u hast
rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.

"And thou hast showed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me:
forasmuch as when the Lord had delivered me into thine hand, thou
killedst me not.

"For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore
the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day.

"And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that
the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.

"Swear now therefore unto me by the Lord, that thou wilt not cut off
my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my
father's house."

And David swore unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men
went up to the stronghold.

ONE OF DAVID'S ADVENTURES IN THE WILDERNESS.

_How the Sheep Master of Maon Refused to Pay Tribute_.

(While David was roaming about the country followed by a company of
men as young and gallant as himself, much as Robin Hood roamed about
the forests of England, he had many adventures, some of them
chivalrous and some of which he was perhaps afterward, when he became
king, just a little ashamed. This is the story of one of these
adventures.)

{418}

There was a man in Maon whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man
was very rich, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats:
and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

Now the name of the man was Nabal (the Fool); and the name of his wife
Abigail: and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful
countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he
was of the house of Caleb.

And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal sheared his sheep. And
David sent ten young men, and David said unto the young men, "Get you
up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: and thus
shall ye say, 'All hail! Peace be both unto thee, and peace be to
thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. And now I have
heard that thou hast shearers: thy shepherds have now been with us,
and we did them no hurt, neither was there aught missing unto them,
all the while they were in Carmel. Ask thy young men, and they will
tell thee: wherefore let the young men find favor in thine eyes, for
we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine
hand, unto thy servants, and to thy son David.'"

And when David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all
those words in the name of David, and