Sallu brought in the meal, and they ate and drank in peace, Elisama and Helon ruminating on the glory of Solomon, Myron not less pleased with his reflections on the preeminence of his own nation. They slept from the heat of the noonday till the sun went down, and when evening came on were still in a state between sleeping and waking, enjoying the coolness of the breeze. The stars had begun to appear over the desert, when they were roused by a blast of the trumpet, in its harshest tone. They started up. “That,” said Elisama, “is not the signal of the march; it is an alarm.” Sallu rushed in and informed them that a horde of Arabs was in sight, and threatened an attack. The tumult was excessive. The men mounted their horses and hastened to the side on which the danger appeared. The guides vociferated and endeavoured to restore order. The bows were strung; the slaves struck the tents, and were preparing to drive the camels further into the rear. After all these preparations had been made the enemy retired, feeling himself probably too weak to encounter such a resistance. While all were resuming their places, Myron seemed somewhat disappointed at the loss of the adventure which he had promised himself, to season the insipid sameness of the caravan’s march, Elisama turned himself in the direction of Jerusalem, and in an attitude of prayer repeated, When I call my enemies turn back; This I know, for God is with me. In God have I put my trust, I will not fear; What can man do unto me? Thy vows are upon me, O God! I will pay my thank-offerings unto thee: For thou deliveredst my soul from death, My foot from falling, That I may walk before God in the land of the living? Ps. lvi. 10-14. The guide was not willing to remain till midnight in this place, and gave the signal for departure. The alarm into which they had just been thrown, the terrors of their fellow-travellers, and the tumult of departure, were unable to turn the minds of Helon and Elisama from the glories of the age of Solomon, and they rehearsed together the following psalm, which, composed primarily in his honour, was supposed to carry also a secret reference to one much greater than Solomon.