CHAPTER XXXIX

SAUL AGAIN PERSECUTES DAVID

SOON after this the Philistines made war again with the Israelites, and David was sent against them with an army. He won the victory and returned in triumph, and the people received him with shouts of joy and praise. Again Saul was angry and jealous. And the evil spirit returned and tormented him to fury. Saul commanded David to come to his bedside and sing and play to him on his harp. The king held a javelin in his hand, and while David was playing he flung the javelin at him with great force, but David saw it coming and avoided it. Then he fled to his own house and remained there all day.

But at night the king sent officers to the house, who were to watch it and see that he did not escape. For he intended to bring David to trial and have him put to death. Michal guessed what her father's intentions were, and she came in great distress to David, her husband, and said,

"Let not the sun find thee here when it rises, for if it do that will be the last time it will see thee; fly away, then, in the night-time, for know this, that if my father find thee, thou art a dead man."

So she let him down by a cord out of the window where Saul's men could not see him, and he escaped.

After she had done this, she arranged the bed so as to make it look as if a sick man were lying in it, and put under the bedclothes the liver of a goat that had been freshly killed. At daybreak Saul's messengers knocked at the door.

Michal told them that David had been sick during the night. and she drew the curtains of the bed, and the liver, which was still warm and throbbing, caused the bedclothes to move up and down, so that the men believed David was breathing like one that had the asthma. They went to the king with this story, but Saul ordered that David should be brought into his presence, no matter how sick he might be. And when the men returned and lifted up the bedclothes, they saw that the princess had deceived them. And Saul was angry with his daughter for what she had done.

David fled to the prophet Samuel, at Ramah, and told him of all Saul had done. Samuel took him to a place called Naioth, where he lived for some time with the prophet. Afterwards David went to the place where Jonathan was, and complained to him that though he had done no evil, yet Saul was anxious to have him killed. But Jonathan sought to comfort him, and told him he was mistaken, that the king did not wish him to be killed.

"My father," said Jonathan, "always consults me before he does anything, and asks my advice, and as he has said nothing to me about wishing your death, I do not believe what you imagine can be true."

But David swore to him that so it was. And he said to Jonathan, "To-morrow is a feast-day, when I have been accustomed to sit down with the king at supper. I am afraid to go there, and if the king asks thee why I am absent, tell him that you gave me permission to go to Bethlehem to keep a festival with my own tribe. If he say, 'It is well that he went,' then you may assure yourself that he bears no enmity to me. But if he answer otherwise, that will be a sure sign that he hath some design against me. And you will let me know what was the king's answer."

Jonathan swore he would do as David requested. And when David asked, "Who shall tell me what thy father's answer is?" Jonathan replied,

As soon as I know my father's mind, I shall go out into the plain where I am accustomed to practise shooting with the bow. If I shoot three arrows at a mark and then bid my servant run and get the arrows, for they are in front of him, then thou mayest know there is no mischief to be feared from the king, but if thou hearest me say something else, then expect evil from the king."

The young men then embraced and bade each other farewell. When Saul sat down at the feast and saw that David's seat was empty, he inquired of Jonathan why the son of Jesse was not present. Jonathan answered,—

"He asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem to celebrate the festival with his own tribe."

Then it was that Jonathan understood how great was his father's hatred for David. Saul could not restrain his anger, he heaped abuses upon Jonathan, and called him a traitor and a wicked and unnatural son. He ordered him to go and fetch David, that he might be punished as he deserved.

But Jonathan spoke gently, and asked,—

"What sin hath David done, that thou wouldst punish him ?"

Saul became still more angry with his son, and he no longer contented himself with bare words, but snatched up his spear and leaped upon Jonathan, and would have killed him if he had not been prevented by his officers.

Then the king's son rose hastily from supper, for he was too much grieved to be able to eat anything. All that night he wept, because he knew now that David's death was decided upon. As soon as it was day he went out into the plain where he practised with his bow, and having shot three arrows, he dismissed his servant without telling him to pick them up. David had been hiding near the plain, and he now came out and fell at Jonathan's feet. Jonathan lifted him up, and they embraced each other and wept. Then David bade Jonathan farewell, and they parted.

CHAPTER XL

DAVID FLEES FROM SAUL

DAVID fled first to the city of Nob, where the high-priest Ahimelech sheltered him, and afterwards to the land of the Philistines. When he came to the city of Gath, he was recognized by the servants of the king, whose name was Achish, and they said, "This is David who hath killed many tens of thousands of the Philistines." And they took him and brought him before Achish. But David, fearing the anger of the king, pretended to be mad, and foamed at the mouth, and acted so strangely that Achish said, "You see the man is mad; why do you bring him to me? have I need of such a fellow as this?" So they let him go.

David then fled to a cave which was near the city of Adullam, and he lived there. When his brethren found out where he was they came to him, and others also came to him who were discontented with the way in which Saul governed, until at last David found he had four hundred men around him. He took courage, now such a force was come to him, and went to the land of the Moabites, and asked their king to let his followers live in Moab until their affairs were in better condition. The king granted him this request. But a prophet came to David and told him to go and live in the land of Judah. So he went to the city of Hareth, and remained there. When Saul heard that David had been seen with a great many men around him, he was much troubled. He called his officers around him and spoke to them about David, and asked them if they knew what his plans were, but none of them

could tell him. Then a man named Doeg said to Saul that he had seen David in the city of Nob, where he was harbored by the high-priest Ahimelech. Saul, therefore, sent for the priest and for all his kindred. And he asked him,—

"Have I ever done thee any evil, that thou hast received the son of Jesse, and hast bestowed upon him both food and weapons, when he is plotting to get the kingdom away from me?"

The high-priest said he did not know that David was an enemy of the king's, for was he not his son-in-law, and a captain in his army, and a faithful servant?

Saul would not believe him. He commanded the armed men that stood about him to kill the high-priest and all his relations. But they durst not do this. Then Saul turned to Doeg and told him to slay them. Doeg went and collected other men as wicked as himself, and they slew Ahimelech and his relations. And Saul sent these men to Nob, where they slew all the inhabitants, sparing neither women nor children. The only person that escaped was Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech, who went to David and told him what Saul had done. David grieved greatly, blaming himself for having brought this misfortune upon the high-priest and his family.

CHAPTER XLI

SAUL'S ADVENTURE IN THE CAVE

ABOUT this time David heard that the Philistines had marched into the land of Judah and were laying waste the fields around the city of Keilah, for it was now harvest-time. He and his followers went against them and defeated them, and they stayed with the people of Keilah until they had