And now, because there was corn in Egypt, and because there was a fearful famine in the land of Canaan, it came to pass that the shepherd brothers went down to buy corn, and Joseph, the great ruler, instantly recognized them; and he sent them back with corn for their families, and by and by to fetch his dear old father to come to him till the famine was over. And that was how it was God gave His servant Jacob his heart's desire. You can just imagine with what joy Joseph set out in his chariot to meet his father! Jacob, who was now a hundred and thirty years old, lived near his dear son Joseph for seventeen years, till his death. Then the brothers were afraid, that now their father was gone, Joseph might requite the wrong which they had done him. So they went to him, and earnestly asked him to forgive them. And Joseph wept at their words, and freely forgave them; and said that God had turned their thoughts of evil into good, to keep much people from dying of famine. And this is how "the Children of Israel" came to settle down in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years. [Illustration] III. THE GOOD LITTLE SISTER EXODUS 2.1-10 YEARS and years ago, there was a little girl standing by the great River Nile, which as you know, runs through Egypt into the Mediterranean. There she stood, quite alone, first glancing back to see if anyone might be coming that way, and then looking earnestly towards the river, fringed at that place with bulrushes, which sometimes grew as high as ten or twelve feet. Why was the girl looking so earnestly at those bulrushes as they swayed in the breeze? Or why did she again turn anxiously to see if any Egyptian Soldier should be coming down to the River's brink? Did she know of something which was hidden there? Something very, very precious? Perhaps, wearied with standing and watching in two directions, Miriam sat down, and resting her elbows on her knees, looked only towards the river; and as she sat so silently and patiently there, her mind went over the past months of anxious fears, which had almost overwhelmed the family of Israelites of whom she was the only daughter. She knew that about 400 years before, the Children of Israel, whom the Egyptians called the Hebrews, and we now call the Jews, travelled down from the land of Canaan (Palestine) to the land of Egypt. They were the children of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob; and because of a great famine in all the countries round, these Israelites came down to Egypt to buy corn. You have all heard the story of Joseph who was sold into Egypt by his brothers? Well, God had sent this Joseph to Egypt, on purpose, to store up the corn for the famine which was coming. So Joseph gave his brothers as much corn as they needed, and sent them back to fetch his dear old father Jacob. And that is how the Israelites came down into Egypt, and settled there with their flocks and herds, for they were Shepherds.