But Zebul laughed and said, “Oh, you see the shadows of the passing clouds.”
And Gaal spoke again and said, “See! see! there are people coming over Midland Hill, and there are others gathering under the Magician’s Tree.”
And Zebul said, “Where is your mouth with which you said, ‘Who is Abimelech?’ These are the people whom you have despised. Go out now and fight.”
So Gaal went out and fought, and Abimelech beat him and chased him and all his followers into the town. And the men of Shechem fled into their strong tower. And Abimelech and his men took axes in their hands and went off into the woods; and Abimelech said, “Watch me, and do as you see me do, quickly.” And he cut off a big branch of a tree and put it over his shoulder, and all the soldiers did the same. And down they came against the tower of Shechem, like a marching forest, like Birnam Wood on its famous march to Dunsinane. The boughs they piled about the tower and set them on fire, and burned the tower and the men of Shechem with it.
But the next day, when Abimelech tried in the same way to burn the tower of Thebez, suddenly the end came. For a woman on the top of the tower had a piece of a millstone in her hand, and as Abimelech came near she threw the stone with all her might, and it hit him in the head. And that he might die a soldier’s death, he called his armor-bearer to come and kill him with his sword. Thus he died. And thus the evil both of the men of Shechem and of Abimelech was punished.
XXIV
JEPHTHAH’S DAUGHTER
ER father was an outlaw, like Robin Hood. For no fault of his he had been driven from his home, and had gone to live in the wild forest. There he had been joined by other men, some bad and some good, who had been driven out like himself or had run away in fear of being punished. And they went on forays, stealing sheep and oxen. And people who had money in their purses were afraid to go by that way, lest Jephthah and his merry men should fall upon them and send them back with empty pockets, and sore heads into the bargain. Though I hope that Jephthah, like Robin Hood, troubled only those who cheated their neighbors or were cruel to the poor. Anyhow, his fame spread through all the land of Gilead, in which he lived, and everybody knew that Jephthah was a bold outlaw, and that he had with him a band of stout companions. In the greenwood, with these wild men, lived a little girl; and she was Jephthah’s only child.
The land of Gilead was bounded by three rivers and a desert. In the north a river ran into the Jordan, and in the south a river ran into the Jordan, and the desert lay along the east. And in the desert was a wild tribe called the men of Ammon. And the men of Ammon sent word to the men of Gilead and said, “The country in which you live belongs to us. That was where our fathers lived. Come now, move out and let us in.” And when the men of Gilead heard that, they were sore distressed, for the men of Ammon were mighty men. “Where is a man,” they said, “who can be the captain of our army? If he can lead us into battle and gain the victory, he shall be the king of Gilead.” And they sent to Jephthah and asked him.
“Come,” they said, “and be our captain, that we may fight with the men of Ammon.”