is is all the Evangelist tells us of what was doubtless an exciting,
perhaps even a perilous adventure. We may suppose both journeys to
have been made by donkeys, the common beasts of burden in Eastern
countries. The young mother and child must certainly have had to ride.
As for Joseph, he was a sturdy man, and may well have walked; in those
days travelling was a matter of time. Unused to luxuries, these simple
folk trusted in Providence to supply their few needs by the way.

Our picture illustrates an imaginary incident on the return journey
from Egypt to Israel. It is the hour of the noonday rest, and the
little company have come to a halt in the woods. An old legend relates
how at such times the trees would bend to offer them fruit, and
springs would gush forth out of the dry ground for their refreshment.
Mary has seated herself on a bank by the stream, while Joseph plucks
the fruit from the date palm near by.

The boy Jesus has been standing between the two, watching Joseph, from
whose outstretched hand he now takes the fruit. At the same time he is
thirsty, and leaning back towards his mother, he turns and throws an
arm over her shoulder, asking for a drink of water. She has a round
basin (or _scodella_) which the family use as a drinking-cup, and the
child points to it with a coaxing smile, resting his hand on her
wrist.

[Illustration: THE REST ON THE RETURN FROM EGYPT (MADONNA DELLA SCODELLA)
_Parma Gallery_]

Mary turns with fond pride towards the dear little face so near her
own. Her face is the same which we have already seen bending in a
mother's first ecstasy over her babe. Here it has a maturer and more
matronly look, but with no less sweetness. Joseph, from his higher
level, looks down kindly upon the two. His generous nature seems to
take delight in anything that gives them pleasure. He is large and
heavily built, a stalwart protector should perils beset them. In spite
of the thick draperies so clumsily wound about him, he is a dignified
figure. He holds here a place of prominence seldom given him by other
painters.

The child upon whom so much love is lavished is a tall, lithe boy with
a well shaped head. His hair is parted, and falls in loose curls on
each side of a forehead which marks him a child of genius. The face is
delicate and sensitive, with a shy expression in the eyes.

The family are not alone, for, all unseen by them, a company of
ministering angels wait upon them. A tall one in the