St. Tammany farmer., 1906-01-06

Il
Egyptians. It will be safe there" And
then as his heart grew confident in the
/ thought, he added: Surely, God will
help us in this thing"
But how can it be done?" asked
i Manasseh, doubtfully.
| "Thou art indeed slow, my brother" !"
responded Ephraim, with calm sassur-
ance Doth not our fathers breth-
rem return home this night? They
shall bear with them our fathers body,
while we remain in the chamber OF tie
dead as though we would watch and
mourn by the side of our dead. and ere
the morning light and the return OF
our Grandfather Potipherah, the coffin
will be safely resting in the shelter OF
that secret place"
Thou hast spoken wisely" warm.
ly responded the elder brother, in ad'
mfration. Let us at once acQuaint
our brethren with our plans.
| And while the brothers were pre-
pairing to carry out their plans for the
preservation of Joseph's body in ful.
fillment of their pledge to him, the old
priest of the temple was not idle. He
visited the king and won his reluctant
consent to his plans, assuring him that
he was confident that the sons Of Jo-
seph would yield before the dreadful
alternative And then having informed
the attendants Of the temple that Eph-
| rain and Manasseh were to be admit
ted to his presence at any hour Of the
| night they might come, he waited ex.
pectantly.
| The hours wore on. As Potipherah
waited in the temple and his grand
sons came not, his assurance gave
place to doubt and doubt to anxiety,
and at last, unable to stand the sus.
pense longer, he passed out of the
temple courts and turned his feet to-
wards Joseph's house. He would make
one last appeal. They must yield. He
must save his own flesh and blood to
Egypt and Egypt's gods.
AS he turned into the road leading to
Joseph's house he encountered a good
ly company Of people. Their laden
camels and asses and their carts all
told of the journey which was just be-
ing taken up. Curious to know who
! could be passing out of the city at that
hour Of the night, for it was now near
midnight, he accosted one Of the men
as he passed:
"What, Joseph's brethren" he NUT
tered to himself, as he continued on
his way. ''1t is we'll; for now will
Ephraim and Manasseh be free from
their baneful influence. But their go.
ing at this hour of the night seems
strange" he mused, as he reached the
house and entered. To his inquiry for
Manasseh and Ephraim, he was told
that they were watching by the side
OF their dead and wished not to be dis
turbed.
"'Tis WELL" the old priest thought,
as he settled himself upon one Of the
comfortable couches in the great recep.
tion hall. "The departure of the
brothers and the presence Of my grand.
sons by the side Of the sacred dead
augurs good. Doubtless the brothers
departed in anger, for had it not been
so they would have remained to coun.
sci with and help Manasseh and Eph
rain. The boys will yield, feel as
sured," and thus comforted and cheered
Potipherah prepared to wait, giving
instructions to the servant to inform
his grandsons Of his presence as soon
as they should appear,
And that was the last he remembered
until he awoke to find the sunlight
streaming across the marble floor. In
surprise and alarm, he jumped to his
feet, and it was some minutes before
he could collect his thoughts and re-
member how he came there and for
what purpose He recalled his threat
made the night before, that ere the
light of the sun had again fallen upon
Egypt Joseph's bones would. be dis
honored IL his sons did not turn to the
gods Of the Egyptians. For some min.
utes he watched spellbound the beam
of light playing upon the floor. It
seemed to him it was mocking him,
and dancing in delight at his confu.
sion.
At last rousing himself, he turned
toward the apartment where Ephraim
and Manasseh had kept their night
vigil, muttering to himself as he went
He knocked and entered. No one ever
knew what transpired within, but after
long time the aged priest emerged, and
as he turned from the door he was
heard to say over and over to him
self:
LET 1t be 50. Let it be so. Perhaps
It is best"
And some time after this 1t was
known that Manasseh and Ephraim
and their families withdrew to the
land Of Goshen, and Asenath, the wife
Of Joseph, went home to her fathers
house. And the story Of th0body Of
Joseph was whispered about among
the Hebrews and was handed down
from generation to generation, and
when they grew faint hearted and
complained that God had forgotten
them, the elders Of the people who
knew Of the secret resting place Of Jo-
seph,s bones would say: Are not
Joseph's bones still with us, and was
not the promise given that God would
surely visit us, and that we should
carry his body to the land whittier God
would lead?"