as rising, and soon David was quite
near the clouds. The earth was a great distance away, and, judging by
a tremendous shadow cast by the sun, David could see that he was
clinging to the horn of a gigantic animal.

"I know what it is now," he said. "This is not a mountain, but a
unicorn. The monster must have been lying asleep when I mistook it for
a hill."

David began to puzzle his brain as to a means of getting down from his
perilous perch.

"I must wait," he said, "until the animal feeds. He will surely lower
his head to the ground then and I will slip off."

But a new terror awaited him. The roar of a lion was heard in the
distance, and David found that he could understand it.

"Bow to me, for I am king of the beasts," the lion roared.

The lion, however, was so small compared with the unicorn that David
could scarcely see it. The unicorn, as soon as it heard the command,
began to lower its head, and soon David was enabled to slip to the
ground. To his alarm he found himself just in front of the lion. The
king of the beasts stood before him with blazing eyes, lashing its
sides with his tail. David lost not a moment. Drawing his knife from
his belt, the brave boy advanced boldly toward the lion.

Just then a sound attracted the attention of both the boy and the
beast. It was a deer.

"I will save thee, boy," it cried. "Mount my back and trust to my
speed."

Before the lion could recover from its surprise, David had sprung on
to the back of the deer which started to run at lightning speed. David
clung tightly to its back. Behind him a fierce roar indicated that the
lion was in pursuit. Across the desolate plain and through the forest
the chase continued, and when David came within sight of human
habitations again, the deer stopped.

"Thou art safe now," the deer said to him. "Thou art to become king,
and my command was to save thee. Fear not, I will lead the lion
astray."

David thanked the deer that had so gallantly saved his life, and as
soon as he had slid from its back it dashed off again, faster than
ever with the lion still in pursuit. Soon both were out of sight.

David sang light-heartedly as he returned to his humble home and years
afterward, when he was king of Israel and remembered his escape, he
put the words of his song into one of his Psalms.

[Illustration: The gates opened from within and the Arab stood
before them. (_P. 185_).]

The Magic Palace

Ibrahim, the most l