Boats sail on the rivers,

And ships sail on the seas;
But clouds that sail across the sky
Are prettier far than these.

There are bridges on the rivers,
As pretty as you please;

But the bow that bridges heaven,

And overtops the trees,

And builds a road from earth to sky,

Is prettier far than these.

Christina Rossetti.

The Baby in the Basket

In the land of Egypt there lived many Hebrew people. The King hated them, for they were not his people; and he made them do hard tasks.

One day he said to his soldiers, "Every son that is born to the Hebrews shall be cast into the river."

Now there was of the Hebrew people a little girl, Miriam, who had a baby brother.

When Miriam and her mother heard the order of the King, they were afraid, and they hid the baby.

When he grew so big that they could no longer hide him, they began to think what they would do.

The mother said, "We will take

a basket and daub it with pitch. We will put the baby in the basket, and lay it in the flags by the river."

So she took a basket, and daubed it with pitch. She put the baby inside, and laid it in the flags by the river. Then she said to Miriam, "Stand far off and watch."

So Miriam hid herself in the flags by the river and watched. The daughter of the King came down to wash herself in the river. She and her maids walked by the river's side.

When the princess saw the basket in the flags, she said to her maids, "Go and get it."

The maids brought the basket

to the princess. When she had opened it, she saw the child.

The baby was afraid, and he began to cry. The princess was sorry for him,

and she said to her maids, "This is one of the Hebrew babies. He is a beautiful

child. We must care for him."

Miriam came running, and said, "Shall I go and call for you a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?"

The King's daughter said to her, "Go." Miriam went and got the baby's mother. The princess said to the mother, "Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give you wages."

The mother took her baby and cared for him. The child grew, and the nurse brought him to the King's daughter, and he became her son.

Hebrew Tale.