see clearly, and to hear distinctly, when I am at home, and with Mother. Among strangers and in strange places I am useless."

And when Doctor had told Mother of our talk in her absence she approved of my decision, and said she felt sure the fate of Mr. Norvil was in his own hands, largely, and of this fact Doctor could best convince him when talking alone with him.

I made the opportunity to speak with Aunt Chloe privately, and I told her to ask Mr. Norvil, in my name, to permit Salena to go with her to Roseland. She promised me it would be the first thing she would do on her arrival.

That night, after everyone in the house had gone to bed but Mother and I, we sat talking together in her room. I knew she expected, as I did, to have some information from the Small Person, who had taken such active interest in this matter which so concerned us. A picture came into view, and I told Mother I was now seeing what was occurring at Mr. Norvil's place. It is such a dreary, depressing place, all gloom and sadness, I wonder if it is not a blessing that fire has destroyed so much that was squalid and forbidding. Now I see Doctor, and Dabney, and Amos talking together, and then Doctor returns to the house, and the other two men go toward the stables. Soon the carriage house doors are opened, and a big old carriage is rolled out to the roadside, and the stable men are uncovering and then dusting it. Amos returns to the kitchen where he talks with his daughter and his smaller children, and soon they go in a group to a house where Aunt Chloe and Salena are sitting together on a side porch. There is much hurrying about, and several women are helping to prepare the children for a journey.

The horses are hitched to the big carriage; it is larger than our old chariot, and was onced lined with yellow, and there is a deep fringe around the top and tassels in each corner near the canopy of the carriage. It is an old fashioned traveling coach, and has not been used in years. I see the

men greasing the axles and testing the wheels. These two men seem to be in charge of it, and one of them is putting some bags and bundles in the footman's box at the back. The harness is strong, and evidently newer than the old coach. The darkies are greatly interested in whatever plan is afoot, for they are going from one place to another; from the kitchen house building to the big dwelling, and they show more cheerfulness and animation than I have seen before. Now Aunt Chloe is about to leave the big house, and Mr. Norvil and Doctor are standing on the porch talking to her. They both walk with her to where the carriage is waiting, and they shake hands with Salena as she is helped into it by Dabney and Amos. She cannot stand alone, and is the object of tender solicitude to the several women about her, one of whom is called Hester. She is very kind to her, and also to the other young woman who has several small children with her. Oh, that is Elizabeth, and the younger children of Amos. He is talking to them now, and they are making eager responses to his fatherly admonishings. Aunt Chloe has entered the carriage. The steps are folded up and put in place. The door is closed and they are off. A little lad who has been watching the departure with hungry eyes begins to cry; I hear him saying, "I wish I could go with them to Roseland."

The

Now Amos and Dabney are talking earnestly with a group of men, and Amos then talks with Hester and to the women who are with her. They appear to be satisfied to abide by the advice he has given to them; as do the men and boys, for there is a general dispersion, and then men go to the barns and stables to work. It is later now. Doctor's carriage is at the door, and Amos is sitting beside Dabney on the front seat. There are several white men standing about, and I see the overseer leaving the place with one of their number. The negroes give a cheer as he drives away. He has been dismissed, evidently, and they know it. Now Doctor comes out of the house, and just behind him is Mr. Norvil. Strangest of all things he stops and gives a present of money to Hester, and then he shakes hands with

her. Now the carriage is driven rapidly away, and Hester locks the front door and puts the key in her pocket, and she goes toward the kitchen. How glad I am that the people who are talking with her seem happier. The white men go away, and she seems to be in authority on the place.

"Can you follow the carriage?" asked Mother.

"Yes, easily. Dabney has driven very rapidly, for the horses are covered with foam when they stop at the station. Mr. Norvil just has time to board the train before it is under way again; he is evidently on his way to the City. Doctor and Amos are on the platform now talking to a man who has a conveyance there, and Doctor gives Amos some money, and the latter gets into the wagon and drives back over the road they have just traveled."

"I waited a little to see if the picture was concluded; it seemed blurred, but soon again I saw the Norvil place, and Amos was back and was reporting something to the colored people. They set up a shouting noise, and were rejoicing greatly over the news he had given them. Oh, yes, I see now what he has said to them. He is the overseer, and Mr. Norvil has left everything in his charge. They are a happy people for the first time, and instead of harboring murder thoughts they are entirely satisfied to return to their work, assured that Amos will be their friend. Some of them are thanking God for his mercies, and Hester is saying that "jest as soon as she knowed Chloe Middleton had come, she felt sure somethin' good would happen for them.'"

To be continued.

THE SOJOURN OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL

IN EGYPT

By Orlando P. Schmidt

The Route of the Exodus.

At the outset, I will request the reader to approach the subject with an "open mind," and not to imagine for a single moment that the Israelites, while dwelling in Goshen, were nomads, roaming from place to place, in that limited area, in search of pasturage for their herds and flocks; on the contrary, we are informed that Pharaoh gave them a "possession" in that land, and it is evident that they, while there (like the fellahîn of the present day), were engaged in cultivating the rich and productive soil of that specially favored district. Instead of dwelling in tents, they dwelt in towns and villages, in houses built of Nile-mud, which closely resembled those to be seen in the same district at the present time, and large numbers of them certainly dwelt in the City of Phacoussa.

After the death of Ramesses II, which occurred in the year 1495 B. C., the Israelites were taken from their works, and gathered together in one place, by Moses and Aaron, and it was at this identical time that a most providential event occurred, namely, Egypt was invaded from the West by the Libyans (Libu) and their Mediterranean allies, the Sardinians (Shardina), Achaean-rovers (Akaiu-sha), Sicilianrovers (Shekel-sha), Tyrrhenian-rovers (Turu-sha) and others, backed up by rovers (sha) belonging to the great nation of the Maxyes (Mashua-sha).

This formidable invasion occurred in the fifth year of the reign of Menephthah (1491 B. C.), and it was also at

this time, according to the great inscription of this king in the Temple of Karnak at Thebes, that certain "foreigners," whose name has been accidentally destroyed, but who were certainly the Israelites, were encamped at Belbeis (Pi-bailu, Byblus) on the canal Shakana, near the west end of the Wady Tumilat.

The decisive battle between the Libyans and their allies, on one side, and the Egyptians, on the other, took place on the third day of Epiphi (1491 B. C.), near the city of Prosopis, in the western Delta. The Egyptians were victorious, and Menephthah who "remained behind" in Memphis, after inspecting the prisoners, spoils, and booty of all kinds, taken by his brave warriors and charioteers, hurried back to his favorite capital, the beautiful City of Ramesses.

By this time, the Israelites had removed from Belbeis and had encamped in the "Field of Zoan," south of that city. They were so near to the king's palace, that, after midnight of the 14th of Epiphi, Menephthah was able to dispatch messengers to Moses and Aaron, that same night, ordering them to depart from Egypt at once. It appears that the Israelites were so thoroughly organized that they were able to start on their memorable journey the very next morning (the 15th day of Epiphi, called Abib by the Israelites, 1491 B. C.), when, as we are told: "The children of Israel removed from Ramesses and pitched in Succoth."

Thus the starting-point is clearly and definitely fixed. I am aware that many writers, in order to bolster up their false theories, but in defiance of the Mosaic record and all the monumental evidence, have invented another and different town of Ramesses, placed by them somewhere near the west end of the Wady Tumilat, where no such town ever existed, or was ever heard of.

It is immaterial for our purpose whether the "Succoth" referred to above was the city or district of that name. Pithom, as shown by contemporary evidence, was also called Succoth, but it was situated in the "district of Succotn." The location of this district, and its "lakes," is now