In consequence of this plague the nation conceived a dislike to David; it condemned him for the loss of the thousands of human beings whom the Angel of Destruction had snatched away. Ahithophel made use of this dislike in order to avenge himself on David, and he employed Absalom as his tool, and, with him, contrived a conspiracy which could not fail to succeed. Absalom secretly despatched messengers in every direction, in order to give those adherents who were already attached to him the necessary signal. The insurrection was to be set on foot in Hebron, an outpost of the tribe of Judah, whose elders had already been won for Absalom. The latter invented subterfuges by which to deceive David as to the true purpose of his visit to Hebron, and the king permitted him to depart without suspicion. Absalom arrived at Hebron, attended by his friends and guards, and by two hundred prominent men of Jerusalem, whom he had invited under some pretext, and who did not suspect his real aims. These two hundred men, through their very ignorance of matters, contributed to the success of the project. The people of Hebron, seeing that even prominent men had joined Absalom's party, gave up David's cause as lost. Ahithophel, who had likewise invented a pretext to absent himself from court, openly declared for Absalom, thus giving his cause an immense accession of power, as he was known to be David's right hand. The traitorous plan succeeded but too well. The Hebronites and others present saluted Absalom as king, forswore their allegiance to David, and sacrificed burnt-offerings. Ambition prompted various members of David's family also to join Absalom. This was more especially the case with Amasa, his cousin, who considered himself a great commander, and thought that Joab had unjustly been preferred to him. The messengers then gave the signal previously agreed upon, and the conspirators who sided with Absalom gathered together, and shouted "Long live King Absalom!" They carried with them all who had been incensed against David for taking a census of the people, and in fact all who hoped to gain some advantage from changes and dissension. The Benjamites, whom the accession of David had deprived of supremacy, and the ever-dissatisfied Ephraimites, were more particularly delighted at David's downfall, and willingly did homage to the usurper; they hoped to regain their former freedom through David's misfortunes. They had greater chances of obtaining power under Absalom, who was very vain, and not likely to retain the favour of the nation for a long time, than under the rule of David. The chief towns of all the tribes sent ambassadors to Hebron to salute the new king, and his adherents daily increased in number. At first the conspiracy was kept secret from those in authority; no one was permitted to journey to Jerusalem, lest the news spread. David received the information of his own dethronement and