13. Now let me tell you something that will surprise you. The people of
Egypt in the old, old days thought that their cats were gods.

14. They prayed to them and built temples to them. When the family cat
died, all the people in the house shaved their eyebrows to show how
sorry they were.--Best love to you all. FATHER.

* * * * *

7. THROUGH THE CANAL.


1. MY DEAR CHILDREN,--I have just sailed through a very wonderful canal.
It joins two great seas together, and is now part of the way to India.

2. By means of this canal we can sail from England to India in three
weeks. Before it was made the voyage took three months or more.

3. The canal was made more than forty years ago by a Frenchman. He dug a
great ditch, and joined together a number of lakes. By doing so he made
a waterway from sea to sea. This waterway is about a hundred miles long.

4. I joined my ship at the town which stands at the north end of the
canal. There is nothing to see in the town except the lighthouse and the
shops. On the sea wall there is a statue of the Frenchman who made the
canal.

5. As we lay off the town we could see many little boats darting to and
fro. The boatmen were dressed in all the colours of the rainbow--red,