Eli's heart beat fast. "Tell me," he cried with trembling voice, "what
has happened there?"
The messenger dreaded to tell the old priest the sad news; but he said,
"Alas! alas! the Israelites are conquered! Your own sons have fallen;
and even the Ark which the Israelites carried into battle has been
taken!"
Poor old Eli! This was more than he could bear. The Ark taken! And the
old man threw up his hands and fell back, dead.
Now, the Ark was taken by the Philistines to one of their own heathen
temples, and one of their idols was set upon it.
The Philistines thought the Ark was one of the gods of the Israelites,
just as their idols were their gods; so they set it up on their altar,
and it was their chief god, Dagon they called it, that they set beside
it.
But when the Philistines went into their temple the morning after the
battle, there lay Dagon upon the floor.
"This is strange!" they said; and they put the idol back upon the Ark
again.
The next morning, again was the idol found upon the floor, its hands and
its head broken.
Then a dreadful plague settled upon the people. "It is the idol of the
Israelites that has done all this!" the people cried. "Let us send it
away!"
So the Ark was sent to Gath; but there a plague fell upon the people.
"We will not have it among us!" the people of Gath cried; so they sent
it on to Ekron.
But when the people of Ekron saw it coming, they cried out, "Take away
this idol of the Israelites! We fear the plague that is sure to come
with it!"
At last the Philistines said, "We will not have it in our land." So they
placed it upon a cart, and they fastened two cattle to the cart. Then
they set the cart upon a road leading towards Bethshemesh and bade the
oxen go.
The oxen, obedient, carried the Ark out upon the road, turning neither
to the right nor to the left, and straight into the village of
Bethshemesh.
Now, the people of the village were at work in their fields, for it was
harvest time.
They heard the coming of the cart and looked. "It is the Ark! It is the
Ark!" they cried; and the Levites came and took the Ark and set it upon
a great stone.
Then followed a day of great sacrifice and rejoicing. And the Israelites
later repented of all their sins, and came to Samuel and asked him what
they should do.
[Illustration: RETURN OF THE ARK TO BETHSHEMESH.]
Samuel called them all to him at Mizpah, and there he prayed for them
and taught them wisely and well.
But as he was teaching them and offering sacrifices, lo! a great army of
Philistines drew near. They had come again to fight the Israelites.
But Samuel bade them have no fear; for this time it was the Philistines
that were to be conquered and not the Israelites.
So the Israelites made ready for battle; but, before they were ready, a
great black cloud rolled up across the sky. The winds blew, the hail
fell, and the skies blazed with terrible lightnings.
Never had such a storm been known either to Philistines or Israelites.
"Fear not," Samuel said; "this is God's hand." And the Philistines fled
in terror.
Then, when the storm was over, and again the sun shone out, Samuel took
a great stone and set it up near Mizpah; and the stone at Mizpah was for
a sign to the Israelites that "God shall watch ever over thee and me."
And Samuel named the stone Ebenezer--which means, a stone of help.
For many years now Samuel had been judge over Israel; and so long as the
people obeyed him they were safe and happy.
But there came a time when Samuel was an old, old man. Then the
Israelites came to him and said, "Thou art very old; thy sons, who now
judge over us, are not like thee. Let us have a king."