Shulamith was very much frightened, but Solomon assured her that she would never see him again. When he came near the tent, for he did not know that Solomon had returned, Solomon clutched him by the throat and threw him forcefully to the ground, exclaiming, "Fiend! Thou shalt be my slave until the end of thy days!"
Ashmedai lost all his power, while Solomon aud Shulamith lived happily together.
THE End.
GREAT MEN IN JEWISH HISTORY III. SAMUEL
PART I, EARLY LIFE.
When the Jews had settled in the land of Canaan, they did not at once become a powerful nation. They had many enemies about them who were forever attacking, now one part of the country, now another. After Joshua's death, the Jews had no regular leader, and would have fallen altogether into the hands of their enemies, had it not been for the courage and patriotism of the Judges, who arose at different times and in different places, gathered a number of the tribes of Israel together, and repelled the onslaughts of the foe.
Of those judges the last and greatest was Samuel. From his birth he was devoted to the cause of God, and of His people. We are told that before he was born, his mother Hannah prayed to God that she be given a son and promised that if her prayer should be granted she would bring up her son in God's service. Her prayer was granted, and so, when the child was old enough no longer to need her constant attention, she took him to the priest, Eli, who at that time judged Israel, and there he was reared in the tabernacle itself where the Jews came from all over the country to worship.
One night Samuel had laid him down to sleep, when suddenly it seemed to him that he heard a voice, calling, "Sam-
uell ‚Samuel!” He thought that it must have been his master, Eli, who had called him, so he arose, came before Eli and said, “Here am I, for thou calledest me.” But Eli answered, “I called not, lie down again.” Samuel accordingly returned and lay down once more. But again he heard.the voice as before calling distinct!y, “Samuel! Samuel!” Who could it be that thus addressed him in the still - of the night? It must have been Eli, he thought, and again ran into his chamber and said, “Here am I for thou didst call me” And again Eli replied as before. But when Samuel heard the voice a third time and came into Eli’s presence with the words, “Here am I, thou didist call me,” Eli knew that the lad could not have merely imagined the voice and that it must have been God who had called Samuel. So he said to him, “Go lie down again, but if the voice call thee, thou shalt say, ‘Speak, Oh Lord, for thy servant heareth” Samuel did as he was bidden. When he heard his name called the fourth time, he answered in the words that Eli had taught him, “Speak. Oh Lord, for thy servant heareth.” Then God told Samuel what would happen to the Jewish people, how because of their sins they would be defeated in battle, how the sons of Eli, who were very wicked, would be slain, and how Eli himself would die. Everything happened as God had told to Samuel and, after the death of the aged Eli, Samuel himself became judge.
He judged the people for many years and a wiser and nobler judge not Israel nor any other country had ever known. But the Jews in his day did not appreciate his greatness, as we do now. They thought what a fine thing it would be, what honor it would bring them among other people, if like them, they too should have a King to rule over them, to ride in a showy chariot and live in a magnificent palace. So they came to Samuel and asked him to appoint a King over them. This grieved Samuel sorely