62 TENDER MERCIES.

tear nor wear out; they walked miles and miles over the
rocks and the rough places, but their feet did not swell and
get bruised nor their shoes grow old and worn.
 God kept the wild beasts away from them too. He led
them by a great pillar which went before them, which was
a cloud in the daytime and a pillar of fire at night. When
it moved forward they were to follow, and when it rested
they stopped and put up their tents and stayed awhile until
the cloud moved again.
 Were those people always good? Did they obey
Moses and do as God commanded them? Oh, no, they
often did wrong, they got tired and complained. They
talked about Egypt where they used to be slaves, where
the king used to have their babies killed, and they said,
"We remember the fish we used to have to eat, and
the cucumbers and the melons. Oh! we are so sick of
this light bread." Did God hear them complain? This
is the way he punished them. He sent serpents into their
camp, poisonous serpents; and they bit the people, they
fastened their sharp fangs in their flesh, and many died.
 What thirst and fever in those who were bitten; the
people knew they had been wicked; they cried to Moses,
"We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord
and against thee; pray unto the Lord that he take away
the serpents." Moses prayed, and God heard him. He
told him what to do. He was to make a serpent of brass
and put it up on a pole, and if any who had been bitten by