So they all crept softly toward the enemy, every man with his lamp and pitcher in his left hand and his trumpet in his right. And the Midianites were fast asleep, for it was almost midnight. And suddenly Gideon gave the signal; he blew a great blast upon his trumpet, then with the trumpet he broke the pitcher, and the torch he waved about his head, shouting, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” And all the others did the same, and there was a great blowing of trumpets and a great crashing of pitchers and a great shining of flaring torches, and a great sound of shouting. And the Midianites waked up in terrible alarm, and nobody knew what was the matter; and they looked this way and that, and in every direction there were shouting men and flames of fire. And they ran like frightened sheep, some on foot and some on camels, down the valley and over the Jordan, and out of the country; and they never came back again.
That was the end of Zebah and Zalmunna, and of Oreb the Raven and Zeeb the Wolf, and their fierce soldiers with them.
XX
THE MIGRATION OF DAN
HE Children of Israel were divided into thirteen tribes, as the American people before the Revolution were divided into thirteen colonies. For each of the twelve sons of Jacob became the founder of a tribe, except Joseph, who became the founder of two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. The Promised Land was divided among these thirteen tribes or colonies. But the tribe of Dan was not satisfied. They thought that the land which was given them was not large enough.
So the tribe of Dan sent five men to find another place for them to live in, and away they went into the north to find it; as if, in the early days, the colony of Rhode Island had sent men to find them a new country in the woods of Maine. And on the way, they came to the house of a man named Micah.
Now Micah had stolen some money which belonged to his mother. He had taken eleven hundred pieces of silver. But afterwards he was very sorry for the wrong thing which he had done, and he brought back the silver. And his mother took some of the silver and had it made into two images, to look like God: though nobody knows how God looks. And they built a little church, which they called the House of God, and in the church they put the images so that they might look at them while they said their prayers. And the neighbors used to come to Micah’s church; and Micah’s son conducted the service till they could get a regular minister.
One day, there came walking along the road by Micah’s house a young man named Jonathan, who was out in the world in search of his fortune. And he stopped to speak to Micah. He told Micah that his name was Jonathan, and that he was a grandson of Moses, and that he was a regular minister.
And Micah said, “Where are you going, Jonathan?”
And Jonathan said, “Oh, I am just wandering around looking for a good place in which to stay.”