St. Tammany farmer., 1905-11-25

packing them up and preparing fo1
the night which was then not far off
for the sun was just dropping be
hind the lofty tablelands of the
/ Libyan desert. The new arrivals com
ing at that late hour did not attract
much attention, and they soon found
place for their camels and asses
and quickly began to make themselves
comfortable for the night, while the
leader hastened off, eager to f1nd
Puhor and arrange with him for the
purchase of Joseph.
Better take him with me-" he NUT
tered to himself, abruptly turning and
retracing his steps; zone sight of the
youth will be better than all the fail
praise which l can speak"
Now it chanced that very day thai
Puh0r, who was a man of violent tenn
per, had for trivial offense struck
one of the slaves with the heavy
stave which he always carried when
supervising the work of the garden
and had SO badly injured him that
he was incapable Of further service
That evening the king was to hold
a garden party and when too late he
had realized that he was short-handed
and was quite in despair what to do
for he needed slave to attend to
the lamps near the main banqueting
/ table It was at this juncture that
Joseph and his master were admit
ted to the garden and the attendant
came and notified Puhor that a party
waited without to see him.
LET him watt" he muttered, churl-
ishly. "This is pretty time of day
to come'' And turning he again
dropped into a sullen study over the
problem which confronted him. Had
he known who it was awaiting him
rat the gate he would not have been
so slow to respond, but fortunately for
Joseph circumstances were to deliver
him from a cruel master and from a
situation which would have meant
his ruin.
Voices on the far side of clump
of beautiful rose bushes drew Joseph's
attention while he stood waiting, for
the words spoken were in Aramaic.
It was two of the slaves Of the gar
den and one was telling the other
what Puhor had that day done to
one of the servants.
mo one is safe in his presence, -
he ended by saying, and as they
moved OF Joseph caught the words Of
the other:
''The gods pity the wretch who IS
found to I'll his place."
Joseph's heart sank within him
Was this the kind Of a master into
whose hands he was to be sold? Was
this to be his lot? Was he to be
in daily fear Of his life and suffer
humiliation and cruel blows? A Bit
ter struggle began within his heart
and the few brief moments he stood
there seemed an age to him in which
doubt and distrust Of God sought to
gain the mastery. But at last silent
prayer rose from his heart and he
found himself pleading for help, and
as though by way of answer there
came stealing into his heart new
confidence in God.
abraham trusted God when in
Egypt" he thought, "and God de-
livered him from his perils.. Will He
not be as gracious to one Of Abraham's
seed"
An exclamation Of surprise and
pleasure aroused him and he looked
up to see the Egyptian officer who had
accosted him at the river the after
noon before standing watching him
with gratifed smile, and he heard
him say to the Ishmaelite trader:
Thou dost seek a purchaser? I
would be possessed of the youth.
Name thy price and Potiphar, the
captain of the kings guard, will pay
1t. Had not the urgency of my mis-
sion required haste l should have tar
ried yesterday and sought to buy the
youth from thee
But I had purposed to sell Eim to
Puhor, who would pay q goodly sum.
He is always in need of fresh siaves,"
replied the cautious trader.
ca, tA0k AC Ia. ouI Z uuOE Will
not cover thy palms with gold as will
Potiphar. See," and thrusting his
hands within the folds Of his man.
tie, he drew forth pouch of ample
proportions from which when he had
opened it there came the CLEAN Of
gold that caught the greedy eye Of
the trader, and soon the bargain was
completed.
During the transaction Joseph had
found time to study the face Of the
man who was to become his owner,
and he felt instinctively it was q good
face. That its owner was a man who
could be trusted. That he was not |
only OF strong purpose and brave, but |
noble and kindly In character Sure
" he must be a man Of another stamp |
than the one to whom he 90 nearly |
came being sold There were no cruel |
lines III Potiphar's face. There was
no hard, cold, glitter to the eye.
And as the great soldier turned |
towards him and said, briefly. |
Come" he followed. while his heart |
breathed prayer Of Thanksgiving, for
God had heard and delivered.