strong, but not beautiful; so
Jonathan took off his fine cloak, his gay tunic, his rich belt, and
even his glittering sword and bow, and put them all upon David, giving
them freely to him as a present. Then the king's son brought out other
clothes and weapons, and dressed himself once more like a
soldier-prince.

And when the young men came out of the tent into the sunshine, both
dressed like princes, the people saw that they were as brothers; and
the king saw it too, and thought that Jonathan was very foolish. But
David was so strong and brave, and such a favourite with the tribesmen,
that the king set him over a troop of young men; and whenever Saul went
out to fight, David and his band went with him, and this greatly
pleased the chiefs and the fighting-men of the army.

King Saul went on fighting with his old enemies the Philistines, who
came up at certain seasons of the year to plunder the land, and had to
be chased down the long valleys, and back into their walled towns
again; but with David's help the king was now able to beat them as he
had never done before. And each time they drove the Philistines down,
the young men returned leaping, running, dancing, and showing off their
skill and strength on the way; and the villagers would often come out
to meet them, and rejoice also.

After one of these fights, as the tribesmen came back, with David
riding beside the tall, dark king, the young women of the towns came
out and danced before them on the road. Beating their tambourines,
they shouted wild songs in praise of the fighting-men, singing and
answering each other in turn after the manner of the Hebrews. King
Saul listened, and his brows grew dark as he heard them praising his
brave young captain more than himself.

"Saul hath slain his thousands," sweetly sang one band of maidens.

"And David his tens of thousands," answered another.

These girls little dreamed what harm they were doing with their
light-hearted songs. David himself was pleased with the praise of the
young women, as we might expect; but as the tall king rode on he grew
more angry, saying to himself as he spurred forward his horse, "What
more can he have but the kingdom itself?" And he watched David from
that day forward, to see whether the young man was aiming at being king.

King Saul's sickness of mind returned from time to time, and day after
day David stood before him, playing upon his harp and singing the
king's praises; but now