take off your head, and the host of the Philistines shall be
dead bodies, to be eaten by the birds and the beasts; so that all may
know that there is a God in Israel, and that He can save in other ways
besides with sword and spear."

[Illustration: _David drew out the giant's own sword_]

And David ran toward the Philistine, as if to fight him with his
shepherd's staff. But when he was just near enough for a good aim, he
took out his sling, and hurled a stone aimed at the giant's forehead.
David's aim was good; the stone struck the Philistine in his forehead.
It stunned him, and he fell to the ground.

While the two armies stood wondering, and scarcely knowing what had
caused the giant to fall so suddenly, David ran forward, drew out the
giant's own sword, and cut off his head. Then the Philistines knew that
their great warrior in whom they trusted was dead. They turned to flee
to their own land; and the Israelites followed after them, and killed
them by the hundred and the thousand, even to the gates of their own
city of Gath.

So in that day David won a great victory and stood before all the land
as the one who had saved his people from their enemies.

THE STORY OF THE CAVE OF ADULLAM

Now Saul had a son, Jonathan, near David's own age. He and David became
fast friends and loved one another as brothers. Saul the king became
very jealous of David because the people praised him after his fight
with Goliath. He even threatened to take David's life. He tried to catch
him in his own house, but David's wife let him down from a window by a
rope and he escaped. He met his friend Jonathan, who told him that he
should flee. They renewed their promises of friendship, which they kept
ever afterward.

From his meeting with Jonathan, David went forth to be a wanderer,
having no home as long as Saul lived. He found a great cave, called the
cave of Adullam, and hid in it. Soon people heard where he was, and from
all parts of the land, especially from his own tribe of Judah, men who
were not satisfied with the rule of King Saul gathered around David.

Saul soon heard that David, with a band of men, was hiding among the
mountains of Judah, and that among those who aided him were certain
priests.

This enraged King Saul, and he ordered his guards to kill all the
priests. The guards would not obey him, for they felt that it was a
wicked thing to lay hands upon the priests of the Lord.

But he found one man whose name