194 BOYS OF THE BIBLE.

the feast was at its height, the servants of Absalom, at the
command of their princely master, rose and slew the unsus-
pecting Ammon. All was consternation and terror, and every
man saddled his ass and hastened to Jerusalem. Exaggerated
news reached the King. He thought there had been a whole-
sale slaughter of all his family.

“Then the King arose, and tore his garments and lay
upon the earth; and all his servants stood by with their
clothes rent.”

This deed of murder done, Absalom escapes, and for
five years is an exile from the land where his father reigns
as King.

At last Absalom returns and is forgiven. But there was
no filial love in the heart of the young prince; he was eaten
up of vanity and self-conceit. He began to ride about Jeru-
salem in grand style, and had fifty men to run before his
chariot, so that all the people might be impressed with the
idea of his greatness. And now the broad way begins to
broaden. Vanity has become the master spirit of his life.
Rebellion, the worst kind of rebellion—rebellion against his
King and against his father—this evil spirit that was at once
unpatriotic and unfilial, made its nest in his young heart. The
' flatterers who gathered round him were his worst enemies, as
well as the worst enemies of the state. This young prince got
wrong in the first place by yielding to his pride and self-
esteem, and in the next place he selected the worst possible
men for his companions and advisers that could have been
found in the whole length and breadth of the land. All the
histories of all the princes the world has ever seen serve to
confirm this truth—that there are very few things about
which boys ought to be more careful than the selection of
their companions. Absalom trusted in Joab, but Joab was