"Perhaps that is enough. Egypt was the greatest grain-raising country in Joseph's time, wasn't it?"
"Yes, of course," I answered. "And Joseph's rule began with seven years of most wonderful crops."
"Zaphnath told us this morning that the seventh great crop, and the most plenteous of all, is now growing," he interrupted.
"What has that to do with Joseph? We are not on Earth, but on Mars. Have you been dreaming? Zaphnath is—— But, by the way, Joseph's Egyptian name was Zaphnath-paaneah, meaning a revealer of secrets! When I heard that name this morning, I thought it was strangely familiar. Pharaoh called him that when he appointed him ruler, because he had interpreted his dream," I said, just realizing the very peculiar coincidence.
"You are as good as a Bible!" cried the doctor. "Perhaps you can also remember by which of Jacob's wives Joseph was born?"
"Of course I can. He was the first son of Rachel, the wife whom Jacob really loved, and worked fourteen years to secure."
"But how could he have ten older brothers, if he was Rachel's first son?" he demanded, a little perplexed.
"They were all the sons of her sister Leah and her handmaidens. Rachel was barren all her life until Joseph was born," I explained.
"And Zaphnath said this morning that his mother was barren all the years of her life that the Blue Star wandered. He also called himself revealer of God's hidden things."
"Yes; and it struck me as peculiar at the time that he said of 'God's' not of 'the gods','" I reflected. "Evidently he thinks there is but one God. The whole matter is altogether peculiar."