She made a little box like a boat and covered it with something that would not let the water into it.  Such a boat as this covered over was called “an ark.”  She knew that at certain times the daughter of king Pharaoh—­all the kings of Egypt were called Pharaoh, for Pharaoh means a king—­would come down to the river for a bath.  She placed her baby boy in the ark, and let it float down the river where the princess, Pharaoh’s daughter, would see it.  And she sent her own daughter, a little girl named Miriam, twelve years old, to watch close at hand.  How anxious the mother and the sister were as they saw the little ark floating away from them on the river!

[Illustration:  She placed her baby in the ark]

Pharaoh’s daughter, with her maids, came down to the river, and they saw the ark floating on the water, among the reeds.  She sent one of her maids to bring it to her so that she might see what was in the curious box.  They opened it, and there was a beautiful little baby, who began to cry to be taken up.

The princess felt kind toward the little one, and loved it at once.  She said:  “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”  You have heard how the children of Israel came to be called Hebrews.  Pharaoh’s daughter thought that it would be cruel to let such a lovely baby as this die out on the water.  And just then a little girl came running up to her, as if by accident, and she looked at the baby also, and she said:  “Shall I go and find some woman of the Hebrews to be a nurse to the child for you and take care of it?”

“Yes,” said the princess.  “Go and find a nurse for me.”

The little girl—­who was Miriam, the baby’s sister—­ran as quickly as she could and brought the baby’s own mother to the princess.  Miriam showed in this act that she was a wise and thoughtful little girl.  The princess said to the little baby’s mother:  “Take this child to your home and nurse it for me, and I will pay you wages for it.”

How glad the Hebrew mother was to take her child home!  No one could harm her boy now, for he was protected by the princess of Egypt, the daughter of the king.

When the child was large enough to leave his mother Pharaoh’s daughter took him into her own house in the palace.  She named him “Moses,” a word that means “drawn out,” because he was drawn out of the water.

So Moses, the Hebrew boy, lived in the palace among the nobles of the land, as the son of the princess.  There he learned much more than he could have learned among his own people; for there were very wise teachers.  Moses gained all the knowledge that the Egyptians had to give.  There in the court of the cruel king who had made slaves of the Israelites, God’s people, was growing up our Israelite boy who should at some time set his people free!

Although Moses grew up among the Egyptians, and gained their learning, he loved his own people.  They were poor and were hated, and were slaves, but he loved them, because they were the people who served the Lord God, while the Egyptians worshipped idols and animals.  Strange it was that so wise a people as these should bow down and pray to an ox, or to a cat, or to a snake, as did the Egyptians.