of Midian. Have not I sent thee? And Gideon said, How can I save Israel? I am the least in my father's family. And the Lord said, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as if they were but one man. And Gideon said to his strange guest, If now I have found favor in thy sight, show me a sign that it is thou that talkest with me. Stay thou here until I come back and bring my offering. And he said, I will wait.

Memory Verse. And the Lord said, Surely I will be with thee. Judges 6:16.

2 28. THE SIGN OF THE BURNT OFFERING. Judges 6:19-24. Review the last lesson.

Gideon left his guest sitting under a tree, and went in and made ready a kid, and cakes of meal, and broth, and brought them out. And the angel said, Lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth. And when he had done so, the angel put forth the end of his staff, and touched the offering. And there went up fire out of the rock and burned it. And the angel went away out of his sight, and by this sign Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord. And he said, Alas I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. And the Lord said, Peace be to thee; fear not; thou shalt not die. And Gideon built there an altar to the Lord.

Memory Verse. Peace be to thee; fear not; thou shalt not die.

2 29. DAVID AND HIS HARP. 1 Samuel 16:16–23.

When David was a boy, he learned to play very well upon the harp. He practiced long on it when he was not busy caring for the sheep. The time came when King Saul wanted a man to come and be his harper, and play for him when ever he felt badly. So he told his servants to find one; but there were none to be found, until one of the servants said, I have seen David, the son of Jesse at Bethlehem, who is

DAVID AND HIS HARP

skilful in playing. He is a strong young man; he is handsome and behaves well, and the Lord is with him. So the king sent to Jesse and said, Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep. And Jesse took presents and sent them with David his son to King Saul. And David came to Saul and stood before him; and the king loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. And the king sent to Jesse and said, Let David stay with me, for he has found favor in my sight. And when Saul felt badly, David took the harp and played with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well.

David learned by long practice to play on the harp, and therefore he was ready to serve the king when the call came. Picture by Tissot, O., 83; by Schopin, Wilde, 477.

2 30. NABAL'S BAD TEMPER. 1 Samuel 25.

Review the last lesson about David.

David became a captain of soldiers, and they were camped in the wilderness. There was a farmer there by the name of Nabal. He was rich in sheep and cattle, and he had a lovely wife; but he was very cross and ugly. When the soldiers were there they kept the wild animals and robbers from his sheep, and they did not take anything that belonged to Nabal. At the time of the sheep shearing there was always feasting, and farmers had plenty of food to give to everybody. So David sent ten of his young men to Nabal with his greetings, saying, We did not hurt your shepherds, and you did not miss anything while we have been here. Now if you have any provisions at hand, we should be glad if you would give us some. But Nabal was cross, and said, Why should I give you my bread, and the meat which I have killed for my shearers? So David's young men went back and told him, and David said, Gird on every man his sword. And there went up with David four hundred men, and they would have made great trouble for Nabal if his wife had not sent them presents, and excused his rudeness.

Nabal's bad temper made him unhappy and disagreeable to his friends, and nearly cost him his life.

2 31. THE BOYS WHO HELPED. 2 Kings 4:1–8.

A poor widow called to Elisha the man of God, and said, My husband is dead, and thou knowest he was a godly man. And the collector has come, and I cannot pay, and he will take my two sons to be bondsmen. And Elisha said, What shall I do for thee? And she said, I have nothing but a jar of oil. And he said, Go and borrow jars of all thy neighbors; borrow empty jars not a few, and fill them from thy jar. So she went home, and her boys brought the jars from all the neighbors. And they went in and shut the door. And as they brought the jars, she poured out oil, and when the vessels were all full, she said to her sons, Bring another jar, and they said, There are no more jars. Then the oil stopped, and she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell some of the oil and pay the debt; and live upon the rest.

When the poor widow was in trouble, the man of God found a way for her boys to help her.

2 32. THE HIDDEN BOY KING. 2 Kings 11.

Once when the king was dead his enemies tried to kill all his sons, so that none of them could be made king. And they killed all of them, except one little babe. This little babe was taken away secretly by his aunt, and his enemies did not find him, and they did not even know there was such a babe. And they thought that no one could be made king until they should choose one and set him up themselves. But the aunt hid the babe Joash in her bed-chamber; and she kept him there secretly for six years; and when he was seven years old the priest invited the captains and the head men, and they brought out the little boy, and put the crown upon him and made him king, and they shouted, Long live the king. And that was the first that his enemies knew of the boy king, Joash.

THE HIDDEN BOY KING

Memory Words. So all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet. 2 Kings 11: 20.

Use such time as there may be to review the "Stories of the House of God," and the "Stories about Prayer."

2 33. THE LITTLE MAID IN SYRIA. 2 Kings 5.

There was a little maid of Israel, who was carried away captive by soldiers into Syria. The captain gave her to his wife for a servant. The captain became sick with a disease that no one could cure. The little maid remembered the man of God at home, who had cured sick people, and had brought one little boy back to life. She was afraid at first, but finally she told her mistress about the man of God who could cure her master. So the captain took presents and went a long journey to the man of God in Israel. And when he came back he was wholly cured. The little maid was very glad, and the captain and his wife were very grateful to her.

When the little maid of Israel helped to get her master cured, she brought honor to the God of Israel.

2 34. THE KING'S CUPBEARER. Nehemiah 1; 2; 4: 6.

Many of the Jews were carried away as captives by the king of Babylon. They had been there for a long time. One of them, named Nehemiah, was the king's cupbearer. This was a good man; and one day the king saw that his face looked very sad, and he said to Nehemiah, Why are you so sad? And he said, The city of my fathers has been burned, and the place of their graves is laid waste. The king was kind, and said, For what do you make request. So Nehemiah prayed to God that he might answer wisely; and then he said, If it please the king, that thou wouldst send me to the city of my fathers that I may build it again. So the king gave his cupbearer money and men, and sent him to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. And the few who had been left in the city were glad, and they worked hard, and soon the city was rebuilt.

So we built the wall, for the people had a mind to work. Picture by Tissot, O., 97.

The next period should be devoted to a review of this series of "Old Testament Stories." It is better to leave some of the last stories of the grade untouched than to neglect the reviews so that the pupils forget the stories already learned.

NEW TESTAMENT STORIES.

2 35. THE UNFRIENDLY VILLAGE. Luke 9:51-56.

When Jesus knew that he had come near the end of his work, he set his face firmly to go to Jerusalem, for it was there that he should be received up. As Jesus and his disciples were traveling toward Jerusalem, he sent some of them on ahead to prepare for his coming. And they came to a village of Samaria. Now the people of Samaria did not like Jerusalem, and had no dealings with the people of that city, on account of old troubles. So when they heard that he was going to Jerusalem they would not receive him. And when his disciples, James and John, heard of this they were very angry, and said to Jesus, Shall we bid fire to come down from heaven and burn them up? But Jesus turned and rebuked them. And they went to another village.

The people of Samaria were jealous, and his disciples were angry, but Jesus kept quiet, and was not troubled by either.

Picture: Tissot, N., 56.

There are three drill exercises needed in keeping up the cumulative review. For the First grade it will be to name in order the titles of the eight series of stories, to name the titles of the stories in each of the eight series, and finally, to tell any one of the forty stories promptly and correctly, when the teacher names the titles. No extraordinary amount of work is necessary to accomplish this fine result. But regularity in the reviews is absolutely essential.