The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1907-11-15

Q Al ] have served In thy miners
presence. 60 will b IN thy presence
And while A~hithorhel. Absal0m's
chief counsellor. hooked with disfasor
upon the coming Of Hushai. neverthe.
less Absaiom was disposed to receive
with q deep Ems OF eradication the
coming OF one who had been 90 Q
70 David. and be accepted II az another
sign OF the unfailing success OF his
Mot. He found a new sense Of securi.
ty y the presence Of Hushai.
That night Ahithophel came to him
and urged him 10 choose out a small
army and pursue after David and his
little band of followers. and he gave .
ready consent.
bet FIRST let us hear what Hushai
hath to say" demanded the king. "He
hath but just come from the presence
Of David and he well knows what 1t
will mean to pursue after the fleeing
king"
The counsel that AhIthophei hath
given is not good at this time. oh.
king!" boldly declared Hushai, when
he had been ushered into the royal
presence. Thou hnowest thy father
and his men, that they be mighty men.
and they be chafed In their minds, as
q bear robbed OF her whelps In the
field; and thy father Is q man of war,
and will not lodge with the people.
Behold, even now no Is hid in some
pit or In some other place; and 1t will
come to pass, when some OF them be
~oyerthrown at the first, that whose.
ever heareth 1t viii say, There is a
slaughter among the people that fol-
low Absalom. And he also that Ia
valiant. whose heart is as the heart Of
q lion. shall utterly melt; for all Israel
knoweth that thy father is a mighty
man and they which be with MIN are
valiant men. Therefore | counsel that
all, Israel be generally gathered unto
thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as
the sand that is by the sea for multi.
tude; and that thou go to battle In
thine own person; 10 shall We come
upon him In some place where he
shall be found, and we will light upon
him al the dew falleth on the ground;
and Of him and Of all the men with
him there shall not be left SO much az
one. Moreover. If he be gotten INTO n
city, then shall all Israel bring ropes
to that city, and We will draw It into
the river, until there be not one small
stone found there"
AS Absalom listened to the brilliant
ed his enthusiasm grew. The big
army, the brilliant plan OF campaign,
the overwhelming numbers and the
crushing victory all appealed to his in
nate sense of pride and kingly i'm
portance. He would lead such an
army: he would utterly destroy the
mighty David and his valiant men and
the fame of him would spread to the
uttermost bounds of the earth, so that
all nations round about would trcrn-
Bile.
A~hithophel, who noted the express
sion Of favor upon the face Of Alb
SALON, arose to sreak In remonstrance.
when the young king waved him aside
imperiously and said:
n The counsel OF Hushai ~ better
than thy counsel. Let ,~nessengers go
forth ut once that there be no delay
in the gathering Of the hosts of Is
rael."
A few days later as Absalom. ut the
head Of O vast army, was proudly set.
ting forth from Jerusalem. word came
to him that Ahithophel had hanged
himself.
"The fool" muttered the king under
HIS breath, could he see the hosts OF
Israel this day and the certainty Of
glorious victory he would DO ashamed
that he had counseled other than 40
did Hushaf."
So he tried to dismiss the subject
from his mind. but all through that
day and the next, az he led his forces
into battle. there kept floating before
his eyes the vision OF Ahithophel.
black and hideous, with a rope around
his neck. He could not shake 1t of.
In desperation he pressed the battle,
but instead OF tho foe he ever saw the
dead, blackened corpse floating before
his eyes.
The TANKS Of his army have been
turned, tho ranks waver and break,
and soon the panic Of full retreat has
seized all the hosts of Israel. Those
about him melt away and, almost
alone. he turns his mules head and
fees. With q fatal fascination he
watches the swaying branches of the
trees in the distance. He thinks OF
the dead Ahithophel. II Q almost
as though the trees were reckoning
him to Ahithophel's side. On he goes,
and ns he passes under the boughs Of
a great oak the hair In which he had
found 30 much pride and Joy caught
hold of the oak and there he swung
between earth and sky unable to free
himself. And there Absalom died, and
they cast him into a great pit and laid
a very great heap OF stones upon him.