cherished black and unforgiving looks toward a brother or
sister who he thought had done him a wrong. And many a time after such
a day the old father would gather all the family together in the
evening around the camp fire in front of the tent and would begin to
tell the story of Joseph. And as the tale went on, with its thrilling
episodes, and its touches of pathos leading up at last to the
whole-souled generosity and the sweet human tenderness of Joseph, many
a little heart softened, and in the darkness many a little brown hand
sought a brother's hand in loving reconciliation.

=The tribe as a larger family.=--To some extent the desert shepherds
of all ages have carried this family spirit into the relations between
members of the tribe as a whole. Since they had to stand together for
protection, quarrels between tribesmen were discouraged. Moreover,
they were not separated into classes by difference of wealth. There
were some who had larger flocks than others, but for the most part all
members of the tribe were equal. Even from among the slaves who were
captured now and then in war there were some who rose to positions of
honor. There were no kings nor princes; the chief of the tribe held
his position by virtue of his long experience and practical wisdom.
The distinction between close blood relationship and the brotherhood
of membership in the same tribe was not sharply drawn; all were
brothers. This is true to-day of all these desert tribes.

Only a tribe, however, with an unusual capacity for brotherly
affection and for making social life sweet and harmonious could have
produced a Joseph or the story of Joseph, or would have preserved that
story in oral form through the centuries until it could be written
down. It is worth while looking into the later history of such a
tribe, and seeing what happened to them and how they thought and
acted, and what they contributed to the life of the world.

STUDY TOPICS

1. Get some cotton at a drug store, and see if you can spin some
cotton thread, with a homemade spindle, such as is described in this
chapter.

2. Who had the harder work among the Hebrew shepherds, the women or
the men?

3. Find other stories in Genesis besides the story of Joseph which
show how the Hebrews felt in regard to the relations between brothers.

4. Compare the home life in America with the home life of the Hebrews.
Are American brothers and sisters growing more quarrelsome or more
kindly an