The next morning they rose as the sun was coming up over the side of the hill. And Samuel went with Saul to show him the right road. And as they came out of the city into the open country, Samuel said, “Bid the servant to pass on before us, but you wait here a while that I may show you what is the will of God.” So the servant went on ahead, and they two were alone. And Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it on Saul’s head, and kissed him, and [Illustration: SAMUEL AND SAUL HAVE A LONG TALK TOGETHER] said, “The Lord has anointed you to be the king of Israel.” Then Saul and his servant went towards home. And two men met them who said, “Saul, the asses are found, but your father is greatly worried about you. He is sorrowing for you, and saying, ‘What shall I do for my son?’” XXX THE BATTLE OF THE RIGHT EYES When Saul reached home after his adventure with the seer, he was very silent. Three men had met him by the way, one with three kids, another with three baskets of bread, and the third carrying a skin bottle of wine; and they had stopped and saluted him as some great person, and had given him two loaves. And down from the top of a hill had come a procession of prophets with the music of tambourines and flutes and harps and cymbals, singing and dancing as they came, and Saul had felt moved to join them, so that they who passed by and saw him were astonished, and said, “Is Saul among the prophets?” But of all this he said nothing. When his uncle Abner said, “Where have you been all this time?” he answered, “We went to seek the asses, and when we saw that they were nowhere, we came to Samuel.” “And what did Samuel say?” asked Abner. “Why, Uncle Abner,” said Saul, “he told us plainly that the asses were found.” But the words of Samuel concerning the kingdom of Israel, he told him not. Presently, Samuel called the people of Israel together and said, “You have asked the Lord to give you a king, and the Lord has granted your request. This very day, even as I speak, the king stands among you. Come now, pass before me tribe by tribe.” So they passed before him tribe by tribe, and he chose the tribe of Benjamin. And he made the tribe of Benjamin to pass before him family by family, and he chose the family of Kish, Saul’s father. And he caused the family of Kish to pass before him man by man, but there was one man missing. Where was Saul? So they sent men to find him, for he had hidden himself. And they found him and brought him out, and there he stood before the people, the tallest and goodliest man in all the country round, head and shoulders above everybody. And Samuel said, “You see him whom the Lord has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people.” And they all shouted with a great shout, “God save the king!”