Page:Legends of Old Testament Characters.djvu/365

XXXVIII.] sun which pierced the canopy of birds, and this proved to him that one of the birds had deserted its place.

He called to the eagle, and bade it go through the roll-call of the birds, and ascertain which was absent.

The eagle obeyed, and found that the peewit was missing. Solomon was inflamed with anger, especially as he needed the peewit during his journey over the desert, to discover for him the hidden wells and fountains.

"Soar aloft!" exclaimed Solomon to the eagle, "and seek me this runaway, that I may strip him of his feathers and send him naked forth into the sun, to become the prey of the insects."

The eagle mounted aloft, till the earth was beneath him like a revolving bowl, and he looked in all directions, and at length he spied the peewit coming from the south. The eagle would have grasped him in his talons, but the little bird implored him, by Solomon, to spare him till he had related his history to the king.

"Trust not in the protection of Solomon," said the eagle; "thy mother shall bewail thee." Then the eagle brought the culprit before the king, whose countenance was inflamed with anger, and who, with a frown, signed the runagate to be brought before his throne.

The peewit trembled in every limb, and, in token of submission, let wings and tail droop to the ground. As Solomon's face still expressed great anger, the bird exclaimed, "O king and prophet of God! remember that thou also shalt stand before the judgment-throne of God!"

"How canst thou excuse thine absence without my consent?" asked the king.

"Sire, I bring thee news of a land and a queen of which thou hast not even heard the name—the land of Sheba, and the queen, Balkis."

"These names are indeed strange to me. Who told thee of them?"

"A lapwing of that country whom I met in my course, to whom I spoke of thy majesty, and the greatness of thy dominion, and wisdom, and power. Then he was astonished, and he related to me that thy name was unknown in his native land; and he spake to me of his home and the wonders that are there, and he persuaded me to accompany him thither.