had gone straight on, as Balaam wished, to the place where God had bid him not to go, God would have been so angry with him, that He would have told the angel to kill him with his sword; but now He had spared him and kept him alive.

Then Balaam was sorry he had been so unkind to his ass and he told the angel he knew he had done wrong, and that, if God wished it, he would go back to his own home again.

LESSON X.

RUTH GLEANING CORN.

Mamma. When you went into the corn-fields last Autumn, what did you see the poor people doing, my dear?

D. They were picking up the loose ears of corn that were lying about in the fields, Mamma; and you told me they were called gleaners.

Mamma. Can you tell me what they did with the corn?

D. I suppose they made it into bread, Mamma, after it had been ground into flour at the mill.

Mamma. There is a story in the Bible about a young woman, named Ruth, who gleaned corn to make bread for herself and her mother.

D. Oh, Mamma, I should like to hear it.

Mamma. Ruth was very fond of her mother, who was a poor

widow. This poor widow had been living some time with her daughter, in a country a long way from her own home. At last she wished to return, and Ruth said she would return with her. So they came back just at the time of barley harvest. They were both very poor, and had nothing to eat; so Ruth said she would go into the corn-fields and glean some ears of corn; and her mother said to her, “Go, my daughter."

D. How happy Ruth must

have felt while she was picking up the corn to make bread for her poor mother! Did she get much, Mamma?

Mamma. You shall hear. Af ter she had been gleaning a little time, she came to a part of the field where there was a rich man walking, named Boaz. Boaz was a good as well as a rich man, and one who feared God. When he came into the field, he said to the reapers who were cutting down the corn,

66 "The Lord be