Again this plague was lifted; and again Pharaoh perjured his soul. For no sooner was he free, than again he refused to let the people go. Then the Lord sent Moses again into the presence of the king. "If thou wilt not let the people go," said Moses to Pharaoh, "then a plague shall fall upon the cattle; and not one shall be left alive to all the Egyptians; but those of the Israelites shall be free from harm." Pharaoh made no answer; and on the morrow the plague fell, and not only the cattle but the magicians were covered with boils. Besides this, a terrible storm came. The trees were broken down, and the crops in the fields were destroyed. Pharaoh was terrified. Famine he knew now would follow; for they had neither meat nor corn for food. And again he promised freedom to the Israelites. But when the storm had ceased, and the crops were again growing, he forgot his terror, and freed not the people. Then the locusts came, millions upon millions of them. They swarmed upon every bit of green in all the land and devoured it,--the leaves, the grass, and the newly-growing crops. Not a leaf nor a blade was left. And again famine sent terror into the soul of Pharaoh. And again he promised freedom to the Israelites; and again he refused, when the plague was lifted, to keep his promise. [Illustration: THE PLAGUE OF DARKNESS.] Then came a terrible darkness upon the country,--a darkness that no light could penetrate. "Go, Moses," said Pharaoh again. "Go out from the land to the land thou lovest. Go; but leave behind thee thy cattle and thy possessions. Those belong to Egypt." Now, to have set out with the great company of the Israelites without cattle and corn for food would have been worse than useless for starvation would have come upon them. Therefore Moses answered, "No, Pharaoh, the Israelites go not forth from Egypt without their cattle and corn and all that belongs to them." Then Pharaoh was angry, and he drove Moses forth from him, saying, "Never more let me look upon thy face!" [Illustration: THE FIRST BORN SLAIN.] Moses went out from the palace and told all that had happened to the Lord. The darkness ended in three days. Then God said, "Now will I send another and a greater plague upon Pharaoh; and after this, he will let the people go." So God sent an angel to smite the first-born of all the Egyptians. This Moses told to his people, and bade them put a mark upon their own doorsteps, that the angel might pass by the homes of the Israelites, and leave their children unharmed. This the Israelites did; and in the night-time the angel came. Not one house of the Israelites did he enter; but in every house of the Egyptians, when the sun rose, there lay the dead body of the oldest child.