His people led a pastoral life, and when the dry season came, the older brothers went away with the flocks in search of fresh pastures. Soon the father grew anxious to hear from them, and sent Joseph to locate them and then return to tell him how they fared. After some searching, Joseph drew near the flocks and was seen afar by his brothers. They were now many miles from home, and what they might do was not likely to reach the ears of those who knew them. So they plotted to kill Joseph and ascribe the deed to some wild beast. Reuben, more compassionate, urged that they should not have this awful crime upon their hands, but suggested instead that they cast him into a pit, from which plight, we are told, Reuben intended to deliver him. The others yielded to his plea, and Joseph was cast into the pit. Shortly after, a caravan came in sight, passing on its way to Egypt. At once a surer way of disposing of Joseph suggested itself--they would sell him as a slave and free themselves from further responsibility in the matter. The company of merchantmen drew nearer, journeying with their spices and their wares. To them Joseph was sold, and with them he "went down into Egypt." His varying fortune for the next few years is briefly told. Now we see him a trusted servant, given responsibility and acquitting himself with credit; then upon false accusation, he is cast into prison, but even here he wins the confidence of his jailer. Here too, he establishes a fame for the interpretation of dreams, which ability is soon noised abroad. So widely did it become known that when the king's counsellors were unable to explain his repeated vision, from prison walls Joseph was summoned to reveal its hidden meaning. He thereupon foretold the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine through which the land of Egypt would soon pass. The king, impressed with his wisdom and sincerity, chose him steward of the realm. All know the outcome of the tale--how Joseph soon became second in importance to the king himself, trusted, depended upon and loved; how he bought up the heavy yield of grain throughout the realm for seven years and hoarded it in "store cities," until he ceased to chronicle the amount, so vast it was. Then when the years of famine came, he sold again to those who would buy, and when their money was exhausted, he took their flocks, their lands and their slaves as security--yes, even the service of citizens was pledged to the king in exchange for food. It was during these tedious years of want that Joseph learned of his family, when the same brothers who had done him so much injury came into Egypt to buy grain, and through his generosity they were united once more, and at his invitation brought their families to dwell near him. The king commanded that they be well provided for and they prospered and increased in number.