Then Jael took one of the big wooden pins which held the ropes of the tent, and in her other hand a workman’s mallet, and when Sisera was sound asleep she went to him softly, and drove the pin straight through his head. And Barak and his men came running by in pursuit of Sisera: and Jael came to the tent door, and said, “Come here, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And Barak came in, and there was Sisera dead. This, you understand, was a long, long time ago, when people did not know so much as we know now about the difference between right and wrong: and it was in the midst of war, when very dreadful things are done. Anyhow, Sisera was dead, and the Children of Israel were delivered from the Canaanites. XVIII THE ALTAR OF BAAL Sometimes the Children of Israel fought with the people who lived in the Promised Land, as Barak fought with Sisera in the Great Plain. Sometimes they made friends with them and learned their ways; and that was worse than war, because their ways were very bad. They called God Baal, and they thought that there were many Baals, one for each place. They believed that Baal sent the sun and the rain and made things grow in the fields, and they told the Children of Israel that if they wished the sun to shine and the rain to fall they must build altars to Baal and say their prayers to him. And some of the Children of Israel did so. They forgot God and served Baal. But the men who served Baal thought that Baal did not care whether they were good or bad, and so they did not care either. Now, after the battle of the Great Plain there was peace for many years. And the Children of Israel had farms and pastures in the plain. There were wide fields of wheat and barley, and droves of sheep and oxen. Then the Midianites came. The Midianites were wild people who lived in the deserts beyond the Jordan. They had no cities to dwell in, but wandered about from place to place, riding on swift camels, sleeping in tents, and stealing cattle. And some of them came over and saw the Great Plain, how it lay shining in the sun, with the river winding in and out between the pleasant farms. And they went back and told the others, and pretty soon, when the harvest was ripe, there came a great army of Midianites. They had two kings, named Zebah and Zalmunna, and two princes, named Oreb, “the Raven,” and Zeeb, “the Wolf.” The kings and the princes wore red cloaks, and had gold chains around their camels’ necks; and all the dark-faced men who rode behind them had great rings of gold hung in their ears.