Moses stretched forth his rod again, the waters came back and drowned Pharaoh and all his soldiers.

"Now, the lesson we can learn from this," Nephi added, "is that as the Lord led the children of Israel out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, so He can lead us to the beautiful country He has told us about."

"That is a very good lesson, Nephi," said his father. "I am sure the Lord will guide us right. Let us now go into our tents and offer up our prayers before we retire to rest."

Nephi was the first to awake in the morning. He arose quietly and dressed himself. He decided to go out for a walk in the fresh air, and listen to the birds sing their sweet songs in the trees.

As he stepped outside the tent, to his great surprise he saw a large ball lying on the ground. He ran and picked it up. It was not like any other ball he had ever seen. It was made of fine brass, and it had two hands, like the hands of a watch.

He went quickly into the tent and awoke his father. "Look, father dear," he said, "at the beautiful brass ball I found lying outside our tent this morning."

Lehi took the ball and examined it carefully. As he looked at it one of the hands began to point in a certain direction.

"See, Nephi!" he exclaimed, "the hands are moving."

"So they are," said Nephi. "What a wonderful ball this is!"

Then all the rest of the company were awakened and shown the wonderful ball. As they looked on it with wondering eyes, Lehi said, "We need fear no longer, for if we are faithful the hands on the ball will point out to us the way we should go."

And so they did.

Where do you think the wonderful ball came from?

WHAT HAPPENED ON A HUNTING TRIP.

With the wonderful brass ball to guide them, Lehi, his family and the rest of the company took up their tents and started to travel again. It was a pretty sight to see them all in line crossing the river Laman.

When they had traveled for many days they decided to stop again for a short time. So they chose a cool place, by the side of a stream of clear, sparkling water, and there they put up their tents.

That evening Nephi and his brothers and the sons of Ishmael began to make preparations for a hunting trip, which they had decided to take the following morning. They were not going out to hunt for pleasure. No, it was for the purpose of getting food, for the only food the company had at that time was wild fruit and the flesh of wild animals.

I am sure you could not guess what kind of weapons they had.

"Guns?"

No, there were no guns in those days. They used bows and arrows, slings and stones. Some of the bows were made of wood and some of steel. Nephi had a good, steel bow. He and his brothers had practiced so much with their bows and arrows and slings that they were very good shots, but Nephi was the best of all. He could hit the mark almost every time.

Early the next morning the party of young hunters started off in search of food. They took the brass ball with them to point the way. They traveled for a long time without seeing an animal fit to kill.

At last they stopped suddenly. What was the noise they heard a short distance ahead of them? It was made by a fine, large animal, that jumped up frightened and started to run as the hunters drew near. It ran to the top of a small hill, and there it stood looking back at Nephi and his brethren.

Nephi quickly drew an arrow and placed it in his bow. He took good aim, and was just going to send the arrow through the air when his beautiful, steel bow broke in two. At the same moment the animal started to run again and was soon lost to sight.

Poor Nephi! How sorry he felt as he looked down at his broken bow. Then he cast a glance at Laman, and saw that his face was pale with anger. He wished he had let one of the others shoot, but it was now too late to mend matters.

Laman turned to Nephi and began to scold him. He was quickly stopped by Sam, who said sharply: "It is unkind of you to speak that way to Nephi. He did not break his bow wilfully. It was an accident. And he feels bad enough over it without you hurting his feelings more by abusing him. Let us say no more about the matter, but go on our way."

All day long they hunted without killing a single animal. When evening came the party, with the exception of Nephi and Sam, started back for their tents.

"I do not care to go home yet," Nephi said. "I will follow you later."

"I am going to stay with Nephi," said Sam. "Tell father and mother we will be home before midnight."

After Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael had left, Nephi turned to Sam and said:

"Sam, I tell you what we will do; we will kneel down and pray to our Heavenly Father to help us get some food. I am sure He will do so."

"So am I," said Sam. "He has helped us many times before."

The two young men went over and knelt down under a large tree, where they prayed earnestly to God to help them get food for the company. I will tell you presently how their prayer was answered.

The other members of the hunting party returned to camp and told what had happened. Their story cast a gloom over the whole company.

"What a terrible state to be in!" exclaimed one of the daughters of Ishmael. "There is barely enough food for another meal. When that is gone, starvation will stare us in the face."

Lehi and his wife Sariah were sitting together with bowed heads a short distance away. Tears were running down the poor mother's cheeks. She was not crying because the food supply had almost run out. No, she was thinking of her boys, Nephi and Sam, out in the mountains alone, in danger of being killed by wild beasts, and the darkness of night fast coming on.

Lehi took her hand in his and in a comforting voice said: "Fear not, Sariah, the Lord will watch over and protect our boys. I believe they will soon return, and that they will bring food with them."

On hearing that, Nephi's mother dried her tears, and turning to her husband, said: "Thank you, Lehi, for those words. I will trust in God to bring our sons back safely."

Let us now go back to Nephi and Sam.

When they had ceased praying, Nephi sat down and quickly made a new bow out of a branch of a tree. Then they walked briskly to the top of a hill a short distance away.

At the foot of the hill lay a fertile valley, with a stream of clear, cool water running gently through it. Birds were singing their evening songs in the trees all around, and the air was filled with the fragrance of wild flowers, which grew in abundance on the hillside.

For a moment Sam and Nephi stood gazing in admiration on the beautiful scene before them. Then they began to descend the hill. As they were nearing the foot they saw a sight which made them stop suddenly. At the other side of the stream, not far from where they stood, they beheld two fine, big animals quenching their thirst. Quick as a shot Nephi and Sam dropped to the ground. Placing an arrow in each of their bows, they took aim and fired. The arrows flew straight to the mark and the animals fell.

With thankful hearts the young hunters dashed through the stream, and on reaching the opposite bank, looked down upon the fine animals they had slain. Here was meat to last the company several days. Cutting down two large branches from a tree, they fastened the beasts upon them and started for the tents of their father.

What a look of surprise came over the faces of Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael when Nephi and Sam came into camp late that evening.

Lehi heard his sons coming and went out to meet them, and as he beheld the two fine animals, he took Sam and Nephi by the hands and said: "I knew, my sons, that you would not come back without food. The Lord always provides for His faithful children."

NEPHI AS A SHIP BUILDER.

My story this evening is about the same people I