King Saul. John C. Holbert

you to save.”

      The cook, used to obeying the orders of Samuel without question, rushed to get a superb piece of roasted meat, the richest part of the lamb, cooked to perfection, and set it down before Saul. The aroma was intoxicating, and Saul reached for the meat eagerly, saliva forming pools in his mouth. He had eaten very little during the last days of the search for the cursed donkeys. He needed this lamb joint desperately! But Samuel stopped his first bite with another oracular announcement, spoken again in that tone he had used earlier down the hill.

      “Behold! What was kept back has now been set before you. Eat, for it was kept back for you for this appointed time. It was I who invited these people. It was I who invited you.”

      Even if Saul had understood what Samuel was saying, which he did not, he was not listening too closely, since the smell of the food was heavenly, and his ears were far less interested in words than his stomach was in meat. When he saw that Samuel seemed finished at last, Saul tore into the meat with relish, and washed it all down with some of the finest wine he had ever tasted. He hardly looked up from the meat and the wine to see the bemused faces of those who were sharing the table, and if he heard the cluck-clucking comments about his ravenous devouring of the meal, he cared not at all.

      But the excitement and wonder and confusion of the day finally sapped Saul’s remaining strength, and he longed for sleep. The meal at last ended, and Samuel sent all the guests to their homes, while he led Saul and Joseph down from the high place into the city. A bed had been prepared for Saul alone on the roof of Samuel’s own house, since the night was hot, and the roof tended to catch the breezes from the great sea, if any were to stir. Saul lay down and fell instantly asleep as though he were dead. Joseph was also given a palette for sleeping in another part of the house, while Samuel retired alone to his room. But he was not tired but agitated.