singing, as he bade them good night, and with one of the Carmel-men
walked home to his own outpost:--

"The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion,
The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the bear,
He will deliver me."

And he smiled to think how his Carmelite companion would start, if he
knew when first he used those words.

So they parted, as men who should meet on the morrow.

But God disposes.

David had left to-morrow's dangers for to-morrow to care for. It seemed
to promise him that he must be in arms against Saul. But, unlike us in
our eagerness to anticipate our conflicts of duty, David _waited_.

And the Lord delivered him. While they were singing by the brookside,
the proud noblemen of the Philistine army had forced an interview with
their king; and, in true native Philistine arrogance, insisted that
"this Hebrew" and his men should be sent away.

With the light of morning the king sent for the minstrel, and
courteously dismissed him, because "the princes of the Philistines have
said, 'He shall not go up with us to the battle.'"

So David marched his men to Ziklag.

And David and Homer never met on earth again.