they passed, and laughed.

When they reached Joseph's house and entered the courtyard, they sent
in a very humble message, begging that he would see them. And when
they came into his presence they knelt before him with bowed heads,
till their brows touched the coloured pavement.

"What is this that you have done?" he asked. "Do you not know that
such a man as I can find out secret things?"

Joseph wished to frighten them, but in his heart he was glad that his
brothers had not gone away, leaving Benjamin behind in slavery. They
were kinder now than on that day so long ago when they sold him to the
dark merchantmen in the far-off Vale of Dothan.

In a pleading voice Judah told the terrible Egyptian that all of them
were now his slaves. But Joseph replied that he only wanted the man
who stole his silver cup; the rest could return to their father.

Then Judah had more to say. Holding up his hands for mercy, he told
the story of how they had begged their old father to let Benjamin come;
adding that if they returned without him, the old man would die of
grief. And to Joseph's surprise, he begged that he would let him stay
behind and be his slave for ever in place of his young brother, and let
Benjamin go home to his father.

At times while Judah was speaking Joseph looked at Benjamin, and
sometimes he turned away his head lest they should see the tears in his
eyes. And when his older brother offered to be his slave for ever, the
young Egyptian suddenly ordered every one to leave the room but the
Hebrews; and he remained silent, with his head turned away, while his
Egyptian friends and servants went slowly out.

As soon as they were all gone he sprang to his feet, and held out his
hands to his brothers, calling to them in Hebrew,--

"I am Joseph! Is my father indeed alive?"

The men gazed at him in amazement. What would this terrible Egyptian
do next? Who was this who knew about their brother whom they had sold
into slavery? They were dumb with wonder.

"Come nearer to me, I beg of you," he pleaded. It was the voice of
Joseph that rang in their ears. They came nearer, and gazed up at the
great man. These cheeks were too ruddy for an Egyptian, and these
brown eyes--were they not the eyes of Joseph!

"I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt!" he cried. They
could no longer doubt that he spoke the truth to them; and as they came
forward he clasped them in his arms one by one, weeping for ve