XXXVIII THE ADVENTURE OF THE KING’S SPEAR

HEREVER King Saul went he carried his tall spear. When he sat at the table, he had it close beside him, as his son Jonathan knew by sad experience. He even took it with him when he went to bed, leaning it against the wall beside his pillow as he slept. Of course, then, when he went to capture David he bore his spear over his shoulder. Thus he set out, and three thousand men with him.

Word had come to the king that David was hiding in a certain place. Men came one day from a place called Ziph, and said to Saul, “O king, David has hid himself in the hill of Hachilah. Come quick, and catch him.”

For the men of Ziph, like a great many other quiet people, were much afraid of David. Indeed, we may well believe that while lion-killers and giant-slayers are very pleasant persons to meet in the pages of books, a band of five or six hundred of them might be objectionable neighbors. Nabal was not the only sheepmaster who wished that they were all in Jericho, or in some other remote place on the other side of the river Jordan. So the men of Ziph did their best to get rid of them. “Now is the time,” they said, “to capture David. He and his men are hiding in the hill of Hachilah.”

So Saul set forth, with his three thousand, and to the hill of Hachilah they came. And being tired after their long march, the first thing that they did was to pitch their camp on the side of the hill. Then they laid them down and went to sleep, for it was dark. Saul had five times as many men as David, so nobody was afraid. They did not take even the common precaution of a guard to keep awake and watch. Saul slept, and his uncle Abner the captain slept, and all the soldiers slept, in the shelter of the rocks and under the thick bushes. And the moon came out and looked upon Saul’s camp, and there they lay, all the three thousand, sound asleep, while a single spark of light reflected from the sky shone on the tip of the spear which showed where the king lay beneath.

Then from behind the rocks, high up the hill of Hachilah, who should come softly creeping but David himself. He saw the sleeping camp, and in the midst of it the king’s spear stuck in the ground by the king’s pillow. And he spoke to Abishai, who was beside him. “Who,” he said, “will go down with me to Saul to the camp?”

DAVID WITH THE KING’S SPEAR

And immediately Abishai spoke up and said, “I will go with you.”

For Abishai thought that David was the best and bravest of all men, the very pattern of heroism and chivalry.

So down they went, stealing silently along among the sleeping soldiers, like Gideon among the tents of the Midianites. And there lay Saul asleep, with a jug of water on one side of him, and his spear stuck in the ground on the other.

Then whispered Abishai to David, “God hath delivered thine enemy into thy hand this day. Now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee. See, here is his spear,—the spear with which he tried to kill thee,—let me pin him with it to the earth. One blow will be enough.”

But David answered, “Do not touch him. It is true that he tried to kill me, and is here in pursuit of me. But he is the Lord’s anointed. He is the king of Israel. I will leave him in the Lord’s hands. Let the Lord bring him in his own good time to his appointed end, by sickness or by battle. I will not hurt him. Take away his jug of water and his spear, and let us go back.”

And this they did. They took away the jug of water and the king’s spear, and departed. And no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awakened: they were all asleep.

Then David stood on the top of the hill, and called with a loud voice in the still night, “Abner!” he cried, “Ho, Abner! Answerest thou not, Abner?”

And Abner suddenly wakened at the voice of David, and sat up, and looked about him much confused, and said, “Who calls?”

And David answered from the hill in the light of the moon, “Thou art a valiant man, Abner! Thou art a mighty captain! Thou art a prudent master of the king’s body-guard! The king has been in peril of his life, while you slept. There came one even to his side to kill him, and you knew it not. Where is the king’s jug of water? Where is the king’s spear?”

And Saul awoke and recognized the voice of David. And he said, “Is this thy voice, my son David?”

And David said, “It is my voice, O king. Why dost thou pursue me? What have I done against thee? What evil is in my hand? Thou hast believed lies about me.”

Then Saul was deeply moved, and said, “I have done wrong. Return, my son David. I will do thee no more harm, because my life was precious in thy sight this day. I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.”

But David answered and said, “Behold, the king’s spear. Let one of the young men come over and fetch it. May the Lord spare me, as I have spared the Lord’s anointed.”

And Saul replied, “Blessed be thou, my son David. Thou shalt do great things and prevail.”

Thus David forbore a second time from taking his revenge upon his enemies. Then David and his six hundred went upon their way, and Saul and his three thousand went back along the road by which they came.