The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1907-11-08

conscious OF them. and he felt that
ais beauty and grace would never be
fttingly set forth until he was sur.
rounded BY regal honors aud power
Amnon seemed in his way OF rcaliza'
ton of this ambition, and long before
the wicked 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, when Am
o so wickedly wronged his sister,
| he welcomed II as the long sought OPP
| p~ortuaity, but even In his passionate
| eagerness to strike the blow he knew
that he must move cautiously, else he
would 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
| or, His hand aud his alone should deal
with him, and all Israel should know
that Ahsalom was AS brave as he was
beautiful, and MS fearless In fighting
wrong as he val 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 aud 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 1t,
for pleasures of the present always
shut out the memory OF past misdeeds,
But, Notwithstanding the prosperity
which 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. lie 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 ilocks and planning for
The harvest of wool, the thought
dashed across his mind;
"Why not make the Teasing time
and the time OF gladness which always
marked the strengthening season the
occasion of smiling Amnon? The
very thing!" he exclaimed aloud. AN
the royal family knows what a pros.
porous ear this has been with me,
and they will all find delight In re-
joicing with me In the good fortune
which has come to me-, ! will invite
even the king himself
But what If Amnon will not conner
asked u voice from within, to which
Absalom responded, grimly:
Yea. but where the wine and the
feastlng are to be found there you may
be sure Amnon will come. He will not
withhold himself from the company Of
the kings sons"
And SO Absalom came TO King Dayid
his father and said.
Behold now, thy servant hail
sheep-shearers; let the king, | beseecl
thee, and his servants 30 with thy
servants"
May, my son." replied the king
/ "let us not all now go, lest the burden
| Of our entertainment rest too heavily
. upon thee"
I And Absalom pressed the king to go
!, but he would not; however he spoke
I his blessing upon Absalom.
/ III thou wilt not go, then let hin
! who Is thy heir go that he may repre-
/ sent thee, for this shall be a RICH
\ royal feast, for see how the Lore
! hath prospered me?"
And he pressed the king that h
\ should let Amnon and all the king,
\ SOM go with him, and he finally con
l scented,
4 And when@Absalom had prepared 70
! the feast and every servant was In hi
\ place he spoke secretly with thos,
I whom he could trust, saying:
\ Mark ye now when Amnon's hear
I Is merry with wine, and when | sa.
i unto you. smite Amnon; then kill hin
1 fear not; have not commanded you
! BE courageous, and be valiant"
4 And the servants OF Absalom di'
i unto Amnon as Absalom had CON
\ manded, and Absalom fed and went t
! Talmai, king OF Geshur, his grand
4 father, who commended him for tn
success Of his wicked plot and assure
I him of his support when he shout
strive for the kingdom OF Israel.