Now, Nabal had a wife named Abigail; but she was not at all like her husband; she was gentle and kind, and willing to help others whenever she could. And so, when Abigail heard of Nabal's cruelty, she was most sorrowful. She knew that David was a good man, and that he was in great trouble, trying to hide from Saul. Abigail wished to be kind to him and his men; so she called her servants, and told them to make ready some sheep, and corn, and figs, and grapes, and take them to David, while she herself followed, not telling Nabal where she was going. When Abigail met David, she fell on her face before him. Then she spoke very gently to David, begging him not to be angry, but to forgive her wicked husband.

Samuel meantime had died. He had died and was buried at Ramah; and all Israel wept and mourned for him.

But David was still in the wilderness of Ziph, when Saul again went to seek him there. David saw Saul come into the wilderness, but Saul did not see him; so Saul put a pillow upon the ground, and lay down, and fell asleep; and all his men slept too. Then David arose and went to Saul. He was lying upon the ground on the pillow; his spear was by him, and the soldiers were sleeping around him. It was night and all was quiet. None saw David and his men.

"Let us kill Saul now," one of David's servants said; "all his soldiers are asleep, and he is in our power; he cannot defend himself." But David said, "No, we must not kill him, though he is our enemy. He is our king and

we are his servants, and, therefore, we must respect and honor Saul.”

Then David took away Saul's spear, and

a bottle of water which was near the pillow, and went to the top of a hill afar off. Then he cried to Saul's captain and said, “What are you doing? Why do you not watch over your king? See where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster." Saul knew David's voice, and cried, "Is this thy voice, my son David?" Then David said, "Yes, it is my voice. Why dost thou come, seeking to kill me? What evil have I done?" Again Saul felt sorry, and said, “I have sinned, but I will no more seek to do thee wrong." Then David again willingly forgave Saul, and spoke gently to him; and one of Saul's servants came, and took back the spear and the bottle of water. Then Saul blessed David and they parted, never to meet each other again.

David grew weary of wandering about in

fear of Saul. He knew that Saul would forget his promise and might come again and try to kill him. So he determined to go to the Philistine's country and ask Achish, king of Gath, to take care of him. Accordingly David called his family and his soldiers; and they all went to Gath. Achish met David and was

very kind to him. He gave him a city, named Ziklag, and there David lived in safety. Saul knew this, but he did not again try to kill him. But David was not idle while he lived at Ziklag. He often went out to fight against the Amalekites, and at last he conquered and killed them.

But all this time Saul was still in his own home, unhappy and discontented; the evil spirit troubling him more and more. The Philistines now came to fight against Israel, and Saul gathered together all his soldiers at