been looking it up; but it seems to me that nobody knows for certain. They only make guesses at it."

"Tell us the guesses though," said Stewart.

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'Ah, I thought you would want to know all about it, my dear fellow," returned Martin, good-humouredly; now how comes it that you didn't think to look it up yourself, a deep young thinker like you ?

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"Poor Stewart, it is a great shame to tease him because he thinks more, and talks less than his elders," Mrs. Conway said. "Come, satisfy him, Martin."

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Very well, I will," returned the youth. "Some people seem to think it was because he was descended from Eber; and certainly he seems to have been rather an important person; at least, from him branch off two distinct races, both of whom are traced down a good way in the genealogies. There are the children of Peleg, and the children of Joktan, and on this account Shem's genealogy is given twice over, in chapters x. and xi., in the line of Peleg, from whom Abraham was descended, and then in the line of Joktan. Shem is called the father of all the children of Eber; now I never noticed that before. But then you see, if this be the right explanation, why the Hebrews must have been a very extensive race, and included many besides the Israelites.

"Other people think, however, that the word meant originally 'one who crossed over,' and that the Canaanites gave it to Abraham when he crossed the Euphrates, and came to live among them; while others again think that the Chaldeans gave it for the same reason to those who left their country by crossing that boundary river. And then there are one or two other guesses that I can't remember."

"Thank you, Martin," said Mrs. Conway, "I fancy that your last is the true meaning; and now I want to make a remark. Janet said just now that the land

seemed to be divided into tiny kingdoms; and you none of you differed from her. But I do, if she meant the land of Canaan; for I think that some of the kings she was thinking of came from a distance. We have a king of Shinar mentioned; and the tower of Babel was built on the plain of Shinar, you know; and somewhere in that land was Babylon. Then there was a king of Elam; now Elam afterwards was certainly a province of Media. So that I believe the war spoken of in Gen. xiv. was no slight matter, but a struggle between powerful kings."

"I wonder though," said Martin, "that if Abraham had already such a company of followers, he did not take that opportunity of regularly getting up an army and taking possession of the country that God had given to him."

"Do you?" said Mrs. Conway; "if he had, he would have acted like his grandson Jacob, who could not wait till God gave him the birthright and blessing, but must needs take measures to secure them himself. But Abraham's faith was of a much nobler kind. He believed that God would bring about His promises; and though he went to battle to relieve Lot, he did not concern himself with what was no business of his. He was told afterwards that he was to be the father of many nations.' These very Arabs of whom I spoke are descended from him, too, you know; for the very sending away of Hagar led to her son Ishmael setting up for himself and becoming the father of these wild people, whose hand has ever been against every man, as every man's hand is against them, and who have spread over the north of Africa as well as Arabia, and been divided into many tribes and nations. In fact, these people are even now, next to the Jews, the most remarkable standing proof of the truth of the Bible. And then there are the Edomites as well."

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CHAPTER V.

FIRST PROMISES.

"To Abraham and his seed were the promises made."—GAL. iii. 16.

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O business of his, mother, you said yesterday it

"N was no business of Abraham's to take his own

country. What did you mean?"

"He was not told to act; he was only required to believe."

"But he did act, mamma, when he married Hagar." "Yes, he fell in then with the custom of his times, and brought trouble into his house by so doing. But God soon shewed him his mistake, and that this was not the way by which he was to obtain the promised seed. I did not mean, though, that Abraham never had his moments of weak faith. He fell sadly once or twice; but as a rule, his trust was wonderful."

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"People often talk of the patience of Job," remarked Martin, but I think Abraham's patience was greater after all; for what a time he had to wait! Still we may see that he got down-hearted sometimes; especially that time when God said to him, ‘Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward,' and he said, Lord God, what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go childless?'"

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Yes; but then for his comfort he got the promise repeated, and also another wonderful prophecy added about his children's history," Mrs. Conway replied.