[Illustration: SAUL IN HIS HID-ING PLACE.] And the Lord chose Saul. But when the men went to seek for him, they could not find him. And the Lord said, He hath hid in the midst of the stuff. And they ran and brought him out, and he was so tall that all the rest had to look up to him. And Sam-u-el said, This is he whom the Lord hath sent to rule thee. There is none like him, as thou canst see. And they all cried out, God save the king! Then Sam-u-el told them what they were to do, and how the king was to rule, and wrote it down in a book. When Saul had been king for two years, he set out with his son, Jon-a-than, to fight the Phil-is-tines. And a great host went with them. And the Phil-is-tines had more men than they could count. And when the Jews saw the strength of their foes, they were in great fear, and ran and hid in caves and pits, or fled to the high hills where the rocks would screen them. So there were but few left to go out with Saul, and they shook with dread. And Saul came to Gil-gal, where he was to meet Sam-u-el, but he was not there. Sam-u-el had told him to wait for him, and he would tell him what he was to do. But at the end of a week Saul had the flesh brought to him and laid on the stone, and he set fire to it, that the flame might rise to God and bring peace to the land. And as soon as Saul had done this thing, Sam-u-el came. And Saul went out to meet him, that he might bless him. And Sam-u-el said, What hast thou done? And Saul told of the strait he was in, and that the Phil-is-tines were near in great force, and said that when Sam-u-el did not come he felt that he must send up a plea to God for aid in this hour. Sam-u-el told him that he had done wrong. When the Lord told him to wait, he should wait. And now his reign would be a short one, and God would choose a new king to take his place. In those days men fought with bows and ar-rows. And while the Jews were held as slaves by the Phil-is-tines they would not let them have swords or spears, lest they should rise up and kill them. And they sent all the smiths out of the land, lest they should make these things for the chil-dren of Is-ra-el. So when they went out to fight none of them had a sword or a spear but Saul and his son. In those days men wore coats of mail, and bore a shield with them so as to ward off the darts. These shields were made of a thick piece of wood, on which the skin of an ox was stretched when dried. Jon-a-than, Saul's son, wore a coat of mail, and had a man to bear his spear and his shield when he did not care to use them. And he said to his man, Come, let us go to the camp of the Phil-is-tines. For it may be that the Lord will help us. And the man said he would go.