ny.

David was delighted to go. He came quickly to the camp, and, leaving
his bread, and corn, and cheese with a servant in the rear, went right
up to the front where the line of battle was intrenched. He was just
in time to see Goliath come out and shout his challenge. Just then
David's oldest brother caught sight of him, and thought he had run
away from home to see the battle.

"What are you doing here, David?" he shouted angrily. "Why have you
left that little flock of sheep to be eaten up by wild beasts in the
pastures? You are a naughty boy, and you have just come here to see
the battle."

David replied, "What have I done now? Isn't there a good reason why I
have come?"

{145}{146}

[Illustration]
AN EASTERN SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by
her kind permission.

This is an exceptionally fine picture of a flock of sheep and their
shepherd as they appear in the country of the Bible. This picture
was taken in the springtime on the beautiful plain of Sharon which
borders the seacoast from Joppa to Mt. Carmel. The prophet Isaiah
says, "Sharon shall be a pasturage for flocks." The picture shows
how the whole plain is carpeted with bright colored flowers.
[End illustration]

{147}

And there was good reason, when no one in all the army was brave
enough to fight Goliath.

David went to king Saul, who was the general of the army, and offered
to fight the giant. The king was very much surprised, and told him he
was only a boy, while the giant had been a soldier for many years.

But David told Saul how he had killed the lion and the bear, and said
that the God who helped him in his fight with these wild beasts would
help him in his fight with the giant.

Then Saul allowed him to try, and offered him a suit of armor. David
tried it on, but it was not what the shepherd boy had been used to
wear, so he would not take it.

He went down to the brook and picked out five smooth, round stones,
just right for his sling. Then, with his shepherd's staff and bag and
his sling, he went out of the lines of the army to meet the giant.

When the great giant saw the shepherd lad, he laughed, and then he
grew very angry.

"Am I a dog," he said, "that you come to fight me with a shepherd's
stick? Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the fowls of the air
and to the beasts of the field."

{148}

Then little David answered, "Thou comest to m