being carried away into slavery. It was a
terrible fate, and he might well have become sullen and hopeless in
the strange land of Egypt to which the merchantmen took him.

But instead of being sorry for himself, and thinking only of the
unkindness and wickedness of his cruel brothers, he made the best of
everything, and set himself to do his new hard work as well as
possible. If he was a slave he would, at any rate, be a thoroughly
good slave.

And very soon his master, Potiphar, found that this fair-haired,
good-looking Hebrew boy was one to be trusted, and, as time went on,
he not only gave him his freedom, but made him the chief servant of
the house-hold. Then, just when happy days began to dawn for Joseph,
misfortune once more overtook him.

His master's wife accused him of doing wrong, and declared he was
thoroughly bad. And so all his well-deserved favours were taken from
him, and he was put into prison.

Even in prison Joseph's quiet goodness and his wise ways made him a
favourite. He was the friend of all the other prisoners, and before
long he became the governor's right hand.

Still it was weary work to be shut up in prison, and he longed with
all his heart for freedom, and a chance to win a place for himself in
the great world. He knew that Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, was not
unfriendly to strangers. If only he could reach his ear all might be
well.

At last the chance came. There were two of Pharaoh's servants in the
prison--one, the king's cup-bearer, and the other his chief baker, and
both these were sorely troubled one night because of the dreams they
had dreamt. They were sure these dreams had a meaning, but who was to
explain them?

[Illustration: "Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces!"]

Now Joseph had learned to know a great deal about dreams, and so he
listened to these men and told them what he thought their dreams must
mean.

The chief baker's dream was a sad one. He had dreamt of three baskets
which he carried on his head--baskets filled with the king's food--but
the birds had come and eaten up all the food. "Alas!" said Joseph,
"the three baskets must mean three days, and in three days the baker
must be hanged, and the birds would come and eat his flesh."

But the cup-bearer's dream was a happy one, for he had seen a vine
which bore three clusters of grapes, which he had pressed out into the
king's cup and presented to Pharaoh. The three clusters of grapes were
again three days, s