Long ago in the land of Egypt there lived as slaves to the Egyptians arace of white people called the Hebrews. There were so many of them thatthe Egyptians began to be afraid that they would over-run the land. Sothe cruel king, or the Pharaoh, as he was called, commanded that all thebaby boys of the slave race should be thrown into the River Nile. Butone little child escaped this fate, for his poor slave mother disobeyedthe king and hid her baby in her hut. When he was three months old, hismother was afraid she could not keep him quiet any longer. So she made abasket, and plastered it inside with pitch, so that it would bewater-tight and float like a boat. Into this basket-boat she put herbaby.
