So David came, ruddy and of a beautiful countenance and goodly to look upon. And when Samuel saw him, immediately he poured the horn of precious oil upon him. Then Samuel went away, leaving the people perplexed and wondering. But David knew in his heart that he had been chosen to be the king of Israel. Now King Saul was every day growing worse of his disease. Trouble and disappointment and a perplexed conscience and the stress of war were telling terribly upon him. He could not sleep. At times, he was beside himself, and acted like a crazy man. At last, the doctors told him that the best remedy for him was music. “Find a man,” they said, “who is a cunning player on the harp; and it shall come to pass that when the evil spirit is upon thee he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.” And somebody said, “I know a young man in Bethlehem, a son of Jesse, who is cunning in playing. He is a mighty valiant youth, and good, and good-looking.” And the king said, “Tell him that I want him.” And the next day there was great excitement among Jesse’s neighbors. There was David at the farm gate, and his father and mother and his brothers and sisters telling him good-by, and the king’s messengers in waiting. On one side of David was an ass laden with loaves from his mother’s oven; on the other side was a little kid of the goats; and over his shoulders was a skin of wine made from the grapes which grew on the warm side of the hill. These were gifts for the king. And in his hand was his harp. Thus the shepherd boy became the minstrel of the king. And when the evil spirit came upon Saul, David took his harp and played with his hand, and the music refreshed Saul, and he was eased of his distress. And the king loved the boy, and he made him his squire, to bear his armor. XXXIV DAVID FIGHTS THE GIANT Thus did David divide his time: part he spent in the court of King Saul, and part in the country on his father’s farm. Then there came a war, and the king went out to battle. Instead of the music of the harp he listened to the music of the drums. But David was needed at home, for his older brothers were in the army, and he kept the sheep. One day his father said to David, “David, I want you to take these ten loaves of bread and this basket of parched corn to your brothers in the army, and here are ten cheeses for their captain; and bring me word again about your brothers and about the war.” And David made his way down a long valley till by and by he came to a level plain. There was a hill on one side of the plain to the east, and another hill on the other side to the west, and these hills were full of soldiers. On the western hill the Philistines had their camp, and on the eastern hill were the forces of the Israelites; and between them across the plain ran a little brook.