St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1907-11-23

conscious Of them, ana he felt thaf
his beauty and grace would never pc
| fittingly set forth until he was sur
rounded by regal honors and power
Amnon seemed in his way of reallza-
ton of this ambition, and long before
the licked conduct of Amnon had
brought him within his power he had
secretly plotted how he might COM
| pass his ruin without evil consequences
to himself.
| Hence, as we have said, whe2 Am
non SO wickedly wronged his sister,
he welcomed it as the long sought op-
portunity, but even in his passionate
eagerness to strike the blow he knew
that he must move cautiously, else he
". uld Illustrate his own ends. For
this reason he counseled his sister to
say nothing which would bring punish
ment upon the head of Amnon and
take him out of the reach of his pow
er. His hand and his alone should deal
with him. and all Israel should know
that Absalom was as brave as he was
beautiful, and as fearless in righting
wrong as he was in defending the In
nocent.
So the time slipped by until, as we
have said. almost two years had
passed. That had been an exception
! ally good year with Absalom. His
fields and his flocks had yielded splen-
did increase, and there seemed moth
ing for him to desire.
Others had forgotten his enmity TO-
wards Amnon, in fact even the latter
had in the brutishness of his own
| black heart ceased to think about it,
for pleasures of the present always
shut out the memory Of past misdeeds.
But, Notwithstanding the prosperity
~'hich had come to him, Absalom was
not satisfied. The ranking hatred in
his heart gave him no peace day or
night. The one thing he desired above
/ all else was to destroy his brother
/ Amnon. He deserved to die, he ar
gued with himself, and his death
would place him in direct succession
to the throne.
One day, as the time for shearing
the sheep drew near, as he was out
inspecting the flocks and planning for
| the harvest of wool, the thought
flashed across his mind:
why not make the feasting time
and the time of gladness which always
marked the strengthening season the
occasion of shifting Amnon? The
very thing!" he exclaimed aloud. "All
the royal family knows what pros
porous year this has been with me.
and they will all find delight in re-
ioicing with me in the good fortune
which has come to me. l will invite
even the king himself"
But what if Amhon will not Gomez"
asked a voice from within, to which
Absalom responded, grimly:
Yea, but where the wine and the
feasting are to be found there you may
be sure Amnon will come. He viii not
withhold himself from the company Of
the kings sons"
And so Absalom came to King David
his father and said:
Behold now, thy servant hath
sheep-shearers; let the king, beseech
thee, and his servants go with thy
servants
NAY, my son." replied the king,
''let us not all now go, lest the burden
of our entertainment rest too heavily
upon thee"
And Absalom pressed the king to go,
but he would not; however he spoke
his blessing upon Absalom.
IF thou wilt not go, then let him
who is thy heir go that he may repre-
sent thee, for this shall be a right
royal feast, for see how the Lord
hath prospered me?"
And ~ pressed the king that he
should let Amnon and all the king
sons go with him, and he finally con,
sented.
And when Absalom had prepared for
the feast and every servant was in his
place he spoke secretly with those
whom he could trust, saying:
Mark We now when Amnon's heart
is merry with wine, and when / say
unto you, smite Amnon; then kill him,
fear not; have not / commanded you?
Be courageous, ard be valiant
And the servants Of Absalom did
! unto Amnon as Absalom had com.
manded, and Absalom fed and went to
Talmai, king of Geshur, his grand,
father, who commended him for the
success of his wicked plot and assured
him of his support when he should
strive for the kingdom of Israel.