THE BRAZEN SERPENT.


 Do you suppose the people were all thankful as they
gathered the manna? God gave them water too, in the
wilderness; were they thankful for that ?
 They were once in a very dry desert, the sun was
hot on their heads, the dust choked their throats and there
was no water. Moses and his brother went and prayed
to God. He told Moses to take his rod and stand near
the rock and speak to it, and it should give forth water.
They called all the people together, and Moses lifted
up his hand and with his rod struck the rock, and the
water gushed out and flowed in such streams that all
the thousands had enough to drink and to give their
cattle.
 But that was not all of God's kind care; he kept
their clothes from wearing out while they could not
buy or make any more on their journey. When you go
to the country and climb over rocks or play in the sand,
don't your feet get very tired and sore, and your shoes
soon worn and all cut out? These people were so long
in the wilderness that the little children grew to be men
and women, and yet in forty years their clothes did not