broad hem
with flowers and bells, and fruit of red and yellow and brown.

And each time she went to the great yearly festival she took a little
blue coat with her, making it longer and longer as the child grew into
a boy, and the boy became a ruddy youth; and with it, too, would go a
little white willow basket with honey-comb and cheese, sweet cakes and
pressed figs, such as she knew that Samuel loved.

Thus she showed her constant love for the child who had left her side,
but would never leave her heart. And the child-priest grew, not only
in stature, but in favour with God and men.

II.

The great tent of the tabernacle on the hill of Shiloh had thick
curtains woven in colours of blue, purple, and scarlet, and a high roof
covered over with red and brown skins to keep it warm and dry; the
sides were of stone, and the doors of wood, with carved wooden pillars.
A thick curtain of purple, scarlet, and gold hung down inside, dividing
off the Holy of Holies at the end from the rest of the place, where the
priests went about every day, attending to the altar of incense and the
golden lamps. And there was a special golden lamp, with seven
branches, which always stood close to this great purple curtain.

All was dark in the Holy of Holies behind that heavy curtain, and there
stood the Ark, a box about a yard long, plated with gold and having a
wreath of gold round it, under the outspread wings of two golden
angels. Inside that box were two flat stones, on which were written
the Commandments that God had given to His people, the children of
Israel. The priests had charge of the tabernacle, and of all that was
in it; and they took special care of the Ark, which was the chief
treasure of the nation.

Now it was Samuel's duty to shut the wooden doors of the tabernacle at
night, and sleep close to the great purple curtain and watch--a very
trying thing for one so young in such a large, silent place. One night
as he lay there asleep on his mat before the purple curtain, with the
great lamp burning low and red, and shadows flickering about the silent
place, he was suddenly roused by what sounded like Eli's voice calling
him. At once he answered, "Here am I," and ran to the side of the aged
priest. But the old man told the wondering boy that he had not called
him, and with gentle words bade him lie down again, calling him his son.

Samuel went back to his mat, but after a while he heard the voice once
more; and again