and kissed him, and sacrificed the ram. Thus he showed how much he was willing to do for God, but Isaac was spared. And God taught Abraham that He does not wish for such a sacrifice as that. The best thing to do with little boys is to love them, and teach them, and bring them up to be obedient and useful.

So Isaac grew to be a fine young man, and his father thought that it was high time for him to be getting married. In their country the fathers and mothers attended to all that, but Isaac’s mother was now dead, so Abraham had to manage by himself. One day he sent for his steward, Eliezer, who attended to his most important business, and said, “Eliezer, I want you to go back to the old country, and find a wife for Isaac. Go to the place where I was brought up, and where my folks still live, and find a girl who will make him a good wife.”

So Eliezer took ten camels and a bag of presents of gold and silver, and away he went, across the Jordan and across the Euphrates. One day as the sun was setting he came to a well of water beside a little town. Women were coming out with pitchers on their shoulders to draw water. The well was a deep pool, with a cold spring at the bottom of it. There were stone steps leading down, and at the top of the steps was a trough for camels. There Eliezer made his camels kneel down, as camels do, and he said to himself, “I will wait till I see a girl whose looks I like, and I will ask her for a drink, and if she says, ‘Yes, and I will give your camels drink also,’ then I will tell her about Isaac.” So he stood and waited, and one came and another came. At last came a maiden named Rebekah, who was very fair to look upon. And Eliezer said, “Will you let me drink a little water from your pitcher?” “Yes,” she said, “and I will give your camels drink also.” Then Eliezer was very glad, and in his heart he thanked God, and out of his bag he took two bracelets of gold, one for each of the girl’s arms. And he said, “Whose daughter are you? Is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?”

She answered, “My father’s name is Bethuel, and my grandfather’s name is Nahor.”

“What,” said Eliezer, “Nahor the brother of Abraham?”

“Yes,” said Rebekah, “and we have plenty of room for you and your men and your ten camels.”

So she ran home before him and showed her mother the bracelets, and her brother Laban ran out to meet the man, and brought him into the house; and supper was ready, and they asked him to sit down. But Eliezer said, “I must not eat till I have told my errand.” So they listened as he spoke of Abraham and Isaac and Rebekah.

“Now,” he said, “what will you do? Will you give Rebekah to be Isaac’s wife?”

And Rebekah’s mother and her brother said, “This is the Lord’s doing. Take Rebekah, and let her be the wife of Isaac.”

Then Eliezer opened his treasures and took out jewels of gold and jewels of silver, and beautiful embroidered things to wear, and gave them to Rebekah and her mother. After that he sat down at the table, and they all had supper, and were very happy.

The next day, Eliezer said, “Let me go back now, with Rebekah, to my master.” But they urged him to stay. “Oh, let Rebekah wait,” they said, “a little while till we can get her ready. In a week or ten days, she may go.” But he said, “We ought to go at once.”

And they called Rebekah and said, “How shall it be? Will you go with this man to-day?” She said, “I will go.” So they bade her good-by, with many prayers and blessings, and sent her maids along to wait upon her; and her old nurse, Deborah, went with her.

Thus they rode away on camels, and they journeyed and they journeyed, till one day they saw in the distance a man walking in the fields, and he was coming to meet them. And Rebekah said, “Who is this man walking across the fields to meet us?” And Eliezer replied, “That is my young master, Isaac.” So Rebekah took a veil and covered herself, for that was the custom of the country. And Isaac brought her into his mother’s tent, and she became his wife. And he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

V

THE MESS OF POTTAGE

SAAC and Rebekah had two sons. The elder was a red-headed lad, called Esau. The younger was named Jacob. The two boys were quite different. Esau was very fond of hunting. He loved to get away into the deep woods and to climb the steep hills. For days at a time he would roam about, with his bow and arrows, and when he came home he always had something in his hand, some bird or beast which he had shot. Sometimes he brought back a deer, and he knew how to cook the venison just as his father liked it. And this pleased Isaac. Jacob was a home boy, who preferred to stay about the house. He worked in the garden, and took care of the sheep and cows, and helped his mother. And that pleased Rebekah. So Isaac’s favorite son was Esau, and Rebekah’s favorite son was Jacob. But Esau, being the elder, had the birthright. That is, he was the one to be the head of the family after the death of his father.

But one day, Esau came home from hunting, very tired and hungry. And he found Jacob cooking something over the fire. The fire was blazing, and the kettle was boiling away at a great rate, and the most appetizing odors were coming out of it, and in the kettle was a mess of pottage, which was made of lentils, and was something like peas, and something like beans, and something like chicken broth, and very nice to eat.

So Esau said, “Give me some of your pottage.”

But Jacob said, “I will sell it to you. Give me your birthright, and I will give you my pottage.”

Then Esau said to himself, “What is the good of my birthright when I am hungry! I can’t eat it. I can’t even see it. I will not have it for years and years. But here is the pottage now.” And he said, “It is a bargain. Give me the pottage.” Then Jacob emptied the kettle into the dish, and hungry Esau, thinking no more of the birthright, sat down and ate the hot pottage with a big spoon.

Then years passed and years passed, and their father Isaac became an old man. His eyes were dim, and he could not see, and he felt that his life was coming to an end. So, one morning, he called Esau and said, “Esau, I wish you would take your bow and arrows, and go out and kill a deer. I think that a taste of your venison will make me strong. And I want to be strong to-day, because I intend to give you my blessing.”

So Esau took his bow and arrows, and away he went to find a deer.

But Rebekah had heard what Isaac said to Esau, and when Esau, with his red head, had disappeared among the trees, she called Jacob. “Jacob,” she said, “your father is not feeling so well to-day. He thinks that he is about to die, and he means to give Esau the blessing of the birthright. Now you go out into the pasture and bring me two little goats, and kill them, and I will cook the meat of the goats so that your father will think it is the sweetest venison he ever ate, and he will give you the blessing which he has for Esau.”

But Jacob said, “Father will know at once that I am not Esau, for Esau’s hands are covered with hair, but mine are smooth. He will find me out, and be very angry with me.”

And Rebekah answered, “I will manage that, my son.”

Then Jacob went out into the pastures, and killed two kids of the goats, and his mother cooked the meat so that it tasted like the sweetest venison. And she dressed Jacob in Esau’s best clothes, and on his neck and arms and hands she put some of the skin of the goats, and she gave him the meat and bread,