\"Ishouldthinkso。Isaid，Well，ifyouwon\'tsing，youshan\'tsleep，anyway;andifyoufellowshadletmealoneIwouldhavemadehimshinoutofGalileequickerthananyturtleeverdidyet。Butitisn\'tanymatternow——letitgo。Theskinisalloffthebackofmyneck。\"
AboutteninthemorningwehaltedatJoseph\'sPit。ThisisaruinedKhanoftheMiddleAges，inoneofwhosesidecourtsisagreatwalledandarchedpitwithwaterinit，andthispit，onetraditionsays，istheoneJoseph\'sbrethrencasthiminto。Amoreauthentictradition，aidedbythegeographyofthecountry，placesthepitinDothan，sometwodays\'
journeyfromhere。However，sincetherearemanywhobelieveinthispresentpitasthetrueone，ithasitsinterest。
ItishardtomakeachoiceofthemostbeautifulpassageinabookwhichissogemmedwithbeautifulpassagesastheBible;butitiscertainthatnotmanythingswithinitslidsmaytakerankabovetheexquisitestoryofJoseph。Whotaughtthoseancientwriterstheirsimplicityoflanguage，theirfelicityofexpression，theirpathos，andaboveall，theirfacultyofsinkingthemselvesentirelyoutofsightofthereaderandmakingthenarrativestandoutaloneandseemtotellitself？Shakspeareisalwayspresentwhenonereadshisbook;Macaulayispresentwhenwefollowthemarchofhisstatelysentences;buttheOldTestamentwritersarehiddenfromview。
IfthepitIhavebeenspeakingofistherightone，ascenetranspiredthere，longagesago，whichisfamiliartousallinpictures。ThesonsofJacobhadbeenpasturingtheirflocksnearthere。Theirfathergrewuneasyattheirlongabsence，andsentJoseph，hisfavorite，toseeifanythinghadgonewrongwiththem。Hetraveledsixorsevendays\'journey;