zreel,
on the slope of Mount Gilboa; while, on the north side of the valley,
but farther down the descent to the Jordan, was drawn up the host of
Midian.

From the height on which he stood Gideon could see the Midianites below,
spread over the land like countless grasshoppers. Only three hundred
weak men to face the wild Arabs with whom the valley was teeming! Would
his little handful of followers indeed be able to overcome them? he
wondered within himself. For though he believed God, who had brought
Israel through the Red Sea, still deep down in his heart, and
unexpressed, was a misgiving. And God, who does not scorn the littleness
of a sincere man's faith, but rather tries to increase it, gave him,
unasked and unexpected, another sign.

"Go down to the host," God said to him in the night; "for I have
delivered it into thine hand. But, if thou art afraid, go down first
with Phurah, thy servant, and hear what they say; and then shall thine
heart be strengthened for the battle."

So Gideon took Phurah, his servant, crept softly down the slope of the
mountain, and went along, under cover of the darkness, till he came
close enough to the outside of the Midianites' camp to hear any
conversation that might be going on.

The Arab host lay wrapped in deep sleep, whilst, all around, their
reposing camels were couched on the ground; and not a sound was to be
heard.

Presently, in one of the tents, in which lay two Midianites, there was a
slight movement. Gideon heard that one of them was waking the other, and
he drew near to listen.

"I have had such a dream," the disturbed sleeper said to his companion,
when he had roused him. "I dreamed that a cake of barley bread tumbled
into the host of Midian, and, rolling against a tent, overturned it, so
that it lay on the ground."

And his companion, who understood the dream better than himself,
replied in low tones, that told how great was his fear:--"This is
nothing else save the sword of Gideon; for into his hand hath God
delivered Midian and all the host."

The two weary men turned over and fell asleep again, trying to forget
the warning that they had received of the fate that awaited them. But
Gideon brightened up. His faith waxed strong, and he grasped his sword
tightly, feeling that whilst it was his sword it was pre-eminently "the
sword of the Lord."

He knew well the meaning of the dream--that the small round cake of
barley, which was inferior to wheat, and was a sy