It was the moment for still more decisive measures. Elijah had _bowed the hearts of the people as one man. Take the prophets of Baal_, he cried, _let not one of them escape_; and down the steep sides of the mountain they were brought to the level plain below[361], where flowed the Kishon. There these troublers of the nation’s peace were slain, and this stern act of duty done, the prophet bade the king accompany him up the mountain to join in a sacrificial feast. Then, while Ahab ate and drank, he himself ascended to a higher level, and on the bare ground, with his face between his knees, remained wrapt in prayer, having bidden his servant ascend yet higher, and look towards the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Six times he came back to his master with the announcement that he could see nothing. But the seventh time he returned, saying, _Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand_. It was the long-desired sign, “the first that had for days and months passed across the heavens,” telling of the coming rain. Instantly the prophet bade the king descend the mountain, prepare his chariot, and make for his palace. The king obeyed, and meantime the little cloud had grown and overcast the whole evening sky. Soon a wind arose and shook the forests of Carmel, and the welcome rain poured down in torrents. Across the bed of the Kishon Ahab urged his chariot along the road to Jezreel, while Elijah, girding up his loins and tightening his hairy mantle about him, ran before the chariot of his sovereign at least 16 miles to the entrance of the city[362]. Thus far the triumph of the Prophet was complete. But now, when victory seemed to be in the hollow of his hand, at the most critical moment of his life, his courage failed him. Jezebel, informed of what had taken place on Carmel, sent a messenger threatening him with certain death, and Elijah, who had boldly defied multitudes on Carmel, fled before the face of a woman, in a southerly direction towards Beer-sheba. There he left his attendant, and went alone a day’s journey into the waste uninhabited country, which borders on the south of Palestine. Wearied, disappointed, he requested that he might die, and flinging himself under a juniper-tree[363] fell asleep. Presently an angel awoke him, and pointing to a cake baked on the coals, and a cruse of water, bade him refresh himself, and in the strength of that meat go still further southward, to Horeb the Mount of God.