The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1890-12-11


slain, and in which they were afterward
buried; and you do we'll to examine that
cavern, for within few hours it became
three things which no other cave ever
was-fortress, prison, sepulchre.
! Now we come to the brook Elan, from
which little David took the smooth
stones with which he Frustrated Col
lath. There is bridge spanning the
ravine, but at the season we crossed,
there is not dropof water in the brook.
We went down into the ravine and
walked amid the pebbles that bad been
washed smooth, very smooth, by the
rush of the waters through all the ages.
| There is where David armed himself.
He walked around and picked up five
of these polished pebbles He got
them of lust the right size He
prepared himself for five volleys,
so that if the giant escapes
tho first, he will not escape the whole
five. The topography of the place so
corresponds with the Bible story that
l could see the memorable fight going
on. 1t is theonly fight ever did watch.
| Pugilism. I@abhor, but here were two
champions, the one God-appointed, the
other Satan-appointed, and deciding the
destiny of nation, the destiny Of a
world. Itwas Marathon, an Arbeia, a
Waterloo, a Blenheim, Sedan, concen-
trated into two right arms Here are
| two ridges of mountains five hundred
feet high, the Philistines on one ridge,
the Israelites on the other
| nil hn Gnh 20
/ ley between, at that season
shaded and sweet with terebinJh and
acacia David, the champion for the
Israelites; Goliath, the champion for
the Philistines. David understood and
almost effeminate, only mouthful for
Goliath, who was nearly ten feet high.
They advanced to meet each other,
but the Bible says that David made the
first step forward. Nearer and nearer
they come, but do not think David
will wait until he comes within reach
of Goliath's sword, for that would be
fatal, and David has a weapon with
which he can fight at long range.
Closer and closer they come, but David
advances the more rapidly
Come to me-" said the giant, "and I
will give thy flesh.unto the fowls of the
! air and to the beasts of the fields" You
see Goliath going to give David for a
banquet to the vulture and jackal. He,
| the mountain of flesh, will fall over on
that little hillock. l hear him laugh
| through the mouth-piece of his helmet.
He will.toast the little whiffet on the top
of his long sword. He will call all the
crows for breakfast Come to me you
contemplate little fellow and / will
make quick work with you" The idea
that a ffve-footer should dare to come
out against q ten-footer. Let the two
armies looking down from the ridges
watch me!' David responded: 81 come
| to thee in the name of the Lord
of Hosts" Aha, that is the right
kind of battle-shout I'm tho
name of the Lord of Hosts!"
How that cry rings through the
Wady-es-Sumpt! He who fights in that
spirit wins the day. The almost Israel
itish dwarf enlarges into omnipotent
proportions The moment to strike has
come. David takes his sling with a
stone in it and whirls it round and round
his head. until he has put the weapon
| into sufficient momentum, and then
taking sure aim, hurls it. The giant
throws up his hand, reels back and
falls. The stone sank into his forehead.
That was the only available point OF
attack. But how about the helmet on
his head? Did the stone that David
flung crush through the helmet? No;
an old rabbi says he thinks that when
Goliath scoffed at David, the giant SO
suddenly and CONTEMPORARY jerked up
| his head that the helmet fell off. That
is like enough. David saw the bare
forehead, foot high, and aimed at the
center of it, and the skull cracked and
broke in like an egg-shell, and the
ground shook as the great oak of mil
itary chieftain struck it. Huzzah for
David!
never had such high expectations of
seeing any place as of seeing Jerusa-
lem. l think my feelings may have
been slightly akin to that of the Chris.
tian just about to enter the heavenly
Jerusalem. My ideas of the earthly
Jerusalem were bewildering. Had /
not seen pictures of it? Oh, yes; but
| buSy only 1ucF6dS0 inc DeW1IQormont.
They were taken from a variety OF
standpoints If twenty artists attempt
to sketch Brooklyn, or New FORK,
or London, or Jerusalem, they will
| plant their cameras at different
places, and take as many different pict-
ures, but in few minutes I shall see
the sacred city with my own eyes, Over
another shoulder of the hill we go, and
nothing in sight but rocks and mount,
aims, and awful gulches between them,
which make the head swim if you look
down. On and up, on and up, until the
lathered and smoking horses are refined
in and the dragoman rises in front and
points eastward, crying: "Jerusalemr'
1t was mightier than an electric shock
We all rose. There it lay, the
prize of nations, the terminus of
famous pilgrimages, the object of
Roman and crusading wars, and
for it Assyrians had fought, and Egyp-
tians had fought, and the world had
fought; the place which the Queen of
Sheba visited, and Richard Ceur de