. Fred. They will be more glad to know them than even
you are. All cultivated persons need to know about these stories, and all really good
people want them in their homes. It is a deed of kindness to recite these stories to any
one who does not know about them. You cannot read them too often. Some little folks
learn them by heart. Perhaps you will do so. Don’t forget now that you are introduced
to them. So you are now supposed to be acquainted for always.






















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































ADAM AND EVE EXPELLED FROM THE GARDEN,
THE FIRST GARDENER.

EARLY 6000 years ago, about 6000 miles from your house, in the
far-off land of Asia, there once lived a man who never had a
father or mother, an aunt or uncle, nor even a brother or sister.
To tell the truth, he never had been a baby, and the first: little boy
he ever saw was his own son. Just think of it; he came into the
world a full-grown man, and not a tiny, red-faced, crying infant
like you and I used to be. When he first opened his eyes, he
found himself in the most beautiful garden the world has ever

is seen, All kinds of flowers and trees were there, and not a single

weed could be found. Berries and fruit grew everywhere, and he could eat just as much
as he wanted. Clear streams of water flowed through the garden, and he could sit on
the grassy banks and watch the little fishes swim over the pebbles.

But one of the strangest things about this charming place was the tame condition
of all the animals, for although there were plenty of tigers and lions and other beasts,
they were all tame and would not bite the man who lived in the garden with them. They
all liked him very much, and he gave names to them, and would pat their heads and play
with them, just like you do with your funny little dog or cat. Even the big snakes that
glided through the grass were harmless, and he could sleep among them without being
hart by them.

But though everything was bright and pleasant around him, this man was very
lonely, for he could find no one to talk to him, If he talked toa lamb or sheep, it would
say baa! to him, the dogs would say bow! bow! and would wag their tails, the cats could
only mew, and the lions give a little roar. The snakes and geese would sometimes hiss,
and the monkeys would make a chattering noise, which he could not understand, as they
jumped from branch to branch of the trees.

Oh, how he prayed to the God who had given him life to please make some one like
himself, with whom he could talk and who would be a companion to him. And God
heard his prayer and created a wife for him in the queerest way you ever heard of. I
will tell you all about it.

One night this lonely man went to sleep upon his bed of flowers and grass, and God
came to him and took a rib, which you know is a crooked bone, out of the man’s side
without hurting him, and formed that rib at once into a beautiful woman, and the next
morning when the man woke he found a sweet wife lying close by his side. Oh, but he
was happy when he saw her wake up as if from a dream, and heard her talk in his own
language. ‘The world was all new to her, for she had never seen the sun, or trees oi
flowers before, and he had so much to tell her about the beauties of the garden. ‘Then
he brought her fruit and berries, and she ate the first breakfast she had ever tasted.
After breakfast he took her hand in his, and they walked through the garden like two
children looking at the many pretty things all around them. They talked and they

fq)



10 THE FIRST GARDENER.

laughed, and sometimes they would take a little run over the grass. When they grew
tired they would sit on the edge of a stream and let the water flow over their feet, And
then she would ask him all sorts of questions about the big and the little animals that
were walking or leaping around them, and looking very curiously at their new mistress,
whom God had sent to live with their master. And after they had rested a little while
they took another walk to visit a part of the garden in the centre, which the woman had
not yet seen.

After a while they came to a tree, the fruit of which was the most beautiful of any fruit
in the garden. ‘The branches were filled with this fruit, and it looked ripe and very good
toeat. But the man told his wife that she must never touch the apples which grew
upon that tree, because God had said it was the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and
no one should pluck its fruit. Then they stood near the tree, and he told her all he
knew about the good God who had placed them in this garden, and allowed them to eat
everything they pleased except the apples which grew on that one tree. And his wife
promised him she would never touch the fruit on that tree, but as she passed it she
looked back at the tree and wondered why God would not permit her husband and her-
self just to take a little bite of one apple to see how it tasted. And these two people
lived happily in this garden for some time, and loved each other very much.

One day, however, the woman thought she would take a walk to the middle of the
garden. It was very wrong in her to do so, but she went direct to this tree, and stood
beneath it and looked up at the apples, which were hanging just over her head. You
have heard of Satan, the fallen angel, who puts bad thoughts into the heads of little
children and makes them do wrong and disobey their parents and teachers. Well, old
Satan was watching this woman, though she did not know it, and he assumed the appear-
ance of a serpent and crawled up the side of the tree opposite to where she stood. She
thought at first he was a big snake, until she saw his queer head among the branches
and heard him speak to her in her own language. She wasn’t afraid, for the snakes
were all tame and she had never seen anything in the garden to frighten her. Satan then
tempted her, and told her that if she would eat an apple from that tree, that sne should
know every thing that God himself knew, and that she would not die as God had said,
if she tasted this fruit. ‘The woman believed this bad spirit, Satan, and she pulled some
apples and ate them, and gave her husband some of the fruit, and he also ate.

That same day, after the sun had just set and the little birds were going to sleep,
God himself came into the garden; and although the man and woman could not see
Him, they heard Him calling them. And they were frightened and hid themselves,
You know that no living person ever saw God; but when we die we shall see Him, if
we lead good lives and give our hearts to Him, because he lives in heaven, where we all
wish to go. But God soon found them, and asked the man if he had eaten any of the
fruit of the forbidden tree. And the man said: “ Yes, but I did so because the woman
you gave me for a wife first ate it, and handed some to me.”
THE FIRST GARDENER. II

And the woman then said to God: “I ate it because the snake tempted me.” And
God cursed the snake, and told the man and woman that they must leave their beautiful
home forever and go outside the garden into the rough country, which was hot and dry
and covered with weeds, and must work hard to get food to eat. What a night of sor-
row they must have spent after God told them this! I guess they both cried all night
long, for they had offended God and sinned very deeply.

The next morning God sent some angels into the garden with flaming swords in
their hands, and they drove the man and woman before them out of the gates into the
wild, dreary country outside, to labor—oh, so hard !—for their daily bread.

There was no more happiness for them in this world. All they could hope for and
pray for was, that after they should labor hard for themselves and the children that
should be born unto them, God would forgive their sins and take them again to His
favor and presence in the world beyond the skies.

The man had a long time given him in this world in which to repent of his disobe-
dience to God, for he lived to be 930 years old, which is ten times as long as our oldest
men live nowadays.

I trust that this long story about Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden
of Eden has not wearied my little readers, but that they have read with interest the sad
fate of our first parents.

THE FIRST MURDERER,

age |

iy) HERE once lived two brothers, the older of whom was strong and
Pe passionate, while the other was gentle and good. They lived in
the country with their father and mother, for then there were no
cities or towns. ‘The elder brother was a farmer, and dug his land
with a rough hoe, for in those days there were no ploughs. ‘The
younger brother was a shepherd, and took charge of the flocks
aud herds, At that time, people worshipped God in a different
ZG AV). way from what they do now. They had no churches or ministers,

y AER because there were only a very few people in the world.

Hach of these brothers made a pile of big stones, and laid on them some dry leaves
and pieces of wood, which would easily burn when they should be set on fire. The elder
brother placed on the altar which he had built—for these piles of stone and wood were
called altars—some fruits and vegetables and grain, while the younger brother killed
one of his sheep and put it on his altar, "They then tried to obtain fire, in order to burn
these offerings to God. In those days they had no matches to light fires with, and they
had to strike two flint stones together to make sparks, which, falling on the dry leaves,
would raise a flame.






























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































CAIN AND ABEL OFFERING SACRIFICE.

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THE MURDER OF ABEL.
14 THE FIRST MURDERER.

Soon both the fires were lit, and a queer thing happened. The fire on the altar of
the younger brother burned brightly, and the flame rose straight in the air; while the
fre on the other altar burned feebly, and sent out vast masses of smoke right in the
face of the elder brother, who saw that God was not pleased with him and would not re- .
ceive his offering, for he had not been a good man. He was very angry, therefore; and,
in a moment of fierce rage, he seized a club and killed his younger brother.

This was the first murder that ever occurred in the world, and nobody but God was
looking when the fearful act was done. He called from the clouds to the guilty man
and gave him His curse. He placed a mark or brand on his forehead, so that all should
know the murderer, and then drove him from his home to wander in another country.
God cursed the ground, so that it would never produce anything as the result of his
planting, and this forced him to work at something else than digging the earth. And
this wretched man hurried away without daring to see his parents, who were heartbroken
when they found the dead body of the son they had so much loved.

Oh, what a sad life was his in a far-off land, thinking often of his murdered brother,
and of his father and mother toiling alone at home at work which he should have done. And
then to know that God had stamped a scar on his face, which seemed to burn there like
fire, and which made people avoid him as a murderer.

No mother names her little boy Cain after this murderer, but I have heard of two or
three men named Abel after the innocent brother, whom God loved so much, and who
was mourned so greatly by Adam and Eve, his parents.



THE FIRST BOAT-BUILDER,

) /HE story I am now about to tell you is one of the most wonderful
in the world’s history, and it tells of an event which took place
4300 years ago, or about 1600 years after Adam was created.
There are plenty of bad people in the world now and there are
very many good people also, but at that time neatly everybody
was wicked and God determined to destroy them.

_ It seems very strange, but there was but one family in the
whole world who really loved God. ‘To be sure there were but
few people then living compared with the millions now alive, and
they probably all lived in Asia, which is a country, as you know, very far from here.
Some of these people, like Methuselah, lived to be nearly a thousand years old, and
some of them were giants, they were so tall and big. The oldest man I ever saw was
just one hundred years old, and I don’t think you ever saw a man or woman quite that
old. Just to think of old Methuselah living to be 969 years old, and his grandfather


THE FIRST BOAT-BUILDER. 15

Jared living 962 years. Methuselah’s father, whose name was Enoch, never died, but
was carried up to heaven when he was 365 years old. The only other man who was
ever taken right straight from earth to heaven without dying was Elijah.

Let me see, I was going to tell you about the great flood of water which God poured
down on the earth in order to drown the wicked people who were then living.

Many years before the rain began to fall, God called from the clouds to a good man
whom He loved, and told him to build a very large boat, in which he could save hirnself
and his wife and his three sons and their wives, all of whom worshipped God. And God
told the man to make this boat so large that two of every living thing could be also
taken in it and saved from the flood which was to come. And this righteous man be-
lieved God’s word, and he employed carpenters and other workmen to build it. It was
to be about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

The people must have thought he was crazy to commence to build this immense
boat in a place where there was no water to float it in and no prospect of any. But as
he was able to pay the workmen, they kept on with their work, although everybody in
that part of the country laughed at it, and made fun of this man and his three sons, who
were helping to build the vessel.

After a long time it was finished, and I tell you it was one of the queerest-looking
boats anybody ever made. It was three stories high, and had a big door on the side to
let the people and animals come in. It was not intended to go fast, but merely to float
on the water. It had stalls in it like those you see in a stable.

And then appeared the oddest sight the world has ever seen, and the neighboring
people looked on at first in wonder and afterwards in great terror. Two elephants came
walking together from a long distance to enter the boat, and brought their trunks with
them. They were followed by two lions, and two bears, and two tigers, and two of every
kind of animals, who came walking or running along in a hurry to get into the beat
These wild beasts acted as if they were perfectly tame, for they did not fight with each
other, nor did they try to hurt the family who owned the boat. ‘They went in their stalls
on the big vessel and were fed. And the air was filled with birds, who came from all
quarters and flew right into the door of the boat and perched on some bars that had been
placed there for them. ‘There were no cages for them nor for the animals, for God kad
sent them there, and He kept them from being hurt, or from hurting each other.

What a wonderful sight it must have been to have seen the different stories of
this great boat just filled with animals and birds, and even creeping things like worms
and snakes, no three of which were alike. And finally they were all safely in and the
great door of the vessel was shut and locked, and there was only one little window on
the side of the vessel through which the land around them could be seen by those inside
the boat.

And then the rain began to fall; and the people in the neighborhood no longer
mocked and laughed at the good man and his family, but came down to the side of the






























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































THE FLOOD.
THE FIRST BOAT-BUILDER. 17

boat and begged, oh! so hard, to be let in. But they came too late, for the door was
shut aud God would not allow it to be opened for them. And the water grew higher
and higher, and the people rushed to the hills and mountains, and climbed up rocks to
save themselves from the terrible flood which had already covered their houses; and up
the rocks wild animals also climbed, but they were frightened and were harmless.

And still the rain kept falling and the waters rising. Men and women and children
were calling on God to save them, but they had all led bad lives, and God would not listen
to their prayers, for He intended to punish them with death for their sins.

At last, after it had rained forty days and nights, the rain ceased and the brilliant
‘sttu came out; but no earth was to be seen, nothing but one great ocean of water, which
covered even the peaks of the highest mountains. And on this great ocean floated the
boat which God had ordered to be built, with its thousands of living things which were
to start the world anew. It was about five months after the rain began before the vessel
Janded on the top of Mount Ararat, and it was seven months afterwards, or one year in
all from the time the flood commenced, before the door of the ark was opened and the
animals allowed to go forth to seek their own food. It must have been a strange sight
to have seen them all come out of the boat and run or walk down the sides of the moun-
tain to seek new homes, they knew not where, for all their former dens and hiding-places
had been washed away.

After the animals were out and the birds had flown away, glad of their freedom,
then the pious family who had fed this great host for a whole year, and who were the
only men and women left in the world, erected an altar and made an offering and thanked
God for His great mercy to them.

And God loved this family very greatly, and He promised that He would never de-
stroy the people in the world by another flood, and as a seal of his promise He pointed to
a beautiful rainbow which was then spanning the sky and which He set in the clouds.
The name of the great and good man who built this boat or ark was Noah, and the
names of his three sons were Shem, Ham, and Japhet. Idon’t know the names of their
wives, but they were certainly very good women. Youand I are descended from Japhet —
and his wife, who peopled Europe. ‘The Chinese and the other people of Asia and North-
ern Africa are descended from Shem, while the inhabitants of most of Africa are the
descendants of Ham.

T once had a Noah’s ark given to me when I was a little boy. It was a queer-look-
ing box, witha bottom like a boat, and it was full of little wooden animals, which I never
could manage to make stand up straight. Idon’t think it was a bit like Noah’s real ark,
which had live animals in it, and a window through which a raven and a dove flew out
‘to find if there were any trees or bushes with green leaves on them.

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THE DOVE LEAVING THE
THE BRICK TOWER,

BOUT one hundred years after this world had been destroyed by the flood,
the people then living determined to build a big brick tower higher
than the tallest chimney you ever saw.

Some people think that they wanted to have a tall tower to
climb up into in case another terrible rainstorm should come to
drown mankind, but if that had been their object they would
probably have built it on top of a mountain, instead of starting to
build it on a plain, which you know is level ground. It might
have done very well, however, as a fort to shoot arrows and throw
stones from, if an enemy should try to capture their town, or possibly it was intended to
be merely a big monument to attract attention, just like we build tall church-steeples
nowadays.

I once went up a tower in the city of Pisa, in Italy, which leaned so far over on one
side that it looked as if every moment it was going to tumble. It is called the Leaning
Tower, and it made one feel awfully queer to go to the top of it. There is a tower in
London in which two little princes, sons of a dead king, were smothered to death by the
command of their cruel uncle, in order that he might become king,

But the tower in Asia, about which I am writing, was straighter than the tower of
Pisa and taller than the tower in London. Some people think it was intended to be
built high enough for men to climb into heaven, but we know that heaven is too far off
for any tower to reach it, and that people have to die before they can get there.

Well, they kept piling the bricks on each other, until this queer red tower could be
seen many miles off. They never have cold weather in that part of the world, and very
little rain, and hence the workmen could toil almost every day in the bright sunshine.

One day God looked down from heaven and saw this odd-looking tower growing
higher and higher, and He was very angry, and determined to stop the workmen from
wasting their time on such work. He could have killed them all in a minute, if He had
wished to have done so, or He could have just waved His hand and the tower would
have tumbled down as quickly as do the towers you build of blocks, but He chose a dif
ferent way to punish them. He changed their language all at once so they could not
understand each other. The bricklayers and their families all talked in one language,
but they couldn’t understand a word the hod-carriers spoke. The carpenters thought
the masons were crazy, they talked so strangely and made such queer sounds, which
they seemed to understand and nobody else did, while the masons thought the carpen-
ters were making fun of them by uttering odd words that seemed to have no sense in
them. It wasn’t long, however, before the people found out that God in an instant had
made them all forget their old language, and had given them a number of new lan
gvages in order to prevent them finishing this great tower.

So they formed different colonies and left that place to live elsewhere. The car
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THE TOWER OF BABEL.
THE BRICK TOWER. 2

penters and their families spoke one language and they went off together in one direc-
tion; the men who made mortar, with their wives and children, travelled in a different
direction, and so did the bricklayers and all the other workmen.

And that is the reason why people have never spoken the same language all over
the world since,and why you cannot understand what Germans or Frenchmen are
talking about. The tower was called Babel, which means confusion.

THE BOY IN THE DESERT,




NE hot summer day in a dreary country, far off from any houses, a boy
was placed by his mother under the shade of a bush, while she sat
some distance off, that she might not see him die. The lad had
no disease nor was he sick, but he was dying from thirst, and no
drink of water could be found to save his life. His poor mother
had tried to soothe him, and had looked everywhere for some little
spring or stream, but everything was dry and hot under the burn-
en ing sun, and at last in despair she left her boy and sat down by
| age Giger herself, and wept and prayed to God for help. God heard her
prayer and an angel showed her a well of water near by, from which she filled her
leather bottle, for they had no glass in those days. She then gave her son all the pure
fresh water he could drink. And the little fellow’s eyes grew bright again, and he told
his tnother he was no longer tired, but felt strong and ready to go on their weary foot-
journey across the wilderness. But she said that they had no home nor friends to go to,
and they must learn to live for many years in this desolate wilderness, until her boy
should grow to be a man, and then he could seek the company of other men. She
helped him to make bows and arrows, and he soon learned to shoot rabbits and squirrels
and even birds, and as he grew older and more expert, he became quite a hunter and
killed all kinds of animals that lived in this dreary country. It must have been a very
lonely life for the mother and her child, for it wasn’t often that anybody crossed over
this wilderness and stopped to talk with them.

The mother had once been the servant and afterwards the second wife of her mas
ter, for in those days some really good men had two wives at one time. Her husband
was very rich, and had hundreds of cows and sheep; but her home was not pleasant, for
the other wife did not like her, and when one day the boy I have been writing about was
making fun of his baby half-brother, the first wife, who was the mother of the infant,
urged her husband to drive his second wife and her son out of the house. And the hus-
band did it, and sent away the poor woman and her son, who was his son also, and prob-
ably never saw them again.




































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Y
























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































S
—

NS

NS

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THE EXPULSION OF HAGAR.






















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































NESS

WILDER

AND ISHMAEL IN THE

HAGAR
24 THE BOY IN THE DESERT.

Now you know how it happened that they were all alone in the wilderness, with no
water and only a little bread, and had no place to go to for shelter. I don’t think your
father would treat his little boy that way, do you? But God was kind to this poor,
fatherless lad, and when he became a man He made him head of a race of people who
afterwards lived in Arabia, a country in Asia, which borders the Red Sea. This boy
Ishmael and his mother Hagar led a hard, weary life after they left the house of Abra-
ham, with no fixed home, and none of the many comforts which God has given to you.

THE BANISHED MAN, -

7} XD you ever hear of the Dead Sea, way off in Asia? Well, I can tell
you, it is the strangest body of waterinthe world. All the animals,
insects, and birds which live near it are the color of stone.. No fish
can live in it because it is so salt. Idon’t know whether you can
swim or not, but you couldn’t drown in its waters unless you had a
heavy weight fastened to your body todrag you down. After you
had floated in it a little while, you would find your whole body cov-
ered with a thin coating of salt, and I guess your eyes would smart
terribly when the water got in them, for even the waves down at the
seashore sometimes make your eyes sting a little, although the ocean water is not very
salt.

Vast black masses of bitumen or pitch, which you know is the sticky substance used
on wooden roofs, are to be found all along the shore of the Dead Sea. I am sure that I
would not like to live in that neighborhood, would you? ‘That wonderful sea has not
always been there. Several thousand years ago it was a level plain just like the country
you visit every summer, with no water on it except where the little river Jordan flowed
through it. And men, women, and children lived there, and towns were built and goods
were bought and sold. But the people who lived in those towns were very wicked, and
God determined to destroy them. He first sent two angels to visit them, and they came
down from heaven and made themselves look just like men. They got two suits of
clothes and put them on, and the clothes were made so loose in those days, just like your
papa’s or uncle’s dressing-gown, that the angels could slip their wings underneath and
nobody could tell that they were there.

Well, these two angels called at the house of the only good man who lived in the
town, and who was very rich and was the nephew of Abraham. Abraham lived a little
distance from this place, however, in another section of the country, and the angels had
called upon him first and told him what was about to happen to the towns they were
going to visit. But Abraham had prayed to the Lord to spare the people if ten good